Riga, Latvia: Why Aussies?

Why are nearly all tourists in Eastern Europe Australians? Nearly every tourist I met has been Aussie... I've heard a few American accents about and a couple of British... in Lithuania there were a handful of Germans... but overwhelmingly it's Australians. Which is kind of strange since we come from the other side of the world. And in the parts of Lithuania I visited there weren't many tourists full stop.

Maybe it's because I'm staying in hostels and young Australians are quite intrepid travellers.

I am also noticing a considerable lack of girls travelling to Eastern Europe on their own. Lots of guys, no girls.

Two guys (Australians funnily enough) that are staying in this dorm tonight are talking about going out... apparently the clubs don't get going until 1am and they are going to drink in the room first. Lucky I got a good sleep last night...

Anyway, today I checked out the sights of Riga, it's quite a nice city with lovely gardens and amazing Art Nouveau architecture. Most of the Old Town is for pedestrians only so it's a great place to wander around. The Ice Hockey World Championships were on here so all sorts of official stuff is always going on and the city is looking it's very best. I went to the Occupation Museum and learnt about the German and Soviet occupation of Latvia. It was very interesting and eye opening and something I didn't know much about.

My feet are starting to really hurt though, I need to buy new sneakers all the support has gone in my pair and the stitching is coming undone, and of course I have been walking so much this week. I don't think the Baltic diet has done much for my waistline though, it's not exactly healthy!