Blogs from Riga Region, Latvia, Europe
November 4th 2011
Well it's back to the original plan after the little diversion. It was a bit of an Amazing Race sprint to get here though. Wanting to maximise the time in Rome and not overnight in Istanbul I had booked a flight back from Rome that had a little bit of a tight connection time. I had a vague hope that they would be able to check my bag all the way through as I was flying with partner airlines, very distant partner airlines as it turns out. With that plan scrapped it was the mad dash from arrivals through to departures via two lots of immigration. As tends to happen when you're in a hurry, the planets don't always align as good as they should. Turkey being Turkey there will be no going to the front ... read more
Riga, Latvia & Tallinn, Estonia --- July 22 & 23, 2011
Published: September 18th 2011Europe » Latvia » Riga Region
September 18th 2011
Riga, Latvia & Tallinn Estonia --- July 21 & 211, 2011 From a historical perspective Latvia and Estonia did not exist as countries until a brief period between WW1 and WW2. They again re-emerged after the breakup of the Soviet Union. The Latvians and Estonians were surrounded throughout history by larger and more powerful neighbours with the result that at different times they were part of Germany, Sweden, Poland and Russia. One discovery we made in Tallinn was that our taste buds have changed. We went to a chocolate making store and both Mare and I made a number of white, milk and dark chocolates, but when we went to try them we found them too sweet for our taste. In Latvia we travelled outside of Riga to the remains of a former German medieval castle ... read more
September 18th 2011
I wasn't supposed to spend just 34 hours in Riga. But a temporary and ultimately infuriating memory lapse forced my hand. I had bought tickets to see Beirut months ago and I've been waiting to see them live for years. "Remember not to book anything on the 16th, Derek", I told myself. "Don't do anything on the 16th!" I told my friend Alastair, who would accompany me to the gig. So when Davies and I were deciding when we should go to Riga, I suggested the 9th. "That will be the weekend after we get back from Slovenia - why don't we do the morning of the 16th?" he replied. "Hmmm....", I thought. "What do I have on the 16th? Don't think I have anything...yeah should be OK." Flights booked - done. It was only the ... read more
September 1st 2011
The beginning of my journey wasn't easy at all. Once I got to the city with a friend of mine, the hostel which was waiting for us was HORRIBLE. I've been traveling quite a lot and I've seen several places but I've never seen such a creepy hostel. It was at the very top of a building (without lift, but later on we discovered that here in Riga people don't really love lifts). Once we got into bedroom we just had a glance to the beds and to the sheets on the bed. They were totally black. Luckily we weren't alone, there was a latvian girl with us who decided to bring us to her home at least for the night. The day after I had to fill in a lots of papers for my Erasmus ... read more
July 23rd 2011
Dupa inca 300 km de drum prost polac , si dupa travesarea rapida a Lituaniei , am ajuns in Letonia, la Riga. Cazarea destul de ok, la approx 1.5 km de centrul vechi. O prima "ciudatenie" - cursul valutar. Moneda locala - lat-ul, fiind mai puternica decat euro (1 eur = 0.7 lat). Prima cladire inalta care ne-a iesit in drum, chiar la intrarea in centrul orasului a fost Monumentul Libertatii , dar din pacate nu ne-am putut urca in varf , fiind doar o statuie foarte inalta, oarecum tipic comunista. Centrul vechi insa, bine ingrijit, cu cladiri renovate si frumoase, dar cu destul de putina agitatie. Putin turisti, raspanditi sporadic intre cele cateva obiective de interes: Swedish Gate, Cat House si Three Broders. Orasul vechi este locuibil si functional. Ne-am gasit si punctul inalt pentru ... read more
July 13th 2011
I haven't had an overwhelming response to the should-I-stay-or-should-I-go question. In fact, no one has offered anything other than assurances that I will make the right one whatever I decision I choose. That's as much sitting on the fence as me. Leaving Liepaja the following morning (or was it that morning) I really wasn't feeling great. Tired, bit of ear ache, slight headache and well, not altogether that great and not having that much fun. But, the road was quite nice once out of Liepaja. Mainly farm land and again wonderful sky vistas. Oh yes. Wherever I looked, a black cloud. It was only a matter of time, I knew, before either I met the weather, or the weather met me. And, sure enough, early afternoon, a downpour. I was sheltering under some oak trees which ... read more
July 5th 2011
We travelled to Latvia via Lux Bus and it was luxury in terms of space when you consider the room on the Easyjet flight. The bus driver was rather tense and stressed, felt like he was about 10 coffees in before our departure time of 8.30am. The funniest part of the journey was when the drivers changed and the new guy had clearly never driven the automated bus before and managed to stall twice leaving the car park. He persisted but it was a long drive in as the bus bunny hopped and stalled about 4 times on the long straight road into Riga, hilarious. When we crossed into Latvia boarder control staff did jump on the bus and do a check of passports even though it was EU to EU. We did notice the difference ... read more
Hicran Cigdem Yorgancioglu Latvia Riga LETONYA 2011
Published: July 5th 2011Europe » Latvia » Riga Region » Riga
July 4th 2011
Hicran Çiğdem Yorgancıoğlu ‘nun Letonya/Latvia- RIGA Devr-i Alem Hicri Alem Hicran Çiğdem Seyahatnamesi’nden ..seyahat notlarından alıntılardır . Her hakkı saklıdır .. / Eserin tüm telif hakları H.Çiğdem Yorgancıoğlu’na aittir . Eserin izinsiz kopyalanması çoğaltımı ,yayını ,dağıtımı halinde 5846 sayılı Fikir ve Sanat Eserleri Kanunun hükümleri geçerli olacaktır. LETONYA CUMHURİYETİ Hint-Avrupa kavimlerinin torunlarına ziyaret vakti .94. Ülkeme döndü pruvam . Öncesi,sonrası ve dahasında ,hangi diyârda kimin hava sahasında Ve dehâsında Miskü amber kokar yeni günüm. Yorganda ,yastıkta , sürmeli rastıkta göz güler kaş çatıkta .Bilirim aradığım ne İskandinavya’da ne de Baltık ‘ta , ne de hevesine doyulmayan artıkta. Bu Kuzey Avrupada Baltık Ülkesinin adı Latvia . Cumhuriyet ile yönetilen ... read more
July 3rd 2011
After a 4 hour train trip from Tallinn to Riga, I checked into Hotel De Rome. It is very nice. Then went to a restaurant by the name of Vincents and got the most popular dish on the menu which was Potatoes with cabbage salad and bacon. ... read more
The Latvian National Academy of Science
Published: June 30th 2011Europe » Latvia » Riga Region » Riga
July 1st 2011
Soviet-built apartments aren’t roomy; with barely room to swing a cat they don’t excel in storage space and yet of course there’s still a cupboard or two. It was from one of these that Dzintra emerged as I waited with no idea what she was doing. ‘You left these the last time,’ she said. I looked at what she was giving me and saw a pair of board shorts. I barely recognised them but yes they were mine. ‘I knew you’d come back,’ she said, ‘one day.’ Along with her city of Riga, the Latvian capital, Dzintra shares a certain intuition for things; like a blend of old-time wisdom and folklore I remembered I’d learnt to listen when she spoke of felt-things and her words came forth like recitations from the browned pages of a worn ... read more
