Padlock tradition in Riga

 

Some people say it is a silly and childish tradition. Me - I think it is a little bit charming. But what it's all about - after getting married, people lock a... lock on Riga's bridges. This one is totally full already so they switched to two other ones. We were wondering how are the statics of the construction. ;)

Riga's authorities joke that they cannot detach the locks, because people believe that as long as the lock is on the bridge, the marriage will survive.

Just a bit of Riga's art nouveau

Today I'm just going to show you a few pictures of Riga's art nouveau. Of course it isn't everything - just a tiny bit I took while walking the streets of Riga. This city looks like 80% art nouveau and the rest is also historical (but wooden)!

Jurmala - another side of the Baltic Sea

A few days ago I visited Jurmala - the most popular and beautiful seaside destination in Latvia. Myself, I find a lot in common between some Polish seaside towns and villages and the Latvian Jurmala - especially the unrestrained nature. But, the architecture and style of tiny cafes (kafejnicas) and shops is very unique here in Latvia.

Another thing you'll never find anywhere else are ice cream with such unique flavours like Rigas Black Balzams (the national alcoholic drink - 45%), which I tried and are delicious, or beer ice cream which I've heard there are but we couldn't find them at this time of the year.

Latvia is definitely the country of fountains and other street furniture. Maybe it's because of the little distance to Scandinavian countries which pay a lot of attention to such urban details.

I really loved the beach in Jurmala.

Anna's boots. Nice contrast!

 

Just a Latvian girl :)

Pelmeni - traditional Latvian and Russian dumplings. These are mine - which means there are only veggie and cheese ones!

Cebureki. We've been told it's Latvian, but in reality it's Ukrainian. A kind of deep-fried pancake with meat. Mine is with cheese and dill only.

And another fun fact - there are many cats in Latvia! Both wild and domenic, all are beautiful!

Pardaugava - the other side of the river

Can you see Riga's University of Science? Yes, the tower building very similar to Warsaw's Palace of Culture and Science. It's a gift from the Soviets too and this one was built in the 50s, too. Next to it you can see the halls of Riga's Central Market, which I absolutely love. There is a lot of fresh fruit and veggies waiting for you to buy and taste them, as well as kvass (traditional malt drink) stands. I especially love the steel railway bridge - it's beautiful.

 Can you guess what this is?

 It's the weirdest building ever. I don't really like it - I admit. It will be the Latvian National Library. They have such a wide variety of brilliant architecture in Riga... but this one for me is impossible to explain. They say it's the mountain of knowledge. Pretty random, ha...

 Here I'm expressing my feelings about it.

And a tasty bite of postindustrial, fantabulous architecture. In this building, there's a muzeum of railway (dzelzcela muzejs). Ahh, the shiny windows!

Abortion in Latvia

Abortion on request is legal in Latvia. It is also legal in case of a health loss risk, rape, preservation of mental health or economic reasons. However, as it is in every country, some people are agains abortion. Today in Riga there is an anti-abortion action. Tell me what you think about it, when faced with the striking data below...

According to statistics, less than 4 out of 10 married women in Latvia use some contraception methods. Almost twice as many women die after birth than it is on average in developed countries (4% vs 2,7%). You can read more about this topic on the United Nations report, here. I will be glad to hear your opinions!

Latvian stamps

Unfortunately due to my current accommodation I cannot participate in Postcrossing anymore, as I cannot receive letters. But a few postcards to my family and friends I have sent. I just want to share with you how unique stamps there are in Latvia.

Also just a few food pictures to show you I'm doing well as a vegetarian (semi-vegan, I'd even say although I know it's a profanation). But I'm doing my best to eat as little animal derived foods as it's possible. All of the dishes below are vegan:

A salad for breakfast

"Sandwiches" on zucchini

Tagliatelle with zucchini, spinach and tomato sauce

And a fun fact. A lot of traditional dishes in Latvia involve bread as a main ingredient. I knew about malt drinks, baked or fried garlic bread, but I was absolutely astonished by bread ice cream or ...

...sweet bread soup! Wow... it tasted really sweet due to the huge amount of caramel fruit, whipped cream and sugar.

Yours,
Kasia

Soviet Bunker in Ligatne

Today me and my friends visited the Soviet bunker in Ligatne, Latvia. It was a very interesting visit, considering the complicated Latvian history and the fact that we could get to know some of the details of it. The scary part of it is that all of it is still working, people have 24-hour shifts in there and most of what happens there is top secret so I don't even fully know what I saw and what I didn't! Now I'm just going to show you a few pictures I've taken in the bunker:

Later we went hiking in the beauty of Latvian nature. I admired the river Gauja and Amata. We saw the Zvarte rock from above. The rock itself has a story connected to it. Just like on some other pagan rocks, a legend says there used to be meetings of devils teaching witches how to fly on their broomsticks.

Here is my Latvian language course group and me among them :) I must tell you another fun fact - so far, Latvian people seem to be a very kind nation. Looks like I will have to try hitch-hiking in this country! :)