I spent this week in
Lativa with Mark Rodgers (from exchange in Copenhagen), his Latvian mate
Ravis and Antonia (Australian) from The Hague.
Ravis showed us an amazing time. We spent three days in the capital Riga and the rest of our time in the country side.
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Latvia is a country that is booming. Shopping centres, buildings and skyscrapers are springing up everywhere, and there's a real sense that people are revelling in their ability to pursue individual wealth. In our short time we managed to see an old soviet prison, go kayaking, check out the Riga nightlife, smoke a turkish water pipe, have a Latvian Sauna as well as check out the local markets, which were housed in an old German Zepellin hanger. It's an amazing country. If you ever get the chance, go there!
Old man in front of Cafe.
The Monument of Freedom is Latvia's prize possession and has been a rallying point for all Latvians whilst under control of the Germans and Soviets. Two guards stand completely still in front of the monument at all times.
The Turkish water pipe, or "Hooka" (a word that needs to be carefully pronounced when ordering in Riga, the capital of English Bucks party weekends).
Me, Ravis, Antonia and Marky. Latvia for Life.
The Societ Prison, where political prisoners were held and Marky being dominated by the guard. Prisoners were walked around like this to prevent them getting away.
Poignant tourist photos. Barbed wire album cover and guard tower frollicks.
Marky and I escaping from jail.
Marky, Ravis and I in front of a magnificant Russian Orthodox church, which was situated in the middle of the poorest region we visited.
Lativian beaches.
Flying Pender.
These were some of the buildings that surrounded the Russian Orthodox church, deserted, delapidated and quite frankly, unsafe.
Marky and I in front of deserted soviet era buildings. They were originally constructed for the army, but with the army having left, they have been left to disintegrate.
Album cover no. 2.
Latvian Ladies catching up on gossip after doing their shopping.
We drove past this strange collection of dolls in the middle of no where. Bit of a where's wally special.
The sun sets on Latvia.
It's become a tradition ever since a certtain photo taken in Copenhagen 2004, to do jump shots whilst travelling. (Tony Jennings, if you are out there, I'm sure you have a tear in your eye, a tear which would be carefully protected by a stunning looking mosquito net hat)
I spent this week in Lativa with Mark Rodgers (from exchange in Copenhagen), his Latvian mate Ravis and Antonia (Australian) from The Hague. Ravis showed us an amazing time. We spent three days in the capital Riga and the rest of our time in the country side.
The Monument of Freedom is Latvia's prize possession and has been a rallying point for all Latvians whilst under control of the Germans and Soviets. Two guards stand completely still in front of the monument at all times.
The Turkish water pipe, or "Hooka" (a word that needs to be carefully pronounced when ordering in Riga, the capital of English Bucks party weekends).
Me, Ravis, Antonia and Marky. Latvia for Life.
The Societ Prison, where political prisoners were held and Marky being dominated by the guard. Prisoners were walked around like this to prevent them getting away.
Poignant tourist photos. Barbed wire album cover and guard tower frollicks.
Marky and I escaping from jail.
Marky, Ravis and I in front of a magnificant Russian Orthodox church, which was situated in the middle of the poorest region we visited.
Lativian beaches.
Flying Pender.
These were some of the buildings that surrounded the Russian Orthodox church, deserted, delapidated and quite frankly, unsafe.
Marky and I in front of deserted soviet era buildings. They were originally constructed for the army, but with the army having left, they have been left to disintegrate.
Album cover no. 2.
Latvian Ladies catching up on gossip after doing their shopping.
We drove past this strange collection of dolls in the middle of no where. Bit of a where's wally special.
The sun sets on Latvia.
Till Zimmermann, a most dangerous looking German friend, finished his internship in the Hague and headed back to Bonn to finish off his PhD. Till, you will be missed.
I just returned from a week in Latvia, Paris and London with Markie Rodgers. I will be posting more soon but in the meantime here's a panorama of a Latvian swamp that we walked through... It was beautiful, desolate and a little scary. Mark and I kept thinking a hand was going to pop out of the water and pull us under.
Took a quick trip a couple of weeks ago to go to the Rotterdam International Film Festival. Saw a very thought provoking film called AFR, which was about Ander Fogh Rasmussan, the Prime Minister of Denmark. It basically spliced together a whole lot of interviews by prominent Danish politicians so that it looked as though the Prime Minister had a gay lover, who he had killed in order to protect his political career. It was meant to be about freedom of speech (after the Muslim Cartoon crisis in denmark) and about how the media manipulate source material to give their tilt to the truth. The director came out afterwards and spoke. It was an all round top day out of the Hague... even if Rotterdam is a little forgettable (apologies to Rotterfolk!).
