Riga in Latvia among the world’s trendiest districts

 Miera Iela, Riga: The suburb is home to a bohemian community of shopkeepers, publicans, gallery-owners, painters, writers and stylish layabouts

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-2837916/The-hipster-guide-world-poor-inner-city-districts-achingly-cool-beards-optional.html#ixzz3JyOee6Zb

 

Latvian Contemporary Artists

When the Riga’s time as a Capital of Culture of Europe is coming to an end soon here is a good article about Latvian contemporary art scene.

Latvian Artists and Where to find them.  Read here.

The trouble with Ryanair

Since the beginning of this year the Riga International Airport started to collect a security charge (formerly covered by the state)  from all passangers departing from Riga.  No charge applied for transit passangers and kids under age 2.  Normally, airlines would include this charge in their  flight ticket costs. There is even a tiny incentive to do so – if the airline includes the charge in their ticket price it is EUR 6.50, if it is paid at the airport it rises to EUR 7.00

Ryanair has refused to apply this charge. Therefore Ryanair’s passengers have to go through all the hassle of paying the security charge before their flights at the Riga airport. To passengers unaware in advance that this is necessary, it can feel like a rip-off.

Apart of that, the airline is cancelling 42 routes.

Riga airport’ s disasters with Ryanair do not finish there, however. Just a few days ago the Latvian Competition Council considered a complaintby AirBaltic and fined the airport LVL 50 000 for discriminatory pricing policies . The reason is Ryanair: Riga International Airport has applied more favourable charges to the Irish airline than to everone else.  

For example, national airline AirBaltic  has paid a remarkable 82% more for services at Riga airport than Ryanair.  The Competition Council has ordered the airport to equalise the service charges and make them public and understandable for all possible interested parties. This means that the airport will have to cancel Ryanair’s favourable contract and put the price up for them. Ryanair, of course, says it can easily send its planes elsewhere.  

It is a serious threat and Riga could lose thousands of tourists which benefit the wider economy. But on the other hand, if Ryanair’s powerful lobbying (you have to be impressed by their ability to negotiate such favourable deals) stopped other airlines operating their own Riga routes and meant Riga airport made practically nothing from Ryanair’s presence, then probably something had to change.

Perhaps one solution would be for Latvia to develop a regional airport for low cost airlines, as Lithuania has done succesfully with Kaunas.

There have been discussions about Liepaja airport in the past, and more recently speculation has centred on Tukums airport due to its proximity to Riga.

My personal opinion is that Daugavpils airport should be developed, despite all the problems related with its ownership and its distance from Riga. Geographically it could serve not only the Latvian market but also populations in Russia, Belarus and northern Lithuania. The economy of the Latgale region would thrive, though infrastructure including transport links would need to be developed in tandem with the airport. As one of the poorest regions in the European Union, Latgale could certainly do with such a boost.

Eva Staltmane

Winter’s Lessons

While the Latvian economy remains a bit shaky, at least the nature is being kind to us this year, presenting us with plenty of early, wonderful snow.  Riga with its Christmas market, lights, ice-skating rink and even a 42m big wheel looks very attractive to tourists, and as well as adding atmosphere, the snow provides some excellent recreational opportunities.

Among my favourites are the cross-country skiing tracks at Uzvaras Park in Riga and at the Ligatne Nature Trails about 70 km outside the capital. This year there are two good additions within the borders of the city. The track at Bikernieki Forest has always been used by locals anyway but has now got official status and maintenance.  The other one is made at the Open-Air Ethnographic Museum. It’s for classic style cross-country skiing. There are three tracks  through the beautiful pine-tree forest, along the lake and past the ethnographic buildings. http://www.brivdabasmuzejs.lv/.

This is excellent example of how outdoor attractions which are popular in summer can ‘re-tune’ out of season to stay attractive to visitors.

Another good example of how museums can use the winter time constructively is by hosting workshops and demonstrations. People can learn to make jewellery, traditional decorations, bake gingerbreads, work with textiles and many other activities.  Of course, right now workshops that allow people to make Christmas gifts for their loved ones are extremely popular.

In this respect maybe the economic crisis hasn’t been all bad: it has made all of us more creative, more enterpreneurial and less lazy. I certainly enjoy this winter atmosphere more than ever before.

Eva Staltmane

Riga trips the light fantastic

German Christmas markets have overtaken visits to Santa in the run up to this Christmas season,  Co-operative Travel has found. The group says its research shows that trips to Lapland to see the man in red have fallen by a quarter (26%) whilst visits to German markets have gone up 25%.

Co-operative Travel reports that shopping trips in general in the run-up to Christmas are enjoying a surge in popularity. Retail trips to New York and Holland have seen a rise of 8% and 21% respectively, even with the effects of the global financial crisis still far from over.

The annual German-style Christmas markets has also just opened in Riga but I’m still thinking about the recent Festival of Light (Staro Riga) which took place from the Independence Day of Latvia (18th November) and continued for four days.

Staro Riga is in its third year now but already has the feel of a real tradition. It combines light installations, video art and environmental objects. With every year it gets better.  There are more objects installed and they become more interesting.  Riga becomes one huge and fascinating outdoor exhibition with free admission.

It’s particularly welcome as it brightens up what can otherwise be a grey and miserable month. Wandering around the centre I completly forgot all the depressing weather. Indeed a bit of mist even added to the atmosphere, giving many of the light installations a strangely effective glow.

Even quite small installations can completely change the way you view the city, whether it’s the unexpected sight of glowing fish in the Riga canal or an art installation being beamed onto a large wall at the back of what is normally a nondescript car park. The anonymous door to a building under renovation suddenly becomes a gateway to another dimension, and Staro Riga even provided a reason for the local council to complete a long overdue renovation of the lights on the landmark Stone Bridge.

The festival is much appreciated by Rigans themselves. It brings lots of people out of their homes – the numbers swarming between the Opera House and Freedom Monument on a wet Friday night were truly impressive.

But in future Staro Riga could certainly be more promoted to foreign tourists.   This festival time could become as an excellent opportunity for a short shopping trip with the added value of wonderful evenings observing the light objects. Shopping could include department stores, local craft shops and outdoor stalls. It would make an excellent bridge between the end of the autumn season and the start of the pre-Christmas rush.

Happily some of the light installations have remained in place and will continue the atmosphere during the Christmas period. Let’s hope that once the ‘500 Years Of The Christmas Tree’ marketing campaign is out of the way, more attention will focus on making the most of next year’s Staro Riga.

From re-tox to de-tox

It’s rather ironic that a place which until recently was getting a reputation in the UK as a good place to travel to for binge drinking stag parties is now being promoted in the media as a place to treat alcoholism.

Admittedly, detox doesn’t have quite the mass appeal of cheap booze, but it is still a good move, I think.

British businessman Russell Hughes, who himself has successfully completed an alcohol treatment programme in Latvia, has decided to help his compatriots having the same problem.  Hughes’ company Aluston Health has started to take Britons who want to tackle their depenency to Riga.

This is quick but apparently extremely effective and confidential way to treat alcohol dependency is named The Code. First the clients go through a detox period of several days and then receive a disulfiram implant which remains active for 12 months – which gives a person enough time to put their lives in order.

Aluston Health quotes a five-day package including treatment, travel and lodging costs at around GBP 3,000.  You can read more about it by clicking this link.

The Daily Mail wrote that the treatment is proving particularly popular amongst career women in their late 30s and early 40s who drink secretly at home. Don Shenker, of the charity Alcohol Concern, said in the feature: “Many women now have the drinking habits of men. Wine consumption has risen the highest with chains such as All Bar One designed for women.”

Studies have shown that women from managerial or professional backgrounds are 19 per cent more likely to drink heavily at home, compared with women from manual households, reports the Daily Mail.

If the general perspective for medical tourism at the moment is not terribly optimistic, at least this shows that niche markets for specific treatments still have a very valuable role to play if they are properly developed.

Eva Staltmane

Walking In The Next Winter Wonderland

Riga can seem even more alluring at night

For more than five years Latvia’s tourism slogan was “The Land That Sings.” Now the organizations responsible for it want something new: the question is what?

While Latvia is contemplating what would be the most attractive slogan, everyone seems to be united about its capital, Riga, which has launched a claim that it was the home of the first Christmas tree, 499 years ago. It is hoped the story will attract curious tourists and a promotional video has been released to spread the word ahead of a big marketing push for next year’s 500th anniversary.

You can watch the video by clicking HERE.

There is a large plaque where the famous Christmas tree stood. Unfortunately, right now it is buried under deep snow despite being located just a few yards from the Town Hall.

More easily spotted is the main Christmas market. I went there looking for some interesting Christmas decorations, because that would be something you might expect to find in a place famous for the tradition of Christmas tree decoration.

Sadly, I did not spot much in the market. But shops sell the usual plastic Christmas balls, figures and glitz. The only place I found something a bit different was the art gallery/shop Istaba.

In fact the best tree decoration was brought to our door this morning by our artist neighbour. It was cleverly handmade from colourful strings of wool in the shape of a sparrow. It was jolly, nice and natural. Perhaps there is a gap in the market?

But walking through the city in the snow with snowmen sprouting in all the squares and parks, the smell of mulled wine in the air and people carrying skis towards Uzvaras Park, it seemed clear that Riga certainly has the potential to be a first-class winter destination.

After a day playing in the snow, a relaxing visit to a sauna or spa makes the perfect accompaniment. Again, Riga has all the facilities necessary, it’s just a case of joining everything together in an accessible way at an attractive price. Putting myself in the position of a tourist who perhaps did not know exactly what to expect from Riga, I found myself thinking I would have been pleasantly surprised at how “Christmassy” the city is in a genuine way.

Maybe next year will see Riga rivalling Vienna, Rovaniemi and Munich as one of THE Christmas destinations.

Merry Christmas!

By Eva Staltmane