How crisis affect tourism

Some of you wonder how economical crisis affect the daily life in Latvia, has prices gone down or up etc. Although the crisis is a main topic in Latvia, consequences of it hasn’t been visible just yet. However, there are some changes. It’s easier to book a cheap place in hotel, because they are not overcrowded. Prices in restaurants and food places are the same, they hasn’t got down yet. The increase of VAT from 18% to 21% might not affect the prices as businesses might try to cut their income rather than rise the prices, because the market is low. But still, the VAT increase might affect the hotel prices, as the VAT there will increase from 5 to 21%. It means tourists will have to seek alternatives, such as renting flats from grannies for cash-in-hand. Clubs are also less crowded, a lot of young people try to get drunk at home or on the street before going to a dance club. There’s also some change in entertainment places. Andrejsala, once popular hang-out place, has been closed down. Now youngsters go to Spikeri near Central market or to Aptieka bar near Dome squere. Metakafe is still working, as well as Depo. There’s also a new place Leningrad bar on Kalēju street – it’s made in Soviet style with old furniture, TV set and portraits of Lenin. A nice place in the age of economical depression.

Latvia in unconventional photos

We have come across some blogs that feature photos of Latvia. All of them seems to be made by individuals, with more or less sense of humor. We decided to choose three our favorites. There’s a guy that takes random photos of Riga every day. The other one is the website with probably the longest domain name in the world – millionreasonswhylatviaisthebestcountryintheworld.com. And then there’s a photographer who shoots the things that remind of the Soviet past. Enjoy!

Like a surgeon

Recently a new restaurant Hospitalis has been opened on Stabu 14 in Riga. It is a must-see place if you like gore things. The restaurant looks like a medicine cabinet, while you are treated as a patient and taken good care by the long-legged waitresses in nurses uniforms. The food is served in flasks and operating-room’s dishes and isn’t that cheap (7 and more lats per meal), but this is a bizarre experience that is worth breaking the bank. Besides, the place is owned by local doctors, but unfortunately, the president of Latvia, who is also a doctor, declined his appearance at the opening once he realized how weird this place actually is.

Fucking flag

Flag of Latvia is not just a nation’s flag, it’s like a sacred icon. You can guess that it’s not that commercialized as, for instance, American flag. You won’t find a shorts or toilet paper of it. If you have such a business idea, you might end up in prison. You might get punished if you display it on a simple stick or touch it with dirty hands.
A couple of months ago there was a case in Liepaja (small town in West Latvia). On one of Latvia’s many mourning days a janitor displayed Latvia’s flag on a broomstick. He did it just because he couldn’t find an appropriate shank (it was broken or something like that). So the guy got a big fine for this and was accused of motherland’s betrayal. There have been also cases in the past where people were criticized that they have “touched” the flag unduly or at the “wrong moment”. It is also bad for a foreigner to touch the Latvian flag as Latvians will think that you want to make fun out of it. Latvians think that the flag is a part of their body, something very personal. Actually it’s better not to touch it at all. Also if you forget to put the flag out on a mourning day (well, Latvia has only 5 festivity days versus 9 mourning days), you probably won’t get any fine at all or very little one. So, our best advice – avoid the flag!

How to have an entertaining week in Latvia?

Someone nicknamed “comput1″ has asked us how to entertain his/her guests for a week in Latvia. Well, we are not a travel agency (maybe we should one day), but will try to give you a few tips. In Riga it’s cool to show something besides the Old Town, Central Market and Art Nouveau buildings – a typical tourist set-list. Bring them to Maskavas forštate to see some gypsies and poor people, or even to Latgale market with second-hand staff. Try different suburbs, even the ones that locals would consider ugly.

A view from TV tower on Riga

As for a good panoramic view point, try not St. Peters church, but also there are two other cool view points. One is from the TV tower – this is the highest (97m) you can get. It costs 2.60 Ls per person. Another option is from the Academy of Sciences – it’s that monumental Soviet era building behind the Central market. The ticket price used to be around 2.50 Ls. Of course, you can go to Sky Bar at the top of Hotel Latvija and don’t pay anything at all. Outside Riga try to go to Soviet bunker in Līgatne, but remember you need to be 10 people in a group (it costs 2 Ls per person), otherwise they will fuck you off. If you are looking for more Soviet legacy, go to Karosta (if you want a bit of exotic, stay one night in prison-hotel) in Liepāja or Zeltiņi in Alūksne. There are a lot of abandoned Soviet army military sites.

Double room in Karosta prison hotel costs 5 Ls per person

You can also visit a shooting gallery on Šarlotes street or at VEF, Līvu aqua park, a really amazing (and weird) emo’s music club Melnā Piektdiena, a local football game by Skonto or FC Rīga (it sucks, but it’s damn cheap), nudist beach in Vecāķi or regular beach in Bolderāja (hard to find the way to it, but it’s amazing and isn’t crowded), cruise around Daugava in a boat, go to museum of anatomy or nature, or go ice-skating in Piņķi ledus halle etc, etc. Have fun!

How to use public transport in Riga?

Yes, it’s confusing, because there’s different system of paying for tickets, also there’s no way to find out what kind of stops the transport has on its way besides the first and the last stop. Well, if you speak some Latvian, you can find it out on internet, not very practical if you are already walking down the streets. Also, don’t rely on timetable unless you are at the last stop or very close to it, traffic jams and driver’s I-don’t-give-a-fuck attitude makes timetables very approximate. Bus, trolleybus and tram costs 0.40 Ls per ride. There’s no day travelcard in Riga. On a tram and trolleybus you need to buy ticket before boarding, otherwise you can buy it from a driver for 0.50 Ls. Tickets can be bought in newsagent’s shops, such as Nervessen or Pluspunkts, but you might find it difficult to spot one outside the center. Once you get on board you put your ticket in a yellow puncher, it will stamp some numbers. Ticket control is quite often, so make sure you don’t lose your ticket. On a bus there’s different system – you buy your ticket from a conductor. When your stop is approaching, make sure you stand next to the door well in advance, because in Latvia, once the transport stops and the doors open, driver’s don’t wait while you pop up your ass and linger towards exit. If nobody is at the doors while the stop approaches, it might even keep driving. In public transport most old people (pensioners, also smelly alcoholics) crowd at the topside of the transport, so better sit/stand somewhere in the middle.

Mini bus in Riga

In Riga there’s also a popular way of transport – maršruta taksometri, which means “mini route cabs” or “small buses” with 11-12 seats that normally take similar routes as main public transport, but much faster and with less stops (actually it will stop whenever you ask the driver). You buy your ticket from a driver (the price depends on a route, but is usually between 0.40-0.70 Ls within Riga), it is very common that the driver doesn’t issue you a ticket.