RIGA FESTIVAL

On Saturday we woke up in a Farm workers' Hostel. It is a Lodging house for the workers who pick fruit and vegetables in the season. (email: m.soboleva@sabiedribamarupe.lv) This place is called Jaunmarupe and is 20Km from Riga in the countryside.

Facing our little lodge are three giant chimneys. These are for the Community Heating plant, which provides the heating for the flats in the nearby hamlet. It also powers the greenhouses of the large Sabiedribamarupe fruit and vegetable farm which our lodge belongs to.

Riga Residence, a lodge for workers at sabiedribamarupe farm.

Not as bad as it sounds, and even though we had bunk beds, we made creative use of these. The plumbing in our accommodation was private and was good. Three nights spent here, and it only cost 50pence by minibus to get into Riga Centre.

Saturday was the big day of the Riga Festival (RīgasSvētki2009 and there were many activities.

A Classic Car Rally was held, and we witnessed this being led into the city centre with full Police escort and blaring sirens. Quite dramatic. However once the cars got onto the November 11th Embankment it was impossible to take photographs are people crowded them in. A pity.

Henschel Heavy. One of about 100 historic vehicles which were lead in police convoy accompanied by blaring sirens through the streets of Riga to display on the November 11th embankment

We went to the Ship Museum where free concerts were given all day, and heard a very moving mixed choir in the regal splendor of the central salon. Later I returned and saw some medieval dancing but recognised that the boy at least had been ballet trained.

Singing Ships. Free concerts all day in the Riga Ship Museum. This one is a choir.

We took a little trip up the cast iron tower of St Peters Church and shot the view across Riga from this high spot.

Tower of St Peters, Old Town, Riga

Juris went away to attend a Buddhist lecture on meditation, so I wandered the sites on my own and we joined up later. We met on the Stone Bridge to see some Jet Ski racing on the Daugava river, and then into the old city for something to eat. After that we went to the Dome Cathedral (which doesn't really have a Dome) and sat down to hear the premiere performance of a “Russian Requiem” by Lera Auerbach (Listen Here).

This was very powerful stuff, which clear contrasts between the Boy’s Choir of Estonian National Opera and State Choir “Latvija”. In between stood the woman’s choir and in front Annely Peebo (soprano, Estonia), Nikita Storojev (bass, Russia), Tonu Kaljuste (Estonia) conducted the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra. The solo boy sang exquisitely and far better than any sodding girl could (or should!!!). Charlotte Church and her ilk have a lot to answer for, debasing church choral music.

The Bass of the Russian men, sometimes underpinned by the deepest Organ pipes made the whole thing truly spectacular if rather long.

From the Aural to the visual and we regained the November 11th Embankment in time for the Fireworks competition. Nine companies competed for the honour to be selected for the next Riga Town Firework Event. The public voted for each display by SMS message to the local TV station which had a stage on the Embankment.

As the 9 sets of Fireworks went off the bangs echoed across the river and between all the buildings of the Old Town. The fiery sparks lit up the sky and twinkled off the ripples of the Daugava River. A wonderful end to this our first day.

Zeppelin and Mast. The Central Market (Rigas Centraltirgus) was opened in 1930 on the site of Zeppelin Hangars abandoned by the Kaiser in 1922. Behind stands the tripod Riga Radio and TV Tower (Rigas radio un televizijas tornis) which was built by Russia and opened in 1986

From Latvia 2009 [a PICASA album by RedSimon]

RIGA BEFORE RUSSIA

On the day before we left Riga for Russia we explored some other aspects to Riga.

Sunday started damp; it had rained a little during the night and the grey clouds told of a gloomy day ahead with the possibility of precipitation.

Although late to bed because of the Fireworks, an early start was necessary because Juris had a lecture to attend. We walked to the end of our lane and took one of the Minibus coaches into Riga. These are privately run as an addition to the efficient council run bus services. Using Shagged out Charabancs probably imported from Germany or another neighbour ours was a 15-seater Renault but with no actual limitation to 15 passengers. It works and returned us to Riga centre in 25 minutes for just 0.45Lats (about 60pence).

We walked down slightly tired streets past jaded buildings that clearly had seen a much more prosperous time about 100years ago, and then many new economic dawns that had turned out to be very short grey days instead. 

So some of the buildings are original and have a patina, whilst others have been yuppified or more recently become abandoned future projects.  Latvia has been well and truly credit-crunched and is at least financially bankrupt.

We gained entry into an original building and took our places within a modest apartment converted to a Buddhist Mission.  There a guest speaker from Germany gave a long exploration of the concept of "Voidness" and I won't attempt to explain it as I am sure Google will do a better job. He spoke in perfect English and every paragraph or so was then translated by another man into Latvian. For more than 2hours we explored Mantra, Tantra and the Heart Sutra and then we walked back into the real world.

Well not quite. The gloomy afternoon suggested an indoor pursuit so we headed to the central Multiplex and viewed Tarantino's latest film "Bedigi slavenie mergli".

Tarantino's oeuvre really isn't my cup of tea, and "Inglorious Basterds" (in English) is a fanciful and fictitious festival of gore really NOT to my taste at all.  It was an interesting experience, however, because the film was screened in "English" with both Latvian and Russian subtitles.  However, much of the dialogue is actually spoken in French or German and would have had English subtitles to interpret.  Lacking these English clues I was failed by my French and absence of German. The violence translated.

This film is supposed to be on a theme of revenge, well in my opinion it is merely a self-indulgent revenge by Tarantino on the public for not liking his last two movies.

And so Riga centre where we opted to take a boat trip on the Daugava River.  On a grey evening the boat cruised slowly up the river towards Lithuania until it reached the new Red Bridge before turning and heading back towards the Baltic Sea end of Riga. There were only about 6 passengers and no commentary, so it was quite a solemn little passage.  As we were turned to regain our dock, the sun broke through the evening clouds and some photos were possible.  People who boarded this cruiser after us enjoyed a much sunnier cruise.

We turned for our lodge at Jaunmarupe, managing to miss a couple of buses on the way, but flagging down the 2003 Taxi Bus for the bouncy return.

From the Daugava River showing the arched roofs of the Zeppelin Market and the Soviet-built tower Stalinist Academy of Sciences building. View from the Daugava with the spire of the Dome Cathedral (left) and St Peter’s (right) From the Tower of St Peter's Church looking towards the Dom Cathedral and the Daugava River beyond Riga Skarnu Street, in the Old Town showing the stepped end wall of St Johns Church Riga Brivibas iela. 'Freedom Street', this street runs straight through the city and hardly curves at all as it becomes the A2 and takes traffic away from Riga. The Freedom Monument is also visible and behind the Russian Orthodox Nativity of Christ Cathedral.

From Latvia 2009 [a PICASA album by RedSimon]