When I graduated from college back in (gulp) 1992, I packed my bags and moved to Riga, Latvia (pictured) to work at an English-language newspaper called The Baltic Observer. The Observer was an ambitious young paper launched by a handful of Latvian-Americans, Latvian-Canadians, and Latvian-Latvians a year earlier, and I was proud to be a part of it, chasing down stories about politicians, dissidents, and anybody doing anything interesting in the three Baltic countries of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. ]]> Victor Ozols 2009-09-12T16:31:29-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/10/25/134716/77

A new hospital-themed restaurant has opened in Riga, giving visitors the experience of dining amid operating tables, hospital beds, and leggy nurses. Owned by a group of local doctors, Hospitalis serves up hearty Latvian standards in flasks and operating room dishes and pours trendy cocktails into beakers and test tubes. It goes without saying that the place is gimmicky as hell, but it also speaks to just how far the Baltic country has come since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. I moved to Riga the following year, when there were very few notable restaurants. The most prominent new eatery at the time was a joint called Parsla Burger ("Flake Burger") that served insipid little slabs of beef on waffles instead of bread. Still, it was always packed. The jury's still out on the quality of the cuisine at Hospitalis, but it's nice to see that the city's restaurant scene has matured to the point where kooky new ideas like this are taken seriously.

[Photo: Hospitalis]

Related Stories:
· Hospitalis [Official Site]
· Hospital Restaurant Opens in Riga [dagbladet.no]
· Medical Theme Restaurant Hospitalis in Riga [Biomedicine On Display]
· Restaurant Coverage [Jaunted]]]> Victor Ozols 2008-10-25T13:47:16-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/5/5/1583/91796

We're not big cruisers, and here's one more reason for us not to start: Cruise ships can run aground. The Mona Lisa ship, which is registered in the Bahamas but floats around Europe a lot, has got stuck on the bottom of the sea off the coast of Latvia.

After leaving the northern German port of Kiel, the Mona Lisa was headed for the Latvian capital Riga and got pretty close, but not close enough. Nearly a thousand passengers are now waiting around for a solution, as attempts to tug the cruiser off have so far failed.

With all the modern technology that cruising comes with these days, we're a little surprised that such accidents can still occur. We're also surprised that cruise lines leave the passengers on board to twiddle their thumbs until things start looking better.

Related Stories:
· Baltic Cruise Ship Runs Aground [CNN]
· The A to Ama of Cruising Europe [Jaunted]
· Where Did the Spirit of Nantucket Run Aground? [Jaunted]
· Latvia Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: alex__w]]]> amandak 2008-05-05T09:15:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2006/11/28/23940/860
Any readers out there leave $100,000 on a bus recently? Just accidentally, you know, like you might leave behind your used chewing gum or even a magazine you don't need anymore? If you think it could be yours, just give the Latvian police a quick call.

The cash--a combination of euros and US dollars--was tightly taped up in multiple plastic bags and found hidden on a bus that was running between Prague and the Latvian capital, Riga. Perhaps they were meant to be found by somebody else, but customs officers are now the proud minders of the bundles of notes. Who says corruption's dead in the ex-Soviet states? Just remember to check under your seat next time you're taking a bus in the Baltics--you might hit the jackpot.

[Photo: Stylishgeek]

Related Stories:
· 77,000 Euros on Riga Bus [Baltic Times]
]]> amandak 2006-11-29T09:10:07-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2006/8/19/71052/2036
Fifteen years ago today, Latvia declared independence from the Soviet Union. Latvia--that sweet Baltic nation sandwiched between Estonia and Lithuania--and Latvia's recent past is bound up with being occupied, whether by Soviet or German forces. Capital city Riga features the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia 1940-1991 and once you get beyond the cumbersome title and realise just how real people were affected by this tumultous history, you'll find it hard to get out of this strange grey box of a building.

The goals of the museum sound pretty heavy, aiming as it is to "remind the world of wrongdoings" and "remember those who perished and suffered". And, we admit, it's no cheerful walk in the park. But seeing the Soviet-planted listening devices found in buildings around Riga and getting an impression of life in prisoners' camps is memorable if nothing else. On top of that, it costs you nothing to get in (but they accept donations if you're suitably impressed). We were.

[Image via adetrich/Flickr]

Related stories:
Latvia Haunted by Soviet Past [Radio Free Europe]
]]> amandak 2006-08-21T08:45:03-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/