Marko - Tallinn!

Ahh, yes. Tallinn! The unknown... There was no serious snow in latvia when we moved. Simple dark cold. Before border a small place with strong thindering train sounds and a shop were our last click off and leaving Latvia. Border... Couple of parked trucks, lights off in police buildings, not a living soul on site - ghost city. And than the first encounter with Estonians... Our car lost control and we were off the road in the deep, deep snow... Yes, i said - not a serious snow in Latvia. Couple minutes after entering another country it became really serious... But, a kind fireman brigade truck was passing by, and with a bit of Russian, a bit of gestures, arms power joined - our wheels were back on road! Well, there was road under that 6cm of snow... With tropic rhytms in a car, we grabbed Tallinn...
A long entering street was a fairytale -  wooden, pretty houses covered with sparkling snow, hills of whiteness all around... And than - trams! Same as in my home town! Same noise, same instability, same stickers with "Made in Czechoslovakia"(I checked later...)!!!! People were nice and polite, there was no difference after we asked the sixt person for directions... All went smooth, like on ice. ;)
Event that we organized went out pretty well, I would say, Estonians we met there have the links to tropical tunes, no doubt.
Day after we tried a nice Estonian coffee  as we enjoyed walking through the old town on the hill... At least I understood that coffee was Estonian... Hosts, thanks! Export some politeness, please! =)
Visu labu, friends! Your faithful... Marko =)

Marko - piece of a puzzle...

Hot, hot! Sen neredzēts! Or - long time no see! I am getting some work habits, I promise. Will be less selfish with sharing my EVS delights! OK, this "hot" at the beginning is there to grab attention. But from here it gets better, I promise!
Being too sleepy in sidewalks of Riga these days is not too smart. Snow is falling from roofs. Not too precisely in the marked areas all the time. So - eating less is definitely a good choice! Don't turn into a bear. Perfecting more light recipes...
I am very proud to say that we use our own hand-made jacket hanger in the office since 2nd December! Unfortunately, there is no picture of it, but I asure you it is... very nice! Tried to hang all my weight on it and it didn't break! Don't tell my boss...
Now... I will need to dedicate another (next) post to beautiful Tallin... Yes, it is written correctly - BEAUTIFUL! Stay with me ;) In meantime, plans for opening event in the skatepark "Korpuss 5" are hot! Opeining will occur on the February 11... Two days will last the opening... that's all of the secrets so far. Will discover more, let them in air shortly... Volunteer's promise. ;)
Salute from snow mountains of Riga streets and parks! Visu labu! =)

Vincenzo - So...

Almost 40 days since my plane landed! Sometimes looks less... I made a lot of new things in this period like use a snowboard or make a sauna and the snow like an usual thing it's strange for a guy from the south, but i like it! Working in a skatepark has a lot of advantages, not only did not wake up too early in the morning, but also being in a creative environment with interesting people, which is what prompted me to move here in Riga. This city is wonderful and i starting to understand the latvian way of life... Christmas is coming and gingerbread spreads! I would never have said but also the food is delicious. In this days we start to think about skatepark's grand opening event and you just have to stay tuned! ;-)

Atà!

Vincenzo

Liepāja! Go West!

Vincenzo - Psychofreud!

 

Vincenzo

Marko - Hooked on..?

... hockey. Still I am not sure, but, I'll let You know. In the meantime I can only say I felt one thing for Dinamo Riga fans in the match against Novosibirsk on November 28th 2010. Respect. It is the sport number one here. Clearly. I mean - in th emiddle of the match couple of seats next to mine a man proposed a woman and a kiss came after. So, a hockey stadium represents much more for these people... Interesting thing for me would be to check if anybody is getting proposed on a basketball match in my country, Serbia. Since some matches look like religious gatherings. Anyway - Go Dinamo! And they won! I felt pretty Latvian, I must admit... A happy one. Beware of Riga Sundays after hockey! Northern salute!
Your volunteer,

Marko

Marko - Go West!

Labdien! Long time no see. Here I am, making my fingers a bit more busy in order to open my Baltic notebook for the public...
My apologies, but I will skip the part about why I missed two buses in the morning of 26. of Novembere and how I finished eating Spanish and Portuguese tangerines in Riga. It simply happened. Right? =)
Taka club was the host for that evening, Crystral Sound System girls served a nice chilled plate of tropic flavored sounds, as I enjoyed multinational company and multi - quality dark Valmiermuiža beer. Later we were asured that vintage clothes shops don't sleep in Riga - at least not on Fridays. Result of the transformation of one of those was a busy, everything but usual, place in which it seemed that all the 80's hided that night.
Well, all that was a preparation for going a bit west... We hit the road towards Liepāja, west coast of Latvia to take part in an event taking place in the very first rock caffe in this country - "Rock kafejnīca". Three floors, Dj - ing & acoustic band... Rewarding night!
Liepāja was founded as a stronghold, the town seved to host soldiers for long time. A ghost town of abandoned building blocks still stands after last Soviet troopers left them in 1994. I can tell you - today they make delicious bread soup and Latvian - way prepared herring. On out way back to the capital I enjoyed idillic snow landscapes and roadtaxes - free trip (that's how they do it here). We needed to hurry - hockey game of Dinamo Riga in KHL league doesn't wait for latecomers! Stay tuned =) Visu labu!

Marko

Marko - Latvian puls...

Sveiki! It seems like I spent much more than 24 days so far in everything but not sleepy Northeast Europe. Riga's welcome was such that I can barely put all the experience out in one turn without a break for a delicious Latvian hot chocolate. Stereotypes about the coldness of Baltic attitude already melt, which I cannot say for the first ice and snow in the streets. After pretty educational and intensively fun on - arrival training I started to become more aware of the presence of a (not so) small army of foreigners in Latvia, but the ones including myself that are fortunate to know more locals (the best guides through the real Latvia puls!) than pages in tourist pamphlets. Back in the days when we enjoyed more rain here and celebrated St Martin's day (7th of November) happily with music instruments, our joined international forces gathered around Crystral Sound System cracked a first event together - Psychofreud party on the November 13th! I must admit I am especially keen to admire our result in making a video flyer and banner for the party...  Piece of advice - worry more about the broken baggage at the airport than adaptation in Riga. Locals melt faster than the first snow. As soon as you explain "why Riga"? Already, I am in love with Latvian food... Amazing black bread! Riga is beautiful with all the lights shining since the day of independence and StaroRiga festival, the whiteness of snow makes it even prettier... I am impatient to meet new faces of the city and the land itself. Till than... Visu labu! - All the best!

Marko