The magic of Midsummer, one way or another, is always associated with being out in nature, in the countryside, far from the city's bustle, noise, and rush. Walking along a gravelled white country road, you finally raise your eyes to the blue-white skies, hear the trilling of birds, breathe in deeply the sweet scent of meadow flowers, and feel that alongside your body, your soul too is at rest.
Easter preparations at our house are in full swing. This evening we dyed eggs using the time-honoured ancestral method - in onion skins. To make the eggs come out more interesting and patterned, I sacrificed a pair of stockings, poured pearl barley into them, and tied them around the eggs to be dyed. When the dark pink speckled eggs were ready, we handed them over to the Easter bunnies.
These world-famous, centuries-old festivities were held this year from 26 February to 8 March. Eyewitnesses say everything unfolded just as splendidly and pompously - only the weather conditions were less than ideal: damp and rainy. Photos from this year's carnival.
A traditional walk with a camera in hand through the streets of Old Riga and Riga's city centre on the evening of 31 December. This year I captured the New Year's Eve feeling from white mulled wine and a caramelised apple at Dome Square. I must say, this year Riga was bathed in lights of various colours, with an avenue of 25 fir trees and a huge panoramic wheel at Līvu Square.
This evening Silvija delighted me again with beautiful northern views from her trip to Norway. Here are the photos she sent, so you can enjoy the beauty of harsh Scandinavian nature and - who knows - perhaps find inspiration to travel to this country and see it all in person. In my view, the mountain views are especially superb when mist lies in the valleys.
A sunny but slightly cool Saturday - perfect for a walk through a pine forest, marvelling at the multicoloured clusters of rhododendrons. In the central part of the rhododendron nursery is a pond where duck couples spend their leisurely days. One pair already has four lively little ducklings. Walking and admiring the splendour of the rhododendron blooms, you can easily spend more than one hour at the nursery.
No, no, there's no mistake in the title. It turns out that such a border zone (if you believe the several bright signs on the seashore) exists right here in Riga, at Daugavgrīva beach. A walk to the Northern Breakwater yesterday brought yet another surprise. It turns out that on Saturday afternoon the beach was visited by a beaver that had wandered in from goodness knows where.
I am a child of spring, and so April and May seem to me the most beautiful months of the year, when the earth awakens and blooms. If we're talking about blooming, where else is the flower so celebrated and honoured as in Holland. The enthusiastic accounts of the vast blooming tulip fields truly prove justified when you see the photographs sent over.
This year winter has been a proper one. Although I must say, winter is not my favourite season - the cold doesn't inspire any kind of active activity. And yet, a walk on a sunny winter day among snow-covered trees is true beauty. See the photo gallery, created on a couple of such walks right here in Riga with a Nikon D200 in hand.
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