Looking for ideas for the Friday evening of 8 March - which I want to spend in a special atmosphere - the concert "Latvia's Best Dancers" planned at the Riga Congress Centre caught my attention. The event promises to be special, as over two hours it will feature various dance styles: ballet, ballroom dancing, contemporary dance, belly dancing, rhythmic gymnastics, breakdance, salsa and rock'n'roll.
I frequently use barradar.lv - both the web and mobile versions - and am eagerly awaiting the app, because it's a great tool for finding a suitable eating spot nearby to satisfy your appetite. For example, sitting in the office around lunchtime, you can check the barradar.lv map to see which cafés or eateries are within a couple of blocks and whether they have a set lunch deal for around Ls2. On a Friday late evening wandering around the Old Town with friends, barradar.lv is handy for checking which bars or cafés are currently open - just select the "open now" option.
There was a time when we drove into Talsi in summer (a city I barely know, having been there maybe twice in my life), and I pulled out my smartphone to find somewhere to eat using barradar.lv. Since we most often go somewhere by car at weekends, an important sorting criterion is whether free parking is available near the eatery in question. I like that the search filters are updated seasonally - in summer you could find where to enjoy a Mojito or taste cold strawberry soup, and now in winter, where to have a mulled wine.
I've noticed that with every passing year we receive fewer and fewer handwritten greeting cards. And those we do receive are mostly sent by older people. But it is so warm and lovely when you receive a card in the post and realise that someone has thought of you, dedicated a few precious minutes of their modern-day time, found the most appealing little image, a colourful envelope, or hand-crafted a card.
Even though I am a thoroughgoing web "worm", Christmas is the time when I want to invite everyone to forget about SMS, emails, e-cards, links and festive apps, and send or attach to a gift a personally written greeting that carries the warmth of your very own hands.
Just four days in December on weekends - the 1st and 2nd, and 15th and 16th - from 13:00 to 20:00 at the LIDO complex in Riga, there is a market featuring products from Latgale producers. Here you can purchase various delicacies lovingly made in Latgale - home cheese, gingerbread, Aglona bread (SIA "Cīši gords"), Preiļi wines (farm "Kalni", Count Borch's Preiļi Palace cellar wine, Kotler's Wine Village), as well as Advent wreaths, various knitwear, teas, beeswax candles and woven goods.
When an emperor penguin swims, the friction between its body and the water limits its maximum speed to 1.2–2.7 m/s. However, in brief bursts of acceleration, penguins are able to overcome this limitation and increase that speed two or even three times by releasing tiny air bubbles from their plumage. The air bubbles reduce the density and viscosity of the surrounding water, reducing friction and allowing significantly greater speeds.
The secret is hidden in the feathers. While most birds have feathers growing directly from the skin, penguins have tiny hair-like filaments at the base of each feather that are capable of trapping air bubbles - so small that they act as a lubricant across the feather surface layer.
Read more in National Geographic (Russia), November 2012 issue.
Every year on the third Thursday of November, Beaujolais Nouveau celebrations are held around the world. In collaboration with the Teātris restaurant, a project has been created under which we will also celebrate the new wine harvest in Riga and shed a little light on the Beaujolais wine region itself.
The event will take place on 15 November this year at 19:15. The evening will include a short narrative about the region's history, winemaking traditions and, of course, a tasting - a "staircase" from the simple Beaujolais Nouveau wine up to two beautiful Cru class wines.
All wine lovers are warmly welcome!
The 17 gentoo penguins who spent three weeks in temporary accommodation at Riga Zoological Garden are now gone to an aquarium in China. Will we have to wait another 50 years and rely on a lucky coincidence to see penguins again?
That is why the grassroots project PenguinHouse (http://penguinhouse.lv) was created - initially to bring like-minded people together, and then to collect signatures and encourage a public vote on allocating funding for the creation and maintenance of a permanent penguin house. The dedicated website penguinhouse.lv offers news about penguins, videos and photos of penguins at Riga Zoological Garden and around the world, as well as information about the project's core idea.
Follow, comment and support the idea FOR penguins in Latvia on social networks Facebook, Twitter and Draugiem.lv!
It has finally happened - penguins have arrived in Latvia, specifically at Riga Zoo, albeit for a short period, passing through, so to speak. They have come from Edinburgh Zoo (United Kingdom) to spend a 3-week quarantine period here before departing from the European Union to an aquarium in China.
As Riga Zoo informs, visitors will be able to see these gentoo penguins - the third largest in the world - every day from 9 August at 13:00 until 30 August.
On 11 August this year at 14:00 at Madona Cultural Centre (Raiņa iela 12), the 5th exotic dance festival "Magic Carpet" concert will take place, organised by the dance studio "Mantigra".
A look back at previous years' concerts >>>
Ventspils is not only the tidiest city in Latvia, but also the richest in various art projects. This summer too, on 30 June, Ventspils residents and visitors will be delighted by the world's most popular art and patronage project "Cow Parade Ventspils 2012". Its opening will take place at 12:00 on the Ventspils Harbour Street promenade. On the opening day of "Cow Parade Ventspils 2012" various activities will take place throughout the day, and the extensive programme will close with a concert by the band "The Straits" (United Kingdom) in Reņķa dārzs.
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