I invite you to plan ahead and visit the exhibition at Ķīpsala in the second week of April, i.e., from 8th to 10th April this year - "Intertextil Balticum 2011". The exhibition comes with new offerings and a special handcrafts section.
I recommend stopping by the 5th floor of the Galleria Riga shopping centre, where until the end of this year you can view the photo exhibition by Colombian photographer Camilo Echeverri and listen to the audio exhibition „DIVI" by Linda Leen. This Thursday afternoon I was entirely alone in the room - nothing interrupted my enjoyment of what I found to be a very appealing combination: photo story + music. 13 large-format black-and-white photos in colourful spotlight illuminate a moment of breathing space, silence, calm and inner listening at the centre of a bustling urban environment. Headphones hang beside each photograph, playing music from Linda's new album. In my opinion, it's a worthwhile, unpretentious and successful project. The work "Electric Kiss" spoke to me.
This Sunday, as a result of a popular-science experiment at Spilve Airfield, it was proven that penguins can fly too. :) Especially with the help of instructor Anatolijs Kupčs and a hang glider from the „Delta" aero club. In fact, it was a gift I arranged for Ēriks on his birthday - a 15-minute hang gliding flight over Riga. It was easy to order, pay for and print the order code online at http://www.davanuserviss.lv/lv/davana/lidojums-ar-deltaplanu. According to the words of the hero of the day after the flight - it was worth trying. When going to enjoy a flight over Riga, you can safely bring a camera, because during the flight there are wide and beautiful views of the city - as long as you're brave enough to twist and turn in all directions. In short - a dose of adrenaline, a challenge and the opportunity to look down on everything and everyone.
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We celebrated our seventh wedding anniversary this year at Lake Usma, in a quiet, secluded spot nestled in forest and water - SPA HOTEL USMA. You can stay in one of the hotel's twelve rooms or in a camping cabin; we chose the former. We had no intention of trying various SPA treatments, simply wanting to enjoy the warm weather, nature and solitude. I should say upfront that for lovers of active recreation and loud parties, it might get quite dull here - there really isn't much to do. The presence of Lake Usma offered only evening swims and morning catamaran rides.
Yesterday we discovered a lovely cinema where you can truly enjoy a film, and I want to recommend it to you. Being a fan of vampire films, I couldn't miss the new film „The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" (2010). This time, drawn in by a chance advertisement, we headed to cinema „KinoLora", located in the „Šokolāde" shopping centre in Sigulda. Just a half-hour drive from Riga on the Vidzeme highway. We liked everything - from the friendly staff to the infinitely comfortable leather sofas for each viewer. Enough space to stretch your legs forward and set down a handbag or umbrella. No elbow-jostling with your neighbour, no craning over the heads of the row in front. Comfort we truly appreciated. You could almost forget you were watching a film in a cinema rather than on your sofa at home.
We are both fans of popular science, history and travel TV channels. When you really don't feel like doing anything on a weekday evening, channels like National Geographic, Viasat History, Animal Planet, Discovery Travel & Living and also Моя планета are top picks. The last one caught our attention with the documentary series „Охота к перемене мест. Прибалтика.", where a five-person team travels by trailer through the coastal regions of the three Baltic states - Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia - and talks about places worth visiting. Although all the places mentioned are somewhat familiar, it's interesting to see how a traveller from, say, Russia views them from the outside. You also pick up some fascinating facts - for instance, about wolf forest night therapy in Lithuania, about collectors of useful and not-so-useful things in Sabile, Latvia, and about Forest Brothers' bunkers in Estonia.
Summer has finally arrived in Latvia in full force. Every warm and sunny day must be used, as we get so few of them. So I decided to put together a list of possible events where one could get out and about during the days off after the work week.
I recommend getting your energy from being active! For the past two months that's been helped by the women's fitness studio Energie. I initially chose the six-week programme, attending the circuit training room three times a week. The circuit workout alternates between exercises on eight machines and a step to upbeat music. At the start of the programme and at the end of each week there is a meeting with a trainer who shows new exercises and answers questions. Summing it all up, I can currently identify a subjective 9 pros and 4 cons - or what I liked and what I had hoped for more ...
The flamenco dance club „Duende" invites you to the theatre "Skatuve" on May 30, 2010 at 17:00, where the club's annual concert will take place, this year titled "Duende es mi vida" (Duende is my life). Dance groups of all levels will perform with various flamenco dance pieces, along with invited guests.
Since I needed to find a flamenco dance costume and shoes, I browsed quite a few websites in various languages I know somewhat. Looking at various online shops - mostly Spanish ones - I realised it's more cost-effective to buy fabric and find a seamstress right here in Latvia. Finding decent sketches or patterns turned out to be not so easy either. In the end I came across a few websites I'd like to recommend if flamenco or Spanish dance costuming is also one of your interests.