Panorama Plaza I, II, not finished III and the shopping mall is an elite real estate project in Riga. The 1st tower was built in 2006 and it is 99 meters (325 feet) tall. The 2nd tower is 114 meters tall. It became the tallest apartment building in Latvia when it was finished in 2008. The 3rd tower construction is on hold now because of the credit crunch. It is planned to continue erection in 2015.
This is the former Orthodox Church Saint Peter and Saint John, which is used as concert hall nowadays. It was built in 1728 in the place of the former Swedish Lutheran Church, then it got cathedral status in 1836. During Soviet times cathedral was closed and reopened in 1987 as concert hall.
Annual Parade of Blonde has been held today. A lot of blond girl teams could be found in Old Town this morning. I like this proposal for new airBaltic uniform :) Photo has been taken from delfi.lv.
Жигули (Zhiguli) is one of the most popular Soviet cars ever, but nowadays it is very rare car in Latvia. I took this picture next to one of the many wooden buildings on Kalnciema iela.
Nordea Riga Maratons has broken all records this year. More than 11,000 participants made Riga Marathon the biggest sport event in the history of Latvia. Even organizers didn't expect, such a big number, so they were ordered additional numbers for participants. Unfortunately Latvians didn't get any gold medal in Marathon or Half-Marathon. See Marathon 2009.
After many scandals in media regarding dishonest taxi drivers in Riga, airBaltic presented a new brand BalticTaxi. A new cab company is promoting itself as the fairest taxi in Riga.
The garage of 5 retro cars (e.g. BMW, Styer), many motorcycles and other classic stuff can be found in a private car museum, which is located not far from Rundale Castle in Zemgale.
The building of Riga School #40 was built in 1905 in Art Nouveau architecture style as apartment building The school's history started in 1946 when it was opened under number 79. After 6 years, in 1952 it was renamed to Riga 40th School (see former 40th School). Rīgas 40. vidusskola is famous for its good education. A lot of rich children are being educated here, e.g. the son of the former Latvian Prime Minister Godmanis is studying here as well.
Both ferries MS Romantika and MS Silja Festival are on regular daily service between Latvia and Sweden. The prices are relatively cheap, so Stockholm becoming a very popular weekend destinations for many Latvians.
It is the warehouse #1 of the former freight terminal, located at Skanste area. The territory of the former largest goods depot is almost cleaned up and ready for new buildings.
Chapel at Lielo kalnu kapi (Cemetery of the Great Hill) in Sarkandaugava neighbourhood. It was built along with Lutheran cemetery in 70s of the 19th century.
Relatively new private transport Segway is also available in Riga, for quick sightseeing for example. Segway's designer predicts that in future everybody will use it as main transport on daily basis :)
Pulse is a tiny nightclub located in the basement of the building at Citadeles street. Electronic music like Trance and Drum and Bass is very common in Pulse. Also it is being rent for private parties quite often.
Riga School 13 was opened in 1951. It was the first school opened after Second World War. Nowadays it is school for over than 500 Russian-speaking Latvians.
Vārpa was one of the Riga breweries located at Maskavas iela. It was operating since 1898 till 2003 when brewery went bankruptcy because of strong competition. Nowadays this building is abandoned and standing empty.
20 brand new TramsŠkoda 15 T aka ForCity are ordered from Czech Republic for Riga. Currently they are already delivered and perform trial runs by night. I guess that the recent tramway repair works were because of this new beast :) The capacity of the one single tram is 320 people!
Jelgava is the 4th largest city in Latvia, which is located just in 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Riga. Many of Jelgava's 65000 inhabitants are strongly connected to Riga because of studies, work or other business and travel almost everyday back and forth.
Today is 65 years since the great Victory of Soviet forces over German Nazis during the Second World War. A lot of people gathering next to the Monument of Victory, lay flowers and commemorate people fallen in the war. P.S. Do no forget that today is Mother's day as well :)
Hesburger is a Finnish fast food restaurant chain, similar to American McDonalds. In fact Hesburger has more restaurants in Latvia than McDonald's, hence it could be considered number one.
Tobago Casino is located in the basement of Hotel Riga, but it is closed since 2008 already. The reason why I write about this forgotten place is its name Tobago, an island in Caribbeans. Not many people know that predecessor of Latvia, The Duchy of Courland, was the owner of this colonial island in 17th century and settled it. In other words, Latvia was one of the first colonizers of Americas.
A lot of Emergency trucks by night at Aspazijas Bulvaris. I guess the crew is performing some repair works to make possibility for new Trams could run here. Photo has been taken in the beginning of April.
Пушкинский лицей or Puškina licejs is a secondary school named after Alexander Pushkin. During Soviet times it was regular school Nr 79, which was operating since 1976. In 1989 the school got a new and untypical name Lyceum and soon became one of the elite Riga schools. This school follows Russians education traditions and pupils study 6 days per week from Monday to Saturday.
20 Years ago Latvia, on 4 May of 1990, Latvia proclaimed the independence from Soviet Union. Latvian republic regain its sovereignty, Latvian flags were hung out everywhere in the country. The legend of the flag is that wounded soldier was wrapped in a white sheet. After he died and the body was removed, the sheet was saturated by blood, and the clean white strip was in the middle.
St. George's Armenian Orthodox Church (Սուրբ Գրիգոր Լուսավորիչ եկեղեցի or Церковь Сурб Григор Лусаворич) was built in 1997. This is the third largest branch of Orthodox Christians living in Latvia, after Russian Orthodox and Old Believers. The church is located between Maskavas and Krasta streets, behind Mols Shopping center.
Milda is the statue's name on the top of Brīvības piemineklis (Liberty Monument), which is erected on Brivibas bulvaris, in the very center of Riga. The woman is holding three stars symbolizing freedom and three historical regions of Latvia - Kurzeme (including Zemgale), Latgale and Vidzeme. Writing Tēvzemei un Brīvībai means For the Fatherland and the Freedom. The monument is 42 meters high and was built in 1935 in the place of monument to Peter I the Great. This photo is devoted to the Monthly Theme day, which is Statues. On photo there are two statues more at the bottom of monument. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants. BTW, today is International Labour Day and hence official holiday.
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