Nowadays, the territory of the former electronics factory VEF is a home for many IT companies in Riga. Accenture, Nano Hosting, Idea Port Riga, Datartis, Interneta Pasaule and many other companies offices are located in these buildings. Therefore we can call this area as a Silicon Yard, as analogy to Silicon Valley in California :)
A typical Soviet quadrangle, which was playground and place of the first smoked cigarette for many of Rigans. This picture could be taken in any of Riga Soviet neighbourhood, but this is Ziepniekkalns.
Autohof (Car Yard) and other similar car lots are located in Rumbula area. Such parking places are used to trade with used cars, which are mostly imported from Germany.
Latvia has the hugest car market among all post-Soviet countries, and almost 20% of Western cars in Russia were imported through Latvia.
Be careful when you leave your vehicle next to your apartment house in Riga. I hope that insurance company will pay at least for car washing for this poor Honda Accord ;)
During the early spring everything in the country looks gray, except Red clothes on the clothesline. Today's monthly theme is Red, click here to view thumbnails for all participants Also, check other photos labelled under Red.
Alus Sēta (Beer yard) is another small version of restaurant Lido, which is located inside of the Old Town. Although it is more focused to serve beer and other alcoholic drinks, a tasty meal can be ordered here as well.
Roodey or Roadey, whatever. I hate this photo because it was taken during freezing evening when I was on Kalnciema bridge with already frozen hands, so I couldn't properly hold a camera lens cover and dropped it down there :( Now I'm shocked that such a little piece of plastic costs more than 20 EUR. UPDATED: in fact Roadex, thanks to Anonymous who pointed to a Latvian company called Roadeks.
This picture is taken in Purvciems 2 neighbourhood. Actually there is no any difference with Purvciems 3, Zepniekkalns 4 or Imanta 5. Everything is gray, similar, modest and depressing. Riga has inherited these buildings from Soviet past, which are typical for any city within Eastern Bloc.
Latvijas Leļļu teātris (Latvian Puppet Theater) was opened in postwar Riga in the building of former cinema Radio Modern. All shows are always performed in both languages Latvian and Russian which reflects one of theater's mission. The red banner runs as follows Christmas shows in Puppet theater, so don't forget to bring your child here ;)
It is hard to believe that this red-brick cube-shape accessory building located in one of the city's yards is Riga Mosque, therefore I have attached a writing in Arabic ligature. It was difficult for me to find it, because mosque is hidden from the public eye and there is no any sign or mark of this place of worship. It would be nice to hear again the muezzin calling the faithful to prayer and remember my incredible trip to Istanbul.
This advertisement space on Aristida Briana iela is left unattended for about 20 years and this days' grey weather reproduces sunburned colors even better. I guess it was some kind of Soviet social advertisement and when Latvia became independent, Russian letters were simply painted over. Does anybody have an idea what message could be written there? :)
Septītās dienas Adventistu Baznīca (Seventh-day Adventist Church) is another relatively new religion represented in Latvia. Around 50 churches and 4000 church members make Adventists' religion the 7th largest in country.
On Easter Sunday children are usually looking for Easter Eggs since the early morning :) I guess it is not difficult to find these ones growing on the tree, but what about to pick up all of them? Happy Easter! :)
The real urban mire could be found in Riga Old Town at the cross of three streets: Kalēju iela, Minsterejas iela and Kungu iela. For many years here is the same picture. Nothing has been changed, and seems that it's not going to be. The water is here, because many years ago here was the course of Ridzene river, the famous river which after Riga City was named.
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