Off the Map

Adrift in Latvia

"This is your captain speaking. On behalf of the crew, thank you for flying RyanAir, and welcome to Riga."

Latvia was the 5th former Soviet Block nation I've visited since setting foot on this continent. Except for anti-capitalist graffiti in East Germany, who's economy is in dire straits anyways, I've neither seen nor felt much remnants of that former Juggernaut. Croatia was fiercely nationalistic, Prague was too touristy, and Slovenia was totally indifferent. I'm still trying to pin it, but Latvia felt much more like the former Soviet state I had always dreamed about (C'mon, I know you want to visit a stereotypical Communist state. Lets just celebrate that victory by casting the whole USSR thing as some exotic culture, like the Eskimos. That way we can all have a warm and fuzzy feeling: Awwww... those crazy Communists, what are they going to get themselves into next?).

That Regia's population is about half Russian probably contributed to the USSR vibe. Just knowing that Jermala, a small beach resort town 20 min out of Riga, is one of the favorite destinations of the new Russian elite helped too. Now that I mention it, we were in the lobby of a Latvian massage/treatment resort in Jermala when a rich-thug looking Russian and his trophy wife walked in. He gave me one of the most hostile stares I've ever received from a stranger as soon as he saw me standing nonchalantly in a polo and flip-flops speaking English with Kevin.

Riga is full of contrasts. The most beautiful women I've seen in Europe were in Riga, but Riga had more people with skin diseases and bad BO than anywhere I've been. Riga has some very elegant buildings in its old town, but many of the streets are so riddled with potholes you need a Humvee to get around. Shifty looks abound on the streets (esp. at night), but every Latvian I met was super friendly. Riga was a key city in the Eastern Bloc, but is now leading the Baltic state's push into capitalism.

Speaking of capitalism, the Rigans have a love for pole-dancing and stripping. I've been thru my share of red-light districts, but the only erotic dancing is behind closed doors. Pretty much every bar, and definitely every club in Riga has at least 1 girl standing on the bar dancing around a pole. Walk into an establishment during the day for a classy meal, and you'll probably see that sparkling silver pole mounted to the bar, waiting for nightfall. Walk around at night and look for groups of Latvian men - they are almost certainly standing outside a bar window with a view of the scantly-clad dancing girls.

posted by Jason @ 10:14 am