LATVIA
The Republic of Latvia is a Baltic nation most known for unconventional thinkers unlike anything in popular culture. This country in the North of Europe is the land of infamous thinkers and progenitor of trends from soulful violinists with personality like Gidon Kremer, to the dazzling tippy-toer modern dance promoter Mikhail Nikolaevich Baryshnikov, fashion inventor of copper rivets for Levi-Strauss jeans Jacob Davis, and the adventure-spirited Latvian Aleksandrs Laime to which the world owes the discovery of the Rio Gauja, after the longest and most beautiful river of Latvia, that features the Angel Falls, plus three other rivers: Venta, Ogre, and Daugava. Some of these names we hardly recognize-save for adult film stars. Apparently, nothing is quite secret about Latvia’s tourism or sex industry.
And while it is true that the people of this sexy Baltic nation are among the most important facets of a Latvian tour, Latvia’s speciality are the untrampled and undiscovered hole-in-the-walls, besides the already stunningly dramatic main attractions. There’s just something about Latvia that encourages a releasing of inhibitions-the secluded beaches, the sensual scenery, the private parks, the virgin forests, and the flowing rivers, or perhaps it’s simply that Latvians render huge emphasis literacy. Truth of the matter is, many important things and aspects of modern culture we now enjoy were given birth somewhere in Latvia, and to witness how the country’s beauty provides such an inspiration and liberation would be perfectly worth all the time and money in the world.
GEOGRAPHY
Latvia (57 00 N, 25 00 E) in Northern Europe is a terrain of generally low arable plains predominantly in central Latvia, rolling to small hills to the east in the western Kurzeme region as the country’s area of 64,589 km2 lies on the East European Plain. In fact, the highest point is only 312m above sea level – the Galzina Kalns. With thick forest covers, a large part of the land is arable befitting agriculture with almost 30% of Latvia’s entire area due to the mostly damp nature of the land. Latvia even required drainage, not irrigation.
CLIMATE
The climate of Latvia is of maritime and temperate classification with high humidity. Hence precipitation is fairly common with the heaviest rain falling in July. Continental and temperate as well, seasons are essentially mild. Summers are warm, but winters can be extreme. Latvia’s proximity to Russia is to credit for the harsh cold winds and the ruthless snowfall. Spring and autumn are rather mild.
PEOPLE
At present, the multi-ethnic Latvian population records 2,248,000 people with strong centuries-long Germanic and Scandinavian influences. The ethnic Latvians include 59.3% of the population while the country has decently-sized German, Russian, Polish, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Lithuanian and Jewish groups. The Latvians have a low fertility rate (1.31 children per woman).
LANGUAGE
LATVIAN is the de facto official language, a Baltic language that is still Indo-European in origin, spoken by about 60% of the population. RUSSIAN was widely spoken in the Soviet period, thus explaining the sizeable 38% demographic of speakers to this day. Other langue spoken in Latvia is the near-extinct and protected LIVONIAN of the Uralic language family and LATGALIAN, a variation of Latvian. ENGLISH is an upcoming foreign language, that in the last few decades, extensive borrowing from the English language has been taking place.
RELIGION
Christianity is the principal religion of Latvia with the majority of Latvians as members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Moreover, bulks of Latvians adhere to Latvian Orthodox, Judaism, and, in Eastern Latvia, Roman Catholicism.
ATTRACTIONS
It was aforementioned that nothing about Latvian tourism is a secret, particularly in the discussion of the capital that is Riga. Riga is an ideal destination for tourists necessitating a relaxing weekend with its bucolic Eastern European appeal. Ducks wander in the old town on the old-fashioned cobbled streets with a picturesque natural backdrop. But, as the largest and indubitably most exciting city of the Baltic States, talking about its thriving and throbbing night life, Riga has been attracting the type of tourist looking for a licentious kind of relaxation.
Ever since cheap flights to Latvia leaked and trickled around Europe, impoverished Slavic women opted for the sex business. Hence, a traveller possesses the option to either embrace the rustic off-the-beaten path Baltic scenery or the rusty heavily trudged Baltic women. Get wet doing sports like kayaking, rafting, and hiking in the winding Gauja River area or get wet doing otherwise. However, the latter option is not for budget travellers apparently as the girls fancy money and merchandise. The girls are fit, but not quite as enchanting as a red sunset cast behind erstwhile forts and basilicas and its finials.
Discover scenic little medieval villages, crumbling forts, and divine basilicas. The Latvian castles in itself is a tour on its own with literally countless sites all around from as early as 7th century like Grobina to the 19th century palaces. Sigulda is quite the celebrity for this excursion while in Cesis is an Order Castle, besides the Aglona Church, circa 1218, and in Rundale, the Rundale Baroque castle and Latvia’s most famous. And what of the beach and sand in all 498 km of coastline that wager against the azure Baltic Sea? There’s enough to credit this wonderland for its accolade as one of Europe’s finest and hidden treasures -furthermore, the diversity in landscape and in women.
FOOD
Then comes the food…Latvian cuisine simply ups the level of travel experience by its famed dairy and bread produce. Shopping is indeed fun in Latvia whether buying counterfeits, amber, or just buying groceries where the selection is the greatest than in all of Europe. Latvia is where peasant food is absolutely rich and loaded. The staples are wheat, rye, oats, beets, potatoes, and peas while bacon, sausage, and mainly pork meats are of essence (so long halal!). It may be horrible to be a vegetarian in Latvia with all the meat, butter, and desserts sprawled all around. We’re talking frikadelu zupa or meat soup with bouillon, kotletes or meatballs with potatoes, and lovely herring fresh off the Baltic served with cottage cheese, the siļķe ar biezpienu. After, an rich éclair, a decadent strawberry-rhubarb pie, or a Lamais chocolate for dessert perhaps?
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Josh Boorman
Editor-in-chief
Backpacking Addictz
Twitter: @backpackaddictz
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