Greettings from Latvia!!!

What a gorgeous photo! Look at the height of them..and such a pretty lady.

Starzz--You should be in approximately the same zone....When i start posting the flower photos for ID'ing, maybe you will know what they are???? I don't have a zone-map that includes Europe. They always just have the USA. Over there, no one has heard of "zones"....

Gita

Gita, Nice to have you back! That is a pretty lily, hope you can get a few bulbs for you garden and the multiply fast. I'm sure you will have some takers when it comes time to thin them out! LOL.

Can't wait to see more of your pictures, and to hear how your flower gardens were doing while you were away.

Welcome home!

Welcome back Gita! Glad you got safely home and I can't wait to see all the pictures. That's some lily! I too would love to have one that size. Hope you learn a source or the name. The others are lovely too. I just was in a lily coop and look forward to growing them. They are so pretty.

Good Morning, Welcome Home Gita!!

Today, I read every word of post over here.

Wow, I am so glad you had such a Wonderful time.
You have written such beautiful commentaies of your Lativia.

I am waiting patiently for you to post the pictures.
I am going to be marveling for sure.

What a beautiful glorious Lily!

LOL, so glad you enjoyed the food and COLD Beer!

...Enjoy catching up, or down to your time. So glad you enjoyed your gardens and they did so well.

I enjoyed the history of your cousins and i am really glad they got their Grandfathers apartments! Rightfully theirs.

OK marked the the watch thread...
LOL, let the photo's beigin.

Have a grand day Gita, and I say again
WELCOME HOME!!
Judy

Welcome home, Gita! That lily is a regale lily. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1023/ It's pretty easy to find in the US. There's also an all white form http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/141844/

Welcome Home Gita!!!!!!!!!!!

Oooh. J L Hudson has seeds for $2.50 -- http://www.jlhudsonseeds.net/SeedlistLI.htm

—Lilium regale, (d,h) LILY-95. Packet: $2.50
5 grams: $20.00, 10 grams: $36.00
'ROYAL or REGAL LILY'. Large fragrant trumpet shaped 6" white flowers with canary-yellow throat, and flushed lilac to purple outside. One to 7 per plant, in July to August. To 2 - 6 feet tall. W. China. Germinates in 2 - 11 weeks without pretreatment. "Have had them bloom in 18 months from seed started in late December." —Bertrand. "Deliciously fragrant... One of the most beautiful of all known lilies, the exquisite blending of tints and colors forming a charming contrast with the rich, deep green foliage. Highly recommended... hardy, strong growing and permanent as far North as Boston." —J. H. Tilton.

Annies Annuals has bulbs for about $10 each, plus shipping.

Old House has them for about $4 each, including shipping -- but with a $30 minimum.

The bulbs are easy to find and for a lot cheaper than that.

Here's 5 bulbs for $12.95
http://nga-gardenshop.stores.yahoo.net/31-6251.html

5 for $9.95 from Scheepers, but they also have an order minimum. They have other trumpet lilies too
http://www.johnscheepers.com/catview.cgi?_fn=Product&_category=Lilies:Chinese

Hart -- As always, you are the best detective!

By the way, they're supposed to spread eventually so you don't need tons of them to have a nice clump.

WOW!!!! WOW!!!! You guys are amazing!!!! That's WHY I LOVE DG!!!
I have to now click on all the links to see what's what!

I would rather spend the money here to buy them than have to chance my cousins sending me dug-up lilies and maybe having them intercepted by the Postal Service.

It poured rain last night. Everything is droopy! My Tomatoes are beyond tall/big/falling over on themselves! Been eating my Sun Golds already!

Thank you all! LOVE YOU ALL!

Gita
Here's my Sun Golds...

And the other one...

And all the Basil I grew from seed that no one picked. It is now going to seed. My priority asap is cutting it down and--obviously--making Pesto!

OK! Just as a "teaser" here's a picture from Riga:

They all have these upright frames they use as planters. They are all over town!
That's ME--see how tall they are?

Enjoyed reading your vacation with your overseas family. Looking forward to all the pictures. Do tourist who only speak English have a problem communicating there?

Cordele,
Not really. Most of the younger people all speak English to some degree-- many fluently....The older ones might not. One thing to remember is to talk slowly and not to use slang words or any typical American expressions (idioms), which is what makes American English so difficult. If they speak English there, it is more than likely the "King's English".

We all still speak Latvian, so that was not a problem. The funny thing is that they all say we have an accent speaking it....We use the language correctly--but there is something in the intonation and pronunciation that is different by now. Oh well--
Everyone there speaks Russian--same as we all speak English here, no matter what our mother tongue is.

If you really plan to go oversees, it might be a good idea to get a small pocket dictionary to help with the more common words. Everyone appreciates if you at least try....

Gita

My goodness, our cities could take lessons on how to keep the streets clean. edit(from the looks of the last picture) I'm betting the citizens also do their part with pride. Pride is what is lost in most cities in American, as bad as I hate to admit it.

This message was edited Jul 24, 2008 9:11 PM

Cordele,

YES! The City is very clean! They could do with larger trash cans, though, instead of these tiny little trash derpositories attached to the buildings here and there. Later in the evening, you can see some trash and empty bottles here and there--especially in the "Old Riga" tourist areas, but it is all cleaned up by morning.
There are many, many Parks around the main City--all planted with flowers and well kept.

The "Old Riga" (established in 1201) is the original City--such as it was in the medieval times--fortified with a serious wall all around the central part with towers to watch for any enemies. The castle was inside this wall as were all kinds of other buildings. There are all kinds of narrow, cobblestone streets winding their way around--in no particular direction.
This is now the Tourist area with a zillion outdoor cafes, shops selling all kinds of things, vendors on the streets, Restaurants and Pubs. They make all their own beers in Latvia--and, I tell you, they are excellent and come in a 1/2 liter size bottle. Cost--about 2 lats each. Draft beer might be cheaper.

Latvia's money is called the "Lat". The coins are called "santims". Paper money starts with the 5 Lat note. One Lat is a coin--and then the lesser coins--just like here.
The US $ is very weak--worth only about .44 Santims to the dollar. SO! If you look at all the listed prices--it seems cheap, but you have to multiply it by more than 2 to get an approximate dollar value.

Clothing and shoes and watches etc. are VERY, VERY expensive! Being it was end of Summer, there were seasonal sales. I did not shop for anything. Just looked.

Food is natural and amazingly good, especially dairy products. Everyone here drinks "Keffir"--a sort of thick, buttermilk. It is very tasty. I think it is available here in places like "Whole Foods" stores. Many, many varieties of cheeses are available as are REAL smoked fish and herring in many forms.

Across from the main RR station downtown, there is the City Market. WOW!!!! Four HUGE, hangar-type hoop houses each contain a certain class of food. One is all meats, one is all dairy products, one is all fish of all kinds (fresh and smoked) and the fourth is a hodge-podge of all kinds of other things. Outside the buildings are many, many booths--like a Farmers market--with ladies selling fresh berries and veggies and fruits. There are also clothing and shoes and wine shops. It is an attraction in itself....

Commuting is done by trolley cars or buses--or, walking.... A pass for the ride costs .40 santims and there are NO transfer tickets. You have to buy a second pass. These trolleys run every few minutes, but you better get on the right one! For trips outside the City, you get on the train (after walking for 20-30 minutes to get to the Station. Sometimes, to catch a certain streetcar, you walk a couple of miles anyway--so, might as well walk all the way there...
There are cars all over the place, but I never saw any parking garages or such. People park half-way on the sidewalks. Seems legal in some areas.....
There are so many cars that rush hour traffic jams are common. Fancy cars to boot yet! Better ones than the average person drives here....

The young ladies are all SO attractive! Most of them are quite tall with lonnnng legs and most of them wear high heels and very sexy clothes. No hang-ups there for how much cleavage they show! Real lookers! Beautiful faces, high cheekbones, not much make-up--except the eyes. No lipstick. All the latest jeans and such. Real "eye-candy" for you Guys.....AND--they are all about a size 2! Did not see hardly any overweight people there at all. No wonder--all the walking everyone does, but I think it is more than that. A certain level of pride in one's appearance. Good, basic food--no greasy junk food like here. Everywhere we went, the food was just great. But, I already wrote about that.

OK! I was going to start posting the first bunch of pictures tonight, but now it is a bit late. Will start tomorrow--I promise! There will, probably, be about 5-6 "installments"....

Hope this gave you a sort of overview of life in Riga. You can Google, "Latvia" or "Riga" and read up on this country more in-depth yourself.
If you read up on our political history, it is full of occupations (Germans or Soviets), deportations of men and families to Siberia, Mass murders, etc. YES--We also have had our Holocausts--people just don't know about it. The Soviets have tried so hard to destroy these 3 small countries (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania--the 3 small Baltic Countries), but we all have persevered and survived over the centuries in spite of it all. Strong people--I tell you! Proud and determined--real survivors.

Time for bed! Will continue tomorrow....

Gita

It is wonderful to have you home Gita. I am like the others who are looking forward to seeing your photographs. I bet that your home gardens are magnificient.

The Golden tomatoes that you showed a picture of, is that the same variety that you gave me at the plant swap at Becky's? Mine are full of tomatoes, but none ripening yet. Can't wait to eat them, whatever the variety. Thank you so much for you generosity. It is much appreciated.

I am glad that you had Internet service while in Latvia. What a surprise it was when we first heard from you.

Have a good weekend and stay cool.

Ruby

Ruby,

I expect the ones I gave you were volunteers from last year. They should be very prolific, red cherry tomatoes. Got a picture? I want to see how big those little seedlings have grown.

The Sun Golds are new to me this year. VERY sweet--but the skins are a bit tough. What causes that?

OK! I am going to start posting pictures this AM.

Gita

OK, Folks--Here we go! Installment #1.

This is my Sister Liga and me arriving at the Riga International Airport and being greeted by our relatives. I am on the left--my sister is on the right. My old Aunt, Marija (86) and her daughter, Gunta in the middle. Marija is a trip! Besides flowers, she brought me a bottle of beer in her purse.....:o)

These are my sisters (Valda is in the foreground-she's the one who lives in Alaska). and Liga's son Karlis, who joined us for ONE week on this trip. He's a bachelor....lives in CA. What a shame no one has snagged him yet! These are steps up a small hill in a Park.

This is our VERY symbolic and beloved "Freedom Monument". It sits in the center of a plaza on Freedom Blvd. in the middle of the city.
The maiden on top is holding 3 golden stars. They stand for: To Latvia...........To my Fatherland...........and To Freedom.
Even throughout all 50 years of Soviet occupation, no one dared to touch or harm this Monument.

On our Independence day (Nov. 18) and on all kinds of commemorative Holidays, the base around this Monument is covered in flowers!

Here is the base of this Monument.
It depicts the struggles and the brave men that fought to gain freedom (in 1918). The inscription reads: To my Fatherland and to Freedom.
An Honor Guard stands by it at all times.

This is our National Opera House. It sits in Plaza as well with plantings around it beautiful?
I remember images of this all through growing up. It is such an "icon" of Riga!
Of course, like many other things, it was cleaned up and renovated. They were beginning to work on it when i was there in 1994.
I believe it was built in or around the mid-1800's.

You have already seen the picture of the fountain in front of this Opera House--with me standing in front of it. Yes? I posted it.

Another view--including the beautiful fountain.

This is one of the many Church steeples (3 or 4) that dominate the Riga skyline. This one is called the "Domu (Dome) Church" and it sits smack in the center of "Old Riga". There is a very large open plaza besides it where many events and concerts take place. There is also many cafes and outdoor eating places in this Plaza....same as everywhere else.

Please note the sculptures on the top of the tower. 3 Men holding up the World.

Here's the goods (amber) of one of the many street vendors that line these plazas. Mind you, there were nearly 100,000 extra tourists that flooded Riga during these 3 weeks because of the "Song and Dance Festival" that was going on. So--everyone was out there--trying to sell whatever they could. I bought 3 of those little, amber-covered Hedgehogs (4-7 Lats each) as souvenirs for myself and my 2 daughters.
I have enough amber jewelery and don't need any more.

Just FYI----Amber was never popular in the US until the film "Jurrasic Park" came out. Then it--like--took off. Most good amber comes from the Baltics, as it is the oldest....like, 30 million years old! Lithuania and Poland are huge suppliers of amber.
Amber is petrified sap from large, prehistoric Pines. As the trees lived and died, they fell over and, eventually, became covered with soil and sediment. Then the seas came and flooded all these areas. The trees rotted and disintegrated, leaving all the sap in them as petrifies, soft "stones". This is Amber. It comes in all colors and shades and clear or mottled. There is blue, green, milky white, honey clear, etc. Once in a while an insect would get caught in the sap and become embedded in it. These pieces of Amber fetch great amounts of money.
Amber pieces still wash out now and then on the pure white beaches of these countries.
Commercially, Amber is excavated. One of the biggest places this is done in this Hemisphere is in the Dominican Republic, but this amber is NOT as old as the one from the Baltics.

When I was in Australia/New Zealand in 1988, to my utter surprise, there, in the Museum of Natural History, were floor-to-ceiling cases with Amber of all kinds--some chunks were the size of loaves of bread! HOWEVER--This was relatively immature Amber--being only 10-20 thousand years old. This kind of Amber is sometimes referred to as "Copal".
I am sure you can Google Amber and learn much more about it.

There is a wonderful book on this Gem called: "Amber--The golden Gem of the Ages" by Patty C. Rice, PhD. Published in 1987. ISBN #0-917-00720-5

Here is one of the original, cobblestone, narrow streets that criss-cross Old Riga.
Even outside the center of the Old Riga area, many streets are all cobblestone.

Here is another one.

The buildings all throughout Riga are fantastic examples of 19th Century Art Nouveau architecture. Nowhere else in Europe there are this many! Riga has 750 buildings of all sorts in this style, which makes it look like castles everywhere!
Because of this, in 1997, the historical center of Riga was included in the list of the UNESCO's World Cultural Heritage as a "masterpiece of global and human creative genius".

The city and all the streets are filled with these beautiful buildings sporting ancient Greek and Roman mythological characters on their facades, roofs, eves, doorways, and such.

Many of these buildings have been cleaned off and re-painted. The difference between the "uncleaned" and the "cleaned-up" ones is like night and day. It costs a lot of money to renovate a building.

I hope to show you as many of these as I can.

Here are some that are under renovation. They hang these huge, nylon nets down the facade of the building and just work away.

This is St. Peters Church--the highest Gothic church in Latvia. It was constructed during different time periods--from the 13th century to the 15th. The tower with the 3 cupolas was added in the 17th century. Being of ALL wood construction, the tower has burned on several occasions--the latest being 1941 when the 2nd WW reached Riga. It was renewed in 1971, no longer using all wood to do so.

The original base of the church is stone. Here we are entering it to take the elevator up to the observation platform . It is a small, crowded platform. It was constantly full of people--shoulder to shoulder....

Once up there, I took photos of the City in a 360* view from above. I think this will really give you a birds-eye view of what this old City looks like .

Next.....

Next....

Next...

This is the Daugava river--Latvia's biggest river. It has several bridges that cross it from the central City to more the outer City and beyond.
The Daugava is considered the "Mother River" of Latvia and is referred to lovingly in many songs and folk songs. It runs right through Riga and into the Gulf of Riga, which of course is part of the Baltic Sea.

See the 4 hoop-like buildings in the distance? That is the HUGE City Market. Fresh goods and meats galore! I mentioned it earlier. And--another one of the bridges crossing the Daugava river in the distance. They are building a new one further down--as the traffic has become too heavy for the existing ones to handle it all.