Riga Local Customs

In Riga you wont find a lot of places for the junk food. Here is just very few McDonalds and pizza places. That kind of food is not very popular in here and mostly people prefer to have a soup during they lunch and not hamburger or slice of pizza.

Amber is probably the most attractive tourist souvenir in the Baltic States. It originally is fossilized pine tree sap. Amber is attractive as jewellery because of its light yellow color. In Riga you can buy it quite cheaply from little stalls on roadside.

Like in almost all European cities you can see musicians on the streets, singing or playing an instrument. But what I noticed in Riga was then all of them were elderly people. I guess that nobody of them was younger then 50. I also saw a lot of elderly people selling flowers or small handmade crafts in the streets.

Lativians are proud of their independence, and whilst they are trying to embrace European culture and membership, some of their styles (notably dress sense) are a little strange. Not as bad as in the picture though.

For majority of mine foreign friends this was big surprise to try this Latvian speciality - smoked fish. We smoke almost any fish with hundreds of recepies. Some is treated as delicacy with a price which just few can afford, eel for example. However - try smoked fish with Latvian beer, you won't regret it. Easily to find in local markets or shops, but better to buy these at the seaside, just 35 kilometers from Riga.

Here comes my favorite beer - Tervetes. You can get it almost in every pub in Old Town or in shops. Slightly bitter - but tastes marvelous! Tru this first and then try Bauskas light, or Piebalgas. Only after trying these sorts you will understand the real taste of Latvian beer, where no influence of foreign company could be felt.

I have loaned this slogan from Carlsberg's beer, but that good that they are saying that their beer "PROBABLY" is the best. I would say that we Latvians can say with certainity. The biger brewer in Latvia is "Aldaris" but according to my pont of wiev it lies somewhere benieth of Latvian beers. But here is something to admit - president of brewery - Vitaly Gavrilov. He is the most colour person in Latvian business, with loving latvian folk dances and songs. He is really interesting person.

One of the not so common beers is Lacplesis beer, it is named after the Latvian famous epic poem, and it taste good.