The Meaning of Life

I found a very compelling restaurant in the Old Town, Vecriga.

I have found a paradise on Earth. It's not a Central European expensive fancy-ass hellhole because it's located in lower-income-rate Eastern Europe, but it is Western enough not to give a huge culture shock. They speak Russian and have Russian type markets but it's not Russia or too Russian to cause angst to a Westerner.

It's Riga, the capital of Latvia!

The Baltic countries have been treated as one country since Molotov-Ribbenthrop contract when the Baltic countries became Communists while all Jews were exterminated. The horrendous ages of Stalin and Hitler are far away. I hope the Jews feel free to move to Baltic coutries if they like. Antisemitism and all kind of racism are unnecessary waste of time. This planet is ours, we live here together. Get used to it.

So, while Estonians speak a Fenno-Ugric language, the Latvians and Lithuanians speak Baltic languages. The Baltic languages has given many loan words to Finnish and they are considered to be the oldest languages in the Indo-European language family. Lithuanian is older and a more original than Latvian, but the Latvians and Lithuanians understand each other (I've heard). The words of Latvian I know don't much help me to understand Lithuanian.

Latvia has the Protestant faith and Lithuania is Catholic. Riga is the largest city of the Baltics and is located near the sea. The Eastern neighbor to Latvia is the Russian Federation. The capital of Lithuania, Vilnius, is located in Southern Lithuania quite near the Belorussian border. The only harbor town Lithuania has is called Klaipeda. I'll travel to Lithuania later to learn more of it's cultural wonders and craft history.

So as you may have understood my dear readers, I have left a part of my heart and soul to Riga. The people are amazing and the city is wonderful. I'm learning some Latvian so I don't need to speak Russian to them all the time. There are many Russians in Latvia and other Baltic states, but you should remember that the Soviet era and Russian invaders was a nightmare so remamber to be extra nice if you need to speak the war lord language to them. Many Latvians also speak English and German.