Why I didn’t like Helsinki Before I continue, I should tell you the reason for the trip. Before Covid started, I bought a ticket to a Punk in Drublic show with NOFX and some other punk bands. I had gone to see them in Berlin a couple years earlier, and this sounded like a fun …
Part 1: The Ferry and Human Kindness I spent a day in Tallinn and then got aboard the Tallink Ferry to Helsinki. My first mistake was thinking, in my own childish way, that I could simply walk to the boat and get on board. I left my Airbnb in plenty of time to walk to …
Because I am not much of a planner, and everything is closed, I wanted to do something different for Rita’s birthday this year. So I rented a car and said, “Let’s go wherever you want to go!” Because she is a planner, and always has good ideas, Rita found some really cool spots that I …
For those of you who do not know, I live in Riga, Latvia and a few weeks ago, the government announced emergency measures were returning because Covid is on the rise. I have been shocked to see how quickly we went from almost 0 cases this summer to over a thousand cases a day with …
I have been trying to write something about my trip back to the states after 4 years in Latvia. Rita and I did return for a short visit 3 years ago, but this was my first time back in what felt like a long, long time. I wasn’t sure what to write or how to …
4 May I did a quick search on my site, and it seems that I have not written a post about the 4th of May, which is a cool, relatively new, holiday in Latvija. If I have written about it, and this feels like old news to you, I am so sorry. As most of …
March 2021 March has always been my favorite month because it is my birth month along with the birth month of some of the best people I know. This year, it also coincides with my first year anniversary at my new job, and we are supposed to use our vacation days each year, but because …
How many different places have you lived in your life? 21 Tērbatas Iela I have just moved into my 21st dwelling during my time here on earth. Four more, and I get a prize, preferably a silver chalice with commemorative leaves. Yes, we have officially left the beautiful Miera neighborhood and become city center dwellers …
Draugi, nav labi! That is what our Latvian Primeminister, Kariņš, said in his last speech about Covid. It translates as “Friends, it isn’t good.” Now they make t-shirts with the saying on it. It has quickly become his catchphrase. Earlier this year, I think I wrote about how Covid was pretty much under …
Note: I am writing this out of total appreciation for my existence in this place at this time and the opportunities that I have, none of which have been earned or deserved. I tell people that a Latvian day sometimes feels like 3 or 4 stuffed into one. This is both true from a work …