Update re Latvia

I mentioned before that Bob Cowan of Reform CC was in Latvia last week. Hre are Bob's comments he kindly sent me by way of e-mail: -

Hello Mike,

I very much enjoyed my trip to Latvia with the Reform CC. I really did not know what to expect from the country, or the people. The latter were pleasant, and the curlers very enthusiastic and welcoming. Many speak excellent English. They played at a high standard.

The old city is very nice, and it was interesting to see the transitions elsewhere away from the legacy left by the Russians. And I just loved the trams and the trolley buses! There are lots of little restaurants, and we did not have a bad meal.

On our first day we had a great guide called Olga who took us on a walking tour through the old city, a bus trip to Jurmala on the Baltic, lunch in a modern shopping mall called Spice (that was very interesting, and unexpected), and then a boat trip on the river.

You will have seen pics of the little rink they have built. Not in the most attractive location, and probably not too easy to find. But Artis the young manager is very friendly and helpful. If you are looking to take anything, the walls of his office and the club room are completely bare as yet. I did think that I might try to source an old curling print, or something similar.

Happy to answer any specific questions. As I've already said, I went not really knowing what to expect, and was pleasantly surprised. Even our Ryanair flight from Stanstead wasn't such a bad experience after all, although the 15kg limit is quite restrictive.

Kind regards

Bob


A further helpful insight I trust you agree. We should probably consider taking something Scottish over as a gift for the ice rink. It would be good to be giving them one of their first gifts for the ice rink.

When I questionned Bob about the financial side of things he said: -

Good question. I tried a couple of places in Edinburgh with no success, although they did say they could order. But in the end I changed some £s to Lats at Stanstead airport on our way out, so I would have some in my pocket on arrival. (I changed some back into £s at the same exchange booth on our return stopover, and there was no service charge as I had kept my receipt.)

I took some English notes and Euros and these were easily changed at little exchanges in the old city tourist areas. I noted that some of the members used the hole in the walls too.

Cost of living in Riga is comparable with here I think. My major expense was really only in the evening meals - we did eat (and drink) well! Beware the Black Balsam - which goes down really well with blackcurrant! The Volvo Centre had inexpensive catering for lunches. There's little onsite at the two-sheeter yet though, except a coffee machine.

With the luggage weight limit I did not even consider bringing home any souvenirs as I would normally have done. But I did buy the tee shirt!

All helpful stuff. Looks like we might have to take food to the ice rink on the Friday.