A Night at Diamond Lil's

Now here is a question, if the world ( well Riga anyway) was your Oyster, what would you choose to do on a Friday night ?

Well last Friday on the invitation of V... ( Australian Latvian who builds things - sometimes) - I and a few friend were invited to a Soiree at Les Diamonds to view the Faberge collection of jewellery.

This was based on the premise that some "interesting" people would also be attending, and that free wines and finger nibble would on hand.

Apparently the owner wanted foreign guests, as she clearly assumed that they have money - between all of us I don't think we could have afforded a pair of cufflinks.

So there we were at the appointed hour - 6.00pm - I.. ( Scottish - he who counts numbers), T... ( American - Candlestick maker) and partner, V... ( see above) and myself - and in we entered, to be greeted by the Lady owner, resplendent in a what looked like an evening gown, two female assistants and a young man of of German persuasion, who took great delight in explaining the benefits of buying Faberge products.

Our fashion attire was more down to earth - basically Jeans etc, + boots/shoes covered in snow - a more unlikely looking of Faberge purchaser could not exist, but as the pictures show V.... just blended right in !

For those of you, who are interested, the eggs were a mere Ls8000.00 and Pies De resistance was the necklace, which was priced at Ls 32,000.00.

Having spent the best part of 30 minutes in absolute boredom, and with no other "guests" arriving - we were it !! - and just to add to the discomfort in the background was the mandatory pianist, giving it his all, and thereby making sure that any conversation could only take place with difficulty.

Now the really good news is that this event is going to be repeated every Friday night, so if you want some free food and wine go along, and on the 17th March a really special night - even more Faberge eggs will be on display - God I can hardly wait.

Having been duly enthralled, we took ourselves of to a more down to earth hostelry to indulge in a few beers.

S..... ( Welsh with attitude) joined us, very disappointed that he missed the earlier cultural event, but indulged in what he claimed was his first beer in 10 days (dubious claim me thinks) - but apparently he had been suffering from food poisoning. Anyhow he managed to have a few without any after effects.

Anyway we righted the world, and even S.... managed a smile ,as he put his challenging week behind him - refreshed in the thought that the ass.....s of Sweden ( T..... part time fireman I exclude you from this list) have been duly dispatched back to where they belong. Who said doing business in Latvia was easy ?

The weekend seemed to pass in a flash, however Sunday was spent in the relative luxury of the Radisson hotel, where the three of us ( I...., S..... and myself) indulged in there Sunday Brunch - first time in years that I have been in the Radisson).

The lunch was superb, as much you could eat, with champagne on the side, all for the princely sum of Ls 12.00 - and there to entertain us was a delightful trio (Violin, Organ and base guitar).

As you will gather at any function in Latvia - musical accompaniment is mandatory.

So all in all an interesting weekend, and of course the band of cretins were in town, and it would appear that Liverpool may claim to have the largest percentage of cretins of any city in the UK, judging by the numbers and behaviour of them.

One small note in regards to cretin free drinking establishments, we rediscovered one of the oldest "Irish" bars, which was totally cretin free - could it be the fact that they do not have SKY TV ? I will not name names for obvious reasons, but for those in the know, it was where the original Paddies night was held.

and finally to visitor from Kirklees - many thanks for visiting, and you now hold the record for having spent the longest time on this blog an astounding 106 minutes, in two sessions, on Saturday 4th March - I hope this means that you found it interesting, and not that you fell asleep whilst reading.