Conspiracy Theories ?

Now that was an interesting weekend, was it not ? - France beat Wales - Ireland beat England, and as forecast here Italy beat Scotland - so that just leaves the French to wrap up the Six Nations - Sacre bleu !!

However there to watch the Irish game was a character from the past, the diminutive J.... (Irish - Riga publican of note) and in his company R... (South African - exbanker). Now was this just a coincidence ? or was there a deeper purpose behind them meeting - far be it for me to suggest otherwise - but as this was the first time I have ever seen R... in PW's - and as far as I can remember he was not a great rugby fan - so what could they have been talking about - old times ? as R... was of course an interested party in De Lacy's - Time will but tell - but the possibilities are interesting.

Final point re young J.... he has GROWN !! - of course not in a vertical direction, more in an all round fashion - married life is clearly suiting him.

Apologies re quality of pictures- blame the camera phone not me !

Of course they were not alone in watching the game also in attendance was J... (Australian - SIP king), A.... (English - white goods king), F.... (Australian - Hostel king), C... (English - Printer king) plus goodly selection of other ex-pats, to numerous to mention. And would you believe it I was party to a conversation which might indicate a new pub opening in the not so distant future.

At this time no names - as project is top secret ( So why do I know about it you might ask) - Watch this space.

For the moment we are having a respite from the downfall of snow, indeed the temperatures has risen, such that we are now likely to suffer from flooding - but as I write the sun is shining, the sky is blue - so at least for the moment all is well.

Those who visited Riga last year will remember the "No Problem" outdoor bar in Dome Square, well it had grand plans to nearly double in size for this year, but it seems the plans will have to be put on hold, as I hear that it will simply be the same as last year, which is not a bad thing as it was undoubtably the best outdoor bar in 2009. Unsure as to why the new building is not going ahead, but I suspect it has proved to be an expensive error.

Now in my last I mentioned about the danger from falling ice/snow/icicles from rooftops well as you can read from the article below -the danger is real. (Courtesy of Leta News Agency)

Three persons suffer serious injuries in downtown Riga today from falling ice

RIGA, Feb 26 (LETA) - Three persons - all women - suffered serious injuries today in three separate locations in downtown Riga from blocks of ice falling from rooftops.

Laura Bundule, spokesperson for the Emergency Medical Care Services, commented that evidently the weather has warmed up and ice is melting, therefore one must be wary not only of icy patches on streets, but must watch out for falling ice from above.

One of the accidents occurred on Biskapa gate Lane in Old Town. A block of ice plummeted on a 33-year-old woman, knocking her unconscious. She was hospitalized with neck injuries and a concussion.
A second one occurred on the corner of K.Valdemara and Dzirnavu streets, where a 70-year-old woman also suffered a concussion.

The third accident happened on Terbatas Street, but the 35-year-old victim refused to be hospitalized despite the fact that medics suspected that she too had suffered a concussion.
The total number of persons known who have suffered such injuries in past days is now 11.

As you can see from the above the icicle on a building close by me have nearly doubled in size in the last week