It is not Spring

I really thought that by now Riga would be showing the first signs of Spring approaching, but Oh no -this morning I awoke to another serious downfall of snow, which had obviously been going on all night with about 10cm - 12cm covering the cars and roads, with a forecast of -14c for tonight - it looks as if this will have been one of the longest winters for a long, long time.

Our Mexican/Latvian doctor type person V..... seems to set on setting up a home menagerie, having aquired a turtle last year, he now is in possesion of a parrot, albeit a small one. Whilst waiting for him to collect said bird, I saw a car which has been clearly parked for the duration of the Winter, the pictures below give you some idea of the level of snow we have experienced in the last few months.

Spot the car

Ah - there it is !!

As ever I was out last weekend to watch the rugby, with Ireland outplaying Wales, but as for the Scotland v England - has anybody ever seen a poorer game ? - it was P..s poor - and I can but wonder what the Scots need to put a bit of fire in their bellies, if a game against the Old Enemy cannot do it. Lord only knows what the Irish are going to do to us next weekend. On the plus side of my sporting interest good to see that Reading are finally managing to string a few wins together -but dreams of a return to the Premier are I think many years away - if ever.

I did but wonder if their was a gathering of the Welsh and Irish Village people at the game - perhaps someone out there could let me know, as they seem to have disappeared from my radar

Back to Riga news - and one of the original ex-pats P.... (New Zealander- with a much travelled family) has now returned to the land of his birth, and is now in cahoots with the New Zealand government trying to sell New Zealand produce to India ! Lots of lamb for the curries !!

Also so back from sunny Florida is G..... ( or J.....) - (American/Latvian - property magnate) - only wish he could have brought some Floridian weather back with him.

Well tonight (Tuesday) I am off to St. Patricks day celebrations courtesy of the Irish Embassy, but as the official St. Patricks day is on Wednesday, not sure why Embassy is celebrating it tonight - but no doubt all will be revealed - but maybe it is because the the village lounge is offering Guiness all day for Ls 1.00 per pint ! - just a pity I cannot drink the black stuff !

This week did see a major discovery - can now ( well once again actually) watch all of the UK tv channels in amazing quality- indeed I am watching the Sky news at I write this. I am not going to publish details as when ever I did this in the past the service went down within days - but if anybody wants the details send me an e-mail and I will let you have the info. It is a wee bit complicated to set up - but well worth the effort

Good Huh !

Aaah the little things that make life in Riga a little more bearable - sad really.

Finally if any of you out there would like to keep an eye on what is happening in Riga check out this site for webcam views (NB not all of them are live all the time)

http://www.viewlatvia.com/webcamlatvian.html

UPDATE : Just heard from one of my many roving reporters ( see comment below) , that indeed J... (Irish - seller of gaming goodies) - J... (Irish - currency speculator) - J.... (Irish - former builder of note) and S.... (Welsh- now with a French connection) were indeed all in attendance at the Ireland v Wales game and subsequently indulged in a few drinks. Good to know that a few of the ex-village people are still in touch.