Getting To Know Today's Latvia

CRAFTS TO DELIGHT A CONNOISSEUR

Naturally the tribes from which the Latvian people of today evolved developed distinctive country crafts, especially of wood carving and weaving. Textiles in muted colours and stripes, often with symbolic meanings, shawls, rugs and such delightful wooden artefacts as children's toys don't merely belong in museums.

You'll find them in shops, along with ceramics, fine china from The Riga Porcelain Factory, delicate Livanu glassware, baskets, leatherware and amber.

The highly prized amber that is washed up on the Baltic shores comes in colours from dark through clear gold to the prized near-white. Amber jewellery is one of Latvia's best buys.

LET YOUR HAIR DOWN AT A FESTIVAL

When Latvians celebrate, they celebrate! Greatest among festivals is the Summer Solstice (June 23 and 24), called the Ligo Festival, when celebrations continue all night and there are special arrangements for visitors. St. Martin's Day on November 10 is another, while "name days" are celebrated all year round.

TRY TRADITIONAL LATVIAN DISHES

Mushrooms and berries gathered in the woods add savour to Latvian cuisine, in which pork, lamb and beef feature strongly, as does fish, including herrings, lampreys, salmon and river trout. Soups are popular. Strawberries ripen in July. Local hard cheeses are a favourite and are often mixed into salads. As to drink, the local beers are renowned, while potent black balsam is reputed to have cured Catherine the Great of a fever when she came here. Try a few drops in your after dinner coffee.

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