Ligo is half of the biggest holiday in Latvīja . Jana and Ligo represent the two halves of the year and on the solstice they party. Almost everyone has the day off on Jana and Ligo. Natasha sent me a sms telling me that she had a surprise for me. In best Natasha fashion, I spent most of the morning waiting for her downtown. At least, in the summer it was not so inhospitable to sit outside in the beer tent. There were several beer gardens setup in the main squares of Old Rīga so in my best Czech way; I decided to kill time and a few brain cells.
The best way to kill an hour of Latvījan lateness is to drown it in Latvījan lager. I am not sure that in the USA a beer with a golden fish on the logo would do well. In “golden fish” beer is a close call over Vanagas. Alūs, beer, brewing skills are certainly well honed in Latvīja. Maybe, they do not drink as much as they do in Czech, but they do drink their fair share.
I was watching the ducks in the canal when I heard Natasha come up behind me. She looked great; she was wearing tan pants, dark t-shirt with a beige vest and her wrap around sunglasses. Natasha sat next to me and did not say a word. I think she got the hint that I was more than a little upset at her timeliness. Not a little late, but about an hour beyond leaving the restaurant late. The weather was nice and I had a book, what else did I have to do? She sat close to me on the bench, pulling up to my arm, and said “I have something nice for you. It is big surprise.”
Surprises abound in Rīga that is certain. Ginta and Diana, Natasha’s favorite partners in crime, were sitting on a near by bench. We quickly loaded into Ginta’s Mazda and were off to “mein schwester’s Haus.” I like German with a Russian accent; it has a twang that Germans fail at miserably. German is a lovely spoken language, but I guess some of my respect for Germans has been lost by living in Prague. Ginta has many sisters, I think four she said, and we were off to her oldest sister’s house on the outskirts of Rīga.
The girls told me that they were not a rich family. That did not much matter to me, but I was surprised at what I saw. I do not wish to hurt their feelings; Ginta’s sister’s family was kind and hospitable. The whole vista was just more information about life there. None of this information I could have hoped to have realized until it hit me in the face. They had a cool yard though, with a cow. Their cow was traditionally painted for Ligo. On our way, we stopped at the grocery store. It is surprising in some ways compared to the unplanned existence in Czech, in Latvīja too much feels planned. Sometimes even the minutia feels planned.
We bought some big tubs of chicken, beer and several other fixings for the party. Most of the time, Natasha and Ginta went shopping. So I was left pushing the cart around the store with Diana. She would throw out her hand to tell me which way to go. We meandered randomly through the store. Some how we gravitated back to the candy aisle several times, even though she knew that her mom would never let her have that much candy. I think it was a case of wishful thinking.
Diana is spoiled. Her moms and grandmother spoil her rotten, and sometimes it shows. I have been on many occasions with her and she is all but uncontrollable, unless she gets her way. I think maybe it is time for her to get some discipline. I am not talking about a spanking or the like, but discipline comes in many forms. Sometimes it is good for a parent or parental figure to step in and say “That is enough little man!” If it is applied correctly, the fear of death is always more inspiring than the death itself. Nonetheless, in order to sate the demon, Natasha and I were off to search high and low for a Kinder Bueno. I have tried them, and hazelnut filling is not my first choice, but Diana loves the goo. The backseat of Ginta’s 626 on the other hand was not so keen on four year olds eating Kinder Buenos either.
Once again we were off to “mein Schwesters Haus”. We must have gone clear across Rīga, because I have never seen that part before. It was much more run down than I had seen. Panelaks you can get used to, but dilapidated wooden buildings seem to cry to you when you approach. They just need a little help, and some care. Fifty years of no money and no maintenance will make the stateliest mansion sag under its own weight.
I helped unload the car as we were greeted by Jana, Ginta’s mom. She is a driving instructor in town, and is a pretty successful business woman by Rīgan standards. I was told to sit in the garden. The cow was cool, and was obviously arguing with Natasha about who got to eat the green apples hanging on the tree. It seems that Natasha had been swiping the tastiest apples from the low-hanging parts of the tree, and the cow was not happy with that. That pesky opposable thumb of hers made that a lot easier than it was for the cow. She loved green apples. She must have gone back four or five times and between the two of them they had mostly stripped the tree bare in one afternoon.
Natasha is great at a lot of things, but bad at building a fire. I was useful for something. A few minutes later I was scolded for not putting the chicken on the skewers correctly. Tipping back cups of beer seemed to be the task for which I had been slated. In Latvīja that is a coveted job, so it pays to be the one in the group with a good liver.
What do I remember about the rest of the afternoon and evening? Since Ligo is the solstice it is a bit of a long day above the 75th parallel. June 21st is a long day for sure. I remember that I was quite quickly rebuffed when I asked for water to drink; my glass was quickly filled with beer. This reaction seemed almost Czech. When I sat down there was beer. When I walked away from the table there was beer. When I was standing by myself someone was handing me beer.
When Ginta and Natasha returned from the store with more, you guessed it, beer. They had brought several Latvījan delicacies, including something that at first glance is exactly what you expect. Yes, dried fish on a stick tastes just like you think. It tastes like a fish that has sat in the sun for several days under a jacket of salt and spices until it is fish leather. I guess it was kind of sexy in some way, to see Ginta and Natasha strip the first of two fish clean in only a few minutes. After a few hours of Ginta’s family pouring beer into me, I bet almost anything would have been sexy. They offered me some of the fish, and with a good mouthful of beer, it did not taste worse than I expected. As usual, Natasha was correct, it did need beer. A piece of fish leather sans pivo proved less appealing than I hoped.
I think it is the same in all families, munchkins and kids eat first. Not that there were so many kids nor that I had not been picking much to the chagrin of many at the table. At that point I do not think I cared about too much. By the time dinner was served I was three sheets to the wind singing “Ligo, Ligo, Ligo” with Jana wearing the wreath of oak leaves on my head. I bet that is a great picture for when I run for president. Yes, I do remember the ice cream and beer float. It was pretty good, what ever kind of beer I was drinking was too bitter and the vanilla helped it. Relations seemed better and I was accepted a lot more the next day after getting pretty ripped with them. Jana seemed all too happy to keep pouring beer in my cup. The faster I drank it the faster she poured. I hoped that she would run out, but Natasha and Ginta would not stand by and let that happen either.
It was a lot of fun and by the time I made it home to my couch in Kengarags, I was ready to take a bath. Given my state in the morning, I must have missed the hole in the stairs and not stepped in too much cat pee on my way up. Visku Iela is not a bad place to be with a hangover on Ligo. At least one gas station was open by the lumber store on the highway. Having pre-explored the area on previous trips turned out to be a good thing. Beware, I did get some sort of kefired milk drink with fruit in what I thought was fruit juice. That alone was enough to almost make me sick. I sure am glad I got the fizzy water too.
Ligo can be a lot of fun. It is a shame that Latvījans do not tell anyone else about it. Probably, it is better that they do not, since it is still a Latvījan tradition. Make sure you are nice to the painted cow, at least share some of your green apples with him or her. After all I am not sure he became the washed cow for weeks afterwards.
Lido
Lidos are traditional Latvījan restaurants. They are quite famous due to the efforts of a local Rīgan entrepreneur who has opened a chain of them throughout town. There are at least five of them in downtown alone. When you are in Rīga, you really should eat at a Lido. Traditional Latvījan food is usually braised and is normally chicken or fish based. I have not really found anything that I did not like. Some of the sauces do require some skill to match with a given entree. Each of the lidos is different and several are special for historical or locale reasons.
The lido on the bank of the Dagauva is surrounded by a large kids-only amusement park. It is filled with colorful characters and the decorations and rides change seasonally. Inside of the main log cabin is the restaurant. There are tens of entrees available cafeteria-style and it is reasonably priced even for family or large groups. Watch the coffee; they short you on a cup of coffee. Oh, and they do charge you per sugar and per cream. I did not say that they had not mastered the concepts of capitalism, but they did miss the need for customer service. The lido on Čaku Iela has great pork ribs. When you are looking for a taste of real Latvījan cuisine try the bread soup. It is not what you expect; it is awesome with currants and whipped cream.
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