Second language

On 18 February citizens of Latvia will vote in a referendum whether the Russian language should have an official status in Latvia. In reality Russian is already a second language in Latvia as it is commonly used all around.
Photos by (c) Arnis Balcus

Gastronome

Those neon lights are what's left from a Soviet time "gastronomy" - grocery store. They indicate the products you could buy there- sausage, ham, cheese, milk & kefir and canned goods. The signs can still be found on K.Valdemara street in Riga, while the shop vanished back in 1990s.
Photo by (c) Arnis Balcus

Penjikent-Dushanbe

To reach Dushanbe we hired a car with a driver in Penjikent. Although it's 225 km, the journey took almost 7 hours due to many stops and road condition. These kind of objects signify the presence of an inhabited locality.

The car goes up and down the hills. The weather changes from hot to cold.

It seems they have got the road police after every 20 km. The guys in the red car perhaps did not want to pay the bribe so the police searched their car.

On the way there are quite a few villages. This is a department store in one of them.

And this is a bus stop with a star built in.

Next to old factories colorful Soviet times mosaics can be found...

...or murals.

Animals cannot climb the rocks everywhere to feed themselves thus they wander on the roads. Sometimes they cause road accidents. For instance, I saw a dead donkey.

Most of the road is in poor condition and very dangerous to Western standards. Look at those traffic signs - at the same time you should expect curve, steep uphill and slippery road. Don't even dream of hiring a car and driving yourself if you come from a flat land country.
Photos by (c) Arnis Balcus

Latglavenergo

This is a plate by Latglavenergo that says "To repair or change pillow-blocks without the presence of a representative from a cable department is dangerous to your health". This plate could be around 30 years old, found on Hospitāļu street in Riga.
Photo by (c) Arnis Balcus

Old utility

This is an plate for some repair shop on Valdeku street in Riga. The age of pictograms suggest that the plate is at least 15 years old.
Photo by (c) Arnis Balcus

Builders street

This is an old street name plate on Kartupeļu (Potatoes) street that used to be called Celtnieku (Builders) street in Soviet times. The plate also says that it is a district of Lenin (Ļeņina rajons).
Photo by (c) Arnis Balcus

A day in Liepaja

Last Sunday in Liepāja, West Latvia.
Photos by (c) Arnis Balcus

Fish pavilion

There are five pavilions at the Central market, the fish pavilion being the most old-fashioned one. In the near future it will also experience renovation works.
Photos (c) Arnis Balcus

Central market

Riga Central market is a popular tourist sight. However, soon the market will experience renovation and might lose its exotic and vintage character. Some of the stalls have been already demolished, more destruction and renovation to follow in the next months. Most photos represented here are from the manufactured goods market - one of the most bizarre areas in the Central market.
Photos by (c) Arnis Balcus