Hi bloggers!

What a week we had in Riga! Never thought I would be so amazed by this city. Nice people, great food and awesome parties! Because I don’t want us to forget our crazy experiences I’m going to talk about nightlife. Oh yes, we had a blast!

Because this was the last stop on our tour we wanted to end in style. So the last night we decided to hire a limousine. Rigalimo offered us their white Chrysler for a special price because we were visitors to the city.

As we wanted to relax before we started our night we went to Islande SPA Beauty and wellness. We treated ourselves with some foam and herb massages. After our massage we went in the Jacuzzi with some champagne. A manicure and pedicure followed and to end our hair and make-up was done by some professionals.

Before we went to the club we wanted to eat and drink something as you can’t party with an empty stomach. We chose to go to ‘7 seas’, a bar and restaurant in the centre of Riga.  It had a nice summer terrace but unfortunately it was too cold to sit outside. Nevertheless the interior of the restaurant was just as nice as the exterior. After a nice meal we went to the bar to have some drinks before taking the limo to our next stop.

With our Riga VIP Club Access we were allowed to go to several clubs. With this pass we got VIP treatment in every club so we didn’t have to wait to get in and we always had a table especially prepared for us. Life is good you would say!

First club we went to was Club Essential, a stunning club with several rooms and music genres. Second and last club of the night was Push club. Push Club is internationally known because it has clubs all over the world. There were performances of several dancers and we experienced an amazing fire show.

Although we had a splendid time I’m happy to be home again.

Ilse xxx

Sources:

http://www.nightlifeinriga.com/night.html

http://www.islandehotel.lv/Spa_and_Gym.aspx

http://eng.meeting.lv/nightlife/musicclubs.php

Riga: culture

The final stop on our trip was Riga (Latvia). If you like architecture you can definitely appreciate Riga. There’s an old town, Vecriga, where there are gothic churches and medieval townhouses. Then in the Central District of Riga there’s Art Nouveau style. Next to architecture Riga is also known for the highly-esteemed Latvian National Opera. The first operas were staged back in the 18^th century and today it’s one of the prides of the city. There’s also the Riga Opera Festival, which takes place every June. It’s the highlight of the year for lovers of performing arts. The Opera House is also used for modern ballet performances, theatre, classical music concerts,….

Riga is influenced, just as Latvian, by the Latvian folklore and by the people of the country. There are many Christian rituals to be found throughout the arts. Also the language is one of only two that have survived from the family of Indo-European languages. Around half of the people of the country speak it as their primary language.

As far as food goes, smoked foods are very popular. Also dairy products, eggs, potatoes and grains are often used. The leading beer is Aldaris. If you are into cooking there is a food industry fair “Riga Food” which is the biggest fair in the Baltics. Every year the trends of the food industry are shown. The fair highlights novelties and presents a number of serious and trustable enterprises. You can go an taste new products, watch professional chefs,…

Riga offers a lot for its tourist there’s a whole bunch of Fine bars and cafes to discover in the lively contemporary  center.  But my friend Ilse will tell you more about the nightlife. So for information about that you can read her blog.

I would like to thank you for reading our blog every week and I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. I would definitely recommend all the places we have seen.

Talk to you later

Stephanie

 sources

http://www.riga-life.com/culture/culture.php

http://www.dailylatvia.com/articles-culture.html

http://www.bt1.lv/bt1/rigafood/?link=10100000

Riga - climate -

Hello there!

Are you ready for our last bunch of experiences in a new not very known city? I hope so because we’ve had the best clincher of our trip!

Our latest stop is Latvia and in Latvia we’ve visited Riga.

We’ve chosen this city because I’ve read an article a couple of years ago about Riga in which they talked about it and recommended it to everyone.
(sources: http://www.demorgen.be/dm/nl/2907/Magazine/article/detail/454762/2008/10/16/48-uren-in-de-Letse-hoofdstad-Riga.dhtml)  

The city isn’t comparable to Hong Kong but it’s quite a romantic village.

I’m going to tell you something about their Climate in this blog so that you know when is the best time to go to Riga.

In the article I’ve mentioned before they wrote that Riga is very nice to visit in autumn, not too cold and certainly not hot for people who don’t like sunny destinations. The city is very romantic in autumn with all its leafs flying around. In Riga winter knocks earlier on the door than here with us. At the beginning of November the temperature is able to sink until under the freezing  point and it stays cold until the end of January. Some find it creepy but others think it’s lovely to have short days in that season of the year. If you know the Daugava you will be very enthusiastic when you hear that in the Winter this place changes into a BIG BIG ice rink!

At the other hand Riga knows its fabulous hot summers which start in Mai- June. Then you can count on a temperature of approximately 25 degrees and above all not very much rain.

In Riga we visited the Gulf of Riga, a body of water which is very known in the city. In the winter the gulf has its gold days and each winter a part of the gulf is covered with ice. Often the gulf is completely frozen (approximately 60% of the winters). At the other hand, in the summer the gulf knows its hot days were the temperature can rise to 26-28°. What are you waiting for?

Well dear readers, we've reached our latest destination and now it's time for us to go home after a long period of travelling. We hope you enjoyed our weekly blogs!

Xxx

Melissa

Sources:

http://www.demorgen.be/dm/nl/2907/Magazine/article/detail/454762/2008/10/16/48-uren-in-de-Letse-hoofdstad-Riga.dhtml

http://www.estonica.org/en/Nature/The_Baltic_Sea/The_Gulf_of_Riga/

http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riga

Buildings in Riga

Dear followers,

This is our last stop of the trip and so it will be my last post on this blog. I really did not know anything about this city so I searched for it on the internet. On Wikipedia I found some important buildings that we must have visited before leaving the city.

In this blog I am going to talk about some different popular buildings in Riga. One of the oddest shaped buildings is the Riga radio and TV tower.  It is the tallest structure in the Baltic countries and the second tallest in the European Union. It was built between 1979 and 1986 by USSR. Its highest point reaches 368.5 m, which makes it the third tallest tower in Europe (after the Ostankino Tower at 540 metres) and the Kiev TV Tower at 385 metres and the 14th tallest tower in the world.

The second building on our list was Latvian Academy of Sciences. The Academy of Science the official science academy of Latvia and is an association of the country's foremost scientists. The academy was founded as the Latvian SSR Academy of Sciences.

Riga Arena was the third building to visit. Arena Riga is an indoor arena in Riga, Latvia. It is primarily used for ice hockey, basketball and concerts. Riga Arena holds a maximum of 14 500 people and was completed in 2006. It was built to be used as one of the venues for the 2006 IIHF World Championship, the other being Skonto Arena. It has been home to the Kontinental Hockey League club Dinamo Riga since 2008. During the years the Arena has also hosted many well-known artists from all over the world.

What we also must not forget is that Riga is one of the largest centres of Art Nouveau, with more than a third of the buildings of its Central District built in the style. The main street for Riga’s Art Nouveau district is Elizabetes, which intersects Brivibas Boulevard. In addition to Elizabetes Street, Alberta and Strelnieku Streets also feature impressive examples of the style. In total, there are over 800 Art Nouveau buildings in Riga.

I hope you learned a bit more about the cities we have visited on our blogs and enjoyed reading them.

Shari

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riga

http://www.emporis.com/city/riga-latvia

http://www.ranker.com/review/riga-radio-and-tv-tower/1910268

Climate and weather

Bucharest climate and weather

Our next stop on the tour was Bucharest. Although it was nice weather, it was a bit on the cold side. It was always around 10°C. Bucharest is known for its hot, dry summers and cold winters. The temperatures can drop well below the freezing point. Because the city lies on the Romanian Plain it brings chilly winter winds. But overall summer temperatures are usually pleasantly warm with occasional heat waves, and humidity is low. There is an average range of hours of sunshine in Bucharest, in January it’s between 2,2 hours and in July it’s about 10,5 hours a day. The month with the driest weather is September and the wettest month is June.

The rainiest seasons in Bucharest are spring and autumn. So for anyone who wants to go I would advise you to go in the Summer months. Also if you search for any information about when the best time to visit Bucharest is they all say it’s during the months June, July and August. Then temperatures are at a comfortable level between 20 and 30°C. Other great months to visit are April, May, September and October. Temperatures are a bit colder but still pleasant. Anyway although it was a little bit could we did enjoy this city very much. I would very much recommend it to everyone to go and visit Bucharest because there is a lot to see and visit.



sources

http://www.wordtravels.com/Cities/Romania/Bucharest/Climate

http://www.climatetemp.info/romania/bucharest.html

http://www.world-climates.com/city-climate-bucharest-romania-europe/

XX

Stephanie

Hi Bloggers!

This time we went to Bucharest. What a visit! As I always like to know more about the city and its past I’m going to talk about the history of Bucharest.

Bucharest has a long history but the city hasn’t always been the capital of Romania and it hasn’t always been named this way. The area where Bucharest is situated used to be covered with a lot of forests. That is probably the reason why in ancient times it didn’t develop and didn’t become a real city.

It wasn’t until the 14^th century that Bucharest was mentioned. According to the legend the city was founded by the shepherd Bucur. Though in general it is assumed that it was prince Mircea Ciobanu of Wallachië who founded Bucharest in the 14 century after he had conquered the Turks.

In the 17^th century Bucharest was attacked by the Turks once again. The city burned and everything was destroyed. After reconstruction the city started to grow, prosperity increased and so it was in this century that prince Constantin Brâncovaenu made Bucharest the capital of Romania. Though this didn’t mean that the city was to be spared. In the following centuries several severe natural disasters caused many destructions.

Besides natural disasters the city also suffered a lot because of the attacks of the Habsburgs, the Ottomans, Russia and Austria. In the 19^th century the city burned again and this destroyed almost a third of the beautiful buildings.

In the second half of the 19^th century, after the city recovered yet again, the population of Bucharest increased a lot. Because of its extravagant architecture and high standard of life it was nicknamed ‘Paris of the east’.

During the First World War the city was attacked by the Germans and during the Second World War it was bombed by the Allied. After the war Romania became part of the Soviet Union and was ruled by the dictator Nicolae Ceausecu. Because of him a lot of the historical buildings were demolished as he wanted new buildings to take their place. In late 19^th century an earthquake stroke the city which damaged once again many ancient buildings. Despite the war and natural disasters some of the historical quarters were preserved.

After the Soviet Union came to an end this also meant liberation of Romania of communism. After several hard years tide turned for the better. From 2000 on economy and culture started to grow. Nowadays new buildings stand aside the historical ones and that is what makes Bucharest a true metropolitan.

Ilse xxx

Sources: 

http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boekarest

http://www.take-a-trip.eu/nl/boekarest/geschiedenis

http://www.vacance-roumanie.com/toerisme_Roemenie/accomodatie_Roemenie.html

Sightseeing Bucharest

Hi everyone!

This week we visited Bucharest, the capital of Romania.

Bucharest has seen a violent history but that is exactly why it is so interesting for tourists. Bucharest has seen a lot of trouble in the past years, so if it’s bullet holes you’re after you have come to the right place!

But don’t be mistaken, all the misery put aside, Bucharest has some beautiful things to offer.

The first monument we saw was the ‘Arcul de Triumf’, Bucharest’s Arc de Triumph. It was raised in 1922 to glorify the bravery of the Romanian soldiers who fought in the First World War. The original Arc was made of wood, but it was replaced by a concrete structure in 1935.

Our next stop was the Village Museum, one of the world's most interesting ethnographical parks in open air. Here you can see 50 complete homesteads, churches, windmills and even sunken houses from rural Romania. Another museum we visited that day was The Peasant Museum. There is a room filled with a collection of communist-era busts, paintings and nostalgic memorabilia. There are a number of paintings of Stalin and Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej. Be sure to take a Romanian speaker along to translate the often chilling newspaper articles that are stuck on the walls.

A must see was of course The Revolution Square, on of the city’s most important squares. It is surrounded by symbolic buildings such as: Hilton Hotel, the former Athenee Palace Hotel built in 1883 end the highest building at the time; the Romanian Athaeneum, the headquarters of Romanian Athenaeum Society, which had as purpose spreading cultural and scientific information; The National museum of Art; the Kretzulescu Church, a monument with mesmerizing architecture, the art of the Brancoveanu epoch; the Memorial of Rebirth; the Central University Library and so much more. You can spend an entire day just wandering from building to building. There is just so much history.

On our last day we visited the Palace of Parliament., also called the House of People or the House of Ceausescu. It was built somewhere from 1984 – 1989. It is the largest administrative construction in Europe; it has hundreds of offices, halls for receptions or other events, dozens of conference rooms. It is the second biggest administrative building in the world, after the Pentagon building in Washington. After our visit to the parliament we decided tom make a stop at Ghencea Civil Cemetery. It’s about 3 km west of the Palace of Parliament. It’s rather unimpressive, but it is home to the graves of Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu, who were executed by firing squad on Christmas Day 1989 after the communist government was toppled.

We spent most of our evenings in the Historic Centre, where there are a number of clubs, bars, trendy coffee houses and restaurants.

See you next time! 

xoxo

Kimberley 

Sources: 

http://www.inyourpocket.com/romania/bucharest/sightseeing 

http://www.city-discovery.com/bucharest/tour.php?id=5518 

http://www.worldtravelguide.net/bucharest/things-to-see 

Nightlife in Bucharest

Dear followers,

This week we visited Bucharest, one of the last cities we will be visiting. We had a wonderful time here. As we all plan to become event managers in the future we must have a little taste of the nightlife in every city. This city has proved us that there is entertainment for everybody and with everybody I really mean EVERYBODY. From trendy bars to Irish pubs, lounge clubs and jazz clubs and the odd steamy strip show.

In Bucharest there are clubs, pubs, bars, discotheques, night clubs, and casinos everywhere; every night they are taken by storm by masses of young people looking for fun and adventure. These places are mostly open all night and they await you with great music, superb drinks and a friendly and welcoming atmosphere.

 

As we are a group with girls only sometimes you have to be careful. This is not the case with Bucharest. You don’t have to be scared when you wander the streets at night. This is a very safe city.

For many years all that was lacking was a central nightlife strip: an area where you know you will always find lively people and a good atmosphere. Now that Old Town/Lipscani has been revived and is packed with bars and cafes, that problem has been solved.

The first bar I would love to recommend is Green Hours 22 Club. It is a legendary, trendy, atmospheric jazz club, where it’s almost impossible to find a table. Make sure you reserve in advance if you want to sit down. There is live music and other arty stuff like theatre, comedy, book launches and the like - most evenings. Popular with a crowd that encompasses all ages, from 18-80, it’s definitely a place you should visit once before leaving Bucharest.

When you are searching for a place to dance you should go to Barletto Club. This place had a lot of different names but it remains one of the city’s best, most exclusive and of course most expensive clubs featuring some of the sexiest dancers in Romania. Friday and Saturday nights here are wild. The music is supplied by the world's best DJs.

If you want to meet the local people “White Horse” is the place to be. It has been one of the oldest pubs around there. To be one of the oldest this pub is in a surprisingly good shape. It is always packed with the “ordinary people”. You feel really welcome when you go there.

Bucharest is sometimes called "The Little Paris of the east" and they are correct!

Shari

Sources

http://www.worldtravelguide.net/bucharest/nightlife

http://www.inyourpocket.com/romania/bucharest/bars-pubs-clubs-nightlife

http://www.deltatravel.ro/bucharest_nightlife.php

http://www.bucharestlife.com/

Policy of Bucharest

Hello there!

The next stop on our amazing trip Bucharest, the capital of Romania. It’s quite different from all the cities we’ve visited so far. I didn’t knew a lot about the city before we arrived and I was very curious about the way the country worked so I’m going to talk about policy in this blog.

Every big city had its own policy and  each has its own characteristics. The city has six different areas and to give you a look at the working of the city I’m going to highlight each area to you. Each area belongs to a couple of different quarters.

Area 1

This is the biggest area of the six areas and is situated in the Nord-West of the capital of Romania. This area has a surface of 117 km² and has 238.217 inhabitants. This district contains of Bãneasa, Pipera and Floreasca.

Area 2

This is one of the smallest areas and is situated in the East of the capital of Romania. The surface is very little, about 32 km². A thing which I found very strange is that there are more inhabitants in this little distract in spite of the inhabitant amount in the big area. This area counts 362.609 inhabitants, which is a lot for such a little surface. 

Area 3

Area 4 and 5 are just as area 3 one of the smallest districts of the capital city. The only difference is that there are a lot less inhabitants (107.946) in this 2 small areas. Area 4 is situated in the South of Bucharest and Area 5 is located in the South-East of Bucharest.

Area 6

This area is also stationed at the West of Bucharest and is in spite of area 1 the second biggest. This area contains out of Gjulesti, Drumul Taberei, Militari and Crângasi. The mayor of the area is Cristian Poteras who is settled in the National Liberal Party.

The local counsel of area 6 has 27 seats.

Before we went to Bucharest I read an article about the funds that Romania got from EU to make their country more attractive for the tourist. Something I found a bit strange is that they wanted to put €1,8 million in the extension and modernisation of a hotel in Bucharest. I think it must’ve been a very important hotel to lend so much money for it.

I hope I’ve given you some useful information!

See you next week!

Melissa

http://www.euractiv.com/regional-policy/romania-uses-eu-funds-modernise-bucharest-hotel-news-500419 (article)

http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boekarest

Istanbul

Istanbul is a center of attraction because of a number of factors. There’s historical value and natural beauty. Also it has great economic potential. Istanbul has suffered from some economic backlashes and setbacks, but remains a huge and important economic center of Turkey. The city has become the center of international investment and monetary flow. Istanbul turned into a mega city as a result of migration. There’s a lot of diversity in lifestyle and education levels as well as incomes. 

In general Istanbul is a very safe city. Like all large cities, normal precautions are required. The two most common threats to personal safety are all associated with money. First of all there’s purse-snatching. Purse-Snatching tends to occur in tourist areas and is generally done by children just approaching their teens. Secondly there’s the universal taxi driver scam. The taxi drivers will most likely not speak English and will take advantage of tourists. It is said that you’re best of not arguing about it. 

Overall Turkish people are very nice. There’s a lot of hospitality, though it’s sometimes with a twist. So you do have to keep your guard up at all times. It’s also advised for a single woman or even a woman-only group to be a bit more careful regarding to men approaching you or following you. 

I do hope this was helpful for people that want to go to Istanbul. I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time there 

Stephanie

sources: 

http://www.todayszaman.com/columnist-187931-istanbul-and-its-problems.html

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g293974-s206/Istanbul:Turkey:Health.And.Safety.html

http://iussp2005.princeton.edu/download.aspx?submissionId=50487