The light fantastic
Looking for a break from the city?
Head out to the coastal resort
of
Jurmala
where you can get a
two-hour luxury spa treatment,
starting from 60 lats (€86), at
the
Hotel Jurmala Spa Hotel &
Conference
(
hoteljurmala.com); it’s
perfect for banishing winter blues.
Back in Riga proper,
WinterFest
is a music festival beginning 5
November, marking the upcoming
seasonal landmarks. Early concerts
take place at the Latvian National
Opera. The
Staro Riga Festival of
Light
(
staro.lv) uses modern light
and video technology to illuminate
80
urban structures, each with its
own story to tell, in the evenings of
15-18
November. A public holiday
to mark the
Independence of
Latvia
in 1918 is on 18 November so
expect the lights to be replaced by
fireworks over the Daugava River that
evening. And British singer-songwriter
Katie Melua
,
born in new Wizz Air
destination Kutaisi, Georgia, plays
Riga Arena on 24 November.
Eating and drinking
Modern and airy
Le Dome
at
Miesnieku 4 (zivjurestorans.lv), close
to the Grand Palace, caters for every
meal, including breakfast (from 1.50
lats, that’s €2.10), business lunch,
tapas and romantic dinners. It majors
in fish, and fish soup is 8.40 lats (€12)
and butter-fried Baltic trout is 12.80
lats (€18) – but there’s also lamb,
venison, beef and chicken. For a more
homely venue with a Scandinavian
feel for Sunday brunch,
Innocent
Café
at Blaumana 34 (innocent.lv),
two streets from Vermanes Garden,
can deliver your fix of Illy coffee in a
glass, served by some of the city’s best
baristas. There’s free wi-fi, too. Open
from 8am weekdays, 10am weekends.
Getting to the centre
Bus no. 22 takes 30 minutes to get
to the centre; it leaves opposite the
terminal, behind the car park P1. A
one-way ticket from the driver is 0.70
lats (€1) – at the airport information
desk ‘Welcome to Riga’ it’s 0.50 lats.
Words Clive Morris
Riga
liveriga.com Lats
Prague & Riga
DESTINATIONS
Pop, jazz and circuses
Prague and jazz go hand in hand,
so make plans for the legendary
Reduta
Jazz Club
during the 33rd
International Jazz Festival
(
jazzfestivalpraha.cz), 13-27 October.
The venue has been going since 1958
and is open daily, the music really
getting going around 9.30pm. O2
Arena plays host to back-to-back
blasts from the past: first up,
Lionel
Richie
on 20 October, then
J.Lo
on
the 26th. British rock band
Muse
(
pictured below), who performed this
year’s official Olympics theme, hit
the stage 22 November, followed by
America’s stuntmen extraordinaire
and motocross competitor
Travis
Pastrana and Nitro Circus
on
26
November.
Eating and drinking
Quaint in the manner of a farmhouse,
Mlejnice
(
Kozna 488/14) serves up
traditional Czech-style food, and
features especially flavourful and
hearty meat dishes – though best
avoid the beer cheese unless you
really want it. After dinner, make your
way to
U Medvidku
(
Na Peršty´ne
345/7,
umedvidku.cz) for a few
rounds of Budweiser (or speciality
beers, if they’re on tap) with a lively,
chatty crowd.
Getting to the centre
Wizz Air provides a shuttle bus
transfer between the airport and any
address within Prague city centre.
Tickets are €10.50 (€21 return).
Words Brien Barnett
Prague
prague-life.com Koruna
86
WIZZ MAGAZINE
OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2012
