Riga

Anglian,

Thanks for your response; sorry for the delay in your response this was due to me occupied elsewhere. On your quote that:

[quote][i]The Blackheads were white: there have never been black people living there. The Blackheads were an order of foreign traders. I assume that they were part of the Hanseatic League or similar. Their PATRON SAINT was black (a Roman tribune, St.Mauricius). The order survived until 1940, when the remaining members were repatriated to Germany.

The Latvians were very sure of this - there has never been a history of black people living there: it is a very recent phenomena for them. Perhaps this is why there may be some mixed attitudes? As for a long tradition, it simply isn't true.[/i][/quote] I am afraid this is false information, as the Blackheads were not white and were black or Moors and I suggest you look up the definition of Moors who were also present in southern Spain during this period; as for this being a recent phenomena, this statement is also wrong. You are the first person who has suggested that the Moors were in-fact white.

I have visit the museum twice 2001/2003 and the official line is that the Blackhead house were foreign merchants “Moors”, who were young, unmarried tradesmen, the house is first mentioned in the city of Riga and not the country of Latvia, in 1334 and let out to the Blackheads in 1477, in 1713 the whole house became the property of the blackheads. It was destroyed during WWII and many of its artefacts were stolen by the fleeing German army; this was also one of the focal points of Riga’s 800th anniversary celebrations in 2001.

I contacted some friends in Riga, one of whom worked for the government and this is not something that visitors have imagine or made up this is information that the Latvian Government puts out: and yes in 2001 the President of Latvia Vaira Vike-Freiberga went to their former colony Tobago to see in the new year - why? If this is all false information, as you have stated, you have to ask the question why the Latvian government is investing so much money to prove they have this multicultural past? Who benefits from this all?

I looked around to find out where it is you are getting your information from and the only thing I could find was some Right-wing/nationalist/fascist website, that strangely enough had someone on there who had also posted the same question about this and was answered wrongly by someone called Aistian, who coincidentally attached the same photo you have posted and also makes the same claims you have use in your post. Unfortunately, as I have been told many times due to the post soviet era the education on Latvian history is somewhat chaotic so many people, like in many other countries do not know their proper history. It should also be noted that these types of websites also claim that the holocaust did not happen despite the wealth of documented evidence available.

It should also be noted that Estonia and Lithuanian do not claim this heritage since they were not port cities, but in St Petersburg did have a flourishing ethinc community, another port city, and its where the famous Alexander Pushkin was born in 1799, the great grandson of a Ethiopion slave.

I could go on and on but this is a sex website and not a history one and I attach a photo of the entrance of the Blackhead house where you can see that these merchants were a mixed bunch of black some Mediterranean and not white. I would recommend that rather than post a response here that when next in Riga you actually visit the Blackhead House and maybe you can understand why it is called the Blackhead house.

And on the Aids thing, I leave that to our friend Milkyboy or girl who has a lot to say on this subject.

I'm in Tallinn in these days and I found the town really full of tourists, maybe too many. Houses are closing or are closed already.

How is the situation now in Riga ?

Or we'd rather move out of capital towns to find the great same atmosphere there was some years ago ??? :-(

I was in Riga then Tallinn in early July and the difference could not be more extreme. Tallinn was terriblly overrun by tourists of every sort and the locals felt like they were under assault. I chatted up an Estonian-Canadian girl who said that all the non-pro girls are leaving Tallinn during the summer to escape.

Riga on the other hand, was a different story. I had so much fun there and my report on the amateur scene will be forthcoming. If you're thinking about Tallinn, choose Riga instead. And a little bit of knowledge of Russian pays dividends as you gain access to the Russian scene, which is a lot more rewarding.

Zizz

Has anybody had any dealings with any of the girls listed on:

http://www.intimservis.lv/si/girls/default/0$en?&s=20&n=20

Prices seem reasonable although mostly only seem to speak Russian or Latvian, though the site details are in English.

Any comments would be greatly appreciated, either to the forum or to me with a PM.

Cheers,

Jerry

Can anyone please recommend a cheap to reasonable hotel or apartment in Riga? (For about five nights) I am not on an expense account so price is important. I would like it to be girl friendly as I have every intention of not being alone. I'll book a double room to help a little. Answers to the forum or with PM please.

I have found that apartments are often cheaper in Bucharest than hotels. Is this the same in Riga?

Jerry.

I do not have the name of my apartment in Riga handy, but it was killer and the girls like it a lot. It was just a few blocks away from the old city.

Just type in riga apartments into google and you'll have several options.

Apartments in the Baltic States are much better than overpriced hotels, a truism throughout much of the ex-Soviet Eastern Europe.

Zizz

Jerry,

When in Riga, I usually stay at the Forums or Radi un Draugi. Both places are nice (in my opinion, the facilities are nicer at the Forums but the beds are better at the Radi). The Forums in my experience is more girl friendly than the Radi in the early morning hours. Security is a little greedy at the Radi.

Each will cost 30-40 lats depending on time of year. I like to be in Old Town, so don't know much about the outlying areas. But I'm under the impression that you can do well on a budget if you don't mind hitching a taxi to the action.

One piece of advice, if you'll permit. If you book the Radi try to get a room facing into west (away from the street). The rooms facing the street are nice, but they face the Pupu Lounge. Pupu is super fun and a great place to meet semi or non-pros, but the music coming out the windows and doors until early morning is likely to keep you (and hopefully your newfriend friends) awake to the wee hours even on nights you don't want to be.

I have not been to Riga (yet), but when going to Tallinn in June I found following website quite helpful: www.balticsworldwide.com/tourist/

BTW Still intend to go to Riga in the next few weeks/months and am looking for a travel mate (preferably form Berlin). So if you'd like to join drop me a line.

Just back from another trip to Latvia.

This time I tried one of the places advertised in the websites Ladylux and Intimserviss. The place with a telephone number 6126126 is in a flat in a yard off Valdemara Iela, opposite the art gallery. I had booked a time and found the place OK. There was one girl there alone in a nicely renovated flat. She was supposed to speak English, but really only had Russian. I was given a cup of tea and a choice of sweets. I showered and went into the bedroom. So far so good, but the sex was a let down. The girl, Olga, was very mechanical. She would not let me touch her ****, gave a poor covered blowjob and rushed the sex. Afterwards there was more tea and sweets and I left. The costs was 25 lats for an hour.

I then tried the Okinava centre again. Contrary to Zadig's reports I had a great time. The cost was 25 lats for the massage (paid up front) and 10 lats for sex (paid to the girl). I was led into a suite downstairs and a parade or girls came in. They were a mixed bag in looks, but I chose a girl in her mid 20s with curly dark hair called Vanessa. Wow, she gave me a great time. She did a nice massage and then we had a really hot sex session - she kissed passionately, enjoyed my cock rubbing her clit and came like a train. We conversed and cuddled (she spoke only Latvian and Russion so we used Russian) and then we showered together and I was ready for more but the time was up - in fact we strayed over a bit anyway.

A couple of weeks later I went back and asked for Vanessa. She was there and we went to the other suite of rooms. We started kissing straight away and I undressed her. We both went to the shower and I nearly fucked her there and then. I allowed the massage to calm me down and then we went at it again, knowing what we were both capable of. The time sped past and we showered once again. I had not paid up front at all, so at the end she charged me only 25 lats for the whole hour, massage, sex, room, the lot.

I highly recommend her, but you need Russian!

Zadig,

Could you please clarify what you mean by 'Security is a little greedy at the Radi'. Is money asked for openly by security to allow a girl to go into a room? Is this to 'protect' any of their own WGs who may work the hotel, or purely to 'make a buck' themselves? How much do they ask for, and more importantly, how much do they settle for? Does this situation also apply at FORUMS? Is ID always required by the girl to stay overnight?

I am planning a trip to Riga in a few weeks time. I have received a quote for a double room at FORUMS for 48 Lts per night inclusive of breakfast. Radi quoted 44 Lts for the same.

If you book a double room do you actually get a double bed or two single beds next to each other ?

Have you ever experienced, or are aware, of a situation of an outright refusal by security to admit a female companiion ?

All information will be appreciated.

Regards

Jake

Zizz Bang,

I went to Tallinn twice last year and I was there just 3 weeks ago and I agree with you, its just overrun with tourists. It was bad enough seeing this in Prague 8 or 10 years ago, but since Tallinn is so small, you really notice it.

I am interested in seeing Riga and I notice you say that it's a completely different scene. However, given that Ryanair are now going to be flying there, don't you think this will change very quickly?

Oh and I started learning Russian a few weeks ago but its such a difficult language it will be a long time before I can actually hold a normal conversation in it. Is Riga okay with just English?

Art68 et al,

My Russian consists of about 300 words and my grammar is certainly not good. Growing up speaking English and then learning German in college means I will never be able to trill the R's just right and rattle off the barrage of consonants that Slavic folks do. My Russian, in fact, is quite bad, but the attempt is what matters, just knowing certain words like "Where", "Why", "What", "This one?" really helps. Learning clumsy pick-up lines, I think, is less helpful and, frankly, stupid.

In my experience, the Russian Latvians are less experienced in English as a whole with respect to normal ex-Soviets, but in general their exposure is good. Just remember that they are being constantly being barraged by the English language and most of them have had more English by far than you have had Russian. They know that too. So when you try to speak Russian, however horribly, it is endearing.

Whether or not Riga gets spoiled by the Ryanair flights remains to be seen, although it probably is inevitable. But Riga is much bigger than Tallinn and has a greater population of ethnic Russians, which to me means more fun. I think it will be four or five years before it goes the way of Estonia. My experience, btw, is only with Riga so I cannot speak to any other city. But for my money, I think Riga has the highest density of good looking available women in all of Eastern Europe (I'm talking about amateurs here, never experienced the p4p scene here).

Zizz

Jake,

To expound, security at the Radi hassled me for bucks a couple of times. One time they almost didn't let a girl up because she looked too young. But that time they might have been doing me a favor... I should also say that these occassions were at 2 or 3 in the morning after some heavy partying at Roxy. So if you keep more regular hours or take "delivery" you might be better off. When I was there in May a couple of girls made it to my room with no problem. In short, I've stayed at the Radi many times and wouldn't hesitate to do it again. But I will probably first try the Forums.

In both places, as far as I know a double room is two single beds.

Also, though I know it has gotten some bad press in this forum, I have stayed in apartments in the past run by the company Patricia. I had an OK experience, but often times I go to Riga on short notice and it's hard to arrange apartments in those cases. When I was staying with them I met the owner, he's from California and seems a decent guy to me. But if other members say they've had bad experiences then you should probably listen to them also.

Koshka,

Thanks for making me a believer in Okinava again. In retrospect, I probably shouldn't have been so down on them after 1 bad experience. They did very well for me last summer. I'll definitely stop in again when I'm back.

Art,

I'm in Zizz Bang's league in terms of Russian language. Despite this, I have thoroughly enjoyed Riga over the past couple of years. The city is totally enjoyable on English, but I agree with Zizz in that if you attempt to speak Russian, most girls will enjoy the effort. But I agree with you that things are going to change. It may be 3, 4, or more years, but all of the Baltics will become Westernized. This is sad to me, and not just because of the mongering opportunities.

With reference to the need for Russian, in my experience you can usually find girls with enough English. My Russian is not so bad so I have a bit of an advantage, but you do not need it in order to chat up a girl. Just approach one in a club and ask if they speak English. They might say "A little" which will usually mean quite a lot. There are so many girls and they are all so gorgeous that it is usually not a problem to find oned who speak English. They are more likely to speak English than French or German or any other language.

I agree with other postings - the girls of Riga are the best looking I have come across in any city, in terms of the proportions of drop dead gorgeous to ugly ones. I say this to people who are going and they dont' believe me and then I speak to them afterwards and they agree with me.

to the 2 'z's: balshai spasiba! what you have told me is ochin harasho!

seriously i know what you mean. even though your accent and pronunciation are crap, the dyevs do break into a little smile when you say in that terribly formal way they teach you in class, "hello. my name is... what is your name...very pleased to meet you." and then: "pashlee!"

still its embarrassing that a girl from some little village in estonia, who never finished high school and has to work in a brothel, speaks better english than you will ever know russian... and while our accents in russian are probably quite comical, isn't it oh so sexy when they speak english with their accents? sigh...

(although i must say i was surprised how many words in russian are derived from latin or from english. i mean, christ, the russian word for "shock" is "shok!")

anyway, aside from that i think its best to savour these countries as much as possible now, before they become little outposts of the west. in the space of 11 months, between my first and last trip to tallinn i saw it happening and it really is frightening how quickly its changed. i mean, of course like france or spain or italy there will be small towns and villages which will feel more traditional and rustic, but the big cities - forget it. zadig, i really understand what you mean about it being a shame, and not just because of mongering. while i was in tallinn 3 weeks ago, as much as i still liked it, it had lost a lot of that untouched charm it had had a year previously. everyone is so concerned with being slick and savvy and building big skyscrapers and office blocks like they have in the west - meanwhile so many (non-mongering) tourists flock over to see their untouched old towns...

anyway, thanks for the info. i may try to get over to riga quickly before ryanair starts flying in and it goes the way of tallinn.