Anastasia Sysoeva (Starodedova). Artist, poet

Expats in Riga has made an interview with Anastasia Sysoeva about her passion for drawing. ER: Anastasia, please, tell, when did you start to be interested in art? I suppose that it started approximately at times when you had been studying at Pushkin lyceum, during last years of school. Or did it happen earlier?АS: I think that I have been drawing always, as all kids are doing this. But yes, a more conscious occupation with drawing has overlapped my admission to the lyceum, maybe at 8th form. At lyceum a couple of my exhibitions was even organised in the school […]

1 Euro deal

Some time ago it was popular to open shops in Riga, where you could buy different products for a small price, for example, 1 euro. These shops were closed, but the topic what can one buy in Riga for 1 euro is worth exploring in the situation of price increase on many products and services. Expats in Riga decided to make a small market research and present the findings in this article, covering various products categories, from food to household products. So if have 1 euro in your pocket, according to the survey of supply in Riga shops, you can […]

Intellectual table-top games for enterprises and informal events

Smart Games Club is Latvian company, which focuses on the development of intellectual table-top games, mainly with the focus on corporate culture improvement and rally the team in the companies. The games produced by the Smart Games Club are of educational character. The games are invented by the people with a tremendous experience in building and leading various businesses. Very often the company’s employees get tired of classical educational courses, lectures, and trainings, what leads to the diminishing in the educational effectiveness and wastes such kind of an investment in personnel. The game on the other hand is a wonderful […]

Artisanal Riga

Visiting Latvia as an expat and staying for longer than just a couple of days as a tourist allows to better understand Latvian culture, traditions, and mentality. An intense work, however, does not always give an opportunity to spend endless hours on studying these. Expats in Riga project has prepared this short article about Latvian artisanal industry in order to tell about its uniqueness and value as well as to suggest considering the pieces of artisanal art as great presents for family members, relatives, or friends, left in a home country. Those who have already visited Old Riga, might have […]

Medieval symbolism and necessity: Riga roosters

One of the symbols, often associated with Riga, especially its Old part, is a rooster. Anyone hanging around Old town and looking around and above will notice golden roosters on the tops of churches scattered through Old Riga. Rooster, a very old symbol of Riga with its decorative role nowadays, had a functional purpose before – since the 15th century it served also as a weather vane. Since Riga has always been a port city, its economic activity many centuries ago depended on the weather conditions, and the weather wanes were a tool for getting a weather forecast on a daily […]

Creative quarters of Riga

As a text on one of the posters glued to the wall of Andrejsala Singalong hostel in 2007 said, ”You can stay here forever if you succeed”. This is an utopian idea behind the creative quarters philosophy, which usually contradicts with the concept of creative quarters and their role in the society and urban development in the world. Riga, as many other cities in the world, like New York, London, Berlin or Stockholm, has and has had creative quarters in its various areas during different periods of time. Creative quarters are city districts, which initially are in condition lacking development, […]

Summer Tērbatas street

Summer is a great season for spending free time outside. During the pandemic Riga looks very different in the evening and at night. Empty streets, closed bars, the resonating sounds of steps… Expats in Riga magazine has made a short photo reportage from Tērbatas street, to unveil the way it looks like around midnight.

Walks around Riga

“Medics to the world” This sculpture can be seen at Valdemara street, near Latvian Museum of Art and Latvian Art Academy. The idea of this piece of art is to reflect on the importance of medicine workers, who need support of the society not only in the difficult times during the pandemic, but also in everyday life so that the medical workers could take care of those who need this. If you live in the centre, which is very rich with the greenery, you would definitely enjoy slow strolls around its central districts. “Monkey Sam” In case you are fond […]

Flower power

Riga is a very beautiful city full of greenery in the spring and summer time. The winter is almost over but there is not that many greenery around in the streets yet. Expats in Riga magazine introduces some places, where the plant lovers could enjoy the beauty of flowers and plants or study more about plants. Botanical garden with a winter conservatory full of beautiful plants is a cosy place to visit with the family or friends even in the late winter. On the territory there is also located a tropical house of butterflies, which was open today, on the […]

Roofs of Riga – sightseeing spots

Expats in Riga would like to share some places, which have fabulous views over the city. First of all, it is the St. Peters church’s sightseeing tower, which is located at the height of 72 meters. It offers fabulous city views from the heart of the Old town. Address: Reformācijas Laukums 1, Riga. There is also Riga Skyline bar, which is a place on the top of the Radisson Blu Hotel. It has a wide variety of cocktails in its menu and it is good for sipping drinks with a view over the city, which opens from the 26th floor […]