The colour white harmonises beautifully with other colours, it is a good base for other colours, and against it other colours - and forms - can stand out well. White demands space. It contains space within itself, can make ceilings look visually higher and room walls wider.
This week Silvija sent photographs from her trip to the Italian Alps - specifically to Plose, a mountain tourism destination in the South Tyrol region that will certainly be well known to skiers. Although I am neither a fan of winter sports nor of the winter season itself, mountain views are captivating, so I decided to share them further.
A story about two people who have lived together for twenty years, but have suddenly realised that the spark of love between them has faded. Both one and the other are looking for casual affairs or relationships that would bring vitality to their now settled, financially and otherwise stable everyday life. One can, of course, put it all down to a midlife crisis, but one can also think about how one would have acted, finding oneself in such a situation.
Upon hearing the name Pisa, the first association is undoubtedly the tower that leans quite considerably to one side. It has now been reinforced from the inside and counterbalanced with massive counterweights, so that small tourist groups (only a few dozen people per hour) are permitted, for 15 EUR, to climb the 56-metre bell tower. Winding stone steps that allow no pause for breath lead upward until you reach the viewing platform, from which the entire small city of Pisa stretches below.
Today I finally decided to go through the photographs taken last autumn during a trip through Italian cities. This time: the capital Rome, the Vatican - as they revealed themselves to a traveller's eyes. One drawback of group travel is that you see what you are shown, rather than what you might discover simply by wandering the city streets.
Different countries have each approached this important matter in their own way, according to their understanding of how the end of the world will actually unfold. For example, the Russian kit indirectly contains ingredients intended for "Plan B", the Mexican kit places the emphasis on a special knife, and by contrast, the Latvian kit is oriented towards eating and waiting.
When I learned that Zvaigzne ABC had published the book "Čaks in the Kitchen", I was pleasantly surprised. Biographies had mentioned that Čaks - atypically for a poet and a man - had been a capable cook, but a whole collection of recipes was something entirely new. One recipe was also put into practice.
Latvia's 94th birthday and the Staro Rīga light festival went hand in hand this year. People who wandered through Riga's streets, squares, and parks on this Sunday, popped into cafés or warmed themselves with a glass of mulled wine among the craftsmen's stalls, were equally participants in both joyful events.
Talking about wine is always captivating, as it inevitably leads to conversations about the country and place the wine comes from, its production and drinking traditions, and the feelings and associations that wine tasting evokes. The event took place on the evening of Thursday, 15 November, coinciding with the Beaujolais Nouveau celebration in France's Beaujolais region and beyond. It is on the third Thursday of every November that this year's vintage wine goes on sale.
The concert consisted of two parts: in the first, audiences could watch classical Indian dances, and in the second, enjoy lively Bollywood rhythms. The dance reflected the basic elements - earth, fire, water, air - as well as the power of feminine energy, governed by the goddess Tara, along with love and the emotions that accompany this feeling: sadness, joy, longing.