Latvia in Layers

Shortly after we arrived in February, we visited the Peitav Shul in the old city area of Rīga.  In winter, the shul has few visitors, and the man at the entry, who we assume was part of the Jewish community, spoke only Russian.  That he spoke Russian was no surprise; the active Jewish community here is predominantly Russian-speaking and orthodox.  Peitav is  the only Rīga shul that survived the Holocaust. It is also the only active shul  in Rīga and one of the two active shuls  in all of Latvia.  For a small fee, we were allowed to see the interior of the shul, and although the man seemed to think the upstairs wasn't in use or wasn't of interest to us, we ventured to the women's gallery and noted that up there were open siddurim from recent prayers. Peitav Shul Peitav Shul from the women's gallery Peitav Shul When he visited, Saadya went to Shabbat services there.  If you are curious about the Shul, the Jewish Community produced this video  w...

I got the March announcement in my email box that tickets were on sale for Tanglewood events and started thinking about how we would continue our art adventures on our return home.  Then I remembered, seeing a concert at Tanglewood involves a rewarding experience AND an hour drive out there, an hour drive back, and a high ticket and ticket fee price.  We are definitely getting spoiled in Riga with our art adventures in the city. Let me start with how spoiled we are with the travel and distance to the performance venues before I start to "sing" the praises of the performances we've seen.  From our apartment to the National Opera or the Great Guild Hall is a 25-30 minute walk, and if we feel lazy, it is a very short tram ride.  In terms of cost, our tickets for opera and symphony are never over 15 euros, and we usually have great seats.  So yes, access is great and some weeks, we attend 3 or more events.  Here is a quick summary that will also serve as my own...