In the city of Riga, capital of Lativa

 "Soft as the voice of an angel, Breathing a lesson unheard,

Hope with a gentle persuasion, Whispers her comforting word:
Wait till the darkness is over; Wait till the tempest is done,
Hope for the sunshine tomorrow, After the shower is gone...."
-- Whispering Hope, lyrics by Septimus Winner (under the pseudonym, Alice Hawthorne)
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(in the capital of Latvia) The city of Riga lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava River where it meets the Baltic Sea. It is also the largest city in the three Baltic states and is home to ten percent of the three Baltic states' combined population. Three-fifths of the city's population are Latvians, or Letts, who speak Latvian, one of two surviving Baltic languages. Russians make up about one-third of the population. A tapestry of sea, lakes and woods, Latvia is best described as a vast, unspoiled parkland with just one real city -- its cosmopolitan capital. The country might be small, but the amount of personal space it provides is enormous. You can always secure a chunk of pristine nature all for yourself, be it for trekking, cycling, or just exploring the landscape (an undulating plain, with fairly flat lowlands alternating with hills), or enjoying one of the area's white-sand beaches amid pine-covered dunes.

+ Having been invaded by every regional power, Latvia has more cultural layers and a less homogenous population than its neighbors. People here pride themselves in being the least pragmatic and the most artistic of the Baltic region. They prove the point with myriad festivals and a merry, devil-may-care attitude (although, a subdued Nordic version of it) Latvia was settled by the Balts in ancient times. During the 10th and 11th centuries there were incursions into Latvia from the west (Swedes) and east (Slavs), and later it was dominated by German-speaking Saxons, who Christianized Latvia in the 12th–13th century. The Order of the Brothers of the Sword conquered Latvia by the 1230s. From the mid-16th to the early 18th century the region was split between Poland and Sweden, but by the end of the 18th century all of Latvia had been annexed by Russia. Latvia declared its independence after the Russian Revolution of 1917. In 1939 it was forced to grant military bases to the Soviet Union, and in 1940 the Soviet Red Army invaded. Next held by Nazi Germany (1941–44), the country was recaptured by the Soviets and incorporated into the Soviet Union. With the breakup of the Soviet Union, Latvia gained its independence in 1991. Subsequently it built ties with western Europe (becoming a member of both the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 2004).

+ The Latvian capital, the largest city in the Baltics, is a fascinating mixture of proud Latvian tradition and influences of the various countries that have occupied it. Independent once again since 1991, Riga's Art Nouveau center has won it UNESCO World Heritage Site designation. Provided here, is a view of Riga's Old Town: