I enjoy airports greatly. Another flight from Riga; this time aboard a hired Turkish airline. Interesting to fly from Riga to London with Turkish crew and aircraft.
Notes on building
Lidosta «Riga»
Flying back to London to work on a few nagging technical hardware problems. Riga International Airport [location].
Dekoratīvi mākslas muzejs
compulsory slippers at the Museum of Latvian Decorative Art. [location].
Vērmanes dārzs
Public park in central Riga [location].
Maskavas Forštate
Suburban area to city’s south-east. Views across Daugava to Zaķusala [location]. The fog hangs all day and closes in quickly towards 16h00. Visit made to Mols shopping centre.
Šmerlis: Alfa Shopping
large shopping mall in Šmerlis [location] [offical website].
Snow
Snow sweeper on Akmens tilts
Monument for “The Revolution of The Fifth Year” [location]; sits across road from The House of Artist’s Union (background), which houses the RIXC offices, my studio and accomodation. See how it looked on the 12 February
Railway bridge over Daugava
view towards Vanšu tilts, which holds the title of 47th of the world’s largest cable-stayed bridge with a span of 312 metres [location].
Zolitūde
Railway station
New dwellings built around lake to south-east of neighbourhood
“Zolitūde is a neighbourhood located on the city’s western edge consisting mostly of prefabricated Soviet-built apartments; built in the early 1980s. The population is mostly Russian-speaking. The proximity to the international airport, the seaside resorts of Jurmala, and the new architecture have made it attractive for young families. Most residents commute to the central business district by the electric railway; with two stations in the area” [editted quote] [location].
Domina Shopping
Domina “the largest shopping centre in the Baltic states” [location].
I am disappointed, in the macro sense, that humanity keeps making the same mistakes; allowing developers, with only five year projections, to construct such utter sheds of inhuman banality.
Zaķusala
The morning was spent on Zaķusala (a long island in the middle of the river Daugava; “Hares’ Island”) [location].
The Tower’s shadow reaches about 1.5km; to Salu tilts
This included a visit to, and up, Rīgas radio un televīzijas tornis (Riga Radio and TV Tower).The tallest structure in the Baltic countries. It was built between 1979 and 1986. Its highest point reaches 368.5 m (1209 ft), which makes it the second tallest tower in Europe and eleventh in the world. The tower is said to be able to withstand even extreme wind, at speeds of up to 44 m/s (98 mph), without any noticeable vibration amplitude. There are two Otis elevators, one in the north-east pillar and one in south-west pillar; They travel inside the curved pillars while maintaining a constant level. The third pillar contains stairs.
Coffee was had at Latvijas televīzija centre (Latvian Television Centre) at the north end of island.
Apart from these two large structures, the island remains empty. There are plans afoot to change that and create a huge set of buildings offering all kinds of entertainment. There will be a beach for sun bathing. There are feral wolf-dogs loose on the island. Two barked at, and followed, me.
[image photographed from billboard on the island]