Nils Blythe at Large....in Riga, Latvia.
Nils and property developer Viktors Savins from ARCO Real Estate at a new apartment complex outside Riga. House prices have been falling 6% each month having soared over the past few years. Viktors had to knock 35% off the price of these flats in order to sell them.
The somellier of Vincents restaurant, Raimonds Tomsons, choosing wine in the cellar. Restaurants and cafes are closing across Riga as people find the financial crisis beginning to bite. My guess is that Nils ate at Vincents but I cannot prove that.
Nils and Ivo Grubanov of Baltic Holidays in the main square in the Old town of Riga. Ivo's business has been hit by the weakness of the pound against the country's currency, the Lat.
Property developer Viktors Savins driving across the South Bridge in Riga. Recently opened, the bridge is reported to be the most expensive ever constructed in Europe as spiralling metal prices hit the development from the very start. You didn't get this from me but Nils is seriously thinking about buying property in the area. He loves the cold crisp air.
Listen to PM
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~25~RS~)
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Mmm, I love the snow, too. I guess house prices are falling like, well, the snow over there now?
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I'm with Nils - eating at Vincents and buying property in Latvia - you can do a lot worse! A drop of 35% in an area that is unattractive and on the outskirts of Riga, surely is no surprise to anyone!Just travel west of Riga to Liepaja and you will discover a beautiful old town surrounded by water - stunning wide, fine sand beaches that one can walk along for miles and a canal to the north with boutique hotels converted from warehouses. Blue skies and fresh air - I can't wait 'til I get there for 3 weeks over Xmas to organise my holiday rentals properties:-) Come and visit!
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Eddie... Just look at the spaces in Bins 2, 4, and 6 in photo 2....just so obvious that a BBC economist has passed thru'....?testing the depth of the recession??? Up bottles down bottles?
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Ah, the photos bring back memories of going to Riga two and a half years back :-)
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Having just watch Joanna Lumley watching the Northern Lights, and acres and acres of snow, I'm feeling very Riga-ish.
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I too have just watched Joanna Lumley but she failed miserably to light up my Northern Lights perhaps this is due to too much credit crunching or the fact that the NEW Avengers were on earlier and she was being attacked by a cyborg or some such. Anyhoo, before anybody does I'd better post this old , old, nay prehistoric limerick.
There was a young lady of Riga
Who smiled as she rode on a tiger; They returned from the ride
With the lady inside,
And the smile on the face of the tiger.
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