Wordless Wednesday

There are no words that can describe the loss and tragedy. We cannot change the past, but let us never forget. " Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

I'm back from Riga!

Some of you have wondered where I have been hiding lately. I have not been very faithful in my blogging the last couple of weeks. One of the main reasons is of course that school has started and I am working very hard. When I get home I feel so drained that I have absolutely NOTHING interesting to share... Scary!

This last week I have spent with my colleagues in Riga, Latvia. For those of you who do not know where Latvia is - here's a map:

As you can see it's not too far away from my home country of Norway.

Latvia was part of the Soviet Union until 1991. Over the last few years there has been an incredible economical development and it is now a very modernized society. In 2004 Latvia joined the EU and NATO. Walking around in the historic part of Riga you still feel that this nation has a very diverse and interesting past. Riga was founded in 1201 and some of the cobblestone streets look like they are from the set of a movie.

The parks in the centre of Riga are absolutely beautiful. We spent several hours doing fun team-building tasks in this area.

There are some great shopping possibilities in Riga as well, and my credit card was more outside my wallet than inside. Shoes, shoes, shoes! How can a girl resist? The prices: quite reasonable (but not cheap)

Of course we had to try Latvian food and what better place to do it than Lido Restaurant? It's one of those places that you have to visit - just for the experience.

At night it seemed that the Old Town of Riga was just buzzing. There were people everywhere, live music, good food and fun places to hang out.

All in all I found Riga a great place to visit for a few days.

Now I'm just hoping that my inspiration will start to come back...

Baelo Claudia and Garum

In my post yesterday I brought you to my favorite beach in Bolonia. I promised I would share a little bit of the interesting history of this little town. Today Bolonia is a small isolated fishing village on the Spanish Atlantic Costa de la Luz (Coast of Light) about 20 km north from the surfers paradise of Tarifa. But this little unimportant village is also the site of one of the most important Roman archaeologiacal excavations in Andalucia .

The beautiful museum catches your eyes the moment you drive into this secluded village.

Baelo Claudia was settled by the Romans some 2000 years ago and was a trade link between Spain and North Africa. It was probably most famous for producing the fish-based paste, garum, a popular relish used as a garnish in meals by the Roman inhabitants.

The garum was prepared from fish gut, layered in salt and cured in the sun for one to three months, where the mixture fermented and liquified in the dry warmth. (Mmm... yummy!) The actual production of garum created such unpleasant smells as to become relegated to the outskirts of cities so that the neighbors would not be offended by the odour.

The best garum fetched prices similar to the essences used in perfumes. It was the "caviar" of the Roman Empire. After the liquid garum was ladled off of the top of the mixture, the remains of the fish gut, called allec, was used by the poorest classes to flavour their porridge. The garum from Baelo Claudia was shipped to Roma and enjoyed by the privileged classes. It addition to being used as a relish, it was also used to treat dog bites, dysentery, ulcers, constipation and chronic diarrhea. If smeared on the face it was used to remove unwanted hair and freckles!

Walking on history... awesome. If only these stones could speak!

The city was eventually successful enough to be granted the title of municipium by Emperor Claudius.

The life of the inhabitants reached its greatest splendor during the 1st century BC and the 2nd century AD. In the middle of the 2nd century, however, the town suffered a series of earthquakes and a great tidal wave which wiped out a large part of the town. In addition to such natural disasters, by the 3rd century, the town was beset by hordes of pirates, both Celtic and Barbary. By the 6th century, the town had been abandoned.

What a location! I wonder how life was like here 2000 years ago? And how did it smell?

As we walked around the archeological site of Baelo Claudia we noticed the most representative elements of the typical Roman city. There is a circular protective wall, the main gate, administrative buildings, the public archive, the forum, the judicial building, a temple to the Egyptian goddess Isis, as well as temples to Juno, Jupiter, and Minerva. In addition, there are remnants of stores, a market, baths, and a theater.

Inside the museum you can see different artifacts, but even more impressive is walking around the path that circles the town. Even the children enjoyed this tour. Of course we promised them the beach when we were done!

This place is well worth a visit. And if it's during the summer months - bring swimwear!

Check here for opening hours.

If you're ever in Berlin...

Well, if you are an ice-cream lover like myself, there is only ONE place to go.

At the Potsdamer Platz Arkaden (a big shopping mall) there is an ice-cream place on the second floor that will not disappoint you.

By the looks of it, you'll think it isn't much. It looks like any other mall café. But the ice-cream... oh, lala.... it's to die for.

My husband and I ate until we could eat no more. And believe me; they tasted as good as they looked.