Thursday night 10/4/and Fri 10/5/13

We are leaving for the Opera house shortly. Last night we had dinner at the house with their daughter and her boy friend. A nice party. We started with balsams(a liqueur made only in Latvia)once again delicious fish. This morning we toured Old Town and our guide was a friend of Latvia Janis. Beautiful city! Renovation of the city continues since the occupation of the Russians ended in 1992 and Latvia became an independent country. At the opera house we saw a modern concert in a smaller section of the opera house. Very unusual and political. One selection was about the importance of remembering the occupation of other countries and fighting to keep their freedom. There was yelling and story telling in the piece. Some of it was in English and many other languages. The Latvian crowd loved it and clapped in unison for a long time. Another selection was about them joining the Euro block. interesting Janis feels right at home here. He is kept very busy translating.