Heading to Riga for the 2 days that surround the summer solstice was possibly not the best of timing due to the fact that given how far north the country is, there is almost 24 hrs of daylight - the sun didn't set until close to 11.30 and it didn't really get dark until 1am and then at about 1.05am, it started to lighten up again - all in all a very weird experience. The photos were taken between about 10.30pm and 11.30pm so it gives you an idea of what the light was like
What made it all the more strange was the fact that the city was like a ghost town - so many people had taken the week off to celebrate the fact that it was the summer solstice that the government had awarded an extra day off and so people were all in their summer houses at the beach or near the lakes - but not one stoned hippie insight (unlike Stonehenge) although the sight of Hell's Angels in garlands of spring flowers and Oak leaves which is the tradition is slightly odd to say the least, as was the bus covered in leaves
Apparently, in Latvian, it is called the festival of Jani - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C4%81%C5%86i
special cheese, special beer and indigestion seem to be the main benefits of the festival
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