Light dictates photography opportunities while you are travelling, and it certainly hasn't been my friend over the past few weeks. While in Latvia, host of the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest and soon to vote in the people's referendum to join the EU, juggling my umbrella with multiple cameras, I continued to focus my lenses on the fine details, colours, patterns and textures unique to Riga, while trying to avoid the rain-soaked views traditionally captured by most travel photographers. So this next Typepad photo album contains some views of Riga's Jugendstil (as art nouveau is known in the Baltic, Germanic and Nordic regions) architectural details--some buildings are beautifully restored and some decaying but still captivating.

Since my last entry, I've travelled about 350km overland to Lithuania where I spent two days in Vilnius as well as taking a lengthy day trip to the Hill of Crosses, the famed Christian pilgrimage site near Siauliai (250km north-west of Vilnius). Lithuania photos to come shortly. Early yesterday (and a hideously expensive airfare later), I arrived in Stockholm where the bad weather experienced this trip has finally broken! At last, the air is fresh and the light is clear and bright, so I'm looking forward to experiencing the sweeping archipelago views and clean Swedish lines unique to this city.

Though the Japanese yen-Swedish krona exchange rate is NOT working in my favour, the quality of shopping is totally fabulous here...yesterday I picked up a pair of gorgeous Costume National (Tokyo) heels on sale at 20% of their original price and a cute pair of black satin Karen Millen (London) 1930s-style heels that were 60% off! They'll go nicely with the little vintage Chinese silk clutch purse I picked up in Helsinki. Must...resist...further...shopping...
Must....take....more....photos....