It is a small country nestled in the north of the new Europe, where cows are blue and storks black. A flat country where the forest runs along the beach, where the pines are thousands. A country with unspoiled nature and wild beaches.

As a crescent moon set on the Baltic country, Latvia, a little larger than Belgium, has seen the Soviet Communist Iron Curtain collapsed in 1991. Since then, every year, it becomes a bit closer to the European model. Today modern capital, Riga welcomes more and more foreign tourists, curious and interested.

Latvia is a proud country, proud of its independence and culture. It wants to prove that it has its place among the greats. It remembers the Lives, the first free and pagan Baltic crawling the forests. It remembers the arrival of a bishop and Germanic knights, which in 1201 made Riga the new counter of the powerful Hanseatic League.

In the port, streets, squares, the merchants of the East and West mingled then a steady stream. The region was beaming. Then, it remembers a war that drove the Germans to leave room for the Swedish. An era of peace, education and progress started. It remembers the Tsars and Empresses erase borders to expand their empire. It also remembers the two last major wars of the twentieth century, those who fought Nazism in the country and then communism.

Latvia is also a people. Stunned by its new freedom, it defends its culture buffeted by the occupations and annexations. German, Swedish or Russian, Latvia is ceased to exist through its songs, dances and traditions that are still alive today.

No one would miss the Latvian Ligo (Night of Saint John), nor cut an oak tree (sacred tree) or celebrate Christmas without going to a Pirti (sauna). Latvia today has a thirst for recognition. It reaches out and invites us to discover its peaceful countryside, endless forests, beaches and lakes and to enjoy its culture made of amber and songs.

Welcome to Latvia!