May 2023.
You could spend a whole day at Riga’s central markets, particularly if you had a need to stock up on granny knickers and cheese.
There’s cutting-edge musical entertainment* on the pavement outside (PRESS PLAY);
and historical street art,
and fudge. We resisted the fudge,
but not the beer.
There’s a branch of Labietis, the Baltic Mikkeller, if you’re allowed to say that these days. It’s in the middle of the Gastronomy Hall, which is a little like the specialist food court at Manchester’s Arndale.
Drinkers at the bar, high-vis to the side.
And a really, really delightful lady patiently explaining their range of beers and the colour-coded pricing, so that we could forget what she said and ask her what the colours meant two minutes later.
It was inevitable I’d have the Bronze Age Braggot, even before Mrs RM had pointed her phone at the pump clips and translated it for me (top).
Apparently, it translates as Bronze Age Braggot. It was, mmm, interesting.
Mrs “I like my beer to taste like beer” RM stuck to the IPA, which was gorgeous.
We budged up to allow an American couple from North Dakota, straight off a cruise ship, to sit next to us and within five minutes knew their life story.
“What are you drinking ?” they asked, liking the look of our beers.
“A Bronze Age Braggot“
“Oh” she looked worried, and asked the nice lady “Have you anything that tastes like Heineken“.
Oh, how we laughed, surely she should have looked on Untappd before daring to enter the portals of a famed craft beer bar.
The nice lady smiled, offered copious tasters, and they ended up with a Pilsner and an IPA, thrilled with the service and bemused they hadn’t been charged for the samples.
*We gave him a euro, and argued whether the Robson & Jerome or Gareth Gates version of “Unchained Melody” was best.
retiredmartin 
You resisted the fudge? Why?
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Just so I could tell you I’d resisted the fudge, Andy 🤗
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We’re just back from Madrid. I don’t think we managed to resist anything. 🤣
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Madrid was hectic in May 2000, our only visit (with a toddler) and all I recall is the food in the bars (and Atletico fans throwing seats on the pitch after relegation).
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I am impressed by that translation tool. Matching font sizes, colours, everything. Good bit of kit.
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Impressed me too, particularly the application to the original material i.e. the clip.
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It seems Braggot refers to a drink where beer is mixed with mead. Interesting(ish).
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Ish.
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Robson and Gerome!
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Geroff my land more like.
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“argued whether the Robson & Jerome or Gareth Gates version of “Unchained Melody” was best”
What about
youtube.com/watch?v=0p2KnJE7XfE
?
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Post of the year, Paul.
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I find it hard to argue with Paul.
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I didn’t think you were an Untappd user, Martin, or have you realised its value, when visiting exotic places?
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