Travellers from the UAE can fly direct to the Latvian capital Riga from next week with the launch of a new airBaltic route in partnership with Etihad Airways. It is the only direct connection between the UAE and Latvian capital. The six-hour direct flights will launch on October 30th, leaving Abu Dhabi at 9.45am and departing Riga at 23.35pm on the return. Economy fares currently cost from Dh3,510 return including taxes and are bookable either with Etihad or airBaltic, a state-owned Latvian carrier whose main hub is Riga and with further bases in neighbouring Tallin and Vilnius, the capital cities of Estonia and Lithuania.
Last year connections between the UAE and Latvia were strengthened when the UAE became the first Arab country to open an embassy in the Baltic region.
Riga, a port town with access to the Baltic Sea, was founded in 1201 and was a major centre of the Hanseatic League, a medieval commercial and defensive confederation, and derived much of its prosperity from trade with central and eastern Europe between the 13th and 15th centuries. Its well-preserved historic centre has been recognised by Unesco on account of its historic architecture, including what it calls "the finest collection of Art Nouveau buildings in Europe."
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Read more:
Top 5 new World Heritage Sites to visit in 2017
Top 5 fastest growing tourist destinations for 2017
Vilnius: Lithuania's Baltic escape
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Other must-tries
Tomato and walnut salad
A lesson in simple, seasonal eating. Wedges of tomato, chunks of cucumber, thinly sliced red onion, coriander or parsley leaves, and perhaps some fresh dill are drizzled with a crushed walnut and garlic dressing. Do consider yourself warned: if you eat this salad in Georgia during the summer months, the tomatoes will be so ripe and flavourful that every tomato you eat from that day forth will taste lacklustre in comparison.
Badrijani nigvzit
A delicious vegetarian snack or starter. It consists of thinly sliced, fried then cooled aubergine smothered with a thick and creamy walnut sauce and folded or rolled. Take note, even though it seems like you should be able to pick these morsels up with your hands, they’re not as durable as they look. A knife and fork is the way to go.
Pkhali
This healthy little dish (a nice antidote to the khachapuri) is usually made with steamed then chopped cabbage, spinach, beetroot or green beans, combined with walnuts, garlic and herbs to make a vegetable pâté or paste. The mix is then often formed into rounds, chilled in the fridge and topped with pomegranate seeds before being served.
