Home is a place when you feel good. Back in 2010, I bought a house here for the purpose of a summer house. But I ended up coming here not just in the summer, but also in autumn, winter, and spring. And each time it was getting harder to go baсk to Moscow.

One time I came to Latvia for the weekend and was supposed to go back Sunday night, but I didn't want to leave so changed the return flight for Monday, and then for Tuesday. I remember calling my friend Andrew (we came here together) and telling him «Hey, mate! I've changed the return flight ticket. I'm coming back on Tuesday not Sunday» And his reply was «Was just about to call you. I've changed mine to Tuesday as well» 

To cut the long story short, I moved here from Moscow in 2012. By the way, Andrew did the same thing. And then the same did a high school friend, a uni friend, and an ex work colleague. It's a bit hard to explain, but you just feel better here! You wake up in a good mood, spend much less time running the chores since everything is pretty close. And it's much easier to run business here than in Russian. 

Moreover, it's great for all sorts of sport. You can do cycling, roller skating, swimming, basketball, volleyball in the summer; skiing in winter (there's a great well-lit trail for cross-country skiing 20 minutes away, and downhill skiing is available 40 minutes away by car). I travel a lot as well and it's much more convenient to do it from here than from Moscow. And every time, no matter where you've come back from, you feel like you've come back home.

We moved here from Canada around two years ago. I've got a work contract here in the aircraft industry. We've got two school-age kids so it was crucial for us to live close to a school with the curriculum that's compatible with the one in Canada.

Modern comfortable housing, several international schools nearby, quiet residential streets and and the convenient location between Riga and Latvia made our choice quite easy.

So what do we like to do around here? We love sunbathing on the terrace, gardening in our back yard and having neighbours over for a BBQ. During the weekends, the kids spend most of their time outside hanging out with their friends all over the village. Our son suddenly took a fancy to hockey and now regularly attends a hockey club five minutes away on foot. And our daughter takes ballet classes in one of the local schools.

Sometimes my wife and daughter crave something a bit more sophisticated and drive to Riga to see some plays and performances for kids. By the way, it's great that all the stuff for kids, like theatre and movies, is always shown in Latvian and Russian. We also go to the seaside in the summer, of course, where we spend our days either on the beach or in one of the seaside cafes.

Sometimes we also go around Latvia to see some stuff – Lilac Garden, Rhododendron Garden, Knight Tournaments, Munchhausen Museum, old castles, a trail in the swamps, a barefoot trail in an nature reserve. Daddy perhaps would've loved to stay home and just lie on the terrace, but no one's gonna let him! There's definitely no room for boredom here!