TheRamblingWombat Riga - Old City

From Soviet Union to European Union

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In 1991 Latvia shook off the shackles of the Soviet Union, ending 51 years of forced occupation and rule of the country by Nazi Germany (1941-44) and the Soviet Union (1940-41 and 1944 -1991).

In 2003 the people of Latvia (or 73% of them) turned out at polling stations to take part in a referendum on joining the European Union. Opponents of membership argued that Latvia should not give up the sovereignty it had so recently gained from the Soviet Union while supporters, among other arguments, put forward to view that membership would actually protect Latvia from any future Russian pressure. Continue reading “From Soviet Union to European Union” →

TheRamblingWombat Enniskillen (Co.Fermanagh)

Janus and the Lusty Man

Boa Island Figure – Janus
Lustymore Figure – Lusty Man

I have to say I was rather surprised when I visited Caldragh Cemetery on Boa Island, Lower Lough Erne. For many years I have seen just close-up pictures of “Janus” and the “Lusty Man” (properly referred to as the Boa Island and Lustymore figures respectively) and accordingly, or for whatever reason, assumed them to be at least a couple of metres high. On entering the cemetery I could not see the said figures. Wandering around I happened upon them – Janus being about 73cms tall and the Lusty man about 60cm – sitting in the centre of the graveyard among random stones that mark long-forgotten dead. A nearby base – which some think belongs to Janus – would, if that were the case, increase its size to nearly 2 metres. Continue reading “Janus and the Lusty Man” →