if you didn't know, 2014 European Capitals of Culture will be Riga in Latvia and Umea in Sweden. Among other celebrations, Riga will celebrate 500 years of the printed book and Umea will celebrate the exploration of the region's Sami culture (lapland region of Finland).
it's a pity Latvia wasn't nominated last year when I was there. The Latvian National Opera was awesome and the Museum of Natural History was astounding. If you can go to Latvia, do it in June during the summer solstice..tons of Latvian folk music and dancing to be enjoyed!
Chain of Booklovers Don’t miss the “Chain of Booklovers,†in which tens of thousands of Latvians will line up hand-in-hand to pass hundreds of books down a distance of nearly two miles in Riga.