Mysterious lover - Italian neighbour

Those who have followed the story about my secret lover will be happy to hear that there is Part 2. :)

At first, a few weeks ago there was another chocolate bar at my doorstep, pretty taste. Thanks!

At second, my dad and his wife came to Amsterdam during Easter. As Michael and me were in Germany, we arranged that they can stay in our apartment while we are on holiday - so we did not really meet each other. After coming back I found his note, saying: "I took your bottle of Latvian black balsam. Will explain you later why..."

So here I was, back home in Amsterdam and wondering why did a Latvian (arriving from Latvia and going to Latvia) need to take Latvian black balsam from Amsterdam??? I did not have an answer until this morning when my dad finally wrote me an e-mail and explained.

Turns out that in his first day here he met our neighbour David from Italy, who is living downstairs (btw, he is playing really loud music in late evenings) and who owns a restaurant. They started to chat and in the next day there was a bottle of champagne in the front of the door and an invitation to join for dinner at his restaurant.

David was very interested to find out what chances does he have with me... My dad replied - 0%, but he is welcomed to come and visit Latvia. David's reply: "Will there be Anita?" Sorry, no chance... But there is Midsummer Night in Latvia!

I am sorry to tell you that I have no idea how does David look like, I have never seen him! But my dad says - he is 36 years old and he looks like Karlsson :)

Go away, mosquitoes!

There is a Latvian saying which goes like this: "Tos, kuri Lieldienās bija kārtīgi šūpojušies, odi un citi kukaiņi vasarā nekoda." It means that mosquitoes do not bite those who were swinging enough in Easter.

To follow this tradition, I was swinging a bit already yesterday and now I am sure that in the summer mosquitoes will run away from me! How about you?

Pancake Day

Did you know that today is not only International Women Day, but also Pancake Day?

I had no idea that such a Pancake Day even exists before this evening when one of the girls in my choir brought this topic up. It turns out that Pancake Day (also known as Shrove Tuesday) is the last day before fasting (also known as Lent) before Easter. It's the last day when you can eat everything you want, including all sweets and also pancakes.

My family is not religious and also Latvians as a nation are not very religious that's why I have just basic understanding of religious Easter traditions. I always colour eggs and make paskha with my grandma, but I have never fasted or gave up anything because Easter is coming and you need to sacrifise something.

How about you?