Spotted by Locals Beirut • 4th February 2021

Aura Gems Beirut - Quirky Hamra gem & crystal shop

What are you missing in your life right now? Possibly some calm and peace of mind if you’re reading this in the middle of the pandemic we’re currently living through. Aura Gems might have just the solution. This kooky shop in a Hamra backstreet sells hundreds of different gems and crystals, perfect for beautifying your home or just bringing some good vibes into your life.

Deep Baltic • 16th April 2019

The Arabs making a life for themselves in Latvia

Hesham Dawoud came to Latvia eight years ago with his Latvian wife, who he says he met online. Between working in bars and doing evening shifts in a kebab shop, he has little spare time to socialise. Before moving to Riga, the 35-year-old Egyptian and his wife lived between Cairo and Alexandria. But when the country started becoming increasingly unstable prior to the 2011 revolution, Hesham and his wife decided to move to Riga.

Deep Baltic • 9th April 2019

Sixteen Thousand Voices in Perfect Harmony: Latvia’s Incredible Song Festival

Sixteen thousand voices sound out in perfect harmony, echoing around a valley of trees. The 60,000 people in the audience sing along in response. Welcome to the closing concert of the Latvian Song and Dance Festival, a unique cultural event that takes over the hearts and minds of the entire country.

Spotted by Locals • 4th April 2019

Hanna Mitri Beirut | Spotted by Locals

Finding this ice cream shop is a challenge, but one that’s well worth it once you arrive. Set in the back streets of Achrafieh St. Nicholas, look for an old, faded sign with a logo reminiscent of a popular soft drink, above a tiny, one-room corner shop which is otherwise unmarked.

Spotted by Locals • 29th March 2019

Makan Beirut | Spotted by Locals

Hidden in the suburbs of Mar Mikhael, Makan is set in a beautiful old town house which you enter via the scented jasmine garden in front. There’s no set cuisine here: the menu changes every few days. You might try Thai, Greek, Uzbek, Peruvian or Georgian food, depending on the day and on the chef.

Spotted by Locals • 27th March 2019

móTTO Beirut | Spotted by Locals

Motto serves some of the best Indian food in Beirut. It’s a tiny, charming restaurant in the heart of Mar Mikhael. It only has a handful of tables, plus a very small one upstairs (mind your head if you’re tall like me, because the ceiling is low) and a couple of tables on the street in warmer weather. In the summertime, the chef stands next to the diners outside making naan bread on a portable stove, while the local stray cats wander up to the tables to beg for scraps.

Spotted by Locals Beirut • 24th March 2019

Ain el Mreisseh Beirut | Spotted by Locals

Ain el Mreisseh is an area closest to the lighthouse, set on Beirut’s 5km-long Corniche. Look out for key landmarks such as La Maison Rose, a beautiful pink house built in 1882, and the old-fashioned black and white lighthouse.

Baltic BQ • 13th March 2019

Intensive care for house hunters

Lidija Liegis talks to Ilze Mazurenko, CEO of Baltic Sotheby's International Realty, about selling luxury property in the Baltic states, a career change from doctor to realtor, and how to weather an economic crisis.

Discover Benelux • 21st December 2018

The 'black gold' of gastronomy

If you’re looking for a treat, order a sample of the finest caviar from Caspian Tradition. Caspian Tradition sells 14 different species of sturgeon roe, ranging from the highly coveted Beluga caviar, to the gold-coloured Oscietra, which comes from sturgeons living in natural lakes.

Allways Traveller • 11th December 2018

An eco-village in Lebanon's Chouf valley

​It sits symbolically above a Druze and a Christian village in the heart of Lebanon's age-old Chouf region, and the choice of location is no accident. Welcome to Bkerzay, a unique eco-destination built from traditional Lebanese stone architecture and furnished with upcycled furniture. There is much more to Bkerzay though than its stone guest houses. It's found in the centre of a region which encompasses river valleys and forested mountains and was once the seat and homeland of Lebanon's emirates.

BQ Baltic • 1st August 2017

Putting Estonian style on the map

Meelis Milder, chief executive of upmarket fashion retailer Baltika, talks to Lidija Liegis about its growing success, the challenges he has faced and the importance of giving something back to his homeland.

Discover Benelux • 1st July 2017

The hottest yoga studio in town

Located in north-west Luxembourg City, BYLU Yoga studio offers 90-minute Bikram yoga classes, open to people of all ages and abilities. Each class covers 26 yoga poses, with a focus on breathing.

Discover Benelux • 2nd July 2016

Luxury spheres: the latest in glamping

It's hard to imagine hating the great outdoors. Except if it means camping in the rain in mud-soaked fields. Yet the innovative transparent spheres from Eyeshotels or Sphair offer a unique luxury experience in eye-popping destinations worldwide.

Discover Benelux • 1st March 2016

The Versailles of the North

The magnificent Château de Beloeil is located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. It's known as the ‘little Versailles of the North’; its gardens were created by a student of André Le Nôtre, the French landscape architect and King Louis XIV’s gardener who designed the Versailles gardens.

The Baltic Times • 13th June 2012

Life in the fast lane ends for Antonov

Banker, entrepreneur and investor is how Vladimir Alexandrovich Antonov describes himself on the business networking site LinkedIn. Currently out on police bail, 36-year-old British-Russian Antonov and his Lithuanian business partner Raimondas Baranauskas were arrested on Nov. 24, 2011 in London after the Lithuanian authorities found over 290 million euros in assets missing from Snoras, Lithuania’s fifth biggest bank by assets, which the pair had a majority stake in.

re: baltica • 5th June 2012

The fall of Vladimir Antonov

In November 2011 two large Baltic banks collapsed - Latvijas Krājbanka and Snoras bank in Lithuania. It turned out that the owner of the banks, Russian millionaire Vladimir Antonov, gambled with depositor money to fuel his business ambitions and desire for a luxurious lifestyle. Re:Baltica investigated how Antonov pumped out the money from the banks, and why banking regulators didn’t notice what he was doing.