I've been in Riga (Latvia) these last four days, and I'll be heading
home tomorrow; just thought you might be interested in some impressions
of one of the less talked-bout destinations.
Maybe because it's such a small country, or maybe because it will form
part of the Eusopean Union next May, it does not have great scope for
meeting RW's; I found 5 local agencies, some of whom "cooperate" with
larger "multi-national" agencies. The agencies in question were:
RANDEVU
These people seemed genuine, and one girl I selected for a meeting
seemed 100% genuine, except she wasn't my type. They also organise small
excursionsions (picnics etc) for their members/clients in summer, but I
took the precaution of viewing the gathering before jumping on the bus,
and decided to give it a miss.
VENUS
Sharks of the lowest order, run by an absolute haridan. Talk about the
hard sell! Tried to push as many meetings on me as possible, talked at
me non-stop without giving me a chance to speak etc etc. One of their
ladies had caught my eye on their website and this is the only one I
selected. They thought it was their birthday (turns out she works for them
as an English teacher/translator, one of their sidelines) and when she
arrived at the office (within the hour) she looked nothing like her
pictures (it was the same girl but expertly photographed.) But what really
p.....d me off was the fact that, whilst she was friendly enough, she
was very clearly just "doing her job" to earn the 25 Euros the agency
gets for each introduction.
MYSTIC CAFE
Another dodgy outfit, they have you sit at the desk looking at their
catalogues while the staff lean over you, babbling away at you about
specific women regardless of whether you have shown interest in them,
instead of leaving you in peace to make your own initial selection. Probably
similar situation to Venus.
AURELIA
Never went to visit them, sounded pleasant enough on the phone but
their website links to a different agency's site.
CLUB CHANCE
Great name! Small office, two catalogues containing only a small number
of women's profiles.
OK, that sums up the local agency scene; many of the women you see
around town (especially at night) are quite impressive. The city itself has
an old medieval centre which is beautiful (like a miniature Prague) but
the suburbs are only one notch up from those in a typical Ukrainian
city. There is a nice coastal resort town 15 mins from Riga, called
Jurmala (very small scale but a pleasant place to go for a date.)
I hired a car (all the mainstream companies are there, but I took one
from a local company. The car is fine but I have since been warned that
the small print sometimes omits insurance and if the car gets stolen,
the customer is liable. And I am also told it is not unheard of for the
same people who rent out the car to steal it back. Just a second while
I check the parking lot...)
Well, I met with my "Ex" and we had a pretty frank but friendly couple
of drinks. She is still my ex, but I needed to lay the ghost to rest,
and she didn't look her best, which helped. I recalled that during the
period when she had cooled off on the phone, when I first realised
something was amiss, she went away for a few days and was uncontactable,
supposedly to Lithuania (just over the border) with some friends. I also
separately recalled on odd occasions that she asked for my impressions
of Spain (particularly Marbella, where her cousin lives with her Swedish
husband.) Now, as we spoke, she opened up and told me that she had
received an invitation to visit a guy in Marbella, together with flight
tickets and 5 star hotel, and that is where she had gone during that
period. Also said that she never actually met the guy even while she was
there, but she went because she couldn't resist the free holiday. Someone
who apparently works for this guy met her and took her to the hotel
etc.
This may be an unnecessary detail, but I included it for the benefit of
the good people here as an insight into the mentality of some of these
women; their penchant for deviousness and secrecy which some of them
possess never ceases to shock me, even now.
Talking of deviousness and secrecy, the girl (ex dancer who once worked
in Greece) whom I sneaked over to visit on my previous trip (who
happens to live just down the road from my ex) is very well, we met today,
and (assuming she is on the level) she wants to come visit me in Greece.
I think I'll wait until she proves herself before I reveal the full
sequence of events to my ex. That will be sweet!
Meanwhile, in time honoured tradition, I am spreading the net wide
again and will be back in good old Uktaine later this summer to follow up
on a couple of ladies I have been corresponding with.
My conclusion is that it takes a long time to establish complete trust
in this game, and until you are absolutetely certain, don't leave
yourself without other options (these ladies don't suddenly stop receiving
correspondence, invitations etc from other people, once they have met
you. And in some cases, those new invitations are clearly hard to
resist!)
Stay ahead of the game. Good luck to you all.