800
Art Nouveau buildings.
About a third of the centre looks like someone piped icing onto it. This staircase is on Alberta iela. It is a normal staircase. In Riga.
A WEEKEND PROPOSAL · FOR THE GROUP CHAT ONLY
OPERATION
One viral statistic. Ten newspapers. One handyman.
And a flight that's shorter than The Fellowship of the Ring.
SCROLL, OR PRESS → ↓
56°56′ N · 24°06′ E
This is Riga.
It's two hours away.
And somehow none of us have been. Give me ten minutes to fix that.
AMSTERDAM
WHERE WE ARE NOW
WHERE WE ARE NOW
RĪGA
WHERE WE COULD BE
WHERE WE COULD BE
01 / THE ROUTE
Here's us.
Grey skies, €9 beers, the same five bars.
DIRECT · AIRBALTIC · SCHIPHOL
0h00
Shorter than The Fellowship of the Ring, theatrical cut. We've all sat through that twice.
LATVIA · POP. ≈ 1.8 MILLION
And here's Latvia.
Small. Baltic. Slightly famous on the internet right now.
WHICH BRINGS US TO
The statistic.
You've all seen it. Let's talk about it like adults. Briefly.
EUROSTAT · 1 JANUARY 2025
0WOMENfor every100MEN
Biggest gap in the EU. Three times the European average.
LET'S PAIR EVERYONE UP
Which leaves 16 extra.
This is the slide the internet stopped at.
STATUS CHECK · NOVEMBER 2026
And they're still there.
Nobody has come to collect them. Eurostat checked. Sixteen per hundred, still in Riga, still unaccounted for.
SO, TO SUMMARISE THE DATA
The maths works.
Sixteen spare. Hold that thought, because the newspapers ran with it.
03 / DECEMBER 2025. THE INTERNET LOSES IT.
Then the papers
found out.
The Business Standard
Latvia's man shortage has sparked a strange new industry: The hourly husband
VICEA European ‘man drought’ has women hiring stand-in husbands for everyday chores
ZEE NEWSTHIS Country Is Running Out Of Men
Women are ‘renting husbands’ due to a massive man shortage
asiae.co.krThe Asia Business Daily“Rent a Husband for an Hour for $44”: Why This Service Is Booming in Latvia
Seoul Economic DailyRent-a-husband service booms in Latvia amid severe gender imbalance
NEWSXWomen forced to hire ‘husbands for an hour’
This European country suffers shortage of men
en.roya.tvRoya NewsWomen in a European country turn to “temporary husbands” due to a “shortage of men”
Bb.lvDespair of women and ‘man for an hour’: global media reports on the phenomenon
CITY MONITORCities in Eastern Europe are suffering a horrific man drought
EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM, SUMMARISED
WOMEN ARE HIRING HUSBANDS BY THE HOUR
SOURCE?
THE ACTUAL LATVIAN SERVICE IS CALLED
VĪRS UZ STUNDU
Literally: “a husband for an hour.”
WHAT YOU ACTUALLY GET
A handyman.
With a drill.
- Hangs your shelf✓
- Fixes the leaking tap✓
- Mounts the TV✓
- Small talk✕
“HUSBAND FOR AN HOUR” IS A STANDARD NAME FOR HANDYMAN SERVICES ACROSS EASTERN EUROPE. NOTHING ROMANTIC IS FOR SALE.
AN HONEST SKILLS AUDIT
Our combined DIY résumé:
one IKEA wardrobe.
It still leans. We are not the competition.
So the statistic checks out.
AND EVEN IF IT DIDN'T
Annoyingly,
the city is unreal.
HOUSE OF THE BLACKHEADS · TOWN HALL SQUARE · ORIGINALLY 1334
1201
A UNESCO old town.
Cobblestones, spires, guild halls, and a worrying number of bars in medieval cellars.
5
Zeppelin hangars.
One of Europe's biggest food markets lives in five old German airship hangars. Lunch, sorted.
1752
Riga Black Balsam.
A herbal liqueur made to a recipe from 1752. Tastes like a forest that wants to fight you. We're doing one round.
1510
The first Christmas tree.
Riga claims it, right on this square. Tallinn disputes it. Either way, the Christmas market usually opens in late November. Last year: 28 Nov.
RĪGA, IN FIVE NUMBERS →
LATE NOVEMBER · SUNSET ≈ 16:00
The sun clocks off
at four.
THAT'S NOT A FLAW
That's eight extra
hours of evening.
PINTS ≈ €4–6 · COCKTAILS ≈ €8–12
Cellar bars. Rooftops.
Clubs till late.
And a pint that costs about half of what we pay. Check menus, not me.
FRIDAY · 19:00
Land.
Drop bags. Go.
Dinner under a vaulted ceiling. Then we find out what a Riga Friday looks like.
SATURDAY · 11:00
Lunch in a
zeppelin hangar.
Central Market, Art Nouveau walk to undo the market, nap, round two.
SUNDAY · 12:00
Coffee.
Something fried. Fly.
Buy a bottle of Black Balsam we'll never open. Ideally a late flight home.
DEPARTURES · VERTREK05 NOV 2026
DATETOFLIGHTONE-WAY FROMSTATUS
SCHIPHOL → RĪGA · DIRECT · ≈ 2H 10M
From €168.
One way.
✳ OPERATION RIGABOARDING PASS*
AMSTERDAMAMS
✈RĪGARIX
PASSENGERTHE BOYS
GATED-ISH
SEATWHATEVER
BAGSHAND ONLY
*A PROP. DO NOT TRY TO BOARD WITH THIS.
AIRBALTIC FARE SNAPSHOT, CHECKED 5 NOV 2026. PER PERSON, ECONOMY, ONE WAY. RETURN AND EXTRAS ARE EXTRA. PRICES WILL MOVE. CHECK LIVE FARES ↗