SORRY for going on about PM Godmanis again, but as I write I am watching Kas Notiek Latvija where the big bruiser is putting in a virtuoso performance.

Not that he is saying anything particularly interesting – but the way he says it!

The symptoms of his Christmas malaise have completely disappeared, I am happy to report. Gone is the softly-spoken, cuddly old uncle who promised to distribute alms with a beaming smile like Ebeneezer Scrooge on Christmas morning.

Now that it’s clear that his eaglerly anticipated 100 day plan is basically just the leftovers of the Kalvitis government given a 2 minute microwave reheat, Godmanis has reverted back to freewheelin’, demonstrative form, displaying a concentrated range of facial and bodily tics that it would take a top psychotherapist to decipher properly.

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35 DAYS after assuming power, the deja vu Godmanis government has revealed its 100 day plan, meaning it is now only worth a 65 day plan. That’s inflation for you.

The word of God is that the next major date in the PM’s diary is Feb. 05 when he’ll meet with the Finance Ministry and Bank of Latvia to discuss how to tackle inflation, which is currently in excess of 14%. But as any prop forward knows (and Godmanis looks like he would have made a good one) tackling is one thing, but you’ve got to catch up with the bugger first.

Actually the main thrust of the 100 day plan seems to be that ministers should immediately go away and… er, make some plans.

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I WAS in Bauska this week. Every month I do a short travel column for Baltic Guide magazine, essentially a way for them to include coverage of something other than Riga in their Latvian edition.

I’ve been through Bauska quite a few times, usually on the way to Kaunas or Vilnius. The main A7 (aka the E67 Via Baltica) channels right through the centre of town, bringing a torrent of articulated transport through and away within a couple of minutes. There’s the River Memele as well, but these days that’s a far less important artery than the road.

The last few travel pieces have all been about towns in Vidzeme to the north of Riga or Latgale to the east, so I thought it was about time I headed south. Almost from a sense of guilt at the fact that I had never stopped there before, I chose Bauska. And in a sense, guilt became one of the themes of the day I spent wandering around.

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