FIVE or six years ago, it was Prague. Then Tallinn, capital of Estonia, became the 'new Prague'. Now Riga, capital of Latvia, is revelling in its reputation as the 'new Tallinn'. When it comes to Eastern Europe's cutting-edge city of choice, it is hard to keep up.

Boasting almost 750,000 inhabitants - a third of Latvia's total population - Riga is a city that sits easily with the Baltic's reputation for combining old-style Soviet regimentation with westernised cosmopolitan chic.

In many ways, it is unrepresentative of Latvia as a whole, a country that continues to cling to the romantic ideals of its rural, sedentary past.

But, in others, it is the perfect progressive symbol of a society that has already undergone massive, fundamental changes in the 15 years since it threw off the shackles of Soviet control.

Gabled merchant houses, evidence of Latvia's formerly independent past, sit alongside Russian-style military headquarters that once housed the colonial rulers who sent 16,000 Latvians into Siberian exile on the night of June 14,1941.

Today, though, those headquarters are stylish café-bars or cutting-edge techno clubs, establishments that serve the nouveau riche that have sprung up in the wake of Latvian independence.

The divide between rich and poor might not be as stark as in cities such as Moscow or Kiev, but it is not difficult to see that some have profited greatly from the privatisation that accompanied the fall of Communism while others have seen their standard of life remain unchanged.

As with many former Soviet states, the fact that it has been the Russian population that has tended to do better has done little to ease the Latvian government's attempts at an inclusive process of nation building.

Given that ethnic Russians make up almost 40 per cent of the Latvian population - a figure that rises to almost 50 per cent in Riga itself - the authorities have had to perform a delicate balancing act between prioritising Latvian citizenship and offering enough incentives to keep tax-paying Russians in the country.

It hasn't always been easy to notice it from the perspective of an outsider, but the two populations remain as separate as ever.

The travelling Newcastle fans have not been slow to take advantage of the entertainment possibilities that exist in the Latvian capital, though they opted to ignore the Black Cats Bar for alternative venues.

Venstpils' basketball team have been national champions for the last five seasons and, while football is popular in the former Soviet state, basketball and ice hockey are the national sports.

This trip has already revealed two competitors, though.

In Riga Airport, travellers are greeted by a bobsleigh advertising a do-it-yourself package down Latvia's oldest track.

And the journey to the Skonto Stadium showcased an even stranger pursuit - topless croquet. That the competitors were male firemen, filling in their lunch hour on their station's front lawn, undoubtedly lessened its appeal.