Getting around
This is more a travelling and planing blog so if you are looking for my daily life, you’ll have to look somewhere else :)Archive for 2009 Around the Baltic Sea
Klaipeda and the way here
Summer! I just love sitting outside in the night enjoying a warm summer breeze and some 22 Centigrade. Here i Klaipeda it is summer.
Both Kim and I thought that Lithuania would be even cheaper than Latvia, but it is not. Not even close. In Riga we paid under 100 kr for a very nice meal including wine and beer. Here we payed twice as much for Chinese food.
On the way here we saw a lot of Storks. I counted 20 on one field. But the best show sar the parent feeding his chick. At first the chick was alone in the nest but then came the parent.
Before that we visited a famous hill with lots of crosses. Quite fascinating.
A cross made of toothpickers is still a cross!
Both Kim and I agreed on that the roads in generally are better here than in Latvia. So far all driving has felt very secure and we are not that much concerned about the bikes in the night either. Well Kim did get up this morning in Riga and checked the bikes as he heard some odd noises. I was very tired so all I asked was “Whats the weather like?”
Tomorrow we will try to get to Kaliningrad, probably by foot because we are not allowed to bring the bikes across the border.
Riga – why haven’t I been here before?
So we ended up in Riga, a very old town (beginning of 13:th century). So far we had a short break in a small village close to the town in a swimming area. And we were amazed over the prizes – we felt like millionaires.
Now in Rige we ralize it is that cheep here. And still the place is very comfortable. We are staying in a fine hotel in the old town and were able to put the bikes right outside the door.
We had dinner at a very fancy restaurant, The Gutenberg”. On the roof the placed a nice restaurant and we had the best dinner so far.
After that we sat down in the market listening to some live music. A beautiful night with very cheep beer! 1 lat is 6.50 kr!
Reminders
I can still find a lot of stuff from the soviet time. Naturally there is a lot of building, Soviet Style, left but also other things can be found.
Here is a fainting Star…
A front sign an a car, you will notice the Soviet hammer and sickle.
In almost all small town I saw a shut down factory. Now a wonderful playground for the kids…
Rain
As predicted, the weather has changed. Gray skies and wet, wet, wet. On SMHI I can see that it will pass, we just have to wait. It is just 180 km to Riga so it is no problem to stay here a bit longer.
Castles and streight roads
Today the sun has been shining on us but it has still not been to warm – perfect for biking. We started off this morning on the ferry to Ösel.
Unfortunately the bus started his engines so early so we almost suffocated. We moved back but got no reaction, standard procedure here.
On the way down to Kuressaare we saw som Windmills and one new in progress. Astonishing that they still build them.
The roads have been perfect so far, perhaps to few bends but Kim, my friend on the custom bike likes it. It feels very safe and there is hardly any traffic.
In Kuressaare we had both a coffee break and lunch. Nice and Sunny. Some culture and history we maneged as well as we went to visit the castle with its quite impressive gate.
Now I’m at Konse Camping in Pärnu. A very nice and clean place. Pärnu is a very nice town with some nice restaurants, we went to a Argentinian one for main dish and a Italian one for desert.
We have decided to have a lazy morning tomorrow as it probably will rain. In the afternoon we will drive along the coastline to Riga.
From Stockholm to Dagö
Yesterday evening I left Stockholm together with my old friend Kim to drive around the Baltic see. We took Tallink to Tallin and drove to Hapsalu. Nice roads but we got stuck in a roadwork on Dagö. Nice gravel, but I don’t think it was the right thing for Kim and his Indian-copy.
Right now, we are sitting in a local pup/restaurant in a vary small town Körgessaare. Nice and the sun is shining. We found a family B&B right outside this town.
Tomorrow we are taking the early ferry at half past eight in the morning to Ösel.
Planning next trip – around the Baltic Sea
Springtime, yesterday I took out my bike for the first time this season. Right now I’m planning for the trip around the Baltic Sea this summer. Together with my friend aiming to visit St Petersburg, Tallin, Riga, Kaliningrad, Rügen etc. As a bonus we will see the boats from Volvo Ocean Race in their final run in to St Petersburg.
Getting around 