The Baltic States

There’s a marked difference between the prosperity in Poland and Lithuania. As soon as you cross what used to be the border, it becomes a lot more rural, until you hit the capital of Vilnius where all the money is, and it shows, large cars, and around the hotel where we stayed, some expensive shops.

 Our Hotel

The pedestrian gate we went out of.

We stayed in an old Monastery (again) which was right in the old town and while the GPS was having fits about where we could and could not go, I ignored it and drove straight through the no entry signs to the place. I still don’t think they apply to motorcycles anyway.

Vilnius Cathedral

Like in South America this was a country a day through the Baltic the next being Riga. The high temperature we had all through Austria and Poland disappeared and the rain came too, not constant but some heavy showers that managed to soak us. We had chosen a nice hotel about 6km out from the centre on account of the fact that the centre hotel prices in Riga can rival the best in Paris or London, I kid you not! $160 for a crappy one bed room with a shared bathroom, up to $5000 for two nights in the better ones. We caught the bus into the city the next day and were pleasantly surprised at the old town centre again.

Riga Old Town

Statues of days gone by

 

Apparently St Christopher came from here

Commemoration today of the Latvians taken to the Gulags

A local brew which is supposed to be restorative. It tastes like cough medicine!!

Yesterday we started on the final leg up to Tallinn. No rain this time, in fact glorious sunshine most of the way but the temperature was only about 14 degrees and with the wind coming off the Baltic Sea it felt even colder. This hotel is only 100m from the ferry terminal and about 500m from the old town centre again. Although we were tired we made the effort to walk into town last night and we were both glad we did. I think Tallinn old town centre is the best we’ve seen yet with a lot of Medieval cobbled streets and spires. We found a nice restaurant in the centre of the old marketplace and after a good meal and a glass of red we wandered back to the hotel and flaked out.

Tallinn old town

The town hall

Time for Dinner

Originally Medieval, noice!!

 Panic this morning to find I haven’t packed the Russian maps for the GPS, so now sometime today I have to find a 2 gig SD card to put them on again while we are on the ferry tonight heading to Russia!!

Turning north

Five days is a long time when you are on the road, especially on a trip like this one. Now where were we? Ah yes, Salzburg. We had picked a hotel that was slightly further out from the city centre and although we were going to catch the bus in we ended up walking it. Sore legs later we had a good look around the city and the castle overlooking it. My recollection of when I was there forty something years ago was the shop signs in the old town and at the time the fact that McDonald's had not been allowed to put up the golden arches because they would have looked out of place. The street is still the same and brought back good memories.


Good street art on the way into Salzburg


The Scottish restaurant sign


Mozart Platz

We took the funicular railway up to the castle and had lunch up there overlooking the town and after all that hobbled back to the hotel.







Summer has arrived early in this part of the world. The last couple of days has been up in the 30’s, and with all the rain they get at other times it make for a very humid climate. It’s been alright while we are on the move but very hot and sweaty once you stop in all the bike gear.

Next stop the Czech Republic and new territory for me in Prague. We met some old friends of Claire’s for lunch, after a short walk around the town the night before. I

My boots had arrived and after using the box to pack the bike boots, we found the main post office in town and without much fuss managed to post them back to Paris. Time will tell how long they take to arrive. Prague is a wonderful old city, and one that I would like to return to one day, maybe in the winter when there are lees people there. I thought we would beat the summer rush but apparently not, or if we did then it must be an absolute bun fight at the height of the season.









The boots have made a big difference and I can now reach the ground again which makes getting on and off a lot easier. Again time will tell once I am on my own again how easy it will all be.

I made a bit of a miss calculation with the next days ride from Prague through to Krakow. We were due to have a stop halfway but in the end we did a big 590km day. We did have a look around the old square that evening, but took the decision to get back on the bike and backtrack a short distance to visit Auschwitz. I’ve been in two minds whether I wanted to go but decided that as we were so close I would regret not going. It’s a sobering experience and not something that is undertaken lightly so I’ll just post some of the photo’s I took. We ended up cutting short the tour which was far longer than we expected. We didn’t do the second half in Birkenau, one because of the time, two because it was 32 degrees and there is no shade there (and neither of us had a hat or sunscreen) and thirdly because it was probably even more confronting than Auschwitz.














Krakow is another stunning city and well worth another longer visit. The old square is alive at night with some very good restaurants where you can eat your evening meal and do some people watching.









Not being a Vodka drinker we decided it was time I tried it. I've heard tell that the one below is the best so we got a small sample bottle. We might get another larger bottle!!



So today we have had a very nice (and hot again) ride through to Warsaw. We have got a nice little apartment with good safe underground parking and nice facilities. Time will tell if we decide to do anything this evening or if we just get some nice smoked salmon and salad and a bottle of wine and just have a rest. We are going to be on the road for another three days straight before we get to Riga and have another day off.

Glad to see the comments from people that are managing to follow the spot tracker. One or two missed end of the day messages, and it’s not that I didn’t send them it’s just that the satellite signal was lost before the could get out. I’ll try to hit the button slightly earlier.

South to the Tirol

Ready to go

We’ve been on the road for four days now. An easy run out of Fontennay and meeting up with friends of Claire’s (Claude and Brigitta) on their BMW1300GT for an eay first day across the French countryside (including a stop in Reims for a glass of champagne) to a lovely hotel in the middle of nowhere in Chaumont sur Aire. The following day down to Basel where Brigitta lives and then on Sunday over some mountain passes to Luzern for a very nice late lunch on an old paddle steamer moored by the lakeside and is now a very nice restaurant.

Champagne to celebrate

The hotel in Chaumont sur Aire


Lake Luzern


Lunch on the William Tell

We had a quick look for a hotel just before we left and picked one around the half way point in Lichtenstein in a small mountain village with a room overlooking the valley. Lovely views as the sun set and also in the mourning to show of the snow capped mountains opposite.

Dusk in Lichtenstein


Even better in the morning

I have to say though the Sunday afternoon drive to get there through the back roads in Switzerland was one of the most painful and frustrating ones I've had with everyone crawling along at an average of 40km/hr !! Nobody likes to break the speed limit and there are a lot of speed cameras around, and one or two of them have a nice photo of my face. The good thing is there is no number plate on the front of the bike!!

I’m also having major problems with the height of the bike. The combination of re-upholstered seat (being wider) stiffer fork springs (keeping the front end higher) and no built up boot on the right hand side make getting back on the bike each time a precarious task. The last hope is that my built up boots are being send out to the hotel in Prague. Let's hope it solves some of the problem.

Today has been sightseeing in Innsbruck. Our hotel is on the other side of the river right opposite the old part of the city. Five minutes and we are right among the biggest attractions the city has to offer. Tomorrow we head for Salzburg and another rest day to see the sights.


The old part of Innsbruck


The Golden Roof


Our hotel is the green one

Final Preparation

Well I finally finished what I could in the UK and after the birthday party for Claire’s Dad at the weekend, last Tuesday set off for France.


Claire's Dad & Sister Lorna


Doing well for 90!!

Not a bad run down to Folkstone and the Channel Tunnel and a surprise as I filled up at a fuel station just before the train to find Mick McDonald and the whole of this years compass expedition on their first day out. Mick was as surprised to see me and when he asked me where I was going it was nice to be able to say “Same as you mate, Magadan!!” We were going to talk more on the train but I checked in quicker than their large party and I was pushed onto an earlier train. Maybe I’ll catch up with them later on in Mongolia or Siberia?

So I’m now at home number two. Fantastic to be with my wife again and life isn’t slowing down. Yesterday I went to the Mongolian Embassy to put the visa application in. What a mad ride that was. The inner peripherique around Paris is always a bit of a bun fight but first thing in the morning when everyone is trying to get to work it’s madness. I slowed with the rest of the cars and then all the bikes started to wiz past me, a lot of scooters but also Goldwings and big BMW’s!! The trick apparently is to put your hazard lights on and just go down between the outside and middle lanes of cars (at fairly high speed). Most cars will move over and those that obviously do, you thank. You just have to watch the taxis changing lanes and anything else that just isn’t paying attention. It’s pretty frightening.

When I finally got there roads were blocked and traffic crawling as the Embassy was right opposite Roland Garros. The French open starts next week!! Ah well………

The new seat on the bike is good and should be beneficial to us both for comfort. Unfortunately it has caused another problem. Asa it is firmer it does not compress as much when I sit on it. Also it’s wider which spreads my little legs and makes it even more difficult to reach the ground. The result is while the bike is actually no higher it appears to be and I can’t reach the ground with both feet. The side stand is also still too long and has resulted in one topple off the other side in a French service station, much to the amusement of the van drivers who were watching me. Nice that they helped me pick the bike up and jump back on quickly albeit red faced! So I have cut another 12mm off the stand and the foot is being welded back on today.






Hotels are now booked in Basil and Innsbruck, and the Ferry from Tallinn to St Petersburg is now booked. I’ve written to Dean in Russia to ask if he can supply me with knobbly Tyres for Mongolia (which will make the bike even higher!!) And after the BBQ this weekend we can start to seriously think about what we can pack. Next report should be on the road.

Catch Up

Right time for a catch up.

The route we took from Santiago across the top of Spain while scenic was fairly unremarkable. We stayed in a nice biker friendly place just outside San Sebastian where we put the bike in the lift to the upper floor in an old industrial building for safe parking.

The next day was one of this mistake days where while trying to avoid the boring toll motorways we ended up on the coast road through Biarritz. Very hot, with lots of holiday makers going along the coast road in no hurry. Get me outta here!!

Anyway we were back in Fontennay En Parisis a couple of days later and then into full on “lets get married” mode.

The wedding took place in Coventry in September with people coming from as far as Switzerland and France to help us celebrate. The day went off without a hitch and I’m pretty sure that everyone enjoyed themselves. We certainly did and spent a very nice wedding night at Coombe Abbey.

Coombe Abbey

Russia!!

The long awaited trip across Russia, Mongolia and Siberia is on. Since Christmas I’ve been planning for most of the time and getting the Russian visa sorted. That is all done now and it’s just a question of getting the last few bits and pieces sorted out before I fly to the UK again on the 10^th of May (economy again! But finances dictate this time) Unfortunately my mate Mike Haysom has had to pull out of going with me but as I write this I’m in contact with a guy from Sweden who is heading the same way and might be company for some of the way.

Packed for two

The bike is pretty much sorted and since Spain I’ve fitted a single sided Titanium exhaust. It’s made the bike more rideable, got rid of 4.5kg and it sounds like a big single should now. As you can see from the photo Claire has been amazing with the amount of luggage she can manage with on the bike, although we will be slightly overloaded through Europe as I have to carry the camping gear with me this time. That’s OK as it will be all on tarmac roads and we won’t be pushing hard. The seat has also been recovered with better foam which should improve the comfort for both of us.

New Exhaust

 

New Seat

 I’ve still got to fit a decent bash plate and upgrade the front fork springs but nothing that a few days work wont fix.

Bring on the 10th May.........