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Great Trip so far
Finally caught up with all of your pages. Have also been following the blogs of some of your cohorts who you have been intersecting with. love your dialogue and the photos are tremendous. I have visited all of the lower 48 states, but am looking to extend the boundries. Your insightful information is making that possible. Will keep tracking your progress.
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Hey there Thanks so much. Just get out and ride the world is an awesome place!Mexico is spectacular and so is Guatemala, both are close to home. Cheers sara |
What a whirlwind trip we had and now we are back to the ferry for the overnight crossing. We arrived to sunny weather in Helsinki and returned to the camping for another night. We had booked passage on the ferry to Estonia for the next afternoon. We finally had a couple of days to do nothing! The Ferries to Tallinn leave from the west harbor. It is easy to book on line and we found the Eckero Line was the cheapest for the afternoon sailing of the 3 options. You can also book 2 bikes and 2 people on one reservation, which is rarely the case.
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5831/...e0d6be86_z.jpgScreen Shot 2015-08-14 at 1.59.14 AM by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We arrived early, but so did quite a few others. The bikes are all loaded on the second level of the ferry and there were lots of new looking tie down to secure them. The crossing was very calm. The boat is very nice and there are all kinds of different seating options. There were 6 or 7 bars since this is a bit of a booze cruise at night. There were 2 different bars with live band playing.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/582/2...f5df015f_c.jpgDSC03420 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr The forecast was for a light rain, but when we unloaded it was torrentially raining. We had planned to camp, but even the streets were flooded so we did not think the campground would be better. The first few places we stopped were full and one had a suite for 180$. We by then were a ways from the city and looped back to finally find a hotel at a reasonable price. |
The next day of course it was spectacular. We drove to the old town and did a walking tour. There are 4 cruise ships docked today and so the old town was packed.
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5662/...9070d207_c.jpgDSC03446 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/668/2...35e67470_c.jpgDSC03445 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5720/...fccffb33_c.jpgIMG_4268 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/732/2...d4b79728_c.jpgIMG_4266 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/626/2...04d6e5a9_c.jpgDSC03455 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5733/...a17df793_c.jpgDSC03454 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5759/...728bb4a4_c.jpgDSC03452 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5746/...1781302a_c.jpgDSC03447 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5624/...7cc7b987_c.jpgDSC03434 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Today we booked ferry tickets from Lithuania to Stockholm in 4 days time. That said we planned a loop through Estonia and into Latvia and Lithuania and planned at least 450 km per day.
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5790/...e8582435_o.pngScreen Shot 2015-08-23 at 11.42.47 AM by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Day one we rode west to the coast 100 km to the “beach” town of Haapsalu. From here we backtracked 40 km and then rode south and west to Tartu. We took a lot of secondary and tertiary roads, some of which were dirt. Estonia is a very clean and prosperous looking country. The farms are neat and tidy and the homes even the old ones are well kept.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/712/2...9e8d404a_b.jpgScreen Shot 2015-08-16 at 10.45.25 PM by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/772/2...600f5593_c.jpgESTONIA 1 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5764/...f587eef9_c.jpgESTONIA 2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/715/2...9b94676e_c.jpgESTONIA 4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/685/2...4d21e196_c.jpgESTONIA 5 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
The cities also are very clean and beautiful. Since these are relatively new countries in the Baltic region they are wired! They have the fastest intenet in Europe.
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5755/...8d0696ac_c.jpgESTONIA 9 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia and was founded in 1030. We enjoyed the Main Square and dinner there. https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5824/...a2474bb2_c.jpgESTONIA 6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5786/...f370b8c1_c.jpgESTONIA 7 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/661/2...d173d426_c.jpgESTONIA 8 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We continued south for a total of 491 km. We did not see any camping after about 2 pm of course. We ultimately crossed into Latvia and finally we found a hotel in Aluksne that let us camp on the lawn by their pond for 5 Euros. We had taken the dirt short cut to the town, which had some sections of very bad washboard.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/728/2...50054419_c.jpglatvia lithuania 2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/650/2...f1829e2a_c.jpglatvia lithuania 3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/669/2...3c68ce97_c.jpglatvia lithuania 4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Riding south again we stopped and toured the city of Rezenke. Then we tried to stay off the highway, but this proved difficult on our way south to Lithuania.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/611/2...6e925b1f_c.jpglatvia lithuania 11 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/689/2...110d4ec9_c.jpglatvia lithuania 6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Here we again did a small tour into the Capital of Vilnius, with its beautiful architecture. https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5765/...4468e2fd_c.jpglatvia lithuania 7 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Now we turned north towards Riga. Here we really tried to get off the highway, but several of the roads were dirt with some washboard again. Again we did not find any camping, but we did find a hotel in Panevezys after 537 tiring Kms. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/718/2...f12f08c4_b.jpgScreen Shot 2015-08-16 at 10.54.18 PM by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr A beer and a beer/grapefruit dink in Lithuania 1.34 Euros!! https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5654/...6f0226bb_c.jpglatvia lithuania 8 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5647/...174e7665_c.jpglatvia lithuania 9 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We slept in today until 930, but it was no issue since we had only 167 km to go to Riga Latvia.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/592/2...18a6e3c23e.jpgScreen Shot 2015-08-16 at 11.01.51 PM by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We took the secondary roads all the way, which wound thru the forests and farms. The towns show their Soviet history. https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5821/...cf49543f_c.jpglatvia lithuania 12 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5642/...74ce3ccc_c.jpglatvia lithuania 13 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Arriving in Riga we had booked an apartment for 40 Euros in a city where hotels are very expensive. From the outside we were a bit worried, but it was very nice inside. We did have 24 hour security for the bike, which was nice.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/665/2...f231c618_c.jpgriga 3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5737/...2f514002_c.jpgriga 1 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/674/2...26f1ccb4_c.jpgriga 2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5835/...a433d9b9_c.jpgriga 5 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We could walk across the river to the old town. On the way you pass the very modern library building.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/651/2...62a90ded_c.jpgriga 6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/637/2...794eaeb8_c.jpgriga 36 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/719/2...bd320345_c.jpglatvia lithuania 17 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
The city was having its annual summer festival and there was music and events all over the old town.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/634/2...5ea2ee27_c.jpglatvia lithuania 37 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/703/2...0f19d939_c.jpglatvia lithuania 39 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5777/...7e6a3d8a_c.jpglatvia lithuania 40 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5651/...357df2cc_c.jpglatvia lithuania 54 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5795/...d03d9511_c.jpgriga 11 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5717/...181801c6_c.jpgriga 13 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/645/2...ba3caae5_c.jpgriga 22 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5784/...97546171_c.jpgriga 32 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/615/2...3f33368c_c.jpgriga 30 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/667/2...cc5de34a_c.jpgriga 31 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
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