Not wasting any time in Moscow, we went on our first tour after dinner: 3 hours in the Moscow Metro (Моско́вский метрополите́н). Dale arranged all our tours through Happy Moscow Tours and we were lucky enough to have Ludmila as our tour guide on two occasions: the Moscow Metro; and, the Kremlin (in her other … Continue reading
We had a noon flight to Moscow, Russia, so we only had time in the morning for breakfast and packing – not going to be needing those biking shorts anymore on this trip. We were flying on the Russian government-owned airline, Aeroflot (Аэрофлот in Cyrillic), one of the oldest airlines in the world, having been … Continue reading
We hopped in the van in Kaunas on the final day of our cycling tour of the Baltic countries and drove for about an hour to Elektrenai on the edge of Lithuania’s “Lake District.” Again the description of the ride was a little inaccurate. For about an hour, we cycled along a road heavily used … Continue reading
Our eighth biking day – and third day on our own along the Lithuanian coast – started with loading our luggage into a local taxi for transport to the Nida ferry dock. We all rode our bikes there and waited for the ferry to take us across the Curonian Lagoon to Ventė on the mainland. … Continue reading
Having spent the night in a very nice hotel just opposite the ferry landing in Klaipėda, the Old Mill Hotel, we awoke rested and ready for our big biking day: 68 km, about 42 miles, an all-time long bike ride for us. But, first, we had to wait for the hand-cranked, swivel bridge to open … Continue reading
We arrived in Šventoji on the northern end of the Lithuanian coast at 4:00 in the afternoon after riding in the van all day from Rīga. After some debate (given the lateness of the day), we decided to join those of our group that wanted to ride bikes from here to our hotel in Klaipėda, … Continue reading
In Rīga the next morning, Monday, we greeted our new van drivers and loaded the bikes onto the trailer behind the van we and the two German couples in our group climbed aboard. About an hour later we crossed the border into Lithuania. Since both Latvia and Lithuania are in the EU’s Schengen Area, there … Continue reading
From Tallinn to Rīga we have been transported by bus with our luggage stored below and the bikes in a trailer behind. For the most part, we have boarded the bus in the morning and been taken to where we begin our day’s bike ride, then we are picked up at an arranged destination later … Continue reading
Our fourth biking day was the shortest distance (about 13 miles, 21 km) and the best ride so far; good weather, too. Most of the day was spent in Latvia’s Gauja National Park, the country’s largest, which takes its name from the Gauja River that flows through it. After cycling through the town of Sigulda, … Continue reading
As I mentioned in my last post, our third day of biking was to start in Otepää, Estonia, billed by our tour operator, Baltic Bike Travel, as the “Estonian Switzerland.” Having now completed the ride, I’m mystified as to how they settled on this description. For the most part, we peddled through countryside and vegetation … Continue reading
Our second biking day was billed as a day of “cycling along the lakeshore” of Lake Peipsi, the boundary separating Estonia from Russia. Let’s just say that while technically correct, the description of the ride was a bit of a stretch, although the day did have a promising start on the waterfront at Mustvee. Unfortunately, … Continue reading
Wednesday morning, we met our fellow cyclists and boarded the Baltic Bike Tours charter bus to Lahemaa National Park (see those double vowels?). Twelve of us are on the unguided tour, but we are traveling half the way with another group of about the same number who are on a guided tour. We will be … Continue reading
Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, is 235 miles nearly due east of Stockholm. We will be biking through all three of the Baltic countries, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, over the next two weeks, then we’ll be going to Russia for another week (Moscow, and St. Petersburg), followed by a couple days in Helsinki, Finland (on … Continue reading
For her birthday, Dale wanted to kayak all the way around Grinda, about 6 miles. We had rented a two-person kayak the evening before, so we set off in the morning out of the harbor by the marina in a clock-wise direction around the island. I tasted and felt the water: it’s brackish and not … Continue reading
We celebrated the Fourth of July in the air, traveling from Bergen, Norway, back to Stockholm, Sweden. But, before heading to the airport, we took the funicular up to the top of Fløyen, one of the mountains encircling Bergen. The view of the city from this elevation (1,400 feet) was suberb: But our stop in … Continue reading
After our boat trip through the Sognefjord, we took the Flåm-Myrdal railway, billed as one of the world’s great scenic railroads, back to Bergen. Built by hand in the 1920s and 1930s, it is an amazing thing. By the way, if you’re thinking of going, the right-hand side is the better view. The Flåm railway … Continue reading
Fjords are deep, underwater valleys that often extend far inland. They are created by glaciers so enormous and heavy that they compress and erode the land below before beginning to melt and float on the intruding ocean water. For this reason, fjords are normally deeper toward their middle or landward terminus than at their connection … Continue reading
On Saturday morning, as we were leaving the hotel, we were surprised when a taxi pulled up along side of us and friendly voices called out our names. Our friends, Bob and Johnna, had arrived a little earlier than we expected. We were all going together at noon to Troldhaugen, the home of one of … Continue reading
We’re back in Norway for a few days, this time in the country’s second most populated city and former capitol, Bergen, which has been superceded on both counts by Oslo, to the south. We’re here to meet our friends, the Giles, whom we met through home exchanging several years ago. We arrived first, on Friday, … Continue reading
While we were in Abisko, the United Kingdom held a referendum on whether or not to leave the European Union. With 72% of the electorate voting, the final tally was 52% declaring for “Leave” and 48% for “Remain.” That translates to 1,269,501 more people voting to leave than to stay. The world media labeled this … Continue reading
