Moto Adventures

Wednesday, August 08, 2012

Poland and the Baltic Countries, Lithuannia, Latvia and Estonia


In Kuldiga, Latvia, they sold colourful tableclothes in a store where they also made them.


The main square in Krakow, Poland, was big and busy.


A lady at the side of the road in Lithuannia sell fruits and vegetables from her garden. She was nice enough to let us take a picture and then insisted that we take some apples with us, which I put in the only place we had room...my jacket pockets. Unfortunately, we had to stop and throw them away because they were bruised and full of worms:(


They say Polish is hard language to learn, and we can see why. Can anyone translate this for us?


Varda Ruga, in Kuldiga are the widest waterfalls in Europe, not the biggest but the widest.


In Krakow, we enjoyed a dinner of all our favourites, perogies, cabbage rolls and borcht.


Dresden, Germany, is beautiful by night. We enjoyed a walk and did some people watching by city light.



We have been very busy since we left Holland. Travelling over 3500 km and crossing six countries, Belguim, Germany(again), Czec, Lithuannia, Latvia and now we are in Estonia.

After leaving Amsterdam we traveled south, through a small part of Belguim and back in Holland to a motorcycle campground in Heerlen. It was recommended to us by a couple from Holland and we would recommend it also, the owners were very nice and campground was nice and clean.

From there it was back to Germany. Driving through Monschau on our way to Dresden. The night before we reached Dresden we stayed in Wetzlar at a campsite along a river and we had a very big thunder storm, the ground shook the lightning was so close! Dresden was very impressive, we had driven by in recent trips to Germany but had never gone into the city. It was a nice mixture of old and new, and there was a concert in the park under one of the bridges that we enjoyed listening to for a while and people watching.

We spent a day and half riding through northern Czec before heading into Poland. We had spent time in Czec on a previous trip so this time it was short and sweet. Poland was a pleasant surprise for us. We knew the food was going to be good but we also loved the countryside and found the people very nice once they warmed up to us. We especially loved Krakow. We stayed in a campsite about 4 km out of town and took the bus and tram into town for the night. We have been to more cities this trip than in all of our others put together and we are really enjoying it(even Ken). Polands people are very hard workers and it was not out of the ordinary to see them out raking the fields by hand or using very outdated machinery. We rode many little side roads through countryside and saw men sharing a beer while looking over a large field they had just finished working and women picking vegetable in gardens much bigger than we are used to. A great amount of their stables still come from their own land, not the local grocery store. The last night in Poland we stayed in a campsite just short of the Lithuannia border, camped beside a lake we actually swam and enjoyed the company of many locals, until a thunderstorm blew up and chased us all away. There doesn't seem to be any rime or reason to campsites here, at this campsite we payed $3 with a shower included but at other times we have paid $15-$20.

We met our friends, Heinz and Martina, in Klaipeda, Lithuanna and are now travelling with them. Heinz is on a Honda Africa Twin and Martina is riding a Honda Trans Alp. Still heading north we crossed the Latvia border and headed into Riga, another old city with an amazing old town center. The city campground was located an an old Expo site across the Daugava River from the old town. We walked into town for the evening and made it back just minutes before another thunderstorm terrorized us with terrents of rain and winds that would have flattened our tent(once again, as in Nord Capp)if we hadn't made it back in time to batten down the hatches. The next day we packed up soggy tents and headed out in miserable weather for our next destination, Tallinn, Estonia. Here we have a room for the first time on this trip(not including the cabins at the campgrounds), there is something special about having your own bathroom in your room...even if it is small. We will ride around Estonia for the next few days then slowly start our way back down toward Klaipeda where Heinz and Martina will once again take the ship back to Germany and Ken and I will continue on our way.





2 Comments:

At 2:39 PM, Blogger Rose said...

Okay, first off - Wypozyczalnia. That's easy, it means Rental. ;)

Second, what's with following the rain and thunderstorms all over Europe. Are you guys masochists? lol

Thirdly, Heather, yourparents mentioned something about you going to Russia after all. Have those plans changed again?

And finally, I dig that vegetable stand. I'm thinking Frank and Bernice could put one up at the end of the driveway. You know, make a few extra bucks for their old age fund.

Thunder and lightening aside, looks like you're having an awesome trip so far. Keep up the good work with the blogging and pictures!

Cheers, from the hot and sunny Okanagan. (Oh yeah, I'm rubbin' it in!)

 
At 5:59 AM, Blogger jade said...

They discovered what they describe as an egg-shaped opening in the top and a strange stone circle formations around it that resemble small fireplaces Baltic Adventures

 

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