We get up in the morning and because there is a small amount of wifi in the reception area, I have time to quickly load up a blog before we leave, but that is all. We need to try and get another hinge for our van door so we head into town to find a camping store we are told about by the camping ground manager. It takes us ages to find where the store is as the tablet shows it in a slightly different area and thankfully we find a guy at a hardware store who speaks the smallest amount of English to show us where we need to go. Anyway luck is not with us and we think we will have to head into Germany to find another hinge and have someone put it on as it is riveted and we have no tools.
We head out of Klaipeda back the way we came yesterday because we want to travel to Kaunas via Siauliai where there is an amazing hill of crosses to see. We have overestimated the roads in Lithuania – they aren’t as bad at Latvia at this stage, but they aren’t a lot better either. We head out of Kretinga and across towards Siauliai. We have wasted most of the morning looking for van stuff, so it is getting a little late in the day. We do decide to have a coffee I think – it’s difficult to remember sometimes when you write a few days late what you did. We haven’t had wifi or electricity for 5 days now and today is no different as I write this. We are told here there is wifi, but the bandwidth is so bad it won’t even refresh my maps so not worth doing anything.
Anyway we eventually get to Siauliai and find the Hill of Crosses. It is the most bizarre thing to see – this little hill in the middle of the flat and there are probably hundreds of thousands of crosses – possibly even millions scattered around the area. I am not sure exactly how it started but I know that in the 1980’s the Russians used to bulldoze the crosses out of the way and the civilians would sneak back during the night and start to resurrect them all back up again. Now, although the place is used to commemorate the spirit of the Lithuanian people who were killed by the Nazis and Russians, there are many crosses from people all over the world wanting to remember people they have lost. The crosses all have to be wooden and 99% of them are. There are also lots of rosary beads and Virgin Mary and Jesus statues plus other commemorative religious artefacts people have put there. You can walk amongst the crosses as there are paths winding all through them. It is a very strange feeling being there, quite surreal actually and quite difficult to describe. Scot was awed by the number of crosses that at the beginning just seemed like a hill in front of us, but when you walked amongst it was amazing how many people contributed. Busloads of tourists come out each day from Vilnius to see this and many add to the crosses. Scot would describe it just like a pilgrimage. The only thing I thought a bit funny was the one and only sign that said ‘no flames’. It would take a second for someone to destroy the entire hill with effectively a single match. It would not surprise me if one day this happened – if someone took offense to the site from a different religion. I had to put all the pictures I took in as you just can’t imagine how many crosses there are here, my photos really don’t even show how many there are.
We left the Hill of Crosses and since it was 5pm decided not to continue to Kaunas, but stay in a campsite close by. We found one just outside the town that was deserted and looked like it was closed but as we pulled in a lady appeared carrying a large punnet of raspberries. We paid her some money to stay as well as take the freshly picked punnet of raspberries off her hands. They had a washing machine and dryer so we decided to do the washing and also do a spring clean of the van inside and out. We don’t often get the opportunity to do it so have to when we are able to – as Scot really wanted to sit in the sun and read his book, sometimes this has to take second place to chores. The people here have a large country garden that they seem to share the responsibility for. In the morning one of the older guys was into the garden closest to us digging out the old raspberry bushes. From what we have seen the Lithuanians love their gardens and their soil looks very rich.
The camp in Valmiera didn’t have any outside lights so it was incredibly dark during the night and it felt strange since we were the only ones camping there. They had a couple of ski jumps, both had perished a bit but they were fixing one of them up. The other looked like it was a bit far gone and would take some money to get it back into working condition.
We left after sitting at the office for an hour or so uploading photos via wifi for the blog and doing emails. On our way to Riga we stopped at a café/restaurant on the side of the road and really went in for a coffee, but they had a few things that looked nice in the warmers so we ended up eating a small lunch there with our coffee. We had a vege dish and some fish which in hindsight wasn’t a good idea. The fish was a bit ordinary and I don’t imagine it is easily purchased in this part, but we ate it and didn’t suffer. They had a very cute cat which of course I had a pat of. When we got back on the road we were quite close to the city. The roads were quite bad and then we started to get the dreadful drivers. At one point a car passed us and he only managed to squeeze back in front of us with literally a second or two to spare I thought we were all going to collide. Unfortunately I hadn’t had the video camera running at that point so I missed out on a great video. We had a few doing insane things similar to that, but not quite as insane. I realised what the lady had said about cars not sticking to the lanes as marked as the other side they were trying to get two abreast but there really was only room for one. There were road works and our side was only one lane so we didn’t have a problem with that. We passed our first vans in a few days and they were travelling quite close together and they were all from Netherlands, so we figured they must have all just left Riga – which was confirmed when we got to the campsite. As we hit the ring road of Riga, the traffic seemed to settle and it was just normal city traffic and not what I was expecting at all. We navigated quite well to the camp ground and drove on in.
We parked in one spot but a German lady came running over and asked us to move as they had a group of them coming for a get together and they wanted to park together. So no problem we moved over to the other side where a lady was sitting minding their van space and we pulled in beside them. When I asked her where they were from she said New Zealand and of course we though it funny that we were too. Sue and Rob are the first New Zealanders we have come across since travelling. They are from Auckland and had an Australian van they had bought over with them and were travelling around Europe and heading in the same direction as us. How strange to have parked next to them of all the people in the city camp. This city camp was about 20 mins walk across a bridge into the old town so very close. Sue and Rob kindly gave us a map of the town and told us where the markets were that they were headed off to. Since we had arrived early – about 2.30-3 we also then headed into Riga city to have a look at the markets. It was Friday afternoon so there were lots of people around. The markets were in 4 or 5 huge round rooved buildings joined together as well as a large outside area. They are the largest markets I have ever seen. When we walked into the first building it was the seafood building and you could buy anything there was available from many vendors. A lot of smoked fish, whole fish, huge fillets of salmon, trout, unknown white fish , caviar (massive amounts of it) just so much of it all. No wonder the seas are emptying, Scot reckoned it was all getting sent here, amazing. Then we walked through to halls with fruit and veges, spices, cheeses, smallgoods, bakeries with cakes for 0.35c (we had a couple). Outside were another huge lot of fruit and vege sellers – with copious quantities of berries, grapes, fruit we couldn’t even identify, herbs, you name it. We were quite amazed. When we read up about the market they said it was the largest of it’s kind in Europe and I would believe that. We bought 500g of raspberries for 1.50euro and blueberries, strawberries, some cheeses. Its bad really as we tend to go marginally overboard on what we can fit into the fridge when we see amazing food so cheap like this. Anyway, once we had what we wanted we headed back to the camp. Sue and Rob came and sat with us when we had all got back and spent some time chatting until it got cold. They gave us info on an app for freedom camping. This was their first campsite they had stayed in for a couple of years, so hopefully this app may help us find some free safe spots where we can save some money.
A bunch of guys arrived from Estonia during the night and they were quite noisy drinking and partying until the wee hours. There were quite a few of them and they were staying in two small caravans. Initially I thought they were gypsies since they were crowded in the caravans and were noisy and messy like gypsies generally are, but we realised later on that EuroBasket – a basketball competition was on here in Riga for several days and they were here for that.
We had another chat with Sue and Rob in the morning before they left and we headed into town and we swapped details to keep in touch. It’s a small world so the chances of being in the same place may be quite high as we both travel south through the countries.
We decided to bike over the bridge and then park our bikes up and walk around the old town. It was very late morning so we decided to have a coffee first. Nice to be in a country again that makes good coffee for a very cheap price. 1-1.50euro for a good cup of coffee. The Aussie dollar has dropped 15% since we left Australia, so things are getting more expensive for us as we lose more money the more time goes on, but even so, 2-2.50aud is cheap for a coffee. And great cakes for only about 2.50aud. We walked up through the start of the old town. One thing we have noticed here is that there are police everywhere. They are either parked up watching, or on corners or walking patrolling. Not sure if this is normal or if something is happening as they were doing the same in Estonia. We came across a couple of weddings where the wedding party was having photos with the beautiful buildings in the old town. What awesome photos they would get. We went to take some more cash out, but the ATM didn’t give me any money and I am hoping it didn’t take it out of my account either – am still waiting to check.
There were little pockets of people selling paintings, knitted garments and amber is a very popular item to sell here as well. We saw beautiful buildings with gorgeous architecture and churches and then Scot spied a Kiwi bar. Of course we had to go in. When he told the lady there we were from NZ she said they give a free beer to Kiwis who come in. She gave us both one – a very large one. I don’t drink that much beer but I hadn’t realised she was pouring me one too. We spoke to an Aussie guy who was sitting in the bar with his dog who lived in Riga. His dog – Frankie – was a very cute cocker spaniel. We had another drink – this time mine was a cherry beer – a Kriek – nice. Then an English guy and a Scottish guy came in with a man who was born in Dunedin but lived there in Riga. We got talking to them and then they shouted us a drink (or 5). They were there in the Kiwi bar to watch a rugby game between Ireland and England, but were in Riga for a ‘boys’ weekend. Well you know what happened next, beer, rugby, great people to chat to and before I knew it the afternoon had gone and it was about 6pm. I knew Scot was pretty trashed so thought we had better head away before he got worse. I was way too late, after a couple of falls (and probably a few bruises) trying to get home, we ended pushing our bikes the 2km back to the campsite as Scot couldn’t ride. I won’t say any more, but those who know me well will know how I was feeling – apart from the dreadful migraine I then succumbed to by the time we got home. No food, a few ciders or cherry beers does that to me these days.
Alistair and Quentin whom we met at the Kiwi bar live in England and we hope to catch up with them when we return next year. One of the great things is the lovely people we keep meeting as we travel. My address book has so many more entries and I am loving that at some point we will get to see all these people we have met, once again.
The next morning, up reasonably early as we had a lot to fit into the day we now had left to see Riga. I was feeling a lot more comfortable with this city that had me quite apprehensive and it was great to feel that nothing I had read was justified. I couldn’t see any of the aspects that people had described as being so bad. The ladies in the markets didn’t speak any English, but they were all very accommodating and we managed to convey what we wanted and didn’t receive looks of contempt. The people we had met around the town were all incredibly friendly and helpful and we didn’t get run over on the road, cars were courteous on crossings, and I didn’t even feel unsafe at any stage, even with Scot staggering beside me walking home. I love when feelings change like this so that you do a complete turnaround.
We headed into the city the same way and again parked the bikes up. We had buildings ear marked on the map so we didn’t miss them. All through the town were supporters of the teams that were playing basketball chanting and clapping for their team. We managed to see the Cats house which is opposite the Small Guild and the Great Guild buildings. Everywhere in Riga there are things dedicated to cats. A lot of their souvenirs have cats on them. The black cat is a very popular icon for the city. The story we were told is that the Germans controlled the Guild and when a Latvian man tried to join they wouldn’t let him to join. So the Latvian started up his own Guild over the road from the Germans Guild and the Latvian put two cats on his roof both with their tails up and bums facing the Germans Guild. This being the height of insult to the Germans, after some time they told the Latvian that he could join their Guild if he turned the cats around. The cat has been a symbol of strength in the city ever since. We visited the Blackheads buildings which are iconic in Riga and just have beautiful architecture. We walked around the city looking at as many historic buildings we could. We eventually stopped for lunch at the Wok to Walk – not normally my thing but their food was very fresh and nice. We walked around the back of the old town to where the Russian Orthodox church was and they have the most lovely green strip along the sides of the canal that runs through that part of the city. Beautiful gardens and they had lots happening. There was a big stage set up that they were sound tuning likely for a concert after the basketball that night. We saw the freedom monument and then walked on past the French embassy whose building was beautiful. We then saw the Russian Orthodox cathedral. What amazing architecture – so impressive and this one was very spectacular inside. I really wanted to take photos but they aren’t allowed. The inside of this was up with the best of the churches I have seen.
We then visited the museum of occupation. There wasn’t a lot to see like most museums but it told the story of the years of occupation that Latvia (and Estonia and Lithuania) had to endure. On our side of the world we heard a lot about what happened to the Polish during WWII but we never heard that both the Germans and the Russians killed a lot of people from these Baltic states.
At the beginning of the war Russia had already taken over the Baltic states but then Nazi Germany and Russia had a pact that they would fight the allies. But Nazi Germany betrayed Russia and attacked them taking over the Baltic states during WWII. The people thought that Nazi Germany would look after them better than the Russian and let them become autonomous states, but unfortunately this didn’t happen and a lot got conscripted into the army to fight Russia. Nazi Germany took something like 90,000 Latvians, 12,000 Estonians and 24,000 Lithuanians and exterminated them all – the numbers actually change depending on what you read, but a large amount more than that were killed. Russia and Nazi Germany were still fighting and unfortunately that meant that people ended up fighting their own family at times since some had been recruited into either of the country occupiers.
Once the Germans had been defeated Russia then took back over the Baltic states where they stayed in occupation until 1991 when each of these countries pushed for and were successful in declaring independence away from Russia. Within a couple of years Russia had to remove it’s troops and equipment from these countries.
When you learn what the people in these countries have been through it’s not hard to have immense compassion and respect for them and realise how proud they must be of what they have achieved by being able to embrace modern society.
When we left Riga the roads deteriorated into a dreadful state. It didn’t look like any work had been done other than patch up holes for decades. When thinking about it, I imagine when the Russians withdrew from Latvia they wouldn’t have left any money. So in my mind I am thinking it has probably been something that the Latvian government has not had the money for until now where we see them starting to completely re-do a lot of their roads.
So, after visiting the museum of occupation and having a great history lesson (I am learning so much through travelling), we spoke to a lady who worked there and she said that Russia are still saying that they could have their tanks and army in their country within 48 hours and still think they have the right to do this and the Americans are telling them they can have theirs there within 12 hours. There is obviously still a major threat from Russia in the whole of this area. I guess you only need to see what is happening with Ukraine to know that Russia is still not happy with their existence.
We then continued across to the market to buy some salmon for the next couple of days. We had a drink in one of the cute bars in one of the many market type squares that exist in the city. As we were sitting there we heard chanting and a group of people walking through the streets. Some were carrying placards so I thought it was a demonstration of some kind and Scot thought they were basketball fans. Not sure who was right as we never found out, but there were a lot of them gathered together in one area all chanting some slogan. We stopped past this lovely colourful store that had ornaments that I couldn’t help but take pictures of. We ended up going inside and couldn’t help again but buy a small colourful memento. The German man who designed and made the creations unfortunately died a couple of years ago at a young age of 52. Scot keeps getting inspired by all the beautiful artwork, paintings etc and can’t wait to get to Greece so he can create some himself.
We picked up our bikes and headed back to the camp before dark as even though we do have lights we have never put them on the bikes and forget to take them with us!
Riga is a city full of surprises and is a lovely city to explore. I want to come back here and stay in the city and see Riga at night. Yes I have done a complete about turn and really enjoyed our stay. I am very grateful we didn’t bypass Riga as we would have missed out on a lot of history and a great experience.
Monday 7 September
We get up and get organised to leave. Most people are leaving today – the German van contingent too. So there are only a handful of people left in the camp. We decided to drive out west to the coast through Liepaja and then down to Klaipeda in Lithuania. Sue had warned me that they had been told of road works out on the coast somewhere but she wasn’t sure where. I couldn’t look at the map and get roadwork stuff as the free Wi-Fi at the camp wasn’t working, so we made the decision to still go the same way. Just out of Riga we encountered our first lot of road works – well this lot went for about 48km – get that! They have lights set up, but they aren’t controlled according to how many cars there are and they aren’t triggered by the last car through or anything like that so we sat at each set of lights and turned off the van for about 5 minutes each time. I lost count of the lights we went through – easily could have been 20 or more sets all up. The road surface we had to drive across was the worst roads I have driven on in years. The poor van, we are wondering what may have gotten broken by all the shaking and juddering it encountered. Awful really, we hate having the van subjected to that, but once you are on that road there is nothing you can do but keep driving.
Anyway, we got to Klaipeda and due to not being able to get any wifi to see where the free camping sites were on the app that Sue and Rob told us about we headed to a known campsite on the north side of Klaipeda (an inexpensive one). A group of German campers were already here and they had a little dog I am sure we have already seen in a camp ground we have stayed at recently. There aren’t many travelling around this part of the world so I am sure we have seen them before. Anyway, we will head off earlyish in the morning so we can get to Kaunas tomorrow to have a look around.
At this stage Lithuania’s roads are in better condition than Latvia’s roads so are much easier to get where we are going on time tomorrow.
The disused ski jump at Valmiera
Valmiera camp ground
Amazing fish market
Nice Melons in the fruit market
You need to look up to see the best parts of the buildings
We were up reasonably early for us and left the marina around 10ish after a shower, this time separately as the lady in the office was watching, bugger another 2 euro wasted. After emptying the toilet cassette we navigated through the city and on the road south to Parnu on the coast. It was raining a bit but not too heavy as we threaded through the morning city traffic. As we passed through the outer suburbs we noticed lots of cops on some sort of patrol or sentry duty on intersections and outside buildings. We are still not sure what that was about whether it was normal for a Tuesday morning or a security or refugee issue as there was a major alert out of Hungary where the refugees had shut down the train station trying to get to Germany but through Austria. They now have figures of over 250,000 this year mainly Syrians so a huge problem.
It was pretty quiet on the road except for lots of trucks, no campers or caravans seems they have all gone home or staying in Tallinn. Actually we were the only campervan on the ship from Finland and there were only a handful on Finnish vans in Tallinn – doesn’t seem like many come to these European countries. We stopped at a highway stop for a coffee then drove on to Parnu. It was still raining when we got to the camp (again where would we be without the tablet) and found a nice spot overlooking the river. Not the biggest or prettiest of camps but within a 1km walk to the town and all facilities. We managed to get a couple of loads of washing done but the dryer wouldn’t tumble so pain but got them hot then hung them out in the van. Vicki’s ingenuity came to the fore and we emptied out the cupboard and hung some washing in there and turned on the heater and it acted as a warming area with the sheets hanging off the doors. Very efficient and dry in a couple of hours and also a cosy little van with the sound of rain on the roof. Great wifi here so explored the net, caught up on the sport while Vicki did the more important task of sussing out campsites for the next two countries. Had a nice ready-made salmon fettuccine meal for the 3rd nite but still yummy.
It was only misting light rain when we walked into town the next day and halfway in thought we should have taken the bikes but too late. Like a lot of these places they have an old town for tourists then surrounding modern shopping centres and buildings which are not really for tourists. We had a wander around in the rain then found a lovely warm café for coffee, cappuccino and a tasty cherry tart. The drinks were so nice we had another round and then the place started to fill up with lunch people so we left. By this time the rain was still coming down but a bit harder. So brollies out we walked down to the seaside area through beautiful oak tree lined streets, parks and residential dwellings with the occasional restaurant or café. Obviously this area would be buzzing in summer as it is a very popular with locals and tourists but as the summer has now ended it is quiet especially today with the rain. The beach is a really well laid out area with lots of children’s play areas, volleyball nets, sun loungers, changing booths and even an elephant slide out in the water which would be great for the kids when the tide is in. It looks a very safe beach and was originally established by the Russians in the late 1800’s and they built a larger resort spa and mud baths which they have just reopened. The whole area is surrounded by spectacular parks, rotundas, flower and trellis lined avenues and even today, raining and grey, the beauty is evident. Vicki had to go to the loo so she went to one where a lady looks after it and keeps it clean. It cost 40c and great to help to keep someone in work and small price for cleanliness which we don’t see often. Unfortunately I am a jew and hate paying to go to the loo so a little way along I find a secluded free tree to contribute to nature.
Carrying on we find a large building which is supposed to be Estonia’s largest pub but it is closed for the rest of the year as there would be no custom to make it worthwhile now. We see a poster advertising some show which looks quite cool and when I see another smaller one I feel I have to have it for our future bar. But as I am souveniring it a lady comes along then turns back around walking towards us talking on the phone like she was providing our description and giving me what Vicki said was a filthy look. The little poster was now out of date so surely who cares but maybe they are precious about tourists taking things but who knows. Vicki started getting up me about how we have to be bloody careful in other countries doing something which we know is trivial but not worth the danger (seems to have forgotten the (bigger)poster we ‘acquired’ inside a Helsinki bar) (Actually I wanted to ask if we could have it and Scot just took it…V). Sure enough two minutes later as we are walking through a park to the little café we had spied for lunch we heard sirens and a cop car heading towards the beach. Not sure if it was us related but Vicki still didn’t want to swap rain jackets with me as we slunk further into the park to hide. Hopefully the cops saw the other poster that was left and put it into the too hard basket or hopefully cautioned the lady for wasting police time. But we have heard the police are on the take in this part of the world so any excuse may be attractive. (I was literally shitting myself and felt sick….V)
However we had a nice lunch V fish soup and me a dish of olives, capers, artichokes & oven grilled capsicum with a brioche yum yum. After that we headed back to the old town looking a statues and monuments on the way and walked around the 1400 bastion surrounding it which now has a small marina and walkways. We didn’t feel the need to see any more of the old town so walked in the steady rain back to the camp earlier than we normally do for beer & cider and a warm van. V got to pat and cuddle a camp pussycat that was happy to sit on her knee for a bit making her very happy. Tea is the last of the fettuccine so glad that it is all gone now. A small port and chocolate rounds off the day.
(I continue..V)
When we left Tallinn the outer areas of the city were interesting. A lot of the houses look really old but most were in a very poor state of repair on the outside. It seems as if people are unable to afford the upkeep of the outside of their homes – mostly timber. It is a great shame as even if they are lovely on the inside the outside looks so shabby. Even in the city though I have to say that although a lot of the buildings were very nicely done up, there were those that were in great need to re-rendering and painting. I imagine it is quite costly to do and most here wouldn’t be able to afford the upkeep I am sure. As we hit the rural areas even the bush looked quite unkempt and unloved. There is a lot of rural land that looks like it is unused by anyone and then you come across the standard pine forests. Here, they take off all the lower branches so you can see right through the forest easily – looks funny compared to the forests in Scandinavia.
This morning we left Parnu and were going to head across to Tartu before then heading down into Latvia but decided we weren’t going to go into Tartu since it is the second largest city and what would be the point so we took a lower road across the bottom of Estonia and drove via Valga which is a town divided by the border between Estonia and Latvia which driving through seemed quite strange really.
As we were driving in southern Estonia the countryside changed and became far more organised with farms and where there were houses they were better looked after and had nice gardens and a lot were growing their own veges and flowers which was great to see. The southern area is certainly really lovely and was worth seeing. As we drove through Valga and crossed the border the road deteriorated and the cars became old rundown heaps showing what appears to be less well off people in Latvia. Having said that, the houses and gardens still looked really well kept and tended to. We followed a truck almost all the way from Valga down to Valmiera on a road he didn’t want to go fast on as it was so bad, so we took it easy as well and maintained the slow speed and watched while everyone crazily overtook us both even other trucks. We are in a small campground on the outskirts of Valmiera, Latvia and are the only ones staying here. We didn’t see a Campervan or Caravan all day so feel we are a bit on our own now. It will be interesting to see how many are staying in Riga when we arrive tomorrow.
I must say I am completely out of my comfort zone (even though Scot isn’t). There is a lot of very unpleasant things to read on the internet about Latvia and how bad Riga is etc, but I have not let that influence our travel hence tomorrow we are going to stay in the city camp in Riga. Initially we were going to drive straight through Latvia and not even stop, but I think that is a copout and we should at least see some of the country and Riga is supposed to be really lovely, even if it had/has the largest crime rate in Europe. This country is still part of our experience and adventures and it will form part of our memories as much as every other country will. We will NOT be acquiring any posters or even any wild flowers on the side of the road here. I won’t even take a free sugar sachet! We had to bike into the town here in Valmiera as we didn’t have any coconut milk for the dinner Scot is cooking for the next few nights but I just don’t feel comfortable. Maybe it’s because people look at the van and then seem to look at us with contempt or something I’m not sure but this part of the holiday for me is done a little under duress and I am not finding it as enjoyable. I will look back on it I hope and think it wasn’t so bad. I am concerned about driving into Riga tomorrow though as it is supposed to be quite insane and we have to drive right into the heart of the city – maybe I am a sucker for punishment, but I will have the video recorder playing for sure just in case. A lady at the camp in Parnu said people don’t stick to lanes and even though there may be two lanes they still drive three abreast. Stay tuned for the Riga report after the weekend – if we make it through…lol!
One hinge has just broken on our van door that now we have to look at getting fixed, but that is another story – unless Steve…..you could just pop over and weld the aluminium hinge together for us????
Tallinn suburbs
Countryside outside Tallinn
Countryside outside Tallinn
Washing Day
Parnu campsite
Many buildings on prime real estate are left derelict
We got up early and headed to the ferry terminal a bit earlier than required just so we knew where to go and didn’t miss it. We took the Viking XPRS and it was so packed. I reckon they were full as far as vehicles were concerned and there were so many people on board it was bedlam. One could only have imagined what would happen if we all had to get off in a hurry. We had a coffee and before we knew it we were arriving into Talinn port. It was quite a windy afternoon and we had watched a couple of yachts struggle to make headway in the choppy waters.
I was a little apprehensive leaving the safety of Scandinavia and heading down through the Baltic countries as I guess it is quite an unknown quantity to us and pretty close to Russia.
We drove off the ferry and through the town to find the camping ground which was a hard stand at a marina a few kilometres away from the city. There were two to choose from and the other campsite looked like it was in an industrial site so chose the hard stand which traditionally are all very similar and marinas are always nicer and usually safer. We went for a walk along a nearby beach and watched the kite surfers in the wind. We could imagine this beach being very popular in the summer as I guess you could most beaches in these countries. It had a hotel and surf club on the beach front. We stopped at the yacht club for a drink on the way home and it was so nice we ended up having dinner there as well. Nice food at a great price. Hard to think that this was only our 3rd real meal out in Europe.
We got up earlyish Sunday morning and took the bus into town. It seems that there are always several cruise ships in port each day therefore many tourists walking around. The old town is definitely the best part of Tallinn and there is quite a bit to see. We had a walk around for a bit and had a look at some of the markets. One thing I was amazed about is that there is so much linen and woollen clothing here for sale at very good prices. I love linen clothing so think I may need to buy something before we leave. Of course there are the souvenir shops everywhere. We decided we would buy something very small from each country if there was something that typically depicted that country. Like in Holland it was little Dutch clogs. We haven’t got something from every country as sometimes there isn’t something we have liked. We passed by an artist and found we loved one of his original water colours, but since we hadn’t seen very much decided to keep looking around. The old town is partially surrounded by fortress walls and towers that are visible in quite a few of the pictures. Most of it is still in great condition and they have encompassed some of it into buildings like hotels etc. You walk along little cobbled streets and alleys with beautiful old medieval walls surrounding you and then find hidden treasures within archways, tunnels and courtyards, selling everything from little cakes and coffee to wine and beer, clothes etc. We went into this little courtyard where people had homemade their own food they were selling which was quite cool.
As you are walking around all the shops, markets and restaurants which are modern inside but you are surrounded by over 600 years of history. It was relaxing meandering in and out, up and down and around all the streets without any real pattern other than to find the next landmark whether it be a church or a statue. We reached the church where you can climb to the top of the tower via a 270 stair spiral staircase (I counted them). There were quite a few people doing this so it was difficult to pass on the very narrow staircase. At the top we talked to a group of 8 girls who were from USA (Utah, Washington State, North Carolina) and were teaching English in Lithuania for 6 months, they were having a weekend away. We had a great conversation about travelling and experiencing life which they were doing on a different scale to us. We then got talking to a couple of German girls as we looked out over the city. One who spoke the most English had spent time in Christchurch fairly recently. It is quite amazing the amount of people we talk to who have been or are going to NZ or Aus. We then spoke to an Indian fellow who was starting a new business working with both Governments in Estonia and India. He was petrified of heights and although he had made the climb he only just came to the door to see out and couldn’t bring himself to step out further. What a magnificent view and it made us appreciate the beauty of the old city. Worth the 2euro to go up. We went inside the church after the climb down and listened to the people singing which was lovely. They had a guitar and drums and it all seemed quite folk like in style.
We heard one tour guide say to her group that Tallin wasn’t that old since it had burnt down in the 1400’s as all buildings had been built with timber and there was no legislation to stop them building in timber. But when the city got rebuilt, they built it all in stone, but it was rebuilt from the 1400’s which to me is very old, so don’t quite know where she was coming from saying it wasn’t that old.
There was a lot of restoration work going on around the town which is always great to see (but doesn’t make for good pictures).
We walked around the gardens as they had a flower display and games was the theme. There were a few different countries who had contributed. It was quite well done. We had done enough walking so went to find the bus home – which had been changed and we had to try and find the new one – difficult when you can’t read Estonian. We will do it all again tomorrow as there is still some to see.
Monday 31st
We headed back into town in the morning by bus again as it is easy. We thought about push biking, but not really worth it time wise when the bus is very cheap. The weather has held up for us as there were some showers expected but we only had a couple yesterday and it looked like it wasn’t happening today either.
We stopped at the markets and bought a linen top that I had spotted the day before and had loved. Supposedly it was made in Poland – I hope we don’t see them in Poland now for half the price! We then stopped and had a coffee and chai in a café we had one at yesterday because it was cute and had nice coffee. We then went to find the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral which was in a hidden part of the city that we hadn’t found yesterday. There seemed to be a large number of tourist groups with guides here that were a pain in the butt because they just stop in the middle of paths and you can’t get past them. The cathedral is a beautiful Russian style building from the outside and is in the process of being renovated. The inside is quite nice and has a lot of gold leaf painted mantel type furniture/fittings. I felt that we had seen more spectacular interiors than this one, but it was still very nice. It struck me a bit odd though that there were no seats inside the church and it appeared that they don’t have services inside this church and maybe it is more of a tourist destination now.
We wandered around this part of the city which had awesome views over the city from the Battlements but it was so crowded with bloody tourists (we are adventure travellers and not tourists – tourists come on cruise ships and planes for a week and then go home) that it was difficult to see properly. We decided to find the café near the church we climbed up, to have lunch at since we didn’t bring food today – Scot was on strike! We had a lovely lunch and then took off to find the painter as we had decided that was going to be our momento from Estonia. It took a bit to find our way back to the courtyard we had seen him at yesterday, but got there eventually. However, the painting we loved yesterday, we felt didn’t depict the typical Tallinn scene and though it was really lovely with bright colours, we ended up changing our mind and chose a scene which I had earlier taken a photo of from the battlements overlooking the city. Although the paining was an original, they churn them out for the tourists and therefore are priced well.
We wandered for a bit more and also bought a Russian doll (made of wood, hand painted and are one inside the other etc) like I have always wanted since this is the closest I will get to Russia for a while. These are made right on the border of Estonia and Russia and not in China, so are authentic enough for us. Having seen everything we wanted to see, we feel there isn’t anything we have missed and head on back to “The Van” (Ruth, we don’t have a name yet, but Scot wanted to call it “Morrison” or “Morry” after Van Morrison).
We got off the bus and headed into a local supermarket to buy a battery for our torch. The supermarket was amazing – it was so huge and there were more varieties than I have seen of items for a very long time. It was on 2 levels. I wanted to just look around it was amazing. The food here is incredibly cheap as is the alcohol etc. We read news about a lot of Finns who now come and retire in Estonia because it is much cheaper to buy property and food etc and it is less regimented living than in Finland.
I really feel for the Estonians when you read up on their history. They have been pushed and pulled between pillar and post and even though they have had independence from approx. 1991 and they joined the EU in 2004, they obviously still feel a threat from Russia. I read some local news where they are talking of building a long fence on their border between them and Russia. People we have talked to say they have really come ahead in the past 10 years and it is good to see that people are starting to really come and visit here. Most of the younger people speak amazing English, actually probably better English than some of the Finnish people of the same age that we came across in our travels. I am wondering if Finland is slightly isolated in the scheme of things compared with Estonia which may see them get a little left behind.
On our way back to the campsite we bought a new camera as our one is starting to be a problem. We can’t zoom more than half or it shuts down and some of the buttons have an issue so we don’t want to not have one. Tomorrow we take off south.
It was an easy drive to Helsinki as we were close and though a little late we arrived at the city camp while still light. The camp is by far the best for a city camp and very clean with great facilities. Luckily we still had our delicious green chicken curry left so no cooking for me tonite-yes if you haven’t guessed it is me blogging as V is cleaning and restocking the fridge. We did a shop today as we do not know what to expect in Estonia.
Anyway we had an early nite as we wanted to be up early as we never know how to gauge the showers in the morning and we wanted to get on the train into the city reasonably early. As it turned out we were the only ones there – beautiful new and hot showers with no time limit or pushing buttons for the mens but not as good for the ladies. I think they have not done theirs yet. Everything has new swipe cards to get into so good security.
The Metro is only a short walk to get the train and we get 24 hour pass for 8 euro so we can also use the ferry to the tourist island of Soumenlinna to save $$. It is a real quick trip into the centre and we hit outside the Metro like dear in the headlights as we have no idea which direction to go but you really can’t get lost exploring. We manage to find what we think is the food markets near the harbour and have a look for what looks good for lunch as I decided the nite before that we would eat out as the guides showed some great food places. As it was a sunny day and tomorrow looked rainy we jumped on the ferry (normally 7 euro) across to the island. It was only a 15 minute ride but great views back to the city. We have to share the island with quite a few tourists but would think nothing like high tourist season but it is quite a big island about 1km from end to end(approx. 500m wide) and lots of walking tracks. 800 people live on the island and was a major sea fortress built by the Swedes when Finland was part of Sweden in the mid 1700,s and was a naval base during the Russo-Swedish war. It then was a Russian fort for 110 years until Finland became part of Russia. When Finland became independent it was bombed during the Crimean war and was a naval base during WW2. Here endeth the history lesson.
We stopped for the obligatory coffee & cake then wandered around looking at the huge old cannons, underground bunkers and paid 6 euro each to look through a 1930,s built submarine which also got us entry to the military museum as well which was small but very interesting and great to get a quick glance at their war history. The sub was small for the time and crewed 20 people. It was so cramped and I could only cringe at what it would have been like. I Couldn’t imagine what it would be like in the engine room with all the noise and where they had to continually oil all moving parts.
We stopped and had an apple each as we didn’t have our customary baguette and watched two people trying to get going flying with their Parasails but I don’t think the wind was enough though one got up ok but his partner couldn’t quite get airborne.
After visiting the museum we boarded the ferry for the short trip back. We looked around the market but nothing really took our fancy and it was 3.30 so lunch was truly over in the city to start looking, so settled for very disappointing roll at stupid cost and lamented the fact I hadn’t made one which left it for dead.
We wandered the city for a while, bought 10 english books for 2 euro and sat at a café with a beer & cider and got on the internet for an hour. Vicki researched camps and driving in Estonia and I researched sport and All Blacks – as you do. The book guy was a bit weird and the books were cheap as all the English speaking tourists were gone he wanted to get rid of them cheap. But funnily enough he was selling 5 for 2.5 or 10 for 2! Figure that one out we only wanted 5 so I had to get 5 more to get them for 2 Euro. I managed but I just couldn’t make myself get Nicole Ritchies first novel. We walked a different way and ended up where the ferries are so booked our ferry To Tallinn Estonia, a bit cheaper than online. There are some amazing huge liners in port.
Back to the van with sore feet but happy as the island was a great outing and I am always hoping to learn about the country we are travelling ins history and great not to have to spend hours doing justice to the museums. Yay leftover green chicken curry again with crisp flatbread for tea with a cold Heineken.
Up again at 7am for a shower and back into the city but this time we are off the train like pros that have lived here forever. This time it is raining so with brolly for protection we head over to the Gallery of Contempory Art but it doesn’t open till 10 so we walk to a Maccas for coffee and internet then I had a long overdue haircut from a drop in I had spotted the day before. We then found the food Market which we should have found the day before but this time I had made MY rolls so couldn’t really justify two lunches. Much better than the outside markets but bit exy and of course because of the teeming rain full of tourists so had a food perv and left them to it. Even spotted a can of bear meat for 37 euro and reindeer meatballs.
We ate our tasty but a little soggy rolls under cover of the beautiful church from the rain then window shopped(sort of) a couple of shopping centres before heading back to the Art Gallery but didn’t feel to justifying 12 E as we were a bit tired and just wanted to get back to the van. We bought some supplies at the supermarket and got on the train.
We spent 2 hours in the camp tv room as that is where we can get Wifi and then home for tea. Vicki is lucky and having green chicken curry for the 3rd time I will have a few snacks.
At this lake a number of other campers turned up after we had settled in and then I realised it was the weekend and maybe they were here for that. Washing was done on the Friday night and hung out to dry in the last of the sun. On Saturday morning I decided we should swim across a part of the lake to a place we could easily get out of. It wasn’t really that far, but distance is always difficult to determine. I have been wanting to do a bit of swimming for ages and here was our chance to do it. I still have fear about what is in the water, but we swam anyway. Scot could have swum it 10 times over and still not been out of breath, but I got a little panicked about 2/3rds of the way across but made it anyway. I wasn’t as confident as when I did the Noosa 1km ocean swim which when I look back on it, it was a breeze and I have lost so much fitness. We had a great relax at this place and then cooked our dinner on the open fireplace and opened a bottle of Luxembourg bubbly which was just lovely. We shared our marshmallows over the fire with a young boy whose parents couldn’t speak English, but we managed with hand signals to at least establish where we were from and that it was ok for their son to have some marshmallows with us. We have found that a lot of Finnish people either don’t speak English or they speak very little, unlike the rest of Scandinavia who seem to speak it very well.
As with all other campsites there wasn’t wifi except at the reception area so we had to sit there for a short time to try and do some internet stuff. In every campsite here in Finland they have saunas and not just one per camp, they have several. Some are wood fired and some are electric. We have only had the one when we were in Norway near Lillehammer as they cost a bit much here for us to worry about having one. If it was really cold we may have decided to pay the money to have one.
A couple of little tidbits about Finland – it is the first country we have seen pokies all over. We haven’t been into a pub yet (much to Scot’s disgust) but we have seen them in newsagent type stores, in eating places, in the entrance to supermarkets etc. They seem strange places to put them and you do see people playing them occasionally. They did have them on the ferry on the way over from Sweden as well. Their taxi’s are named appropriately – Taksi is what they have on the roof of their cars which is a better spelling than we use I think.
Sunday 23 August
We leave our lovely little haven on the lake after a morning of sun, reading and swimming. We know we won’t be travelling far so we don’t have to leave early. We were going to drive via Jyvaskyla but decided we didn’t need to drive in and out of a city again, although being a Sunday it would have been closed. So we drove to Kuopio via Suolahti and stopped at a campsite just before Kuopio. They were also closed when we arrived but they opened in the morning at 8am so we weren’t about to get another free night. The campsite was huge and again on a lake front. They had a beach which looked like it was frequented by all the locals on lovely sunny days such as this was. We decided we didn’t need another swim so relaxed for the night at the van. We tried to ask a couple of people if the camp had wifi, but they just looked at us and didn’t really understand what we were asking so we gave up.
Monday, we headed down east and drove through Joensuu and then south near the Russian border. At Puhos we turned West though as we had heard Savonlinna was one of the most beautiful areas in Finland and we wanted to see it. We always seem to have plans to go so far and then things change. We had thought we may go to Juva for the night, but we saw a campground sign just before Savonlinna and decided to check it out. It turned out to be a campsite that was right next to a sports complex and they had bull dozed out a few spots in the dirt for vans to stay and put in a prefab hut with a toilet and a shower. Quite a crappy site really and it was so expensive. However after our initial crankiness with the site we found out the sport complex had a 25m pool with a diving well which we could use for free. Normal entry was 10euros and it was open until 9pm. So before dinner we headed in for a swim and a dive. God that was so good. Scot did a few laps and then had a great time doing lots of dives whilst I swam laps. I miss my swimming more than anything and I know no matter if we go in England when we return we absolutely have to have a pool nearby so I can continue to swim. Hopefully Greece will provide some kind of swimming over the winter months we will spend there as well. This complex also had a spa pool with temp of 35degrees and a plunge pool with a temp of 4 degrees. Scot did these pools but the 4 degrees made my feet hurt after a couple of seconds so I got no further and piked out. What a shame the pool didn’t open again until 3pm or else we would have been back first thing in the morning.
Tuesday morning and we headed off into Savonlinna to see the town. They had a huge castle here that was built in the 1400’s and was primarily for Sweden to defend itself against the Russians as Sweden used to own the land that is now Finland. Russia did take over for a number of years until Finland won their land back. The castle was built by Erik Axelsson Tott – maybe a relative of yours Lloyd if you are reading this. We didn’t see the entire castle as it was so huge we didn’t have the time to dedicate to walking around it. The bridge leading into the castle is a bridge that can be swung to the side to allow boats to go into the lake area. It had floats on the bottom that helped to swing it back and forth. The harbourside part of the town was indeed pretty and perhaps the nicest we had seen in our limited Finland travels. We stopped for a coffee and cake at a lovely little café but a bee seemed to take offence to us and wouldn’t leave us alone. I had to run inside at one stage as it was dive bombing me and looked so angry. Eventually it left us alone and started harassing other patrons so we were fine.
I have a penfriends address not far from Savonlinna – in Sulkava that I wanted to visit and who knows I may get to meet her. I started writing to Saija when I was about 9 years old and wrote until I was about 19 when I took my trip to Australia to visit another penfriend I had been writing to for about 10 years. I found an old postcard that I photocopied the address off and bought it with me on the off chance that I may get there. So we left Savonlinna and drove off the highway to see if indeed my penfriend was still around. We hadn’t been in touch for 32 years!
We pulled into a driveway a long way down a corrugated dirt road (our poor van) and the surname on the letterbox was that of my penfriend. When I knocked on the door a lady answered. Although she didn’t speak English she saw the name and address on my photocopy and with hand signals I was invited inside. It turned out to be Saija’s parents and they still lived there. Saija’s father spoke a limited amount of English, but they got Saija on the phone for me and we arranged for us to drive and visit her where she now lives near to Helsinki. What a beautiful family. They gave us a beautiful afternoon tea and coffee as we tried to communicate with them with our limited/none Finnish and our phrase book with lots of laughter as we tried to understand each other. It was such a fun afternoon and very rewarding. I am so glad I had the foresight to bring the address with me and that Scot pushed us to visit when time constraints seemed like we should just keep going. They wanted to show us my penfriends summer house on the lake down another badly corrugated dirt road (I am not sure how many screws are still in place in the vanJ) so we followed. It was an amazing peaceful haven that would have been a delight to spend the summer in.
So we arranged to drive past her house near Helsinki so we can finally meet. What a shame I don’t still have all my other penfriends – I could have visited lots of other houses around Finland, Netherlands, England etc. I wrote to quite a few around the world during my teen years.
We thanked Saija’s parents and headed off towards Juva and then decided we would go as far as Lahti for the night so that we would only be an hour or so from Helsinki. The campsite in Lahti was due to be relocated after this summer and because of this it was in dreadful condition – probably the worst campsite I have ever been to and it was expensive. The facilities hadn’t been cleaned for some time and there were mosquitos everywhere. What we have found in Finnish campgrounds is that they obviously don’t worry about their privacy in the bathrooms as all the campgrounds we have been to so far have had one open shower room and everyone just showers in together (each sex separately). On the shore of this camp were a few guys using a mechanical water ski rope and learning without having to use a boat. It looked really great – a little like the one at Mudjimba but on the lake.
Wednesday 26th August
We headed off to visit with Saija at Nurmijarvi. We arrived at their home and met Saija and her husband and son. They were so welcoming and it was so lovely to meet the family. Saija had put on the most beautiful Finnish food for us. We talked all afternoon but unfortunately it was soon time for us to leave and head for Helsinki. It was a huge buzz for me to meet a penfriend from my teen years. Some things we learnt from our visit were about the winter war between Finland and Russia just before the second world war which we hadn’t heard of before. It is interesting that each Finn male will do about 10 months of compulsory conscription duty – army training – when they are trained. Females are able to apply to do it but it isn’t compulsory for them. We were interested to learn that obviously Finland still has concerns about their relationship with Russia hence their training regime. Finland was also right on top of their game with winter sports and have had many champions, but since the 90’s the other countries have caught up and now challenge them for their sporting titles – particularly Sweden.
We leave Stockholm and head north to Norrtalje which is about an hour drive. We need to spend all the Swedish money we have left since we leave tomorrow so we head for a supermarket and buy a few things. Its funny we always seem to get a couple of favourite things in each country we want to buy more of so we tend to buy a couple of extra of them before we leave. In Sweden it was the muesli I have each morning which is really nice and the berries. We decide to stay in Kapellskar rather than Norrtalje as it is only 5 minutes to the ferry. This camp ground is in the middle of nowhere right on the sea and there is only a port close by and it isn’t a big port. It seemed like the place you would only go and stay before you left for Finland or when you arrived from Finland, but when we got to the campsite there were a lot of permanent residents there which was quite surprising. It was quite a barren area and not in the least pretty with greenery. These people must get sick of campers like us who arrive late in the day and get up early and take off for the port. You can hear the trucks unloading off the ships from the campground which would bother me if I was staying there for any length of time. I did wonder why these people wouldn’t stay in a more pleasant place as this campsite wasn’t a cheap one either, so there are many others that are much nicer to stay.
Tuesday 18 August
We were up early and all sorted and arrived at the docks early. We waited an hour to board and then we were on. We parked the van, added electricity to keep the fridge running and headed upstairs. They had a hot buffet breakfast which was amazing for free, plus free juice, tea, coffee etc. The ferry isn’t a passenger ferry – it only takes vehicles and no walk on passengers, so it was really quiet and you can book a cabin and even take your pets on board. If you have a dog you have to have a cabin for them and outside they have an area for the dogs to pee and poop. Scot enjoyed the bar because the beer is so much cheaper than we have had to pay in Norway and Sweden. The scenery was interesting – lots of little islands most of the way over. We stopped in Aland on the way which is an island that is owned by Finland but the people there speak Swedish. It is an area with lots and lots of little islands. Here we took on more vehicles and there could have been a couple get off.
At 4pm they serve dinner which was smoked salmon and 3 other types of hot fish, beef, spaghetti bolognaise, 3 types of potatoes, lots of salads, breads and then several types of cheeses and crackers. An amazing meal for free. I thought of what this would have cost us if we had to pay and it meant the trip would have almost been for free. During the day there were only a handful of people like us who hadn’t taken a cabin and we sat looking out at the scenery or went up on deck to enjoy the sunshine. They had a duty free section on board and we bought a few cartons of beer and cider as it was the cheapest we had seen in quite a while and hopefully it might last Scot until we get to off the boat…..lol. I do hope a lot longer than that but I am not holding my breath.
We arrived at Naantali around 7pm where we drove off the ferry and to the nearest camping ground a few miles away. I was quite disappointed as we pulled into the area the port was as in my mind I had imagined this pristine looking country with just a small port and no industry, but I clearly wasn’t thinking. This port although not a big one, Tuurku and Helsinki are much bigger, was still full of industry and refineries. The campsite was quite cool, located on a hillside overlooking the water although the view blocked a bit by pine trees, they had a memorial to the naval seamen who had lost their lives during WWII. We had been without wifi now since well before Oslo, so I was a little desperate to get on to some, but this camp had a poor signal and it was only near the main building. In the morning as I was sitting down on some rocks trying to quickly upload some photos for our blogsite, when I saw two squirrels having fun chasing each other around a tree up and down. They were like two little kids they were so hilarious. I called Scot to come and have a look and as he tried to get close to take a photos they got spooked and started tree hopping. They jumped and flew in the air to other trees so well they were amazing. I haven’t witnessed squirrels in the wild like this before. They reminded me of Chip and Dale.
We left this campsite and decided to head off north. We were going to go to Pori, then across to Tampere and up to Vaasa. We didn’t get that far though, we only got to Pori and decided to stop for the day. The campground was a little west of Pori right out on the sea where there was a big port. Because it was a beautiful day again we thought if the beach was nice we would stay. The lady at the campsite said it was possibly Finlands most beautiful beach, so we stayed. We parked up and headed down to the beach and were surprised as there were hundreds of people on the beach and in the water. It was about a 6km long beach and people were spread out. The water looked lovely and wasn’t that deep – you had to walk out a way to be able to swim and it was really flat. We had a swim and enjoyed the sun for a bit. The water was very strange though. Although it was the sea, the water wasn’t salty at all, it was quite unusual and when you got some in your mouth you expected the sea taste but that didn’t happen. I have no idea why it was like this, I thought all the sea was salty end of story.
We had thought we may stay another day, but our morning walk the next day put a stop to that. The beach, although appeared lovely the day before was quite different when walking along it. There was a strange rusty coloured substance floating in some parts and washed up all over the sand in others. It was trapped in little puddles and looked very odd. Then I started to look quite closely at what I thought was just normal weed, but to me it appeared to look more like strange algae. There was definitely oil slick type looking bits of water and the sand away from where we had been sitting the day before was dead and awful looking. The strange thing was there was no wild life here. No sea birds, no sea shells, no crab tracks, no little fish swimming in the shallow water. Maybe what we saw was just normal for here, but I felt this beach was very polluted from the large ports that were around the corner and the rusty stuff was something coming off the ships. I don’t know but I felt quite sick looking at the beach and didn’t want to go back in for a swim. We decided to leave and head north.
We drove across to Tampere which is quite a big city such that we drove in and back out again as there is never anywhere to park and they get too hectic to try and find a place, so out we went. We tried to stop just outside of Tampere for a coffee but the cooling in the van wouldn’t stop when the engine was turned off and last time it ran the battery down, so we started the van back up and kept driving…buggar!
It was quite a drive to Vaasa again on the coast and we found a campground late in the day – after 6.30 that had it’s reception closed for the night. They had a notice saying to come in and see them in the morning when they opened at 10am. Who stays later than they intend just because they aren’t there to collect money? Not us! Again we had a look at the little beach maybe for a swim but as we looked around the bay there was a huge industrial plant of some description not far away and I didn’t think it would be wise to swim again. I am so disillusioned with Scandinavia. My vision was of these very pristine, natural, beautiful countries with no pollution, but each country was destroying their environment in a huge way and feel very sad indeed for all of them. I guess it is also difficult having to share seas with many countries in close proximity to them, you have to put up with whatever your neighbour is doing to their waterways and countryside. Norway’s western side is perhaps the cleanest of all Scandinavia – maybe because there is no neighbours.
We left early the next morning – well before the office was manned. Nothing like the security of a campground without having to pay. This campsite closed it’s gates for winter in a weeks time anyway so I don’t think they would have cared less. One thing we have found so far in Finland is there don’t seem to be any vans from any other countries here. We have only seen Finish vans in the grounds and travelling or in car parks. The facilities aren’t as good as other countries so maybe others don’t come here, I am not sure. In all other countries we always saw vans from at least a couple of other countries and I don’t think it is the time of the year that is the reason.
We leave Vaasa, a town I would like to have seen more of if there was time as it looks very nice. This is about the furthest north either of us have ever been anywhere in the world – further north than we went in Norway. Still had not had any wifi in any of the campsites so far and I desperately needed to get into my banking and bill paying – securely this time. So I am getting concerned. We head off east towards Juuyvaskyla. At a tiny settlement we stop for fuel and a coffee. A lady asks us in English if we have finished with the paper Scot was looking at so I decide to ask her what the headlines translate to English as, because we can see it is about the refugees. She tells us and we tell her our internet access has been nil for a while, so she tells us there is a little library around the corner where we can get internet access for free and secure too. It is a library in a school but the little community obviously use it as well. We venture there and talk to a lady with not bad English and she helps us so I can get some banking stuff done in a secure fashion – well the most secure I am going to get around here. We decide to donate our English novels we have both read so far – about 12 of them – to the library as she has some people who would love to read them. She was really thrilled to receive the English books as they didn’t have too many of them, so I figured that was a great swap. We both gained and we felt great that someone else was going to benefit and enjoy the books we bought with us. She wanted to give us something so she gave me a memory stick with some library stuff on it and some book marks – what a lovely feel good afternoon.
The Finish scenery is very similar to that of Sweden. They have lots of pine, spruce and fir trees, but also lots of paddocks with crops growing. A number of the trees looked like they were about to start changing colour for the autumn which is a shame we will miss here as I imagine it will be quite spectacular. There are a lot of yellow wheat looking crops growing which is the same as we saw around the rest of Scandinavia. There are more lakes in Finland I think than in Sweden especially in the middle of the southern part of the country.
I had found a campsite not far from this place where we could stop for the night as I had had to mark out which grounds were now open and which were likely to be closed. The campsite was on a lake in the middle of nowhere. On arriving it looked like a baron deserted camp, but after checking in and driving down to a spot near the lake we realised what a gem we had found. A beautiful clean wilderness. We could swim to our hearts content and they had saunas and fireplaces, row boats and lakeside walks. A lovely spot. We loved it so much we stayed for two nights. When you are on the road driving almost all day – particularly in these large countries it is really nice to stop for a full day and enjoy the rest.
The ferry to Finland
Docking at Aland
Finnlines ship like our one
Islands on the way
Arriving in Finland
Chipmunks
Trying to get wifi 🙁
Memorial at the Naantali campsite
The beach at Pori
Finland Ambulance
At the free campground at Vaasa with the plant in the background
Reluctantly we left this camp – we could have stayed for a week relaxing, but summer is nearly over and the snow is not far around the corner so we need to keep moving. We headed down to Ringerum and found Lloyds Aunt and Uncle in a very rural environment. They have a large farm with a couple of houses on. It was funny as we turned up like they were expecting us but after a bit of discussion we realised that although Lloyd had emailed them they had no idea we were calling past and didn’t know who we were when we pulled up in our campervan. So funny but all good and we even got to meet Lloyds cousin Andrew (pronounced Andreas) who was doing one of the houses up and we may get to meet again down the track in Czech Republic in a few weeks time if our travel coincides with his visit.
We left the relatives and headed off for Stockholm as we thought we may as well try and head there for the night rather than waste another day travelling there. It was about a 3hr journey and thankfully a little after peak hour Friday night traffic. We arrived at the city camp right on the banks of the city river full of boats. During the summer it is a hard stand for campervans only and during the winter they dock the boats here as the water may freeze. We arrived about 8 and managed to get the last spot just 5 minutes prior to another camper pulling in and he missed out. So so lucky – someone is looking out for us that is for sure. The next campsite is a way out of the city and I hadn’t felt like trying to find it at that time of night.
We pulled up for the night and got an early start the next day. It was Saturday, so definitely knew it would be busy in the city. Stockholm had a Kulture festival on for the week so we were lucky to arrive at the end of it. Saturday was the most spectacular day, not a cloud in the sky and the promise of mid 20 temperatures. The camp didn’t have wifi, so another day without any connectivity to the world. We biked the couple of kms into the edge of the old city to save our legs at the end of the day, parked the bikes up and walked around the old city. I fell in love with this city. I think Stockholm is my favourite city so far (but I can’t compare with Paris as that is a city that stands alone). The buildings are adorable and the old city has narrow cobbled streets with quirky shops and cafes. We ended up buying a little plaque off an eccentric man in an antique store who asked everyone who walked in where they were from and he played music on his piano from their country when they answered him. In the short time we were in the store we met an Austrian couple whom we asked advice on parts of their country and then a Swiss couple that we did the same with. Funny where you meet people you can get information from. We saw a gorgeous painting that we wanted to buy of a snow scene with fairy tale animals. Some would say a childs painting, but we both could have looked at the painting for hours it was so well done. There were a few similar ones painted by a Russian artist who was coming very popular around the world, so the gallery owner told us (although we still can’t find the artists name online). We walked away thinking about it as it was a very expensive painting but we knew we couldn’t keep it in the van and where was it to go if we had it posted somewhere. We didn’t go back, but that painting will stay with us I think, a bit like the very colourful china cows we saw on the Spanish border that we didn’t buy a few years ago that we regretted, but the paintings were priced from about 16,000nok and the cows were only about 50euro so I don’t think I can compare here.
We saw the Kings palace amongst many other buildings. The Queen Elizabeth cruise ship was in port along with another cruise ship and consequently there were many people on shore. As we were walking around the harbourside Scot commented to this fellow about his Chihuahua dogs that he and his wife were walking and we ended up walking and talking with them and stopped and had a drink with them while they had lunch. Henning and Sonniva (I hope I got the names correct) were a lovely couple who live in Stockholm not far from the café we were at. Eventually we left them and headed to the Djurgarden area where the ferries come across from the town. Lots of people sitting around in the sun in bikinis and shorts soaking up the sun. We walked back to the town and stopped to find out what was happening on a big stage near the kings palace. We got talking to a lady with a beagle named Helmet who told us the opera was on there that night. Scot didn’t want to wait the time, but I figured why miss out on part of their music festival when it was for free. We had some Indian street food and a drink and waited until it started. There were a lot of people there listening to it. There of course were no seats left and it was standing room only and no views for those of us who were vertically challenged. We watched for a while but after walking so far today our legs and feet were aching so we headed away before it finished. There was also the fact that we hadn’t put the lights we had bought on our bikes and the nights are getting shorter now – we only get light until about 9-9.30 instead of 11pm – shame.
We walked back through the old city and found our bikes and biked back to the camp.
Sunday 16 August
Up early, showered and off. We were going to take a ferry trip out to the outer islands today, but ended up deciding that we would rather see more of the town and there was another concert on in the afternoon that may be great to listen to. So we biked back to the old city and then right along the waterfront on the opposite side from the camp stand. There are such cool buildings down this side and the bikeways were great and flat. We went and left the bikes back where we did the previous day and walked again up through the old city. You always seem to find streets you hadn’t seen the day before when you go back. We stopped for a coffee at the cosy café where they had wifi. We are very aware that a number of campsites close their doors in the countries we are about to visit around the middle of September. So we wanted to have a look at a few of the countries we knew we had to visit. Problem with this is it takes so much time to do this and we didn’t want to spend all day at the café, so this will have to wait a bit. We are getting a wee bit concerned that we are going to come across countries where we may not find places to stay and we are not good at finding appropriate wild camping sites. As we near eastern Europe camping outside a camping ground does not fill me with confidence and some countries do not allow it. We just may have to fly through a few countries, like from Estonia through to Poland quite quickly so that we can see Austria and Switzerland before it becomes a difficult task and the snow comes.
Anyway back to Stockholm. We headed off along the harbour to the garden where the concert was being held. We didn’t arrive before it had started so came across a huge amount of people there when we arrived. There would have been many thousands of people there also in part because it was such a beautiful day again. The concert wasn’t opera this time, but the orchestra was playing again and the music was a little classical.
When it finished we walked back through town and we needed to find a place with wifi as I needed to book the ferry we need to take on Tuesday from Kapellskar to Naantali in Finland. It is a vehicle ferry only and is much cheaper than taking one from Stockholm. They even provide free meals on board which is great. We stopped at a café and once most of the people had left that were there I went on and booked the ferry, but just as I finished Scot noticed some guy looking like he was watching us and smiling (I hadn’t noticed him walk in), so now I am worried that he may have been scanning the wifi information and may have obtained my credit card details along with dobs etc. Maybe I sound like a major paranoid, but if I have to cancel my major credit card now we may as well pack up and leave Europe as it is our lifeline (Scot can’t use his as he can’t remember his pin). So now I have to wait and see whether I am compromised. And I am usually unbelievably careful with this stuff, but I had no choice. We have not been able to get wifi for a week now and we couldn’t get on the ferry without booking a day in advance. Internet access has been impossible to get outside of café wifi. For those who don’t know it is apparently quite easy to scan peoples information in open wifi situations from what I have read (haven’t done it myself).
Anyway, we biked back to the van with me freaking out. We only have to travel up half an hour from Stockholm to where the ferries leave. We overnight there and have to be at the dock at 7am ready to board. We don’t arrive in Finland until 7pm so a long trip, but should be lovely if the weather is like it has been of late.
The camp we stayed at called Rustberg Camping had several very tame rabbits in a cage. I felt sorry for them as their base was a kind of dirt and stone and we hadn’t seen much grass in the time we were there and rabbits can eat grass almost all day. So on the way to the showers I took some pieces of veges and as much grass as I could rip off for the poor things.
We decided to visit the Olympic bobsled at Hunderfossen before heading off to Oslo. It looked a bit deserted but we went and had a look. They were offering rides on a summer (or Cool Runnings) style bobsled on the snow track without the snow, so I told Scot he should have a go as they needed one more person. They travel about 100kms/hr in the summer style one and about 120kms in the snow. He had a go and enjoyed it, but said they got jolted around quite a bit and the big guy behind him was digging his elbows into his shins as you sit very intimately in the sled. It something most people will never have a chance to do in their life so I thought it was a great thing to do (even if I wasn’t game to have a go).
We then headed off to Oslo. It was a couple of hours drive and Oslo was very busy – as all cities are I guess – as we hit the highway. The camp ground was right near the city and like all city campsites didn’t have great reviews but you stay there for a purpose and not for the great campsite. It was really a huge paddock with electricity around the outside for vans and you just parked where ever you could find a spot. We parked up beside the roadway which was fine. I spied what I thought were dodgy people in the campsite. Scot said I thought everyone was dodgy, but you get a feel for those that don’t seem kosher. I have been told by others that we were lucky in Voss where the gypsies were camping that we hadn’t been ‘targeted’, so I don’t think it’s a bad thing. Anyway I was back up at reception as the wifi was non existent after paying $10 for 24hr access and the dodgys were standing behind me when a lady came in and stood behind them. She asked where they were from and one guy said they were ‘Esperanto – Gypsies’, it was funny the lady said ‘Oh’ and didn’t speak further. In a typical camp ground everyone leaves their chairs, tables etc outside even when they go away for the day. We have seen it in all camps including city camps we have stayed at, but at this camp not a soul left anything outside their vans which was very strange indeed. But I figured it may have been due to the large number of gypsies living in this campsite. There were a lot of them all camped together.
11 August
We bought a 24 hour bus pass the next morning and headed off into the city early. Oslo had on a jazz festival so we had hoped we might get to see some free concerts in the town centre. We walked around the town for a bit and found a bus that could take us out to an area that had a few museums. We don’t normally do museums because they take so much time to see things and you don’t end up seeing much of anything else which is not ideal when you only have a day or so in a city. But we did decide to have a look at the polar museum where Fridtjof Nansen, Roald Amundsen and Robert Scott’s North and South Pole adventures and the ship Fram was displayed. They had preserved the ship and built the whole museum around it – really well done. It was an excellent complete history of their polar expeditions and we both enjoyed it. The only downside was a large group of young children who were visiting the museum were not being supervised and we had to put up with every one of about the 100 or so ringing the bell of the ship very loudly continuously for about an hour which was so annoying.
We caught the bus back to the city, but we had only gone about a km and the bus driver stopped the bus, turned off the engine and sat there. No word, no nothing and we were all looking at each other wondering what was going on. Then on the screen it said the bus was moving on in 45mins. Eventually he said something in Norwegian which we realised meant we needed to leave and get another bus that was sitting near. We walked around the fort area near the docks and then walked down to the main street where they were about to have a jazz session play. We needed to try and get wifi access so we headed to a café for a coffee and thought we would head back to the jazz in a short while. Unfortunately the jazz only played for a short time and we missed out. They were packing up the stage when we walked back – we weren’t that long. I was disappointed. We had a walk around the city some more and took in some of the atmosphere before catching a bus back to the camp. Oslo isn’t a very big city and there isn’t a lot of old buildings. I can’t remember but I think we were told that Oslo was bombed in the war because the Germans used the Norwegians and most buildings were destroyed. Only Bergen has all it’s old historic buildings still left. The architecture of some of the modern city buildings is quite different and interesting in Oslo.
12 August
We left Norway the next day and headed back to Sweden. In countries like Denmark, Norway, Sweden where they have their own currency it is really difficult to manage having some cash and leaving with none so that you have spent it all and you aren’t wasting any. We normally buy groceries or a coffee or something if we have any money left over. We stopped just inside the Norway border at a supermarket to buy some groceries, particularly some Salmon which is so cheap in Norway – about $20 a kilo. The lady stuffed up though as I wanted to pay some cash and the balance on card, but she put the whole lot on card and I was still left with the 120nok, so we had coffee and pastries that we didn’t really want and it was quite awful too, so I was a bit cranky about that.
I am going to sum up my experience in Norway expense wise since there are so many people saying how terribly expensive it is. We got told that the wages are high in Norway so prices don’t seem bad to citizens. I don’t shop at the cheap shops as I have said before I like variety and fresh fruit and veges and I cant get this at Aldi style supermarkets. Fresh veges and fruit is a good price – in fact on the whole generally cheaper than Australia even with the dreadful exchange rate we are getting. Fish is ridiculously cheap and fresh. Chicken is about twice our price and meat seemed to be comparable to Aus. Packet foods like rice, pasta, soup, biscuits, tea, chips etc – not that we buy much is comparable to Australia prices. Bread appears to be expensive but you never see much of it so I don’t think it is part of their staple diet. Alcohol is definitely very expensive (so don’t drink J) and so is chocolate – that’s sad. We looked at the price of holiday houses in desirable areas near ski fields and they were quite reasonable. These houses wouldn’t necessarily be for just holiday as they were near enough to places where there would be work. There were houses for the equivalent of $40,000 and they went up from there. Yes the $40,000 house wouldn’t be much, but if you look at what isn’t much in Aust then you will still be looking at a lot more than that near to towns. The average would have been between $200,000 -$300,000. I am sure if you looked in Oslo you would see prices closer to our high city prices though. We saw cars in car yards and the prices were also about the same as what we would pay in Aus for second hand cars. We saw plenty of clothes for 100 – 200 nok (15-30aud) which is about the same and you can pay equally larger amounts for designer clothing and shoes. I don’t know a lot of the other prices, but on the whole I would say that Norway is not as expensive a city as people say, but is about on average no different to what we pay in Australia, but they definitely get paid more than we do based on what we have been told about the wages. Norway has been the more expensive country we have visited which just proves to me how expensive Australia has become over the last few years.
I have to say though that I absolutely love the summer fruit season here – raspberries, blueberries and strawberries are so cheap. I am paying about $5 for a huge punnet of raspberries – would cost me about $50 for the same amount in Aus (and yes I used to buy them), so I am enjoying them everyday, so yummy.
On to Sweden. We were heading over to Ringerum which is just south of Soderkoping (pronounced Sodershopping) to call in on Lloyd’s family (I work with Lloyd) before we head up to Stockholm. It is a long journey right across Sweden so after 6 hours on the road we saw a sign on the side of the road for a campsite so we headed off the highway for the night. We found this lovely little camp ground right on a lake front and it had a beach and walkways around an area so that kids could swim safely. It was a lovely hot day so when we arrived we decided we had to go for a swim. It is often hottest about 5pm. The swim was welcome and the lake temp was about 22deg so was just lovely. No wifi at this place and nothing to concentrate on other than relaxing and reading. We loved the lake environment so much we decided we needed to stop driving for at least one more day so stayed on the next day. We had a few swims out to the little island just off the beach and sat in the sun reading. We did get a bit burnt though as we hadn’t realised just how long we had been sitting in the sun. They had yummy ice creams which we enjoyed late in the day. What I like most about here is the fact that there were young and old bulgy bouncy ladies in bikinis who had no hangups about their size or age. I felt much better and wished I had bought a bikini top and not just the long two piece I bought for 3 euro in Coevorden, Netherlands. (This was from a shop that had a sale on and I wasn’t sure I would wear the two, two pieces I bought but who can turn down 1.50euro per piece for bathers! Glad I now did.)
Scot on the Olympic Bobsled in Hunderfossen
Scot on the Olympic bobsled in Hunderfossen (Cool Runnings one)
We had a lovely walk in the morning in Fagernes (Scot had a bit of a run) and then sat and had a coffee before going back to the van for breakfast. It was a wee bit cold for a swim again with a cool wind blowing. The temperature is always at its warmest later in the day around 4-5pm strangely enough.
We get on the road and after asking another camper about a road we were uncertain was good enough to travel on we headed off for Lillehammer. We took the road that was less than the highway and going up the first mountain was ok, but the road deteriorated on the way down, it was a bit narrow and the surface wasn’t the best but the road then improved and stayed good all the way until we got back on the highway again. The highway up to Lillehammer was busy – it seemed everyone must have been out for the weekend. We stopped and bought a couple of rolls for lunch, which unfortunately turned out to be fruit buns. It is difficult to know what things are if you can’t recognise the names of them and we sometimes make mistakes with what we buy. We have nearly mistaken pork in one place for turkey it looked quite alike. We still ate the buns with our smoked salmon and salad and they were fine.
We arrived in Lillehammer and it was so busy. We only knew where one camp was so we stopped outside the first McDonalds we had seen since Bergen (they just don’t exist outside the cities) to find out where the other camp was. After going down a few wrong streets with very narrow and low underpasses that we wouldn’t have fitted through we eventually found the second camp. We booked in and decided to go for a walk along the lake front and into the town centre. The girls at reception told me it wouldn’t be a good idea to walk up to the ski jump area here as the whole town was on a hill and you wouldn’t want to walk up the hills. They clearly hadn’t come across un-lazy people like us. The lake looked good enough for a swim but I didn’t think we would be back from our walk in time. We walked up into the town but ended up in a dodgy area where things were graffitied all over but it was ok, it was still daylight and we eventually found the town area. The ski jump area wasn’t that far away but it had been a bit of a long walk up to the town trying to find a footpath beside a road we could walk on. A few of the roads didn’t have room for people to walk along so we had to find other roads. In the town we saw one of the really dodgy vans we saw in the freedom camping area we stayed in, in Voss. There were about 10 guys in the van – a lot of them quite young. They obviously travel around. We walked around the town area which didn’t look bad, but my impression was that this place had had a lot of money spent on it in 1994 when they had the Olympics but bits of it had been left to deteriorate and looked quite poor which was such a shame as it could still be an amazing place. We stopped and had a drink in the main street, but for a Saturday night there were very few people around. We walked back to the campsite and found we had a bus full of French people as neighbours. I thought they looked like a church group of some description, but from their actions I don’t think they were very Christian people. One of the ladies emptied a childs potty out right beside our campervan – how disgusting. There are toilets not far from us for that. Plus they kept coming to stand right beside our van to look at the view – which wasn’t really that good and talking so that when we put our lights out they annoyed me. I am tolerant to a point, but these people were something else. They also had a poor baby that didn’t stop crying for 3 hours. Poor baby, but it didn’t seem like anyone was trying to help the baby stop crying. They were gone in the morning, but that didn’t matter so were we. We drove up to the ski jump area to have a look. How amazing to look up at the jump. When you see it on the tv it is so different to seeing it up close. They had a chairlift for anyone who wanted to go to the top but they also had stairs from the bottom to the top of the jump. A few people were walking up the stairs so we decided to walk up to the top. There were 936 stairs to the top and some of them quite steep as the area the skiers fly over gets almost vertical at one point. What a climb and what a view from the top. We went to the top of the jump tower where we looked down. OMG is all I can say. I think you have to have amazing guts to take off from that when you look down. They had plastic brush type stuff over the jump area and lush grass at the bottom which they were wetting.
We were so lucky because as we were looking down at the jump we realised there were two young guys about to practice their jumps. They can still practice without snow as the plastic is slippery and they run water down the tracks they slide down before they jump. What an amazing thing to be able to watch these guys. We thought they may have been practicing for the youth Olympics next year, but they were just out of that category and they were trying to improve for the main Olympics. Wow what a treat. We watched the jump from the top, then we walked halfway and watched from there and then again from the bottom as we climbed back down the 936 stairs. I have posted some of the photos I took and because the jump is much bigger than it looks in the photos you have to really look for the guys jumping in the middle of the photos. When you look at the whole jump, you can just make out the people who are walking up the side of it, they look like ants. One of my pictures I took on the side of the steep part of the jump so you can see just how steep it is. Scot thought he had balls racing sidecars until he watched these guys take off down the slope. We think you must have to start as a very young child to get over the fear you would have when you look down that slope. Such a special treat.
We drove out of Lillehammer and were going to see the bobsled track but it was getting on a bit so we went up to a camp ground a bit north of Lillehammer and stopped there for the night. Unusual there were few campers here. I think most people are starting to go home as the holidays are nearly over. It is lovely and quiet here. We found out they had saunas in both male and female shower blocks so since there wasn’t anyone in them we had a sauna together in the female one, you aren’t supposed to, but what a waste having a separate one. That was lovely and necessary to sooth the muscles after doing 2000 steps today. A lovely dinner of Thai chicken curry and off to bed. Tomorrow we are off to Oslo.
Out for a morning walk
This is the type of countryside over this part of the country
Vintage cars on the road today
Lillehammer
The ski jump
A cat who befriended me at the campsite
Lillehammer town
You can see the people walking up the left side of the jump. The right jump is smaller and under repair
A long way to go
This is how steep the jump is
This is how steep the jump is
A long climb
almost halfway there
Looking down only from below where they jump off
From the top
At the top above the jump tower
The guys about to take off
Off he goes
The better of the two jumpers
You can see the jumper in the distance
The jumper is in the middle just coming off the jump
