World Wide Webbs

2022 Our Baltic Holiday

Monday 6th June – Home to Bruges

We are awake at 6am. and on the road by 6.45.  We drive until we stop for coffee and a croissant near Stonehenge.  We arrive in Dover at 1pm and manage to get on the 2pm ferry landing in Dunkirk at 5pm.

We make our way without mishap to a lovely campsite in Bruges.

 

After a cup of tea we cycle into the city and find an expensive restaurant on one of the many canals and have a salad and a beer which cost us over €50, but it was nice.

We then wander around this interesting city with its mediaeval streets and buildings and numerous canals before cycling back for our first night in the van.

We were both very tired and thought we would sleep well but other peoples snoring in a van next to ours disturbed us!

Tuesday 7th June – Bruges to Bremerhaven

We cycle back into Bruges and walk around a bit more before having a breakfast in the city.

We then leave the campsite and head north east on extremely busy motorways past, Antwerp, Breda, Utrecht, Zwolle where we stop in a modern housing estate open space for lunch before travelling on to Bremerhaven.

The landscape is so flat at times the van is showing us travelling 40 feet below sea level and never above 50 feet. We are travelling through endless fields and then heathland before arriving in the low wetlands bordering the North Sea sat Bremerhaven.
We arrive at our destination at Dorum south of Cuxhaven at around six o’clock and do a quick shop in Aldi before heading to the coast and a campsite.

The campsite we are aiming for, called Knaus Campingpark, is a pretty grotty, the campsite barrier is down and there is nobody around.

We decide to try further up the coast where Google map tells us that there are other campsites. We drive to Cappel Neufeld and found Camping und Freizeit which has no barrier so drive in and find some people who were working on the site who tell us where we can camp and where to book in, in the morning.

 

So we settle down on a relatively high grassy platform with one other van where we have wonderful views of the North Sea, the wetlands and a watery sunset.

 

 

 

After having something to eat we wander down to the water’s edge along a long wooden walkway. It is like being on a huge estuary with shallow water disappearing at low tide and rising up through the mud as the tide comes in. We couldn’t believe our luck in finding this site especially as the only noise was that of the birds.

 
Wednesday 8th June – Bremerhaven

We awake to the sound of excited children arriving for a day out, lovely.

We leisurely get up have breakfast before walking out to the large hide that is in the field next to us.

 

 

 

Amazingly the hide is overlooking a shallow flooded scrape where there is a colony of nesting avocets with some discarded eggs, they ware just so close.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A visit to the hide is one of the children’s activities, so we don’t stay there long.

We then cycle north to the little port Spieka – Neufeld where colourful boats line a jetty up a muddy creek.

We leave Spieka and head south against the wind past where we are camping to Dorum, where there are lots of people visiting the port and cafe/restaurants.

Nothing about it appeals so we are pleased we were unable to camp here yesterday.

 

We follow a cycle path either beside the shore or inland along the dyke until we reach the small port at Wremen.

All of the ports are of similar size capable of harbouring a dozen or so fishing boats.

 

Here we find a fish restaurant where we have a beer and a fish dish sitting in the shade sheltering from a very hot sun and being entertained by the histrionics of visitors emotionally challenged by getting on and off their bicycle.

Cycling back was easier as we had the wind behind us and we are soon back at our camp site.

 

We are fascinated at the site with wooden seats which act as wind shelters for bathers in the sea with storage for clothing.

 

 

Returning to the van as the day cooled is a delight, Graham paddles in the shallow mud and Janet showers before enjoying a bacon roll for tea.

Shortly after drizzle comes down so we are up in bed by 9.30.

This area is a really restful, interesting place to spend some time.

Thursday 9th June – Bremerhaven to Katrineholm

We are up around five in the morning to catch an early ferry as possible over the Elbe River towards Denmark. We had found a small ferry that crossed from Wischhafen, south of Cuxhaven, to Gluckstadt on the eastern side of the River Elbe from where we can make an easy journey up into to Denmark.

We are at the Ferry terminal by 7 with a dozen or so other vehicles lorries, coaches, vans and cars of a similar mix to that we are used to crossing the River Fal with, on the King Harry Ferry.

The journey of 30 minutes on the small ferry was uneventful and we got to Gluckstadt without delay. We drive north stopping for breakfast at Hohenwestedt, a small town, where we had breakfast in the local supermarket and buy fuel. It is all that we needed and nice to be in an ordinary German town without historic centres, cathedrals or castles.

From here we join the autoroute north into Denmark and then east across the islands to Copenhagen and south to Dragor a small peninsular where we have lunch in a cafe looking towards the Bridge to Sweden not far away.

It is in a residential area on the edge of the Baltic Sea which here is very shallow and the landscape very flat.

 

There is a small nature reserve which we walk around for an hour or so after lunch before heading on toward the Bridge and Sweden.

It is busy around Malmo but slightly better as we head towards Stockholm. We stop for a roll and a drink at the castle at Brahehus enjoying the stunning view across Vattern lake. Travelling on we get caught up in resurfacing works on the main road which adds an hour onto our journey.

At Norrkoping we leave the autoroute and head north towards Katrineholm. Before we get to Katrineholm we turn east and head towards Bjokvic to a rough camping spot that we located on the App. park4night.

We didn’t know what to expect and were not disappointed. The forest parking area had space, a clean chemical loo, a lovely lake and only 3 other vehicles.

Shattered through 14 hours of driving we wander around as the light fades on the water and the birds have their last dip.

We read and then sleep.

Friday 10th June – Katrineholm to Stockholm

Graham wakes around six o’clock and has a swim before coming back to bed to sleep until around seven when it starts to rain.
Janet is set on a dip so has a quick one not letting the towel get too wet and warming up in bed before getting dressed.

 

 

Before breakfast we go for a wander through the woods, finding fire pits and huts and a swimming jetty, where there had been people swimming the previous evening. It is a lovely tranquil spot.

We then travel through undulating farming country to the motorway and north on into Stockholm. 

We’d forgotten how complicated the road system is but we are on it and reach Martin’s in no time at all.

We are greeted by Torrin and Otter, who are writing post cards, Sarah and Martin. It was lovely to see everyone and to find out what a good week Sarah and the boys have had.

We have lunch and then wander down to the castle, Ulvsunda Slott, and where the boys having been there before with Martin, show us around.

They go off shopping with Martin and we and Sarah go swimming at the usual place. Finn then emerges having been asleep after a busy last day at school and not having felt well all week.

We potter around, have a BBQ and play snakes and ladders with the boys. We read then stories before they went to bed and Finn disappears off with some friends. We sit around chatting.

 

 

Saturday 11th June – Stockholm

Sarah got up early and had a run before the boys were up. We all had breakfast and Martin took them to the Arlanda Airport at 8.15 to catch their 11.15 flight.
We pottered around and had bacon sandwiches before walking in a lovely wood the other side of Drottingholm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We chilled in the afternoon all shattered. Martin made us some tea and then went out to a guitar concert.

Finn and us had tea together before he went out with his mates.  We happily spent the evening looking at possible camping areas in Finland, reading and generally chilling.

Both returned around eleven o’clock having had good evenings.

 
Sunday 12th June – Stockholm

Martin talked to Sarah who had had quite a hairy time getting her flight to Heathrow from Arlanda. It had been very busy and she and the boys had been running from one queue to another but at least they didn’t get bored having to wait around. Apart from her car battery being flat at the airport when she arrived at Heathrow their journey went well and she got home by seven o’clock.

Finn has a long sleep and Martin goes for a run so we make ourselves some breakfast before walking to Alvik where we catch the tram to Alstensgatan.

Alstengatan is very familiar to us, we have always seemed to visit this area in the last fifteen years we have been coming, because the access to the waterside and proximity to wherever Martin is living is so good.

We then walk back around the water’s edge stopping for coffee in Alvik where we bump into Martin who is running back home. He runs on and we make our way back to find Finn up and ready to prepare us his special sandwiches and pasta for lunch.
After lunch we take a croquet game Martin has up onto the lawns of the castle and play several games which is good fun before they go off to some friends for a meal.

We drive to the ferry terminal in the middle of Stockholm next to the Fotografiska, a regular coffee spot of ours, where we catch the ferry to Finland.

It is quite difficult getting to the dock because of road works and heavy traffic. Once there we do the usual shuffle until boarding a difference being that many of the guys directing the traffic on board are wearing fluorescent kilts.

We have a degree of concern about this ferry trip. Martin was convinced it was a glorified booze cruise with loud music and raucous behaviour.

It turns out to be the opposite. We make our way up to one of the highest decks where there were large glazed windows and heaters for our comfort as we sat having a drink and a light supper.

The views travelling out through the archipelago were fascinating. Some of the channels were very narrow and they would open out into large expanses of water.

Car ferries crossed our path making their way between the islands. Several of the islands had large houses or fortifications. It was still light at eleven o’clock and we still hadn’t reached the open sea by the time we go to bed.

Monday 13th June – Stockholm to Turku

The day starts sunny but clouds over with occasional showers of rain.

We were awoken at half past six and went on deck to watch our arrival in Turku.

 

 

Once off the ferry we parked by the river and found coffee and cinnamon buns in a local bakery before exploring the town.

The cathedral was nothing special but it did have a loo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The market was in an interesting old building and we managed to buy some prawns and roll mops before doing more conventional shopping at a supermarket.
We leave Turku and head north east to Ruhimaki and Lahti towards the lakes and forest of the Repovesi National Park. Our first destination a camp site at Hillosensalmi is in a beautiful location with static caravans and an atmosphere we did not find appealing.

We head off into the National Park along dirt tracks to find a park4night parking space deep in the forest at Tervajarvi. It is in a beautiful location just above a lake and the start of several hiking trails.

It is equipped with route maps for the various hikes, a two dry toilets and a changing room for swimming in the lake.

 

 

Later we wander down by the lake where there are several small boats moored up and a few older abandoned ones.

We sit by the lovely peaceful lake just below the van having a beer and Graham has a swim.

The sunset over the lake as it gets dark is stunning.
 
Tuesday 14th June – Repovesi National Park

We sleep really well considering how light it is. We are not the only van in the car park and soon we are joined by cars carrying people setting out on the hiking trails.

Using the detailed map of the park we work out a route that we can cycle to a point from where we can do a circular walk.
We take the bikes along dirt tracks a few kilometres to Maakijar a small recreation area beside another lake where we can leave the bikes.

These recreation areas are well equipped with a covered fire pit with grills, a log store, an axe and saws to cut up the logs, a well with a pump, a swimming platform and a locked cabin you could hire out.

We leave the bikes there and follow the trail through the forest until we come again to a lakeside.

 

 

 

 

 

Here we cross the water using a manual chain ferry called a Fox Ferry, the fox being the symbol of the Repovesi National Park.

Once across we walk the short distance to Lapinsalmi with three large gravelled parking areas and a kiosk where we buy some coffee. We are very glad we didn’t wasted time looking here to camp.

From here we follow the orange trail to a high point with views across the area, then onward around some lakes.

We swim and had lunch in a cool breeze beside yet another lake before making our way back towards the bikes.

On our way back we pass Kapiavesi, another recreation area, with an even more impressive array of equipment for the wild adventurer.
We return and collect our bikes before cycling back to the van via a recreation area close to where we are stopping called Talas. It is close enough for us to consider returning here this evening to use the fire pit to cook our tea.

After we have eaten we return with marshmallows and lay a fire in the pit to toast our marshmallow on and sit around to watch the sun go down.
No sooner have we laid the fire than a warden jumps out of the undergrowth where she has her tent pitched and informs us that due to the dry weather there is a fire risk and fire pits cannot be lit.

Suitably admonished we cover the unlit fire and retreat with our marshmallows back to the van where we are rewarded by such an intense sunset it looks like the forest is ablaze.

Wednesday 15th June – Repovesi National Park

In defiance of the fire risks it rains over night and the air is humid and misty.
We are walking without the bikes today on another hiking trail taking us north onto high more open countryside before returning via a fire tower and along the route we had followed yesterday.

It is damp and grey as we follow the forest tracks north along the park boundary to Kirnukangas.

Ignoring the ever present mozzies we leave the main path following a way marked path across areas of open rock and lichen with occasional views out across lakes.

 

The path takes us to the southwest before we make a steep climb up onto a rocky outcrop where we find the impressive wooden fire tower of Mustanlamminvuorl.

We climb up and could see for miles around. Another family comes up and we descend and have our lunch on some boulders below.

We are still eating as heavy shower of rain drives us to minimal protection beneath the tower!.

We return to the main track and go past Kuutinkanava recreation area to our camping spot.
We have seen some very different scenery from yesterday and have walked up and down for about nine miles.

We are hot and sticky on return enjoy a cool swim in the lake and marvel at the facilities at this car park.

Thankfully the sun comes out and we can sit out and read and can be outside to have our tea.

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday 16th June – Repovesi National Park to Helsinki

The car park was quiet overnight.

We get up early and swim in the lake using the wooden changing room, at the car park making life so much easier.

We then have egg and crisp bread for breakfast before regretfully packing up and leaving our spot.

It had been great and so much better than the campsites because we were in the centre of the National Park with walks, trails and diverse scenery.

We travel out of the forest along tracks before we join a main road taking us south to Kouvola and then south west to Porvoo.

Porvoo is one of the six mediaeval towns in Finland, one of the others being Turku.

We stop park on the edge of the town and wander into the centre where we have a coffee and pastry at the busy bus terminal square

We then walk up into the old town where wooden houses and set along cobbled streets that lead down to the Cathedral another wooden building.

In the Cathedral we arrive as a concert is ending which is a shame but we do manage to have a look around before going to a nearby cafe for a drink and a loo!

One of the major attractions of the city is a series of red wooden fish houses which have been restored to an immaculate condition and are occupied by restaurants, boutiques and gift shops but no fish merchants.

We make our way down to the river and look across to where we have a view of the iconic old fish houses for which the town is renowned.

 

In one of the red houses we have a lovely fish lunch by the river before shopping for the next few days.

It is only a short drive from here to Helsinki and the Rastila Camping park on the eastern side of the City.

An amazingly organised and pleasant site where even our narrow plot did not feel crowded!

 

After our evening meal cooked in part on the electric cookers provided in the camp site kitchens, we go for a walk through the surrounding suburbs and make our way back past the nearby metro station that we will go to in the morning to get into the city.

 

Friday 17th June – Helsinki

Although we sleep well it is a noisy night compared with camping out in the wild! Silence has predominated for the last four nights but here there is a constant drone, from road; metro; planes; as is to be expected in a city.

We catch the metro into the centre of the city and walk around finding somewhere to have a coffee before meeting for our guide for our Free City Tour.

There are about ten of us on the tour which is led by a young maths student from the university who is leading a free tour for the first time.

He takes us to Helsinki Lutheran Cathedral telling us the history of Finland with its links to Sweden and then Russia until the revolution and then its differing alliances during WW2.

This explains the close links to Sweden and the dual language on all the signs.

The Cathedral Square with its different style of building is interesting, also the damage that happened to it during the two phases of the Finno-Russian war.

We walk then to the red brick orthodox cathedral noting en route the animals on the street signs which denote different areas of the city.

These were used by country dwellers when they first arrived in the City.

From here we go to a more affluent area and look at a street with its art nouveau architecture.

It is then back to the harbour side where we had had coffee earlier on and to a large sauna complex.

 

It was good to participate in a Free Tour and we felt that he has done well and we have got a feel for the city.

Helsinki unlike Stockholm is made up of a series of flat islands rather than higher promontories. We leave the tour and go to a ferry terminal from where we catch the ferry to the island of Suomnlinna.

Here in the mid -18th century under Swedish rule an enormous sea fortress had been built to challenge Tallin as the capital of the Baltic. The island is a fifteen minute ferry ride out through the Helsinki archipelago.

Once on the island we follow the road leading through lots of cafes, restaurants and craft outlets out towards a fort promontory.

 

We spy a beach to the south west and make our way there and have a quick fresh dip in the Baltic before completing our walking tour of the island.

We watch the passing Viking Ferry to Tallinn passing through the narrow channel by the fort.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On returning to the capital we buy much needed food from the market stalls. Graham tries the reindeer and Janet the salmon both with potatoes and veg. Cheap and cheerful.

We then catch the tram to the Sibelius Monument on the west side of the City, which was made of engraved organ pipes which unfortunately didn’t make sounds they were designed to do even when tapped.

 

 

We compensate ourselves with an ice cream by the water before taking the return journey via tram and metro back to our campsite.

 

 

 

 

Saturday 18th June – Helsinki to Tallinn

We drive the short distance from the camp site to the ferry at the Viking Terminal at the city docks and were on the Amarillo by a quarter past ten.

What a busy ferry! Hundreds of people queuing for food, alcoholic drinks, duty free shopping and gaming machines! We stayed on top to go through the narrow channel by the island we stood watching a ferry go through yesterday, then rain drove us in.

Finding a cup of coffee was major until we were in the buffet and you could help yourself illegally free! We checked out various crowded levels and by our second circuit the cafe queue had diminished and we bought coffee and cinnamon buns and managed to grab a table with a view of the sea.

There seemed to be a problem getting off the boat so we parked the van by the Opium Den and walked quickly in the rain to the tourist Information office and joined the rest of the free walking tour.

This was led by an Icelandic guy Jonas.

He was confident in his delivery and kept to the schedule in spite of having to keep finding shelter under trees for us as the rain lashed down. He gave a potted history of Estonia where originally in the 11th Century Danes took the northern part 1219 and the Germans had the south.

When they joined the Hanseatic League the country was united under the Swedish empire until Russia and Ivan the terrible took over and influenced the states until the 20th Century where Estonia’s history is similar to Finland’s.

We walked first to Freedom Square renamed from Victory Square, above which a tacky monument had been erected to celebrate the 1918 victory.

 

We then climbed up to the walls and saw one of the rectangular buildings and a later circular tower which were part of the wall.

At the same level we saw the parliament building and went into the Russian church and visited two viewing platforms of the town.

From here we descended into the old town down streets named Long Leg and Short Leg.

Long Leg was in the rich German quarter and Short Leg was in the poorer Estonian quarter. The two separated by a gate that was shut at night to keep the poor dock workers away from the rich merchants.

In the main square Jonas finished by tells us a story about Thomas and the wind vane on the Town Hall. Thomas as a young Estonian peasant boy took part in a crossbow competition held by the Baltic German élite to shot a colourful wooden parrot placed on top of a post.

He was the only one to shoot it down but because of his status he did not win the prize. Instead thanks to the Mayor he received the eternal glory of being a city guard.

By this time we are all so wet we pay our dues and hurry back to the van. We make a cup of tea and debate where to park.

Eventually as the rain eases and we decide that we could sleep the night in a scruffy euro car park just around the corner where we were parked paying 2€ for 24 hours

As the rain stops we walk to the lovely modern market full of lots of fruit and vegetables, fresh meat and cheese, small enclosed eateries and upstairs antique clothes stores as well as the usual cheap and cheerful market stalls.

We then walk back into the old town and find a restaurant that unfortunately was all booked but they pass us on to their sister place called Vaike where the food is beautiful haute cuisine, small portions with amazing tastes.
We were well pleased and really enjoyed it. Back at Opium Lounge we move the van to our car park sleeping quarters and walk out on a huge derelict structure that we discover was built by the Russians to host the sea part of their Olympics in the 1980s and now is a small ferry port serving the Aegna Islands and a general illicit night venue with taxis delivering people who just hang around!

 

We put the roof up but sleep downstairs and surprisingly don’t have a bad night’s sleep.

 
Sunday 19th June – Talinn to Viljandi

We are awake before seven watching a hare moving through the waste ground next to the van.

We have breakfast and cycle west around the docks to a beach at Katarina Kai which obviously gets busy during the day but is empty apart one or two joggers and a fisherman.

We walk along the coast through the trees and bushes admiring the many wild flowers including one called wood cow-wheat and looking back across the bay to the city.

We cycle back into the city along the tram line through older districts of Tallinn to the market we had visited yesterday and bought bread before returning to the van.

Revisiting Tallin in the sun is so different in the sunshine. 

We follow around the old walls looking at the different arches, the street of old houses and the old castle the other side of the Parliament building before reminding ourselves of the previous days tour.

We visit the Three Sisters 14th century merchants houses occupied by many dignitaries over the centuries and now a hotel.
We spend time looking at the protect posters about the Russian war with Ukraine a common presence in subsequent cities we visit.

 

 

 

After coffee and an apple strudel in the centre we return to the van in the car park outside the city and drive south across country to the Soomaa rahvuspark one of the Estonian National Parks.

 

We stop for lunch on a forest track before travelling on to Surre-Jaani, a small village which advertised a music festival.

We investigate and find it does have some minor events taking place but also a lovely lake, church and woodland graveyard.

 

 

 

 

We wander around for half an hour before continuing on to Viljandi and to find a place we can camp.

We eventually find Sammuli puhkekula a sort of camp/resort come field centre on the opposite side of the lake to Viljandi.

It is a bit strange, a mixture of different style houses and several larger buildings, surrounding a pond/small inlet by a lake, an amazing setting, but nobody around. Eventually a woman appears and says we can camp and use the toilets and showers for 25€ per night, great.

We have a lovely evening with a fire, watching and listening to all the birds, mainly terns, but also a pair of great crested grebes carrying their three chicks on their backs, murmurations of starlings, swallows swooping across the water and a weak sunset.

The only slight niggle is the cool temperature.

Monday 20th June – Viljandi to Riga

We sleep well and swim in the pond making the most of the facilities on offer.

On the hills across the lake there is a curious white dome that fascinates us. It is on the road to Viljandi so we check it out. It is an indoor football stadium !

We drive up into the small town of Viljandi and explore the three-moated castle remains which are impressive as are some of the inner walls which are tall and made of brick.

 

Also there is the Estonian Traditional Music Centre with a big outdoor arena.

 

We spend an enjoyable hour or so exploring the castle and its grounds and the older part of the town.

We leave Viljandi and head south into Latvia and where we stop at Ungura Eziers National Park and a small village called Turaida which is reputed to have the largest cave in the country.

We are not very impressed with what is a deep alcove in the cliffs but it provided a place to have lunch.
It was a nice walk down to the cave and back up through the forest with its scattered rather grotesque sculptures, to the Folk Museum.

 

We arrive in busy Riga around four in the afternoon and find the city centre campsite which is as we expected from the reviews.

 

It lies on an area of rough grassland set amongst industrial units but with clean toilets and a set of showers that area part of a nearby factory building!But it is only fifteen minute cycle ride into the centre of Riga.

We cycle in and find the tourist office, before wandering around a bit dazed before deciding to return and have some tea at the van.

Later we wander beside the Daugava River on the Kipsala peninsular where we are camping before going to bed.
Tuesday 21st June – Riga

Graham has a very dry sore throat, so he sleeps on as Janet takes a walk along the river the other way from last night.

After breakfast we cycle into the centre of Riga as we had done last night, but with more energy and enthusiasm, looking forward to our Free Tour at 10. Our guide is a young man called Edwards (apparently it’s a Latvian thing that all men add an ‘s’ to their names all women an ‘a’).

About twelve of us meet up in front of St Peter’s Church, where there is a big police presence as the president of Germany is visiting the city and visiting the church for a meeting expressing solidarity against Russia.

Edwards starts by telling us a potted history of the Latvia which is remarkably similar to Estonia’s. We then get taken around what is an historically very interesting trading city

We start with the House of Blackheads on the Town Hall square. All the buildings in the square including the House of Blackheads were destroyed in the Second World War and replicas were rebuilt.

 

The Blackheads were young, unmarried merchants, goldsmiths and ships captains who were the wealthy tenants of the building at the end of 15th C onwards.

Their patron saint is the black Egyptian Christian called Saint Maurice a possible origin of the name of the order which is also based in Tallinn.

We then moved to the Three Brothers, where three of the oldest merchant houses in the city built in different centuries in different styles, the oldest in 1490 have been brought together and conserved in a similar way to the Three Sisters in Tallinn.

Next we went to Dome Square and the cathedral with its old organ. In the square there is the outline of older houses patterned on the ground where they had been pulled down in 1918 by the first Latvian President who wanted a public space beneath his balcony where he could come out and address his people.

There is also a plaque commemorating the city becoming a world heritage site. Using this as a tool Edwards talked about the Latvian language and how it had been modified to include the different dialects of the country and thus was uniquely different from the languages of other Baltic states.

 

Graham was giving the opportunity to try and read the declaration in Latvian for which he was rewarded with a local sweet treat!

We were then taken to see the Parliament Building and one of the oldest warehouses in the street as a comparison to other more recent residential and commercial buildings that were in the city centre.

We returned to Dome Square where we saw the Great Guild House built by wealthy German traders/guilders for only Germans. Edwards told us that a Latvian trader wanted to join the guild but because he wasn’t allowed to he built a building on the other side of the street and on the top he put a black cat facing away from their building appearing to piss on it.

This upset the German merchants so much that they agreed to let Latvians become part of the guild as long as the cat was turned around to face the building.

The tour finished by the Bremen statue with the animals of Bremen the donkey the dog, the cat and the rooster are shown coming through the ‘Iron Curtain’.

Bremen has a special relationship with Riga through the Hanseatic League.
We though Edwards was good and the tour very balanced so we rewarded him accordingly.

For a break from the old city we strolled through the gardens ringing the old city with an ice cream to visit the Art-Nouveau Area.

It is hot and we are weary but the buildings are fascinating and the anger about the war in Ukraine was clear in demonstrations outside the Russian embassy.

 

 

 

 

 

After a good tour of the area we find a nice restaurant for a late and welcome lunch. We are fascinated watching young people buying fresh flowers for their mothers as part of a midsummer celebration.

We return to the campsite for a well earned rest before walking back along the river where we bought some beer and bread at a supermarket.

We are amazed as we leave to see a man walking by with what we think was a very large Guinea pig or a capybara really bizarre in his shopping basket … and we fail to take a photo of it!

The area we are in has some of the faculties of the university and student accommodation nearby but we walk away from that area through an older established residential area with houses.

 

 

There are also a lot of dilapidated and falling down buildings and warehouses amidst rough overgrown sites.

We then return to the van to enjoy the warm sunshine of the longest day of the year before going to bed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday 22nd June – Riga to Trakai

We have breakfast and leave the camp site by nine o’clock.

It is busy and we make our way slowly in very heavy single lane traffic to Panevezys. We stop here for coffee and breakfast by a lake which is set in new parkland and as the sun is shining so it is all very pleasant. Before leaving the town we do some shopping in a small supermarket.
We then join the motorway and drive down through the Lithuanian countryside to Kernave near Vilnius where there is a World Heritage Site.

The Kernave site is a largely unexcavated archaeological site harbouring the remains of a settlement and five hill forts dating from the 12th – 14th centuries. The most impressive parts are the five magnificent large rounded hill fort settlements some of which we clamber to the top of.

Latvia was late in converting to Christianity and pagan worship around this area was still active in the 13th century and, from this area of the Neris valley, archaeological finds have built up a full picture of both a Pagan and Christian life in those times. This is further illustrated by the detailed reproduction of the different types of wooden dwellings and workplaces.

From here we go to Lavender Village campsite which we had emailed ahead about.

It was in a nice setting but very twee offering all sorts of alternative therapies for its campers.

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, the camping pitches are too soggy for the van so we move on south to a lakeside Bygone-Days Holiday resort called Slenis which looked across the lake to Trakai.
We pitch on a terrace above the main grassy camping bowl amongst large lodges and buildings erected for the entertainment of tourist in the last century.

Having pitched we go for a swim in the lake from a clean sandy beach.

Later we walk along the edge of the lake and up to Angels Hill where there were lots of different carvings of angels set along the ridge line.

 

Whilst in the setting sun it was not easy to photograph them we did enjoy watching lots of hot air balloons rising up in the sky and floating peacefully out across the lake towards Trakai Castle.

Thursday 23rd June – Trakai

We pottered around before walking up to the Angel Field to get some photos but we are glad we had seen them the night before as they were more mysterious then.

We then walked along to the Uzutrakis Manor and walked in the grounds before returning to the van for a read and have some lunch.

In the afternoon we take a glass-bottomed canoe out on the lake and paddle it over to Trakai castle and had a very good view of the Manor House.

It was hard work coordinating but we managed without falling out!

A different means of transport!

Friday 24th June – Trakai

We had not had a good night’s sleep. The site had been noisy and we are both suffering with heavy flu-like colds. So we potter around for a bit and then cycle around the lake to Trakia.

We are going to cycle further but didn’t feel well enough so have an orange juice at a cafe by the lake and cycle back.

Graham swims and then we are just by the van enjoying the antics of three young Lithuanian families who had come together for the weekend.

A lovely reminder of our lot were when their kids were younger.

 

Saturday 25th June – Trakai to Toruń

We leave a very hot (above 3oC) Trakai around nine and travel east to Marijampole, where we shop for the next few days. From here we turn south into Poland through the Suwaɫki Gap avoiding Russia! Driving through the gap and across the border even in the sun, was bleak.

After Augustevi we drive west through the Polish lakes, where we were hoping to stop for lunch but we soon discover they are inaccessible to the public. We end up having lunch in a large layby/rest area.

This was very different from the Baltic States and the other countries we have been travelling through where access to open water is without restriction.

 

At Olsztyn we head south-west to Toruń where we book into the campsite on the other side of the bridge from the city centre.

Later in the evening we wander into the buzzing Saturday night centre where there is a festival taking place with live music.

 

Now in Poland we have gained an hour and are adjusting to this when we returned to the campsite where there were the remnants of a rather noisy party. We are very tired so we sleep well.

 
Sunday 26th June – Toruń

It is another very hot day with temperatures well above 30C.  

Amazingly we have had a good night’s although there was lots of distant and not so distant shouting. The background noise had not been too bad so we feel rested and a lot better than previous days.

We cycle into the city for eleven o’clock for our Free Tour calling in at the Tourist Office for a leaflet on cycle routes on the way.

Alanka is our 4th Free Tour guide of the holiday and we meet her by the statue of the astronomer Nicklaus Copernicus.

She is a Polish lady who lived for a number of years in Leicester.

There are eight of us eventually and after she talks to us for a bit, in a confusing way about the history of Toruń, we head off trying to keep in the shade whilst looking at the different houses of note.

We visit the Town Hall with its courtyard and court and its carvings in niches in the inner courtyard and bronze street art outside. Not forgetting the frog fountain.

We pass by Copernicus’s house noting its times of opening for a later visit. Near here we see a bronze donkey with a ridge down its back.

This is a form of public mockery, where miscreants would be made to sit astride the donkey whilst people tied heavy weights to their legs.

 

 

We are shown the west gateway in the city wall which cuts through some old houses before reaching the remains of the city wall.

 

We are taken to try our hand at standing with our backs against a leaning tower no mean feat.

 

 We then visit St John’s Cathedral.

There are other buildings of interest.

There is a warehouse whose windows are shaped like flour sacks so that the boats delivering grain would know which warehouse to make for.

There is a former Reischbank now the University Museum of Nicolaus Copernicus University.

We finish our tour at the castle.

Alena tells us some interesting snippets but most of her information was disorganised and muddled and we felt we had gained more from the pamphlet at the camp site!

A salad revives us and we visit the museum in Copernicus’ House.

 

It is amazing, with a mix of technologies and actual old objects so that one really gets a feel for how a house of that age would be like, how its spaces would have been used and how an academic like Copernicus would have dabbled in his many interests, including astrology.
 

 

 

 

The city is famous for its gingerbread so when we leave the Museum, we go to a gingerbread shop where we buy a mix of gingerbread biscuits.

In the pavement nearby are samples of the trademarks of the various trading businesses that traded in the city when it was an active port.

We walk back along the river and cycle back to our relatively cool site which in a City where the heat is 30C, is very welcome.

Later in the evening we follow a cycle route eight kilometres north through the suburbs to a woodland recreational area at Zamek Bierzglowski.

It was the scene of a massacre during the Second World War but is now a lovely space.

 

 

Monday 27th June – Toruń to Hamelin

We are up early and pack before walking to a view point by the river opposite the town.

We leave the town around 8.30 and travelled on small but very busy roads towards Poznań where the roads improve and we get on to the autobahn system heading west.

 The day is very hot and thundery and there are showers in the late afternoon.

The temperatures reached a dizzying 37C by the time we stop for lunch in a delightful park beside the River Oder at Frankfurt an der Oder just into Germany.

Traffic increases as we headed west, south of Berlin to Braunschweig where we turn south west along country roads to reach Hamelin. Unfortunately our route was hampered by closed roads and tarmac resurfacing.

We eventually arrive at the campsite just as the warden is leaving and get a large plot overlooking the River Vaser/Vistula.

We are slightly irked that it was going to cost 35€ a night but when we go into the toilets and showers they are amazing, warm, newly equipped with basins at different levels, rain showers, magnifying mirrors, quirky but tasteful with music playing all the time and a video about the area showing in the foyer.

We are travel worn so walked into the town and ate at Das Wirtshaus a small local residential restaurant on the edge of the town.

Google translate saves the day and we both have good satisfying mushroom dishes before wandering around the town and back along the river to the van.
 

 

Tuesday 28th June – Hamelin to Waasmunster

We walk into Hamelin and listen to the bells ringing on the medieval Wedding House before wandering around looking at the particularly attractive decorated renaissance houses dotted around the old town.
We then go and get an English leaflet about the town from the tourist office and watch a video about Hamelin before returning to the site and chilling.

We find out that there are stony beaches you can swim from into the river but we are just happy sitting doing nothing. Apart from the busy road across the river it really is an amazing place. We move the van from our plot further back into the site so we can leave it here until this afternoon.

Then we walk into town again and listen to the bells and watch the legendary clockwork characters come out from behind metal doors.

First the Pied Piper piping the rats away and then after a minute or two a witch-like Pied Piper leading the children into the mountain all apart from a blind and a deaf child who can’t keep up. Impressive!

We go back to the camp site and are on the road by two o’clock. We have a good journey through the busy Dortmund/ Essen auto route system to Antwerp where we get caught up in really heavy traffic.

Eventually we get through and find our parking space off the main road on a small jetty beside the river at Waasmunster just outside Temse.

 

It is hot but a lovely location and we sit and watch the sunset as we have tea.

An 86 year old guy turns up to check his boat, and us, out. It was nice chatting to him.

 

 

Wednesday 29th June – Waasmunster to Home

We awake at six o’clock to see the sun rise over the river.

We pack up and head back to the autoroute and stopping for coffee and fuel at a busy service station near Ghent.

Back on the road again we have an uneventful journey to Dunkerque arriving before nine o’clock to catch the ten o ’clock ferry.

By luck we are put amongst the lorries to the front of the boat so on landing just after eleven clock we make good progress to Fleet Services where we refuel ourselves.

We  continue on, arriving home around six o’clock.

Reflecting on our trip it had been better than expected because we had managed to spend time in beautiful places and experience different cultures without it feeling like a route march!
It was something we had wanted to do for a long time and we have now achieved and enjoyed it but we did missed the mountains and hills.