And more (Riga was an interesting city)
The famous black cat
On our second night there Klavs took us out to the local bach about 70km out of town, an area known as Jurmala. There is an upmarket suburb there that wealthy Russians (in the main) live in, such as this one (just a cool two or more million Euros and it could be yours
)
We eventually landed up on the beach for a lovely evening over a meal and were treated to a nice sunset.
The food was divine
I might add this was not my desert!
The sunset was peaceful and picturesque
The next morning we headed out to Klavs workshop to have our bikes checked for tire pressure and my chain needed adjusting. He gave laid on coffee and pastries and showed us his workshop.
We made a new friend
After this we left Riga and Latvia and headed for Lithuania.
Hi, David!
Thank You for nice words! It was lovely to see You all.
I hope we meet again.
Klavs
After the stop at Kalv's we hit the road for Lithuania and Vilnius. Even though the day was not long distance wise, around 370 km, we were leaving late after enjoying Klavs generous hospitality.
Our route was main roads as this was largely a transit day, apart for a deviation to the Hill of Crosses. In hindsight a few side roads along the way would have been nice, but hindsight is a wonderful thing.
To this Kiwi, with no knowledge of what the Hill of Crosses is or stands for, riding up to the site I was a little curious and maybe even a little cynical - was this another touristy thing to lure people to it? It looked gimmicky. BUT, I'm not to proud to admit I was totally wrong. This site stands for so much it is hard to put it in words. In the video below I try to, but it is too little and too inadequate.
Some pictures...
That night we reached our accommodation. I had booked this for our group, but I was not expecting what I saw, a petrol station with the accommodation on top of it.
However, it turned out to be quite good. The rooms were clean and very quiet. Downstairs there was food and a small grocery store and for the night the garage manager allowed us to store our bikes in his locked workshop. All round perfect for a transit type stopover.
Along the way we stopped a couple of times to take a pic or two or stretch the legs...
This is a sight I do not see at home
Monday 19 June - Usedom, Germany to Veendam. Last day.
The day started out cool but the temperature soon enough soured upwards. After a couple of hours riding the back roads we headed for the autobahn to get back as quickly as possible.
Last day pic
Several weeks of bug kill
And then we were back
Like that the first part of the trip was over. I now had a day to wash my clothes and get ready for my solo ride. This I will write in another thread.
I thoroughly enjoyed this ride. If doing it again I would endeavour to do a few things differently, but this trip got me to places I never thought I would get to. Thanks guys for a blast - it was fun...
I'll be pleased to copy that!
I'll be pleased to copy that!
Got me some stickers too. Some are a little big, others a better size.
These two belong together...