on the road again.... in the Baltic States

been trying to think of an appropriate theme song for this trip - and everytime "on the road again" comes into my head - so I guess that's it, for now anyhow.

left auckland friday 17th. despite all good intentions of being properly organised - packing commenced at 10.30 pm the night before (after a few wines with Anne) - and with both Anne and Penny's very good advice on what not to pack. Apart from having two toothpastes - it seems to have been successful - or you just manage with what you have - everything else is out of sight / out of mind.

good trip akl / KL / Stockholm. shared the back half of the plane from KL with 100+ Thai seamen - well thats what the steward said they were - as he had been trying to find out where they were going - and apparently none spoke English - and he decided they were seamen as they were so brown. All decked out in Siam ..... Services Ltd gear - still wondering what they were up too - ? perhaps Thai companies are still doing overseas conferences? surely they couldn't all be relocating??

arrived early Saturday morning Swedish time - and back to Sarah's compact flat. changed time zones much easier this trip - perhaps arriving in the am is the trick - stay up all day - and then crash. Sarah had very unkind comments re my sleeping (?) that night !

had a quick look around the Old Town (Gamla Stan), and sampled herring and potato. Can see that I can resume the search for the perfect fish and potato combination after last years search for the ultimate fish pie in Ireland.

Stockholm is certainly a beautiful city. Sarah is on Sodermalm which is the island south of Gamla Stan - so a very handy base for exploring. However still to do most of that - as on the Sunday night we caught the overnight ferry to Helsinki. The first few hours is thru the archipelago - so very pretty. little islands with little red baches etc.

Two nights in Helsinki - hop on / off tour / Alto architecture / cathedrals / church carved out of rock / design area / markets / fish snacks /

caught 7am train to St Petersburg - wee bit concerned at border that we had cancelled the accommodation that matched my visa application - as Sarah had to have prepaid for her accommodation to get her visa - but despite all the hassles of getting the visas - they all seemed quite unconcerned as to why we were there.

was a lot more concerned when we had dinner that night - as I thought the exchange rate was 8:1 which meant that the spare rations packed around my waist were going to be put to good use very quickly. Luckily that night when reading the Gospel according to LP, realised the rate was more like 20:1 - so could resume the search for fish & potatoes.

6 nights in St Petersburg - and could easily have had more. Big city - and endless palaces / churches etc. The Winter Palace / Hermitage alone is worth at least two days to do it any justice at all. We did the Russia Museum - Church on Spilled Blood - Peterhof Palace (based on Versailles) - canals - nighttime ride to see the bridges being raised - numerous Cathedrals / monuments. Giselle at the Palace theatre.

Everyone was far more helpful than I expected - bus conductors were very friendly even if slightly misleading ("I go, you say") - food was great - salmon and sour cream for breakfast is a new favourite - needless to say the spare rations packed stayed in place - even alto walking 12 hours / day.

not sure how I would cope with such short nights on a permanent basis - altho I suppose you catch up on the sleep in the winter months.

found some good shopping - bags / shoes / russian dolls / good sale at Ecco shoes - so new shoes as the spring had sprung in the old walking shoes.

so with more in the bags than when we arrived - caught the bus to Tallinn (Estonia) - hotel in the old city - gorgeous old town / fabulous market / did all three legs of the city tour / Palace / Kumu art museum / cathedrals / three nights there - then bus to Riga (Latvia) with even more luggage. at last count Sarah had bought three coat/capes and various styles of hats, so is well prepared for another Swedish winter.

started to understand how it must have been before the Euro was adopted by most EU countries. each country so far has had a different currency. Swedish krona / Euros in Finland / Rubles / Estonian Kroon / and now Latvian Lats. went to the ATM at the Riga bus station / and was very confused. had got used to dividing by 20 / then 8 (yes the 8 related to Estonia) and the ATM only had 5/10/20/50/100 as options. anyway - it is x 3. amazing how the plastic card works everywhere!

so only one night in Riga - another gorgeous Old Town (but Tallinn is the favourite) / markets / churchs / but also some fabulous art deco buildings. Luckily I had arranged my own personal architecture guide - not the cheapest option I admit - but very worthwhile. also a very thought provoking museum re recent history / occupation / banishments to Serbia / independence /

there was a Norwegian male choir singing in one of the churches - so made enquiries about possiblities for the Voice Club Choir for the future.

then the overnight ferry back to Stockholm - tiny cabin with a bunk - scarcely big enough for our bags / arriving Sunday morning. gorgeous day - off to Skansen (open air museum) then to Gona Lund amusement park- where Lady Gaga was playing. there is an awesome ride there called "Insane" - am going to go back especially to do it.

so today, being Monday, Sarah is back at work - and I am having a day off. but can't do the washing until tomorrow as have to book a time at the aprtment's laundry - so have to be up early in the am to do that. about to go and negotiate the swedish supermarket.


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