To Russia With Love
Having proposed to Rebecca, I thought it only fitting that I took her on the bike for our honeymoon and so 14th August, we left our new home in Wiltshire, heading for Newcastle.
The Netherlands | Germany | Poland | Lithuania | Latvia | Estonia | Russia | Finland | Sweden | Norway | Denmark.
Nick and Rebecca Foulerton
14th August – 12th September 2006
With the intention of catching a ferry to Kristiansand in Norway, it was rather frustrating to find ourselves on one heading to Holland.
From Amsterdam, we made straight for our favourite hotel in Hamburg, the Atlantic and from there on to Berlin, then north into Poland.
We swung east of Kalingrad into Lithuania and its capital Vilnius. With its air of faded elegance, it was our clear favourite in the Baltic States, particularly after meeting its president at dinner.
We sped north along the Baltic coast through Riga and onto Tallinn. Spending a night just west of the Russian border, we explored the still visible German trenches on the beach and wondering what Russia would hold for us.
On 25th August we spent the day being frustrated by Russian border guards, before having the police stop us all the way to St. Petersburg.
We finally arrived at the lavish Astoria Hotel in St. Petersburg, indulging ourselves after many days on the road. Arguably the grandest city in Europe, St. Petersburg is a symbol of aristocratic decadence and power.
Finland was a blend of vast forests and fields, with brightly coloured wooden houses dotted amongst them.
With little time to stop in Stockholm, we pressed on west, spending the night next to one of Sweden’s countless silent lakes, nestled deep in the forest. We crossed into Norway and made our way straight to the world renowned Jotunheim National Park, with its desolate peaks, turquoise lakes and herds of reindeer.
We then followed the best kept roads in Europe down through countless Fjords to Bergen and to the southern most tip of Norway, the Lindesnes Tyr lighthouse, which even in summer is subjected to countless bombardments from the North Sea.
At Kristiansand we made the final stage of our journey, across to the Danish port of Hirtshals. Our final two days allowed us to meander down the west coast of Denmark to Esbjerg, where we set sail on a very rough sea, arriving in Harwich on the 12th September.
Maps
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