Gearing up in our apartment
Waiting for the bus to take us to the train which will take us to the airport so we can take a plane to Estonia. From there we'll bike.
Gargoyles on the town hall in Talinn
Talinn in the rain. Gorgeous Russian Orthodox church, eh?
Boot
We think there are some guys who need to follow the top sign
Medieval alleyways in Talinn.
Rain, rain, go away...
This old man was very amused with Joce taking this picture
Wares of wool. The designs are very Scandinavian here
On the road
Cliff side views
Yup, that's a long drop alright.
Introducing Huck to the Baltic Sea
Our first of many dirt roads. This one wasn't bad.
What to do?
Tom and Huck, resting by the sea
Chillin'...in every sense of the word
Frank in a happy place
Find the jellyfish
Happy l'il pyromaniac
We were treated to a nice sunset
Frank, playing Hide and Seek. He's not very good at hiding
We don't know what was with the roads here, but it was making us dizzy!
Holy pot-holes, Batman
They went overboard with the skylights
Waiting to get on the ferry to Hiumaa
The elusive Climbing Cow
Second campsite
Our backyard for the night
It's all ours
Seaside camp cookin'
Baby barn swallows looking at us looking at them
Our garden shed accommodations in Kuresaare
Drying our laundry with wind, solar and pedal power
Biking out of Kuresaare
These are the road signs for the cycle routes in Estonia
Memorial to a battle that happened on this location between German and Soviet troops in WWI
Waiting to board our ferry from the biggest island in Estonia, Saaremaa
Quail eggs, over easy on sesame schnitzel
Quail egg beggar
Where'd the nice pavement go?
Brekkie in Ventpils
Huck, the bottle-tailed folding bike. We kept the bottles to refund at the stores but found that Latvia was behind in recycling compared to Estonia
In a few years, this will be a crowded resort
Double track with sand
One of the houses in a UNESCO protected village
Deep sandy craziness
Bus stop in the middle of nowhere
Our wonderful Latvian hosts who let us stay at their house and made us a nice Latvian dinner and breakfast (with veggies and honey from their backyard!)
Janis (our host), takes his bike out to accompany us a bit on our bike ride out.
Drying Joce's BIG BOOTS from the rainy day before
Janis and Vinara
Getting a glass of Kvass. Kvass is a drink made from bread that is non-alcoholic but tastes a bit like a strong, sweet beer.
Quick meal at the market
We think this is what gave us both sore bellies afterwards
Town hall in Riga
Locking a lock on a bridge is supposed to bring a couple good luck
The Latvian military had a very informative stand at the annual Riga City Festival
Fun for the whole family!
Joce almost traded in her bike...but we figured this wouldn't fit in the train as well
Vintage car show in the square
Art Nouveau architecture is sooo Riga
Old Town Riga is apparently THE place to get wedding pics done. This was the 3rd wedding party that we saw here
Speed boat races were also part of the festival program
zoom zoom!
A peek into the pot reveals...
Mmmm, pig ears.
Another stunning Russian Orthodox Church
View of the church from the Skyline bar
Where the name of the bar comes from
Silhouettes and skylines
We happened to bike by this war memorial to German soldiers from WWI. It's really in the middle of nowhere.
Storks are a dime a dozen here
The last stretch of the (bad) Latvian roads. Hurrah!
Coming into the Lithuanian border
The last country that we'll be biking into for this tour
Lots of these "totems" along the roads. Wood carvings are a traditional art form in Lithuania. Particularly cross carving
Some crazy building in Kedainiai
The little bike shop (bottom, right) that was the only shop in 4 countries that knew how to fix Frank's headset properly
Breaking camp at our apple orchard campsite
Morning sun on the bikes in the apple orchard
Walking towards the Hill of Crosses, Siauliai
Noone really knows the exact story of how the Hill of Crosses started.
Lithuania was the last bastion for Paganism in Europe. Crosses were also symbolic for the pagans.
During Soviet occupation, because the Soviets were against anything religious, crosses also became a symbol for nationalism to the people
The Soviets even bulldozed the hill a few times during their occupation but crosses would just appear the next day
The number of crosses is growing every day
Even atheists would find it difficult not to be moved by this place
A fallen cross. And people just went and put crosses on it afterwards
Frank and Joce planted a cross in memory of Joce's mother, who passed away last year
Cows and horses aren't fenced in here. They're just chained to a stake in the ground. Or, like this poor pony, their two front legs are chained together
Joce braves passing the pony
What?!
Our unexpected and very cool ferry crossing
Joce, the bikes and our ferry operator. And if you look closely, you can see Bean-O
Stork starter home
Frank checking the map
Where'd the bike path go?
Old Town Vilnius
Sign before entering the Republic of Uzopio, a quarter within the city of Vilnius which declared itself a republic a few years ago.
Crossing the bridge over to Uz
Our cute little hostel in Uz
The tile that marks the beginning (end) of the human chain of ~2 million people from Talinn to Vilnius peacefully protesting the Soviet occupation
If you spin around on the tile 3 times clockwise and make a wish, it'll come true. Really.
Spot the pot
Funky tea shop
From the pretty town of Trakai
Campsite in Trakai...this one was at an actual campground
There was an orienteering race going on at the campground. This team found their "flag"
Taking cover under a bus shelter during a really heavy downpour
Frog on our tent
Our "guard frogs". We hoped they would fight the ticks
First sign of Sestokai...our last town before the border to Poland
Old Town Warsaw, waking up
The heart of the Old Town. Believe it or not, these buildings are not the originals. Warsaw was completely flattened during WWII so the Polish had to reconstruct everything.
Syrena, the mermaid of the river and a Warsaw icon.
The cat is likely taunting the poor pup
We swear this beer was following us
Frank posing in front of a pretty Warsaw Old Town
Hello
The male version of Hooters?
Our bunks on the train to Munich. Our bikes fit in the little cubby hole behind Frank
