The Big One

Warsaw

Monday, August 4, 2014 Hello Poland! It was a long drive, but still managed to make it to Warsaw in time to get into the executive lounge and gobble up a free meal and down a few drinks before closing…

Vilnius

Saturday, August 2, 2014 A move day combined with a number of tourist activities. In fact more tourist activities than we had planned. We left Riga and headed to the Hill of Crosses. Although the hill is modest in size,…

Riga

Thursday, July 31, 2014 Our GPS got a little confused and could not work out the way to Riga. But we didn’t panic! Pulled out the backup paper map and headed on gut feeling and a south westerly bearing. It…

Tartu

Wednesday, July 30, 2014 We said goodbye to Kristin, Jan and Viggo and headed off to Tartu. The drive was pleasant enough and not too long. The road was littered with speed cameras giving us a good reason not to…

Tallinn

Monday, July 28, 2014 As we drove off the ferry, we appeared to be singled out for a little customs check. It was almost like they knew we were coming, with everyone else being waved through. Although the customs check…

Helsinki

Friday, July 25, 2014 It is good to be in Finland. Probably the easiest border crossing we had on this trip. While sitting in our car, with the engine running, we handed over our passports to the immigration officer. Thirty…

North to Finland

Wednesday, July 23, 2014 We left Moscow and immediately faced a traffic jam due to a small crash. Ten kms further we slowed down again due to excessive traffic. After 90 minutes we had travelled less than 10 miles. Then…

Moscow (Москва)

Sunday, July 20, 2014 The short drive from Tula allowed us to enjoy the afternoon in Moscow. We headed straight to the Red Square and the Walls of the Kremlin. From here we visited Saint Basil’s Cathedral before walking along…

Tula (Тула)

Saturday, July 19, 2014 Day 3 of the drive to Moscow. We had a slightly shorter driving day than the previous two and were able to d a little sight-seeing. Along the way we stopped at Leo Tolstoi’s residence. A…

Voronezh (Воронеж)

Friday, July 18, 2014 Another big driving day north along the M6 and then the M4. The scenery definitively improved with massive sunflower fields and the occasional pine forest. It really felt like we were returning to Europe. And while…

Caspian Sea

Tuesday, July 15, 2014 After the whole police episode was over, we drove south from Astrakhan towards the Volga Delta. Our original plan was to wing it and find someone with a boat. The receptionist at our hotel had given…

Astrakhan (Астрахань)

Monday, July 14, 2014 The drive from the Kazakhstan border to Astrakhan was pleasant enough. As we drove through the Volga Delta area we could already see many more birds along the roadside. Turned out that there were two ways…