Month: March 2024

Categories
Europe Latvia

Rundale Palace

As one of the countries shining glories- the Rundale Palace is  popular and it is easy to see why. it was definitely one that we would pay entry for- to get a tour and see the interiors as well as gardens. 

Here is the e-guide to it if you would like your own guided tour :).

It was from Rundales that we drove to Kaunas – and that has been described already earlier.  After spending a couple of nights here -mainly drying out the tent and our gear- as well as sightseeing of course – we drove back to Poland.

Once we arrived back it was real busy catching up with everyone -finally meeintg the sister, celebrating Grandpa’s 92nd birthday! Spending time with the nephew and also meeting his 18-year-old daughter. So, it was as intense as we usually seam to pack it in …and a few days after arriving it was time for me to make my way back down south to where my parents stay.

All was not lost though as we had made rough plans for him to come visit down south-for my birthday -which was in a couple of weeks. It was a sad goodbye before I picked him up at the Wroclaw train station some weeks later. We packed in more activities and meeting more of his friends that were Wroclaw based -who he hadn’t seen in years -so it made for interesting catch ups 😊. The time came though for me to get back to my planned travels- and fly to Iceland-and Greenland from there. We kept it going long distance- and as I eventually made my way to Australia the distance grew even larger. In the end of the day- a few months down the track- we didn’t make it in the long term. 

Either which way – a time I look back at real fondly !

Categories
Europe Latvia

Lake Burtnieks

Lake Burtnieks was not some official planned stop- but as we drove and enjoyed the scenery a time came when we needed to find some place to camp-so why not by a lake – why not this one? This relatively simple decision ended up being a pretty adventurous one as the we ended up crossing fields through which only tractors should drive.  Neither of us were sure if the car bottom was going to be able to make it across the ruts! But somehow it did!! Phew- and we were the only ones there for the night, so it was lovely and peaceful but also the damn coldest night!! Did some wood collecting and thought it would be good to make some potatoes on the fire- well—they turned out to be charcoal by the time we fished them out!! Ooops!

 

After the lake we continued -down a much easier road-thank goodness! We were headed towards the castles around Sigulda however we ended up not staying for too long and there was some concert taking place and it was rather busy. We spent another random night somewhere in the forest before heading to a palace that I have been excited to see for a few months now!

Categories
Estonia Europe

Parnu

Back on the mainland we stopped by Parnu and happened to come across a small cultural festival in the main square. We got to enjoy performances from around the whole region. 

Categories
Estonia Europe

Saaremaa Island

Once the rain had stopped a little bit so that we could pack up in slightly drier conditions we headed west to Saaremaa Island. We wild camped here – not a problem in Estonia- as long as you practice leave no trace and also don’t camp on private land or in view of other dwellings. We did a few dirt roads for which the car was perhaps not ideal 😊 – nervous laugh.

Now I cant remember where it was that we spent our second night- but I experienced one of the most beautiful sunsets ever! The pale pinks, blues and purples were so calming and stunning! Someone missed it cause he was busy at the car ! 

The next day had a mix of activities- with some lighthouses and a stop by Kuressaare linnus – a small castle with a moat around it. 

Categories
Estonia Europe

Lahemaa National Park & surrounds

Heading east from Tallinn we went day tripping around Lahemaa National Park and the coast and inland areas here. There are multiple walking trails around but with the weather looking somewhat uncertain we just took a couple of short ones.

There is nothing quiet that fills me with a smile as finding a gem of a manor house. This one was stunning- again, well maintained but the gardens were so unexpectedly charming! They were planted by colour with some rare flower colours that I had not seen before. Spent more time here than we originally expected – just strolling around the gardens. This manor is known as Sagadi.

The rain that we had tried to run from for a few days now had finally caught up with us- it was time for some lunch but no undercover spaces around that we could find for the last hour- until we came across another old manor house- Kolga. This one has not been restored and my heart lit up to its restoration potential- my spirit not at all matching my budget!!! We hid under a veranda on an old bench here and had some warm team and lunch while it poured down!

Categories
Estonia Europe

Kadriorg Park & Manor

Kadriorg Park and the presidential palace is outside the Tallinn city centre and really takes your breath away. The park covers 70 hectares and construction began by Tsar Peter I in 1718!

Categories
Estonia Europe

Tallinn

After overnighting in Riga we headed to what ended up being all the way in Estonia capital city- Tallinn. The long summer nights help to explore city centres when you arrive a bit later. We both enjoyed this capital city too- his favourite…though I think mine was Riga 😊. I will just bombard the blog with photos again- but they speak louder than words for sure! My love of all old buildings also comes to ahead in these (and other) photos!

After having a super 60Euro (!!) steak in an Argentinian steakhouse in Tallinn we needed to walk it off a bit and went out the the Patkuli lookout again to see Tallinn by night. 

Categories
Europe Latvia

Riga

Riga was even quieter than Vilnius from a tourist perspective- it was a very odd feeling when we hit the main square and there were hardly any people?! Are we in the right place -we wondered?!? So many stunning Art Nouveau buildings in the city- and so beautifully maintained and restored! The city also has beautiful gardens, and we spent a lot of time walking around enjoying it all!  

 

One of the first things that caught my eye on the drive in was the tall and very familiar building of Latvian Academy of Sciences. This was not because I had been here before but because there is a very similar building in Warsaw- The Palace of Culture.  

Categories
Europe Latvia

Western Latvia

After catching the ferry across the river mouth again from Smiltyne to Klaipeda we kept along the coast and headed north towards Latvia. As we hadn’t booked any accommodation, we just went with the wind depending on what we wanted to see or how we felt about a place. The distances are also not big and the roads were pretty good- so you can cover a lot of ground with longer stops. I had also been keeping an eye on the weather as we planned to spend some time on the island of Saaremaa -Estonia. However, when we planned to this was going to be rainy for a few days- so we were working around trying to avoid this band of weather.

We stopped at Liepaja as the golden domes of The Naval Orthodox Cathedral of Saint Nicholas caught our attention. No photos were allowed inside, but the outside was rather eye catching. On the northern outskirts of town were the Northern Forts but these were pretty disappointing and dilapidated. And caused a stumped toe in jury to my dear travelling partner.

We kept going up north towards Kolka -where there was a small national park. We had a late lunch BBQ on the beach and kept heading all the way to Riga! This is Latvia’s capital city.

Categories
Europe Lithuania

Kaunas

***Note*** this is on the return back from the north that we stopped in Kaunas-and headed back home to Poland after a couple of nights here.

 

We did a bit of a detour and stopped by the Hill of Crosses on the way to Kaunas.

It is insane as to how many crosses have been placed here by pilgrims. The exact origins of how this tradition started is unknown but the first reference made to this hill in written word was in the 1850s. During the Soviet era the whole hill was bulldozed-not the first time a regime had done this. It was a symbol of defiance to build it back up again each time.

The time in Kaunas was a mix of street art, history, good food and a fantastic local restaurant with old charm atmosphere too!. 

Categories
Europe Lithuania

Nida Peninsula

We headed over this way to make our way to the Nida Peninsula. It is a very long and skinny peninsula that juts out from Kaliningrad. We headed all the way down south to see the dunes.

We then spent a bit if time near the Hill of Witches near Juodkrante walking around the forests checking out all the wooden sculptures. They represent Lithuanian folktales and legends of years past.

Categories
Europe Lithuania

Klaipeda

Within about 3 hours we were by the coast- at the only port in the country. We set up camp, had a bit of a cook up in the camp kitchen and went down to the cliffs above the beach to watch the sun set. 

The town of Klaipeda has quiet a German feel to it. 

Categories
Europe Lithuania

Vilnius

Its no-good writing a blog over 18 months after you’ve done something as you can’t recall all the details unfortunately!! So here we are -using a bit of googling to check place names every now and then. What I do recall though is that I really enjoyed walking around this small city- especially the old town. It was very compact which made it easy. With the whole RuXXian war, there was also not a lot of tourists around (relevant to all the Baltic countries that we visited).

I liked local cuisine quiet a bit- note it is based on potatoes- so which Polish girl doesn’t love that 😊. I have provided some photos of these dishes.

A bit of Literatai Street- lots of quirky wall art and also the rebellious , arty district of Uzupis. 

I do enjoy getting up early in the morning- and even more so-having a city nearly to myself. I had a chance to go back to the cathedral -as before we were too late and also to check out the more of the city- so well preserved! 

Categories
Europe Lithuania

Paneriai & Vilnius TV Tower

Paneriai is between Trakai and Vilnius and is home to a stunning manor house- with out-buildings such as stables and incredible gardens. Voke Manor Park as it is known had no other tourists except us-which made it even better to visit. The inside of the manor is still be renovated but the outside is stunning!

The park was established in 1884.

It is not my usual sort of stop- a TV Tower- but my man was into hanging off cliffs and buildings alike. With my fear of heights, it was not my preferred activity, but I was interested in seeing the views over the city. As can be expected in is very communist – the apartment blocks all look rather alike and just a few small hills around the city. To give an idea of size- the city has a population of about 600,000. This was our last stop before settling into our pretty central Airbnb near the centre of Vilnius- walking distance to everything we wanted to see. 

Categories
Europe Lithuania

Trakai

The following morning once fed and packed we headed towards the capital- but with a planned longer stop in Trakai- a medieval residence for Grand Dukes of past. It is conveniently located on a island on a lake- so it is rather surreal and fairytale looking.

The castle was rather ornate- as they often are- and had many types of displays. Oddly- they start with modern art rather than the history etc. I think all of us visitors were thrown by this judging by the looks on our faces 😊. We were lucky enough to have a band practicing for a show and enjoyed some of their music too.

We stayed in a small motel/ BnB type of accommodation just outside of the town centre as we knew we would be at Trakai for a few hours. The next morning he went out for a run while I went around taking way too many photos of the colourful wooden country architecture in the town.

Categories
Europe Lithuania

MeteliĹł regioninis parkas

Our little car was packed with items borrowed from across the family and with camping gear and kitchenware from wherever we found some spares.

We (or really I) had a bunch of ideas for what I wanted to see and thus we set off on a rough track with the idea to stop at places of interest along the route that might have been unplanned. Leaving home we headed east, towards Suwalki and The Wigierski National Park. We’d have a bit of a morning walk and lunch before heading across the border into Lithuania. The park has many hiking, walking and mountain bike tracks and was pleasant to stretch the legs in.

After stopping to get some bread and basics we continued to a viewing tower – a cool structure- but with the country being pretty flat -not too much to see. As it got alter in the day we started looking out for a place to stay and ended up in a basic, private camping area at a lake front near Metelių regioninis parkas. A park that surrounds 3 lakes. After setting up camp and cooking up some dinner we went for a dip in the lake – pretty chilly- and hid in the tent with mosquitoes in full attack!

Categories
Europe Poland

Mazury (Masurian Lake District)

Once I had finished my trip around Norway, I had a flight directly from Oslo to Wroclaw- where my brother and parents stay. This was in July 2022 – considering this post is occurring years later!! It was time to visit them again after last seeing them as part of my trip around the world in 2018/2019. The plan was to spend a little time with them, then maybe travel around a little around parts of Europe that I hadn’t been- but I had 2 unplanned months before I would head off to Iceland and Greenland.

 

My parents had been engaged in looking after my youngest niece full time prior to her going to nursery school. So, it was three adults against one little 18month old- so much attention!! 😊

 

What we had planned though was a family trip to “Mazury” (Masurian Lake District)– the lake district of Poland. It is in the northeast of the country. So, this was myself, my parents, my brother and his family. We hadn’t been on this type of family excursion in -I don’t know- decades?!?! Everyone was understandably nervous to see how we would all go in getting along for 10 days!

I flew up with my sister-in-law and the kids -to help her out- while the others drove two cars up.

We were walking distance from a smallish lake and my brother intended to kayak and do swimming training for his upcoming Ironman Triathlon in Gdynia in August 2022. We were also planning to do some day trips to explore the towns around the lakes.

All these plans were good, but the weather was a bit average- rainy. So, we stayed home for a couple of days- just some walks while it wasn’t raining. I thus had a fair bit of free time and decided to see what was in the European market in terms of its dating pool and installed an online dating app on my phone and started chatting to a few guys. I know you’re wondering why I’m sharing this but it becomes very important later – though not much later – hahahaha!!!

 

Our plan was to go to Mikolajki (popular town in the district) in a couple of days – when the weather cleared up. Until then – home bound – I kept chatting to online guys. It should be noted that the place we were staying was just a few holiday homes outside of a tiny village -pretty far from most things . The closest big town was Olsztyn – about 45min drive away.

 

I started chatting to a guy – on Monday afternoon. On Tuesday morning he asked me what I was up to- which was nothing due to weather – and he asked if it was ok if he came to visit. I said sure- but the next day we were planning this trip that would mean we would be closer to where he stays, and that might be easier. The 1.75hour trip one way didn’t bother him and so he said he would see me that afternoon. I was not really believing that this would be the situation -just get unmatched as what happens often and then not see the guy ever… but later I got a message stating that he was on his way. I was in shock but now had to own up to the parents as to what would be happening. My mom was excited I had hit the online dating scene again and my sister in law asked when I even had time to go online between looking after the kids. My dad was excited – but weary and my brother was like -sis you’re crazy!! I messaged said guy to check if he wanted to meet the family or we just run off and go somewhere , do something , considering meeting the family was a bit bloody soon , when we hadn’t even met! He was agreeable to the introduction -so everyone waited with bated breath.

You might be wondering who can take off in the week and meet up with a random woman – well he could as he was off on long term sick leave after a work injury.  

As far as first-time face to face and family meetings went -it was crazy enough- with the kids and parents and my brother and his wife going off to do some grocery shopping. The kids got attached and chatted away and was hard to get them back to playing I the garden when the weather cleared. We had a bit of time alone and decided to go for a walk in the forests around Olsztyn. It was very pleasant and a good way to walk and talk. Burgers were on the menu for dinner before the trip back home again.

He said he would head back home after dropping me off but ended up staying and having tea and chatting to the rest of the family – good to know the stories he told them and me added up 😊.

Considering the “baptism by fire” meeting of the family I thought it might be a bit too much to deal with and that would be that … BUT apparently not- and we met up at Mikolajki the next day again. Walked along the lake as we caught up some more and all of us family split for a few hours to do their separate things.

It was during our chats that I asked him if he wanted to come out to Lithuania with me for a few days- as this was my plan- to travel from up north here through Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. He can’t- he has appointments- he has physio… etc etc and the car was a bit on its last legs– I was like no worries- you do you and I will keep on going as per original plan (using public transport). However, towards the end of the day he said- give me until tonight and I will decide if I take the first few days of the trip with you… I was both excited and scared … this is madness!!

When he got home that evening, he messaged me and said that he would take me to Vilnius- the capital city of Lithuania. Thus we started making plans -that my parents would drop me off at his folks and on the way we could do some sight seeing together before they left me on the rest of my journey.

In knowing this guy for less than a week- not only would I now be meeting his family, but the parents would meet each other too – I just laugh at the speed of these encounters as I sit here writing and thinking through these events again!

My parents and I dropped my bags off and picked him up and we went around the region- with a focus on Hitler’s bunkers known as “Wolf’s Lair”. This included a huge complex of bunkers, barracks for army personnel, airports, railway station and water & electricity supply. The security included minefields and huge hectares of forests in the area. It was in this complex where Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg attempted to take Hitler’s life in an explosion. He only got minor burns. The Germans attempted to destroy the complex before fleeing after the war had ended.

We grabbed a lovely fresh fish lunch and then went off to meet his mom- as she had invited us for coffee. We met up with her at work she looks after a house run for people who have both physical and mental disabilities. It is beautifully run house and has wonderful people living there. It is very small scale- with less than 10 people at a time. It was great to meet them all and see how well they had been doing since they got some stability in their lives. Wonderful to see how everyone’s hearts were open to helping.

 

Apparently- as I was told later- my dad and his mom shared a moment of both liking the partners we had picked out … early days there folks!! We then headed to a minor Basilica (Święta Lipka Sanctuary / Sanktuarium w Świętej Lipce), in English known as the Holy Linden) that we wanted to see- where there happened to be a wedding taking place- so we slid into the back to listen to the organs- which were amazing!

To save some time for my parents, his dad came to pick us up from the Basilica and the parents thus met his dad too- as did I of course for the first time as well… and my parents and I went our separate ways!

Went back to his place and got a chance to unpack as well as to have a bit more of a chat with his Dad- a lovely man too! He prepared us some snacks and carried on chatting. So as not to decrease any momentum we went to meet his grandparents who lived nearby. I gave them both a hug and called them Granny and Grandpa -as we had an instant connection. When his Mom came back she prepared some dinner and then we got to know each other a bit more. His sister was away for the week so I stayed in her room and would meet her in a few weeks.

 

It was this evening, when everyone had gone to sleep and we were watching some TV, that he said you know what Jo… I will take the whole trip with you – moved appointments around and we can leave on Tuesday – as in a week after we met 😊.  We had 2 days or so to gather camping gear for the both of us, make some semi- plans, pack and go!