May 2001-July 2001
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Along the Baltic, up to the Artic Circle, visit the Ice Man in Italy and Space City in France.
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Through Germany,Poland,Lithuania,Latvia and Estonia |
The outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease caused the cancellation of all sporting events so we took the opportunity to go to the northern countries that are too cold to visit in winter.
The short crossing from Dover into France at Dunkirk put us right on course for a journey through the low countries. |
Our first long stay was near Potsdam on a campsite beside the canal.
This area had been the eastern zone of Berlin before the wall came down. Everywhere there was evidence of the old border crossings. A group of Americans walked along the canal bank to a railway bridge singing 'When the Saints go marching in'. |
We took the train into Berlin and enjoyed a lovely day seeing all the sights. The Brandenburg gate was under wraps as restoration work was carried out. We join a long queue to visit the new dome on the top of the Reichstag.
The most moving sight was the small wooden crosses, one for each person killed while trying to escape to the west. |
Out of the EU and into Eastern Europe. |
As we approached the border with Poland we drove past the long queue of waiting lorries.
Many Germans visit Poland to go shopping and at the weekend the motorway is at a standstill.
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The garages were very modern and most of the big oil companies were represented.
We took advantage of the cheap prices in the shops to stock up with supplies. |
Driving across Poland was hazardous as the roads are single carriageway and the big trucks are overtaking all the time. The ruts in the tarmac made steering difficult so we turned off the main routes and took the small roads through the lovely countryside. |
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The border crossing into Lithuania was easy and soon we were driving around the capital Vilnius.
We had a good friend Ignis who was Lithuanian but he died before his country was liberated. We felt privileged to be able to drive through his homeland.
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Next country was Latvia where we found some clean unspoilt beaches where we could park and rest. |
At Riga the sunset came late at night and we were wishing we had more time to spend along the Baltic coast.
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Estonia is another scenic country and we will
return one day to explore more of the beaches and islands. At Tallinn we waited for the ferry to Finland.
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The campsite at Helsinki was convenient for the railway station where we could travel right to the city centre.
We took a lunchtime boat trip around the harbour which gave us some fine views of the city. |
At Vianna where the WEC was held we could not get
used to the midnight sun.
The event was boring as most of the course was on the highway with only the special tests in the forests. |
The drive north through the forests of Finland was monotonous as it is so flat. There were many nice lakeside picnic places and the campsite at Rovaniemi was on the riverbank. The museum was evocative-especially the models of the town before and after WW11.
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Everyone has to stop for a photo at the Arctic Circle and to send greetings from Santas post office where the elves stamp your postcards.
It did seem strange to see all the glitter of Christmas in June. |
The last round of the WEC was held at Lulea in Sweden where Anders Erikksson was crowned World champion for the fifth time.
Jim sampled the local cake at one of the special
test food vans!!! |
Driving down through Sweden was more interesting especially in the town where the ski jump appeared to finish in the car park of McDonalds. |
At Stockholm we stayed awhile to look around the city and visit the Vasa museum.
The Vasa is another old wooden ship that sank on its first voyage due to bad design and it has been rescued from the sea like the Mary Rose. |
A new bridge has been built to join Sweden to Denmark and it is very impressive. Halfway across the bridge becomes a tunnel so large ships can still pass through the straights. |
Now we were on a schedule as we had to be in Spain to meet up with the family for the Baja Rally.
No time to visit Copenhagen so it was straight on into Germany and southwards through Europe.
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We took a breather at a campsite beside the Sagersee in Bavaria.
A visit to the old medieval town of Rothenburg on Tauber and a fine display of model aeroplane flying at a special airfield. |
Another country to add to the list as we parked up at Camping Panorama in Salzburg, Austria.
This lovely city was crowded with tourists all looking for Mozart or Julie Andrews! |
Looking at the KTM factory and the body of the Ice Man. |
Jim had arranged for us to visit the new KTM factory in Matteghoven-he was hoping to get a free sample.
In a long clear display case outside were all the significant machines in the history of the marque.
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We had been to the old factory in the eighties and were very impressed with the standards of manufacture. Everyone seemed to have great pride in the success of their riders-rightly so with many World Championships and now Dakar Rally success. Jim was determined to get his leg over a KTM when we got home-his Honda CRM had been giving a lot of trouble-surprise surprise! |
The drive over the Brennar Pass was spectacular and we arrived at Bolzano, Italy.
The Archaeological museum has an excellent display that explains the time when the Ice Man was travelling across the mountains. Looking at the body of man who lived 6000years ago was quite sobering. |
Down through Italy to Monte Carlo. |
We drove alongside Lake Guardia down to the Italian Riviera. By now the temperature had soared so we started our journey early in the morning, parked up for a sleep mid day then carried on till dark. We were beginning to understand why they all have a siesta. |
Along to the French Riviera where we visited the lovely Villa and gardens at Mentor.
Then we took a fast drive around Monaco but our speed through the tunnel on the Grand Prix course was far too slow! |
Into Spain we turned inland to visit the monastery at Monserrat. The driver made a navigation decision and turned up the steep narrow road that goes up the face of the cliffs. First gear all the way around the tight hairpin bends we were relieved to get to the top.
For a few extra Pesatas we could stay overnight and the view from the car park was truly spectacular. |
Zaragossa and the Spanish Baja Rally |
At Camping Casablanca we met our two sons, daughter in law and three grandchildren where we had a family party to celebrate Chris' 40th birthday.
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Mike and Susan were racing the Freelander and the parc ferme was in the underpass in the city centre.
The prologue was run over a course up on a high plain where the dust and heat were big problems. Mike started slow but got a good starting position. |
Just 25kms into the next days route the Freelander
collided with a huge rock and became a 'Threelander'. Nigel took Mavis( his 4x4 ex army Iveco ambulance) off road and came to the rescue but we were all deflated as Mike gathered up the bits. |
Up into the snowy Pyrenees |
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Everyone went their separate ways- Chris towing the race car back home- Mike and family off to Ibiza for a holiday while the Kalbarri bus and Mavis climbed up to a campsite at Ordino in Andorra.
Linda and Dot overdosed on duty free shopping. Jim bought loads of new motorcycle clobber.
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Once again the snow -even in July- defeated us from riding far in the Pyrenees.
Nigel and Linda were glad their motor home, Mavis, was 4x4 as they had to leave for home in the snow and get over the high pass into France. |
When the weather improved we set off over the D'Envalira pass into France.
The border crossing was slow as the customs officials decided to check on tax free goods going into France. |
We chose a scenic route across France calling at small villages where we joined in a Medieval Fayre and watched the Under 18 Boule World Championships.
Then at Toulouse we spent a day at the impressive Space City where we could walk through the MIR space station and try on a NASA space suit. They had to throw us out at closing time.
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Back in England we made a stop at Leeds Castle and enjoyed the tour of the interior and wandered around the attractive gardens.
There is an unusual museum-full of dog collars! |
Our last stop was at Brands Hatch for the World Superbike races where we joined 122,000 spectators in the warm sunshine. The campsite was crowded and over 20,000 disposable BBQ's were sold and used.
The racing was close and in the interval we watched a classic bike race in which Barry Sheen rode a Manx Norton. |
-----Back to Wales for a rest and to prepare for the next trip November 2001-April 2002 -------
