Day of culture - Hermitage

The first Thursday of every month the Hermitage has free entry, but you still have to do the compulsory one hour kewing. We had done our research with the help of Lonely Planet so we had a plan. The place is grand, 1000 + rooms. The extensive use of marble, gold and chandeliers makes each room beautiful for its architecture as well as the amazing exhibits which include most of the world's great.

This chandelier would easily span 2 m in diameter.

St petersburg

We have one had a few days in this beautiful city and are starting to get our bearings. We are in an apartment very close to all historical sites.
Arriving at the place was like one would imagine from the old Soviet era.  Four keys to get in, two metal doors to get into the common stairwell, one normal door to get into the hallway and one final padded door to get into the apartment.

Entry to our apartment. A bit on the grungy side.

Don on the rooftop tour.

Lovely summer weather here with 20 hours of daylight, so you gotta have some fluid intake to sustain the pace. Sue and Bruce don't seem to mind the local drop.

Anyhow, inside the apartment it is really nice, so we are happy. Last night we did a rooftop tour of the town. Very interesting to walk on top of theses old apartment houses. We learned a lot .The  apartments were divided up be rented out as single rooms, so what used to be hallway for one apartment became vestibule for several, all consisting of one room, hence padded doors. 

All said about that. Being on top of these old roofs was very exciting . We had 2young guides who afterwards took us to a "secret" (=illegal) Chinese restaurant. Very grunge and dirt cheap so but a nice finale to our tour.

St Perertsburg to Gothenburg

So we are taking our bikes again and flying into a city, this time St Petersburg, to then ride to Gothenburg . Should be around 1400km if we follow our intended route.

We seem to have more "stuff"than earlier trips, so it was no surprise when the bike boxes were "a bit over" : 23.5 and 25.5, but the friendly staff at BA said nothing. Still a relief to get the check in done and putting them in the oversized luggage section.

Sunday Dinner

Ölmanäs to Mölndal/Gothenberg (Sun 19th July;48.3km @ 20.9kph)
After a late start, we cruised the final kilometres to Sigrid's parents house in Mölndal. We found them waiting with Sunday dinner ready. We'd made it after 9 weeks and 4295 km (Don's computer) of cycling.
Since arriving, Sigrid's bike has gone in for a service and we have relaxed and had a couple of restful days with family and friends.
Apart from flat tyres and a couple of broken spokes, the Avanti bikes performed pretty well. We have a fair bit of Sweden to explore so will be back on our bikes again soon.

Sweden, Here We Come

Copenhagen (DK) to Båstad (SW) (Wed 15th July; 113.74km @ 19.5kph)

After a night looking around Copenhagen we took off early to catch the car ferry from Helsingör (5okm north) to Helsingborg in Sweden, a 20 minute crossing. We enjoyed the tail wind and warm sunshine, the warmest we had had since Greece/Turkey. We were hoping to get to, Båstad, a coastal town famous for its tennis. It just so happened that the day we arrived was in the middle of the Swedish Open. The town was full of people in a party mood! (this is where the people party) To get to Båstad we had to cross Hallandsåsen, a rise dividing the provinces Skåne and Halland. We arrived in town fairly tired when Sig´s phone rang and it was her mum who wanted to know where we were. When she heard we were in Båstad she gave us the address of her old student friend who lives there in summertime. We were welcomed with open arms by a fit 85 year old Britt who quickly installed us in her guest cottage. We then enjoyed a swim ( 50m to the beach) before being fed a home cooked chicken casserole. Her daughter and husband also live nearby in the summertime so after a lovely dinner we took a walk with them down town and mingled with the crowds. Scandinavian summer evenings can be very special as the soft summerlight shimmers on the sea.

Båstad to Olofsbo (Near Falkenberg) (16th July, 118.23 @20.1 kph)

The invitation to stay a few days sounded tempting but as we were expected up the coast we thought we'd better keep moving so after a hearty breakfast it was back in the saddle.

After a sometimes frustrating day of on and off the cycle path and lack of signage we finally arrived at Olöfsbo, where we had decided to camp by the seaside. Once again, this place was full of Swedes on vacation and enjoying the warm weather and the beach. We had a great evening in a friendly pub with live music and dancing. We both had enough energy to wiggle our hips a bit on the dance floor.

Olofsbo to Ölmanäs ( Frid 17th July, 72.89km @ 20.7kph)

In Falkenberg we picked up a booklet of the cycle route we were trying to follow and this made all the difference. We had a special day riding along the coast. It is very scenic and we were blessed with no wind and beautiful sunshine. There were many little swimming spots and with the water temperature of 21C it was great. We arrived at our friends' house where we had arranged to be by lunchtime. Bitte and Jonas live in a lovely cottage that Bitte's father built as a summerhouse but which over the last 10 years has been converted to a very comfortable home. We again had a little guest cottage . The summer days are long up here in the north so there was plenty of time for a boat trip out to their little island where we swam, talked and enjoyed fruit and coffee which Bitte had packed.

The next morning we woke up to a cold , rainy day and we were happy not to ride. It was the 20th birthday for their son Kalle and a party was planned for the afternoon. So it was a busy day moving furniture and sorting food before guests arrived.

Today, Sunday 19th July, it is 9 weeks since we took the boat out from Istanbul . We have ridden about 4500km, learned a lot about geography, rivers, history and bikes. We have been received with genorosity and friendliness and have enjoyed the simplicity this sort of trip offers.

To everyone who has sent us encouragements with emails & texts we would like to say thanks.

It is always such joy to open mail and find a greeting. When you ride a bike you realise how big the world is but with emails and SMS you realise it's not so big after all. (Even though it took us 12 days to hear of Michael Jackson's death)

It has been an amazing journey and although it will be great to reach the final destination it will be a bit sad to end.

We have now approx 50km to ride to Sigrid´s parents place in Mölndal near Gothenberg where we are expected for Sunday dinner.

Over the next few weeks we hope to be able to download more photos of the latter part of the trip. Next weekend we have the wedding of Sigrid's niece which of course was the inspiration (excuse) for this folly. It looks as though we are going to make it on time.

Sigrid and Don

The Aegean to the Baltic

Lubeck (D) to Copenhagen (DK) (292.49 km at 21.3kph)
The last three days we have left Germany and are now in Copenhagen, Denmark. We thoroughly enjoyed our rest day in Lubeck, famous for its marzipan, beautiful Hansa buildings and the hometown of Willy Brandt, the famous German statesman. Before leaving Germany it was great to see the sea again. It has been a long time since the Agean Sea in Greece to the Baltic Sea in northern Germany. We gleefully dived in the water but quickly figured out why no locals were swimming but sitting on their deck chairs- the water was a bit chilly.
After two big days in the saddle (127 and 125 km) over gently undulating terrain( Denmark is NOT flat) and a tail wind it was a small ride into Copenhagen this morning (42km) where we found a vacancy at the YHA right in the centre of the city. So today and tonight we'll be doing the tourist bit in Copenhagen. Don is hoping that Princess Mary will be free for a cup of tea.Tomorrow we catch the ferry for Sweden and we should reach our final destination of Gothenberg by this weekend.

Dresden to Lubeck (6 days: 633.49km @ 19.5kph approx)
In the last 6 days since we last reported it has been steady riding, following the Elbe River through Germany towards Hamburg. In Dresden we checked maps and realised how big this country is, particularly if you follow winding rivers. The weather hasn't been the greatest: a strong head wind and rain showers. We are now approaching the 4000 km mark of our journey.
The Elbe marked the border between East and West Germany and we have mostly been in the former eastern part. Along the border we have cycled past old abandoned observation towers and remnants of the old fence. Many of the villages are still paved in parts by cobblestones which look beautiful but not too friendly to ride on and certainly slows down the pace.
Three days ago on the little village of Niegripp we stopped at a pension , and when the lady saw the tents on the back of the bike she asked if we preferred to camp in the backyard ( €5 instead of €50) which we thought was great. When her husband heard we came from Australia he immediately rang Siegfrid, who was home visiting from Oz. Siggy (his nickname) came over and we were shouted to beer and Jaegermeister by our host. Siggy escaped East Germany in 1966 when he was 17 and now lives in Queensland. We had a great evening and slept very well .
Yesterday we left the river and headed north towards Denmark. We are currently in the lovely old Hansa city of Lubeck. If we can get a YHA booking for tonight we might stay and have a rest day before tackling the 90km to Puttgarten where we will take the ferry to Denmark and then move on to Copenhagen and the final part of the journey.