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 Leipzig's Europe Travelogues | | | |
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| Page Views: 1,831 Last Visit to Europe: August, 2003 | My trip around the Baltic Sea by Leipzig - last update: Aug 28, 2004 |
Summer has arrived !! - that means Summer Holidays!!! This year a friend and I are travelling around the Baltic Sea, including Europe's North Cape. Tour starts on August 10. First stop is near Hoyerswerda, Germany, where my friend lives. On August 11 we are going to cross border in Szczecin, Poland. To give you an impression here are some bigger towns on our planned route: Gdanks, Vilnius, Kanaus, Klaipeda, Riga, Tallin, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, Turku, Tampere, Rovaniemi, Hammerfest, Tromsö, Narvik, Kiruna, Jokkmokk, Lulea, Umea, Uppsala, Örebro, Copenhagen, Odense and finally Leipzig.
Hope to return with a billion photos and nice stories in the first week of September. |
August 16 - the sixth day Hello!
I am writing from Riga.
After almost one week of travelling and 2600km we arrived Riga, Lativa. The weather is not very good. The past two days were very rainy and stormy but all in all everything is fine. Last week on August 10 I arrived my friends house near Hoyerswerda, Germany. Monday at noon we arrived together the Polish-German border. After 40min we were allowed to cross it. Poland surprised me a lot. So muhc has changed. Almost all buildings were restored and a lot of people know Englisch or German. Prices are lower than in German and the campgrounds were very clean. In Poland we visited a lot of towns like Stettin (Sczeczin), Danzig (Gdansk), Elbling (Elblag), Malbork (thank you Matt for that tip - the castle was breathtaking) and Allenstein (Olsztyn) (sorry, I do not know all town names in English - look them up when I am back at home). Most of time we had great weather. On Polish/Lithuanian border we had to wait 30min and had to buy a special car-insurance on the border. We spent two nights in Lithuania and visited Kaunas, Vilnius, Kaipeda, Trakai and some smaller places. We were surprised on Friday when everzthing was closed. We found out that this day is a national holiday but nobody could tell us the English name of that holiday. Please write me if anybody of you know the name.
Today we wanted to drive from a campground near Kalpeda to Riga. We did not find the right road so we tried another one which headed north. After 30km the road suddenly ended in a field. Although we had a road map we could not find the right way. It took us 3 hours to find a major route with a border checkpoint. In Latvia we did not have much trouble with roads but with money. We arrived in a small town (do not remember the name). There we did not find an open bank so we had to use a cash automat. The lowest amount we could get was 250 Euros. Hell, what shall we do with all that money? We just want to spend here two days and everything is very cheap here. Perhaps I will buy a lot of souvenirs :-)
Tomorrow we are going to drive to Estonia. After two nights we will cross border to Russia on Tuesday. There we will spend two nights in St. Petersburg. On Thursday we will enter Finland. And then we drive northwards to the North Cape. Hope to have better weather then.
So far I took 330 photos and my friend about 70.
(sorry for all the mistakes. I am writing on a computer with Kyrillic symbols and only small Latin symbols in the right corner. Not all keys are in that order as they are on German keyboards) |
August 26 - the sixteenth day Howdy!
I´m writing from Inari, a small town in the very north of Finland. It was not easy to find an internet cafe in Finland. Seems everyone has internet access at home and no one needs an internet cafe.
After Riga we went on the Estonian island of Saaremaa. We enjoyed the sun there and were hiking a bit. After visiting Tallinn on Monday we drove to the Estonian-Russian border. Never do this!!!!! We had to wait over 10 hours! First we stood on a huge parking lot, waiting for a number. The sun was shining, it had about 28 degree and it took over 6 hours. There was a hole in the ground sourrounded by big walls, so that no air could circulate - that was the toilet. What a odor! I used it once and never again. After we got the number we had to wait for the Migration-Pass. Then we waited for...not sure what .... It was just a sheet of paper. Then we were waiting here, standing in line there..... all in all it took 10 hours.
St. Petersburg really worth a visit. But it seems there do not exist any traffic rules. They drive very reckless. Well, I survived! The town itself offers great architecture. We walked around both days although it was raining non-stop. The most impressive building was the Hermitage. What a giant building. And in front of it was a line of people, meassuring 200 or more meters in length. I will tell you more about on my St. Pete page - I took over 100 photos :-)
After crossing the Russian-Finnish border (it took 15min only) we arrived Finland, land of the vast forests and clear lakes. So far we visited Louiisa, Helsinki, Turku, Tampere, Vaasa, Oulu, Kemi, Rovaniemi and Inari. In Rovaniemi we crossed the Arctic Circle and visited the home of Santa Claus. Unfortunately he was on holidays, so we couldn´t see him in person. But the "factory" was open. There you could buy all the small things for Christmas Eve. You can imagine how crowded it was as I was there in August :-)
On our way to Inari we saw numerous elks. They are smaller then expected and very photogenic. They do not run away when tourist come to take photos.
Today we want to arrive the North Cape. Then we will drive along the Norwegian coast, visiting Hammerfest, Tromsö and Narvik. Later we drive through Sweden to Denmark and finally Germany. Hope to come home around September 5.
Christian
Oh well, so far I took over 800 photos and drove 5891km. |
September 3 - the twenty-fourth day Hello!
I am back at home - two days earlier than expected.
From Inari we drove towards the North Cape. I did not know that Mageröya, the island where the North Cape is located, and the continent are linked by a tunnel. We were charged at the toll station with 185 NOK (20 €) and at the North Cape itself with 200 NOK (25 €). We arrived the Cape at 4 pm and were very disappointed. It was damn foggy. The visibility was below 50 meters. We could hear the Arctic Ocean but not see, so we dicided to wait until the fog disappears. At 10 pm a few sunbeams lightened the region and allowed a few on the Ocean. After taking several photos we decided to stay one night there. Stormy, rainy and 4°C - great weather for camping, isn't it?
I woke up very early in the morning as the wind almost blew me away. My friend slept in the car and were not affected by the gales. It was strenuously to gather the tent and the ridgepoles together.
The next days were those that made us going home faster. We drove along the Norwegian coast via Hammerfest, Tromsö and Narvik. It rained cats and dogs at five to seven degrees. One night I woke up at 4.30 am as the tent stood in water. All clothes, the sleeping bags, the tent and a lot of other stuff were completely wet. Only those things in the car kept dry. That was the point that forced us to drive southwards - towards the sun. After several hundred kilometers we arrived Kiruna, Sweden. The mountains around were snowcapped and it was damn cold but dry. As everything was soaked we had to take a room in a pension for one night. The next morning the water in our bottles in the car was frozen and it started snowing - not much and it didn't keep lying on the ground.
In the next days we travelled very fast southwards. In Jokkmokk, a city in the north of Sweden we participated on the annual town festival. And in Sundsval the sun came out - what a feeling. We stopped near the motorway to enjoy the sun. During the following days it got warmer and warmer with every kilometer. In Uppsala it already had 12°C - warm enough to undress jumpers and to wear shirts.
The last stop we made was Copenhagen. We strolled around several hours before we took the ferry to Germany. At 11.30 pm we arrived my friend's house. Today in the morning I drove back to Leipzig.
All in all we drove 11.003 km through 10 countries. I took about 1100 photos and my friend 350. |
Places we have been Leipzig (start) - Hohenbocka (where my friend lives) * Szczecin * Slawno - Gdansk * Elblag - Malbork - Olsztyn - Sorkwity * Suwalki - Kaunas * - Vilnius - Klaipeda - Palanga * Mazeikai - Saldus - Riga * - Ainazi - Pärnu - Saaremaa (Kuressare, Sääre) * Tallinn - Peipus Lake * St. Petersburg ** Louiisa * Helsinki * Turku - Tampere - Vaasa * Oulu - kemi - Rovaniemi * Inari * North Cape * Hammerfest * Tromsö - Narvik - Kiruna * Jokkmokk - Lulea * Umea - Sundsvall * Gävle - Uppsala * Örebro - Jönköping * Copenhagen - Hohenbocka * Leipzig * stops overnight |
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 Comments for Leipzig about Europe | | | | |
Maria16 Wed Nov 1, 2006 13:58 UTC
du kommst ja viel rum! Ich bin nun auch endlich mal in Bulgarien gewesen. Markus seine Eltern habe etwas zugegeben. Wann bist Du denn wieder aus Amerika zurück? | nepalgoods Tue Feb 28, 2006 20:22 UTC
All those beautiful castles! This is certainly the most informative page on Europe at VT! When I see your tips and beautiful pics, I feel proud of living in this wonderful Europe! Thank you, Chrisi! | sihi Tue Dec 20, 2005 09:47 UTC
Hi! I liked your travelogue about trip around Baltic Sea!! Looks you had a nice time:) | pepples46 Thu Jun 16, 2005 20:45 UTC
sweet jesus, from here, looking at Europe, through your page Chris.......how beautiful it is and what a presentation, bin ganz hin und weg!!..today I was in the mood to come back and have an other peek |
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