Tour of Europe
The Great Tour in Europe 2023
Prologue
I have been feeding my partner Eunice with an idea of having a proper road trip around Europe ever since we met. She hasn't been to Europe yet. Well, now she has been in Estonia for 3 months and briefly we dropped by the Aluksne area in Latvia. But obviously Europe is way more than Estonia or a tiny bit of Latvia. Although I would say that Estonia is also very diverse. For instance, the islands in the west have their own vibe, an islanders-slow phase vibe. The western bank of lake Peipus has a very rich subculture with old believers from Russian Orthodox and their smoked fish, garlic and onions are superb. We visited that part of Estonia in August while we were mainly in Tartu. We also discovered Seto and Võru subcultures and the beautiful landscapes of South-Estonia. We were camping at the lakeside in Värska and attended the Kostipäiv - a home café and restaurant day. There were about 20 spots hosted by foodies in Setoland. Actually we saw quite a lot of Estonia, and that is because we decided to rent flats for 10 days in Tallinn and a month in Tartu, the rest of the days we were nomads. We camped and drove by car, motorbike or even canoe.
So, we have criss-crossed Estonia and seen many beautiful places, met good people and had good food. Now we set our eyes towards the south and start our epic journey to Spain. We are planning to take it very easy and slow, because we need to keep working and besides, we don't want to drive our asses off.
We decided not to ride a motorbike, which would be my first choice of wheels, instead we took our Volvo. Because we have a lot of hiking gear and we don't want to be grounded due to the weeks of rain in September.
Our ultimate destination would be the island of Mallorca in Spain. Eunice's cousin Joy is living there. The route however is not fixed, but I want to show her East-Europe, part of Italy and France, Spain, Benelux countries, the northern part of Germany and Scandinavia. All in all we expect to be away from Estonia for about 1.5 months.
My daughter Mirjam went to 5th grade a week ago. She has also been touring with us for a couple weeks, but as she is already a teenager, she is quite busy and has many activities on her own. She had a stay at a friend's place in Oslo in Norway for 10 days. She was there without parents and the purpose was learning English. My ex-wife Jaanika just dropped her off there and later picked her up again. After all, it is just a one hour flight from Tallinn to Oslo. But of course she will miss me in my absence, but somehow she has used to see me going on journeys like this and always coming back. She is a daddy's girl.
We are like migrating birds going south. We can already see gold-yellow leaves on the birch trees along the roadsides. Autumn is here and soon it will be even more colourful. The dying of nature and hibernation is actually really beautiful. This is something new for Eunice to witness, because the nature in the tropical Philippines and elsewhere in South-East Asia is pretty much the same the whole year long. There are no dramatical changes like in northern Europe.
We are planning to camp now and then have accommodations for proper cleaning and laundry. There are some places ahead where there are no hotels in sight and so the tent is the only option. Besides, we are very well equipped with chairs, a table, a gas stove etc. For me there are many places to revisit too. I'm looking forward to the great adventure ahead.
Diary
Fr09/08 in Estonia
We woke up at 8:30AM. I crawled out from our tent. Our current location is Suurupi. Our beloved campsite was on a little cliff on the bank of the Finnish gulf. The whole area has been a military base for 150 years. There are huge gun displacements and concrete bunkers from the era before the First World War built by the Russian Empire. There are also ruins of Soviet Red Army barracks and tank garages. I’ve known that isolated spot for 30 years now because there was a Pentecostal Church bible school in the area during the 1990-s. I spent a lot of time there and enjoyed many St John's days there too.
Our accommodation in Suurupi
The sky was dark grey and the low hanging clouds were sprinting above us. I set fire to our grill and boiled water for coffee. Our gear was all over the camping site so I slowly started to pack stuff to the car. My friend Meelis borrowed the ski box and there we put the table, chairs, tent and other camping gear on top of the car. Eunice didn't have much of an appetite and only had a sip of coffee and a small bit of the fried eggs. We enjoyed the last morning at our Suurupi basecamp. We have been here before and this time we were here for 9 days and drove to Tallinn to do some stuff. As we were packing our stuff, it started to drizzle. Well, that was annoying, because I have laid sleeping bags for drying on the car doors. Now we needed to hurry and put stuff in the car. But soon the sun came out and rain stopped and soon it drizzled again. Strange weather really.
Prepering sweet gifts in Kalev shop
At 11AM we started our journey south. We drove through settlements like Tabasalu, Harku and Laagri around Tallinn. We first drove to Ruila school. There were many stables around and we walked and made friends with beautiful horses. The Ruila school itself is located in a renovated manor. We needed to wait for one lady who needed to wrap up the class in that school. She came out and gave me the Keen trekking shoes for trying. These were nice, slightly used pairs of shoes for heavy trekking. I wired 50€ to her and we continued our drive south. Near Pärnu in Are we made a stop, because Eunice needed to have an English online class with Haruna.
We reached almost to Pärnu at 3:45PM, more precisely to Valgerand. I like this area because the sandy beach is very near to the small road, very convenient for camping. In the summer that place was packed with campers, but now we were able to choose the prime spot. There were no masses like just a few weeks ago in August, only few people walking their dogs. I slowly drove down the asphalt into a sandy track and manoeuvred behind the pine trees. I really didn’t want to get stuck in the sand. We set up the camp at 4:30PM and started cooking.
The sun was nice and gave warmth. We took a dip in the shallow water. The water was very cold, it actually is not warm at any period in the summer. Of course it is debatable. But if I say the water is warm, I mean 40’C Japanese jacuzzi. Rest could be swimmable, but not necessarily warm. We sat at the seaside and admired the sunset. We took a little hike along the beach to the Valgeranna beach house and restaurant. It was all quiet and there was no life in September. Some parts of the sandy beach are surrounded by reeds. There are even official cows whose main job is to eat the vegetation including the reeds along the western part of Estonian coastline. We heard their noises nearby, just across the road. After the sunset, it was really chilly and we evacuated into the tent at 8PM.
The first leg of the long journey - the Baltic states ~1000KM
Sa 09/09 in Estonia
There was no alarm, but we got up at 8AM. The sky was cloudy and it was clear it might start to rain sooner than later. I prepared breakfast and made coffee. I am very satisfied with our camping gear for cooking. Gas stove, table, pots and pans, chairs - everything is nice and good to use. We packed the tent quickly to avoid the rain or drizzle moistening the tent and therefore slowing our departure.
At 10AM we drove off towards Pärnu. We decided not to drive to the nice Pärnu’s beach area where we have been before a couple times during July. Instead we drove further south and made a stop in a Pärnamäed bakery, just opposite the Lotte theme park. I have stopped here before on a motorbike on the way to Poland in 2022. Meanwhile there has been a major road construction and a new highway is not passing the bakery anymore. They have cut off the tight curve and made multiple bridges. This new stretch of highway was just recently opened and it was very confusing to drive off to the bakery, because the work was still ongoing and there were many detours. We had coffee and fish soup. Just behind the café was Reiu river that will flow into Pärnu river.
This time we decided to just drive through Pärnu and do the stop later on the road
Blueberries
Soon we continued our journey and made another stop at Rannametsa and Tolkuse hiking and nature reserve. We parked the car and continued on foot. There were actually quite many people walking on boardtrail and admired the bog and relatively high sand dunes covered with vegetation and pine trees. First we walked along the edge of a bog and on the boardwalk we ended at the bog lakes. We had a little picnic there. The bog is like a desert in a sense it has only a handful species of plants. Only a few plants can survive such a wet and acidic environment. Some of the twisted pine trees can be easily hundreds of years old despite their small height. It is an amazing site. A bit later we walked up to the sand dunes and at the summit of the tower then decided it was not worth climbing up there. Instead we walked through the pine forest back to the parking lot. Along the way we managed to gather blueberries and cowberries. Later we will make jam from blueberries.
Soon we saw a sign: Romantic coastal road. Of course we turned off the highway and enjoyed the narrow and curvy coastal road which went through gorgeous fishermen villages and little settlements. In Treimani village, we stopped at a fisherman's house and bought smoked eel. It cost us 12€ for an entire snake-like fish. They had a smoking oven nearby the selling tent and we smelled the smoked fish all around us. These villages have provided boys to learn maritime knowledge in Ainazi and Häädemeeste, many became wooden sail ship captains, served on ships and saw distant lands. I have read many biographies about these men and their adventures on the Baltic sea and Atlantic ocean. As we continued our drive, all of a sudden we were in Latvia.
Ewert and the Two Dragons (Estonia) - Journey. This video really reminds me to drive alongside the shore and pine forest between Pärnu and Salacgriva
Welcome to Latvia! The scenery has not really changed. Similar buildings and streets, only the street names were called iela’s and not tänav like it was in Estonia. We continued on the highway, passed Salacgriva and parked near the sea and the river Vitrupe. I like this part of the seaside, because there is an endless sandy beach and a nice pine forest and the river is flowing into the sea. Beautiful sand dunes and not too many people. In fact there is a nudist beach. We only saw one couple sunbathing hidden and protected from the wind by the sand dunes. Of course it was already September and the breeze was a bit Arctic. It was a perfect sunny evening. We needed to carry our camping gear from the parking lot through the pine forest to the shore. We set the camp just behind the sand dune with a nice view to the sea. We ate the smoked eel. It was very oily and fatty, but very delicious.
Wild glamping in Salacgriva
Eunice prepared dinner. At 7PM we slowed down and we enjoyed setting sun and good drinks on the blanket. Later in the night we made a bonfire. It was such good coal and we decided to grill pork shashlik. What a perfect night. Once it was getting dark, we went into the tent. There were no mosquitos to worry about. These annoying insects are a problem that comes with summer months only. At 9PM we went to sleep.
Su 09/10 in Latvia
We woke up at 10AM. The wind has picked up and we heard waves coming to the shore with some medium roar. First we ran to the sea and swam a bit. It was sunny, but the sun’s heat was not kicking in just yet and the Baltic sea water was freezing. But if we do that every morning over the winter I bet we will have strong hearts and no cough for the next full year. We sat on the chairs and let the sun dry our skins. There were still no people in sight. It feels like the beach was reserved only for us. We slowly started to take down the tent and pack the stuff to Volvo, then cooked oatmeal porridge and bread omelette. We also prepared coffee and enjoyed our first morning in Latvia. At 11AM we carried stuff to the parking lot and packed it into the car. We went for a walk on the sandy strip of land between the river Vitrupe and the sea. We were able to cross the river at the point where it meets the sea. Actually the rest of the river was quite deep and the river water coloured like coca-cola. We saw some people walking and in the parking area. They were mostly Estonians, Latvians and Germans. A few more minutes and we started our journey towards Riga.
Eunice had a call with her mother in Manila who was at the wake of her husband and Eunice's father. He passed away last Sunday. We were not able to go to the funeral in the Philippines. The tickets were crazy expensive for some reasons. We also had a call with Saleena and Danish in India. We were travelling together there past March and April in India. Now we were planning the trip together in Vietnam, because Vietnam is visa free for both Indian and the Philippine nationals. There are not too many countries where these two match. For Europeans it is visa free like in many other destinations. It was great to see Saleena and she was excited about planning the adventure in Vietnam.
At 2PM we entered the old town and I was driving by heart to the Wellton hotel and nearby parking. They asked 25€ for 24 hour parking. It was very convenient to take what we needed and just walk to the hotel.
We checked-in and left the bags into the baggage room, because our room cleaning was still in progress. We walked on the streets of Riga's old town. It was a lovely sunny day, but in the shade it was brutally cold. I have been to this lovely old town countless times, also with my daughter. There were a big bunch of football shirts wearing Brits in the pubs and around old town streets.
I suppose there was a football match in Riga or they were all stags and their friends. But at the same time they just might like these shirts and there was no match at all. We saw a stretch of old city wall and the Swedish gate and nice convent's courts and narrow passages. Riga is adorable. I was a bit disappointed that the ravioli place Pelmens was closed, perhaps under renovation and then we landed in Lido, because of the good variety of food. We had fish and chicken dishes and vegetables. We drank cider and beer. The bill was still a whopping 23€. Lido used to be a cheap option to eat a variety of food.
We walked further to the square where the renovated Black Heads order house is located and with a little loop back to the hotel. We got the key and went upstairs. We showered and felt absolutely delighted with the refresh. We had a little nap. I wrote and at 6PM we went back to the streets of the old town.
Our stomachs were empty and at 7PM we landed in a Latvian-Lithuanian restaurant. It was a bit touristy, but the soups served in the bread were very good. Later we criss-crossed the old town and walked back to the hotel. We ate some snacks, watched TV and went to sleep.
Mo09/11 in Latvia
We finally woke up at 9AM and had a quick shower. We are not taking such a normal thing as a hot shower for granted, because we have witnessed cold showers and buckets of cold water in India and in the Philippines while travelling around. Also as we are mostly camping, showers - hot water sprays to the face and drizzles down the body - are just nice. We drank all-in-one coffee in the room. At 10AM we walked in the old town and had breakfast at Rigensis bakery. I know this particular bakery from my previous visits. The aroma of the fresh bakery was just overwhelming and that opened the wallet itself. We had cheesecake, apple strudels and coffees. Cost was 13€. The red shirt Brits were walking around already, but not as noisy as yesterday, perhaps had a hangover. All of a sudden a group of Koreans came to the same café. The guide used a microphone and tourists wore headsets and therefore the group was able to be more scattered on the street.
We made a loop on the streets and dropped by the Catholic church called Our Lady of Sorrows Church. Turns out it was St Mary's day and there was an ongoing mass. We walked in and did the cross signs. The mass was about to end. We kneeled in front of the St Mary statue and Eunice lit a candle and prayed. There is a small Catholic community in Latvia and Estonia, mostly protestants and Greece Catholic believers. In Lithuania and Poland it is the other way around - we can easily consider these two as Catholic countries. We walked on narrow streets back to the hotel. On the way we saw a monument in front of the Latvian parliament - the Seim - that was memorising victims in 1991 when regular people stood up to the Soviet special forces called Omon to block them from reaching the parliament house. It was a tiny pyramid-shaped monument. I haven't seen that before although I have crisscrossed the old town. I only saw that because one tourist group was standing in front of it. We had to hurry back into our hotel. We had a shower and checked out at 12. We started to drive south by heart.
Brainstorm (Latvia) - Maybe. This band somehow has grown on me
Soon we were on the highway to Jurmala. Jurmala is a summer resort city near Riga. It is very beautiful and you can feel the richness by just checking the houses. People just have been going wild by spending on new large houses. I enjoyed more of the renovated wooden villas. We walked on Joma street which is the pedestrian road going parallel with the beach. The beach itself is just a few blocks away. Joma street has restaurants, cafés, boutique shops and souvenir shops. At 1PM we ordered a coffee at the Lighthouse restaurant. I have been meeting other Estonians for many years during the month of July and on one occasion watched the FIFA football world cup final game together there. Jurmala is very popular with Russian speaking Latvians from Riga and Russians from Moscow. They just love it. Latvians are more found in Liepaja, Sigulda, Kuldiga and east side of lake districts near Rezekne. Slowly we walked back to the car and continued our trip to the coastal area.
Jurmala is a long city, which is squeezed between the sea and the lakes. At the edge of the city I was eager to visit one tavern and have soup, but this spot was closed. This tavern is located on the edge of the sandy beach and to reach there, we needed to drive on gravel roads through an area of summer houses and private houses.
Not many tourists know that spot. Next time perhaps. So instead of that we bought a burger set from Hesburger and continued our journey towards Kuldiga.
Beautiful Kuldiga
The landscape around Kuldiga is a bit hilly and has many forests. This area was a separate Duchy of Courland and Semigallia 300 years ago. It was between Swedish and Polish kingdoms and the Russian empire ended its existence in 1795. At 5PM we entered Kuldiga. This little town is adorable. The cutest old buildings are wooden buildings. We walked around the small streets and entered an old church. There were still some tourists, but compared with the masses, the town was deserted. Actually this was nice. I’m not missing masses of tourists. We walked back and started looking for a tenting site.
At 6PM we drove to the river side where there was a nice spot with a shelter and benches overlooking the river Venta and the valley. Eunice started to cook Korean type of ramen with whatever we had, but this time we also had salami and seaweed sheets to add to the mix. Only some people were passing by on the pedestrian road. Some were walking with the dogs and some were riding bikes. But we were lucky to find a calm and quiet spot. The river was flowing quite fast and creating nice backdrop noise.
Nature provided us
We set up the tent and enjoyed the setting sun at 8PM. Also we had local beer, cider and cheese. This was camping at its best by enjoying local food and beverages and stunning scenery while camping. We got some plums and apples from nearby trees. These trees were growing outside of the fence of the houses and many passing people took apples for eating. It was a nice and calm night, only the mosquitos were annoying. I thought the mosquitoes were dead or at least went to sleep. But to my surprise a few were attacking us. At 8:30PM we went to the tent and soon went to sleep.
Tu09/12 in Latvia
We woke up at 8AM. It was a rough night. It was too hot or too cold and the moisture kept creeping in. The river was covered with thick fog and it was windless. It was very quiet and only a few fishermen or runners went by. I prepared breakfast. Eunice started to love oatmeal porridge so now it’s part of the daily menu. I also consumed our last eggs. Luckily our car fridge is working nicely and we keep milk in the fridge. We drank coffee and later enjoyed just sitting on the chairs and observed the sunshine and admired the river view. I attended two online meetings and wrote a diary. What a lovely morning in the office.
The signs of the arriving autumn
At 11AM Eunice prepared pasta and consumed the last slices of salami. The sun was shining brightly now and we were able to dry the tent, the sheet underneath the tent and sleeping bags. At noon we drove through the old town of Kuldiga and parked the car in the parking lot near the old bridge over the massive river. One attraction in Kuldiga is to walk in the river and cross the river on the edge of the fall. It is a relatively shallow river, but the current is quite strong and the river is wide.
We walked to the falls and attempted to cross it, but turned back when the current was getting stronger. Actually the slippery stones were the bigger problem. I have crossed the falls on the top with my daughter Mirjam in 2020. We continued walking on the river bank and sat on the bridge at the beach. It is a lovely little beach, just a bit upstream from the falls. We walked over the old red brick bridge and ordered coffee and cider. We sat on the bench and watched the fall and how many people were crossing the falls. Nobody fell. Next time we will do it as well. It would be a test of trusting yourselves and each-other.
We made a little loop at the nice park and walked back to the car and at 2PM started our journey to the coastal town Liepaja. Soon she fell asleep while we drove through Latvian countryside. We bypassed Liepaja on gravel roads. That was Google lady's suggestion. We entered Lithuania. First we tried to find a camping site near the border, but that was hopeless - too many people and too many hotels. We drove further south and found a spot behind the tiny Palanga airport.
We left the car in the parking space and walked through the pine forest to explore the possibilities of camping and get the car as soon as possible. As the air temperature was still 23-24'C - like a typical Baltic summer - the beach was crowded and we didn't want to erect the tent in the middle of people. Finally we got to the spot and I drove a car nearby to offload the camping gear and then drove back to the parking lot. Luckily the parking was not too far. First we laid down on the blanket and enjoyed the nice sun. I cooked solyanka soup and pasta with canned fried herring with tomato sauce. This cuisine is very much a standard hiking food.
We had been lucky with the weather. It is really not guaranteed sunshine in September around the Baltic sea. It could easily be raining and miserable conditions instead. We were lucky, we enjoyed another beautiful wonderful sunset. Around the sand dunes were found a lot of dry wood and we made a bonfire. It turned out Eunice enjoyed playing and hassle with the fire and flaming wood. It has been my boyhood and boy scouting youth thing and I still want to have a bonfire whenever I can even in adulthood. It is nice to look into the fire, just being speechless and standstill for a change. I guess without the fire it could be considered rude not to spill a word. After sunset at 9PM we went to the tent and soon we slept.