Talin,The Good the Bad and the Ugly and the Beautiful

Sorry for the lack of updates slept on the beach and then in a park the last few nights so no access to the internet. Im now in Rigga In Latvia and ive had to find a internet cafe to catch up here. So since leaving Helsinki I entered Tallinn with two lls and 2 nns depending if your russian estonian or german!

 Theres a lot of history in Estonia and im not going to do a history lesson but what i have noticed is that there is still a lot of hatred between certain countries. The town meanwhile is very beautiful and the locals in the old part of the town dress up in national costume to encourage the visitors to come to their establishment. I found a great(The Good) little hostel called Euphoria 12 euros a night free tea coffee and internet owned by an Aussie and some really helpful Estonian girls home made cakes and info on cheap and exciting places to go off the tourist trail.
I stayed in the town for 3 days and that was about right for the size of the place in those days I ventured out of the city to see life beyond  and came across a huge monument built in the 60s dedicated to the Russian soldiers who had died in the the world war It was massive but in total disrepair and not a soul about. The Russians in their way that Russians do built this monument on top of a 2nd world war German Graveyard! no hard feelings there. Its a strange thing the monument is spectacular to look at but due to the History  with Estonians its place is an insult to the country. I guess in years to come it will become a tourist hotspot with me at the monument pics.

Night time in Tallinn is a strange time and probably not that much different to most cities, the bars and restaurants are full of locals and tourists and it does looks great, and most evenings i would venture down to to a nice bar for a much cheaper pint of the local beer. This one night I was enjoying the sounds of a Brazilian band playing and tapping my feet when i was approached by a blonde long legged beauty. She said something i guess in Estonian, sorry British, oh you English, No Welsh, its all same, Estonian German Russian its all the same I replied. Oh you make joke now dance,what me who and we danced and I do have to admit this felt great there was i shaking my Brazilian stuff when this big bloke stepped in and grabbed her arm and turned to me with menacing eyes, not for you and pulled the girl away. Boy friend stuff. So feeling a bit of a plonker in the middle of the dance floor on my own i keep dancing in my special way and the next thing im dancing with another Beauty.What cool but then I am a pretty good dancer, no wonder, im getting all the smiles the laughter I try not to smile as Ive forgot to put my teeth in, and blow me down the same bloke comes up again and pulls her away. I go to the bar and start talking to the bar man, you are a lucky man the Russians are in town and they bring girls and tonight this is their place. I look around and with a bit of wisdom i should have been able to see something amiss these Men were dancing with these beauties  that in normal circumstances wouldnt have had a hope in hell. Then I take a reality check at myself and see shorts old t shirt cycle trainers and a scruffy beard im surpised they even let me in let alone having these beauties want to dance with me.
I finished my pint and headed out to my Hostel only to be approached by a dark haired Russian looking women wanting to know if I had a light, sorry no smoke, you want fun, I have friend we have place 80 euros each first we get ice cream and condoms, and being british i reply sorry thank you for the offer time for bed, yes we come to, no i mean me alone, what you no like Russian women, you like Estonians girls we get for you. I said thank you and sorry again and turned to go home, and as I turned, you like boys better good euros for boys.  What on earth were they going to do with the ice cream.

Finland, Helsinki 2012 European Athletics

Helsinik was putting the final stages to  the opening night to the games I have no idea what was going on but mr Lion was excited to be there

Who is Who

In My Helsinki YHA I met these two great characters. I will give you a combined brief descriptions of them you decide what goes with who.
1 French, Italian, Kitchen Porter, Dentist, cycle tourer cycling to Rome, cycle tourer cycling to Stockholm. Divorced, single. Loves pasta, loves Rice. Favourate place Athens, Berlin, pet, little bird and cat

Ok so he is Georgio a kitchen porter, divorced with 6 children. His favourate place is Berlin where he met a romanian fortune teller who told him to go to Stockholm from Rome to get his wife back who had ran off with her boss(a women)He has a cat who unfortunatly eat his wifes bird when she left him!!!! And yes he likes his Pasta
Her name is Louise single from Paris a vegetarian and a dentist she has she says worked on Gerrard depatus teeth and is currently taking a year off to cycle the world. She got a plane to Bergen and is folowing a similar route to me. She wants to go to Athens, her fav place, as when she was a teenager she met and fell in love with a chap called something with an A. They have e mailed texted, not phoned for 10 years and now she is cycling down to see him


This life is so full of amazing people to meet never a dull moment

Sleeping rough

The night before id slept in a overgrown field that was once used as a sports field. Söme of the rules of rough camping are simple;
1. Find a suitable space hidden away from views of the locals
2.Make sure that your not to close to still water or long grass,the midge and their evil friends will be waiting
3.Not to close to a road so that you will get to sleep
4. Nearby suitable covering for the relief of substances your body will no longer need
5.A rock or even better a bench and table to prepare meal.

Id managed to tick no 1,2,3,4 but not 5. 5 I was not worried about as id already eaten earlier and breakfast i could have on the go.or find suitable location further on. So after a good nights sleep I was woken to the sound of a dog barking at my tent, certainly not a wolf or a bear. Soon it disapeared and i was left with peace. I stretched in the confines of my humble compact tent. Unzipped the polyester door and wiggled out of my sleeping bag into a beautiful summers morning. As i stood upand stretched in my boxers I realised very quickly that I was not alone. Even though I was tucked away in the corner of the field today was the junior European athletics day. And this morning the groundsmen were out preparing the field i was in for the days events, Also in MY field were 100s of teenage sporting legends to be, warming up for their big day. I was in full view, luckily my boxers were in good order, quick thinking I began to do a few streches myself showing off my athletic capabilities, and i think that i probably pulled it off passing as a coach for his wannabees!
It was around when things were looking ok the midge appeared and was ready for breakfast so with my extra swatting stretching technique i must have looked pretty cool in my boxers.I packed up and then point 4 needed to be taken care of. The night before I had found a suitable, i think position is the word, for this action however there was so many little blighters running around . I needed to look for another safe house after a bit of very suspicious looking i found a suitable place, i continued and relief was inimant and then  oww i was bitten on the bum by someone waiting for breakfast. Was there no sanctuary. Rough camping is what it is its free and it comes as usual with a price. 

Rexi is a goer

Ok so leaving Stockholm with mixed emotions, but i have to say my feelings for stockholm was a great place to vist regardless of what happend the pros certainly outwayed the cons, no pun intended. So I grabbed the 730 Booze cruise to Turku,Finland. The locals take full advantage of the duty free allowance and do a 24hr excursion. This day however it was also full of the Summer day holiday weekend, which this part of the country celebrates big style the cities empty and they flock to the sea, country and parks. Id spent the day before departing travelling into the country to sample the festivities and also try out the bike. The parks were full of friends and families enjoying the sunshine, it doesnt last that long this far north, I guess stockholm is about 200 miles north of the outer hebrities. The state owned permantly fixed barbies in abundance were used to the full. The young women  dressed up in pretty dresses with head dresses made from floweres while the young Men were basicly strutting around showing off their bare chested physique. Mid summers day according to tradition is about the ritual of mating and its a statistic in Sweden that there is always a baby boom the following march. But hey thats Nature.

 So I arrive in Turku in the pouring rain and headed out to my couch for the night. Id been talking to a cyclist a few days before and he suggested that I join a web site called warmshoweres.org,  it sounds a bit dodgy but it was set up by a couple of cycle tourers who were doing europe on a buget and wanted an alternative to couch serfing.com where at the end of a ride having booked before you spend the night in a fellow cyclists home for free, do a bit of bike maintanance, dry some clothes. So I gave it a try and was allowed to use a cyclists home for the night, picture below, no it wasnt the vw. Her name was Jann and listen to this she was away enjoying the country festvals but let me in while she wasnt there via a hidden key. So Jann your a star if your reading this.

So the next morning I headed to Helsinki a light rain no traffic the holiday weekeng and a flat turrain.A few visits and Rexi my steeds name has been broken in.with 135 miles in one day.she moand a bit but shes handling ok. Finland is resonably flat not so many trees and there is certainly a russian feel happening.

Always look on the bright side of life and whistle

I suppose I over reacted a bit a disaster would be a broken limb, at least I'm healthy and have had the ability to go looking for a bike. Imagine being laid up with a big world waiting for me to see.
The night before the theft Id been talking to two Turkish fellows from Istanbul, they were here in Sweden to learn English, now I know perhaps England might have been a better choice, but they had heard that the locals speak very good English and also the women looked better than the English and the chance to try out their new words would be a good conversation starter No comment there. Later that evening we were doing our best to converse along with a danish and American guy and sooner enough we got around to talking about my travels. We got onto the subject of at least Ive got here  and that imagine if you'd crashed into a car on your first day,and capput how annoyed you'd be. That's if you were a believer and were looking down from the heavens. At least Ive got to here and what a great time id had in the last two weeks so if anything happened now id be content.
The next morning I went for my continental breakfast and to join my fellow Turks, i wished them a morning and got a grunt, perhaps that's the Turkish way. They were strange that morning and were not interested  in their English lesson, but then i am lacking the good looks of a Swedish woman! However they were engrossed in a heated conversation  with another i believe Turkish fellow. I washed up my dishes and prepared for a day of sightseeing on my trusty steed. I wandered down to where i had tethered my steed and all that was left was the tether, my steed had gone a wandering. its not a nice feeling, and i was annoyed and frustrated that now i had another decision to make, should i stay or should i go.
I had to stay or in reality i needed to go on with my travels the thought of going back did cross my mind but the temptation of the journey ahead was so much grater. So I set the task to sort out a new steed. Easier said than done. The city is full of bikes like most cities its the cheapest fastest and in good weather the coolest way to get around a city. But as i visited each bike shop i was taken back that sorry we don't sell touring bikes just city bikes. Weird but  if i think back to the last two weeks the tourer is a rare breed in these parts.Secondly was I can get you one but in a few days how much around 30,000 kroners, divide it by ten, that's an expensive bike, my wandering steed only set me back 500 pounds! So second hand bikes, go to the Internet he said you will find your old bike their soon, there is only one such shop in Stockholm otherwise and that is where i headed. At least i was getting to see the city. and that is where I found my new companion not a tourer  but it had the ability to be adapted and that is what Ive done.I had to get new racks water carriers speedo and i ended up with a bill for 4600 kroners. But I do now have the ability to go on. She handles well she has no fancy gear levers or brakes she has twist bar changers  and she does come with a rusty bell, it will however not replace my lost bell my daughter gave me for my journey. But she will do and she handles OK  and equipped with her new accessories she will do OK, and  now for me and no doubt her for the fist time, we  shall leave this city together to Finland and beyond
The younger of the Turks that night was in a foul mood he was enjoying the last few drops of a bottle of whisky and had decided that the world was his enemy. His vocal abuse had frightened off the other hostelers and was ready for an argument, and i was in the line for it, with the main vocabulary in his native tongue mixed with the words of, your the problem, and i will fix you he threw his empty bottle at me and staggered out of the room his friend, a 65 year old engineer all his life, apologised and went after him, a few seconds later a huge crash, and he had now somehow smashed a window, and was throwing weirdly bits of bread at the walls and the night staff a young girl was horrified I grabbed hold of him and with the help of his friend we threw him in a cold shower. He came out crying sorry sorry I just come here to learn English get a good job its so hard.
Life is one big adventure
PS  thanks for all your kind words here's a pic of my new steed and my fellow Turks and Stockholm

Disaster Bike Stolen

The worse thing that could happen except for dying or perhaps a physical problem has happened from this beautiful city a rat has come out and stolen my bike that was chained up to a post, I  came down this morning lock in two  no bike. Bugger. Problem Travel insurance  problem does not cover the bike, even though when I took it out with virgin ins I stipulated that cover. Now what