Worn out Riga

I enjoyed my morning on the beach so didnt leave till after lunch, it was a beautiful day and the beach was filling up of sun worshipers and i was heading to the city with some intrepidation. The outskirts of the city were in decay yet the houses were still lived in its still home i guess.

  Time to find a youth hostel and the only decent one could not home by bike' so it was riga camping except that had been closed due to lack of punters. I found a piece of rough site and set up. I was tired and asleep by 1030.I awoke to the sound of shouting, and popped my head out, I could make out in the early morning sun that a woman was being attacked i ran up and got into a brawl 2 min later the police turn up excellent,hang on what are you doing,im handcuffed with the others and talked too in Lavian, no english, the girl gone.4 hrs later im released with a 50 pound fine. I find my way back to my tent expecting it to be gone there is a God all ok and my bike too.Its 6 in the morning and the city is waking up i need to pack up too. I think I'll stick to towns and villages and beaches!

going south

IWas in a need to get out of the city so i was up early and ready to go by 7. my two american tourers'both teachers enjoying I think their summer vaccation were ready to go to they were on their way into Russia via st petersburg'so we cycled out of the city together just missing been run over by a bus! Talin is not a bike friendly city compared to stockholm.  Today I had the wind with me and fire in my legs and although nothing really eventful happend I cycled over 140 miles and it felt ok. And to put the chery on the top i camped on the beach with cooked food on a camp fire  after skiny diping in the sea, kept a good look out for anyone who might find my white torso and buttocks too much of a frightning contrast against my very bronzed arms legs and head. Drank a couple of cold bears and slept so good. In the morning i stoked the fire scrambled eggs,bread and tea. one of my best 24 hrs in a while

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.