There and back again

[Barley-Mow]

So further to my earlier post, here's the plan for June always assuming that my Visa comes through (it's in at the moment). Day 1 - Hook of Holland to Frankfurt an der Oder; Day 2 - to Olsztyn, Poland; Day 3 - to Vilnius (2 nights); Day 5 - Rezekne; Day 6 - Novgorod, Russia - staying 4 nights; day 10 - to Tartu, Estonia via Luga and Narva; day 11 - Riga - 2 nights; Day 13 - Poland, possibly Olsztyn again (not yet settled); Day 14 - Berlin area: Day 15 - Hook of Holland and overnight ferry.

Time as ever is the enemy, but at 66 and still working (someone's got to do it) I found the only thing to do was mark it on the calendar 9 months in advance and then stick at it and bugger anything else.

I've deliberately avoided St. Petersburg and Moscow for want of time to do them justice, and as Novgorod is far older, supposedly the oldest city in Russia, that seemed a good choice. I hope 2 nights each in Vilnius and Riga plus relatively short rides between Baltic destinations will give enough time to get at least a worthwhile flavour of the places I'll pass though.

Poland of course is vast enough to justify months of touring on its own.

My Russian studies are progressing - I hope they speak BBC Russian when I get there. I'll give you a full report when I get back - or send you an e-mail from Siberia !

 

[Barley-Mow]

Update - I now have a Visa so it's panic stations. I applied directly to VFS to whom the Embassy have outsourced all applications and they were extremely helpful. But you have to do the application form online first then print it out. Take your time. You don't have to do it all once, you can close it part done then re-open it for editing before you finalise it.

 

[Merv]

good luck and enjoyremember that the mossies will need a bit of persuasion to kindly move on,got eaten alive last year in Poland.

 

[Barley-Mow]

Hopefully in early June they'll still be warming up. In any event, having stayed in Western Scotland during the Summer, nothing can be as bad as the wee highland midges.