Slovak Paradise

The Tatra mountains form a natural border between Poland and Slovakia and are the highest mountains along the 1200km Carpathian Mountain Range. It was overcrowded in Poland so we were excited to head to the Slovakian side. We stopped at a very helpful info centre in Tatranska Lomnica. The girl advised us of some nice…

From Krakow to The Tatra Mountains

Krakow is Poland’s second largest city and it’s top tourist attraction. Inevitably it’s very busy, so we parked on the outskirts. We had to get a tram into the centre but couldn’t work out what number we needed. A lady of about 60 saw us struggling and pointed to a tram schedule. She didn’t speak…

Up’s and Down’ in Poland

Poland hasn’t been as exciting as I’d expected. We visited some lakes in the north and finally had a day relaxing away from the hustle and bustle of cities after the Baltic’s. They’ve been the only swimmable lakes we’ve come across in Poland, the ones down south were murky and rubbish ridden. We woke before…

Remember when: We had lunch with a Rhino

We didn’t have any bus break down’s in our entire 4 months in India. Yet the first bus we took in Nepal broke down and was deemed a piece of scrap metal. We left the other hopeful passengers and sucked up another fare on a different bus…which also broke down. Eventually, we made it to…

Pablo’s near death in Poland

So we managed to buy the simple parts needed for Pablo from an auto shop, but Nissan couldn’t fit us in for 4 days. As it was an easy job replacing two bushes to stop a clanky noise, we could get any garage to do it, so we asked around. Kia charged double Nissan, and…

Our final bite of the Baltic sandwich

Lithuania was always going to be hit or miss. I’d read that the locals don’t smile at strangers, and if you smile at them they’ll presume your laughing at them, which clearly doesn’t go down too well. As we head south, the populations are growing country by country, and the sun is sinking quicker and…

Exploring Riga and Jurmala, Latvia

We drove south to Riga, Latvia’s capital. It had a beautiful old town full of art nouveau buildings; the finest and largest collection in Europe infact. Faces followed us around the city on the edges of buildings and carved into walls. The old town was a maze of tall pastel buildings, all so well preserved…

Trying out the Olympic Bobsleigh track in Latvia

We visited three towns within Gauja National Park; Cesis, Ligatne and Sigulda. The sights revolved around the Gauja river, with red cliff walls along the banks and orange coloured caves. The towns were pleasant for strolling around with nice castles, churches and old squares. It was all ‘nice’ but not blow away nice, so we…

Our first slice of the Baltic Sandwich

We didn’t spend long in Estonia, just 3 days, but we enjoyed what we saw of it and Tallinn is one of my favourite cities. Heading south we stopped in a few villages, and at Soomaa National Park looking for wildlife. The park is mainly made up of bog, and is said to have a…

From modern Helsinki to medieval Tallinn

We managed to get a free IKEA bus into Helsinki city centre, and repaid them by eating 5 hot dogs, 2 calzones, 1 ice cream and 1 drink for a romantic dinner. I enjoyed walking through the Tori Quarter with its little lane ways and hidden cafés. It reminded me of the lanes back home…