Vilnius to Poland

Vilnius is beautiful.  We arrived in the morning and went right to the square.  It reminded me a little bit of the square in our city, Banska Bystrica, but more grandiose.  At the top of the square there was a beautiful church from the 1200’s, but the inside was gutted.  After World War II it operated  read more

Riga, Latvia to Vilnius, Lithuania

I really wanted to like Riga, Latvia. From what I’d read, it seemed like the type of city I might enjoy: coastal, busy, huge market. The city itself had a lot going for it, but on first impression, it felt industrial, unwelcoming, and kind of dirty. You know, like a big city. Once we got  read more

Goodbye Estonia, Hello Latvia

Feeling rested from the previous half-day, we woke up in Hapsalu, Estonia ready to go. The morning was uneventful, well-paced riding recessed with a lunch break outside of a city called Lihula. Back on the road as soon as possible we rode for another 35 km until the sprinkles we’d been riding with since lunch  read more

Estonia: Tallinn-Hapsalu

So there were two things that surprised us immediately upon arrival in Estonia. First, we disembarked the ferry in a rainstorm putting all of our new rain gear to the test. I quickly discovered my love for my obnoxiously bright yellow rain jacket. As I explained to Burke, when I get scared that the cars  read more

Helsinki

When we left off, a Finnish man had just invited us to stay in his home for the night. Guess what, we agreed. We knew there were some risks involved, but we told ourselves that we could always leave if we weren’t comfortable; ultimately, it was the promise of my first real shower in almost  read more

Finland: You love it, and you hate it

At 7 am our ferry docked in Turku, Finland, and we were the first ones to roll off of the boat. We had a small map of the city that helped us find a grocery store and then the main cathedral, but we had the hardest time figuring out where to go from there. Our next  read more