Home sweet home!

It's has been a good holiday, we have seen and learnt lots about the Baltic States, riden some excellent roads, viewed some outstanding scenery and met some interesting people along the way, but it's great to be home!

In the 18 days away, I rode 3500 miles, and the TDM performed very well throughout.

Ripped off

Got to the Euro Tunnel and got a shock when they asked for 114 Euros! Admitedly, I had no booking which in the past has cost between £13 - £45, but this was an absolute effing rip off in my opinion.

TDM on the tunnel train going back to the UK.

This is the dirtiest the bike has ever been and will no doubt take several days to get it looking good again.

Last day

Thanks to Kate & Martin at Orchard Farm for another pleasant stay.

Martin Pegler and I at Orchard Farm

So it is now the last day and I am heading for Calais via a scenic route to start with.
On the way back I went through Albert, where I took these photos of the Basilica

2 borders today

It was another great stay with Andre and Marie at the 'Bikers Only B&B' and great to meet the other bikers there. But time came to get back on the road and head to another excellent biker friendly B&B 'Orchard Farm' in Combles (northern France).

So to start the day I headed to the Rhine river and followed this for several miles before going up and down more great biking roads for most of the morning before getting on the main roads to get some of today's mileage done and to ensure getting to the B&B at a reasonable time.

I must admit, there has been such a huge amount of great motorcycling roads in Germany that I will look into spending a week discovering more of them next year and have a longer stay with Andre using that as a base.

During the day I crossed the German to Belgium border whilst on a minor road then the Belgium to France border whilst on the motorway so unfortunately was unable to stop and get a photo of this one, and speaking of photos, here is a selection of today's pictures...

Ferry crossing across the Rhine

And another border crossed!

Orchard Farm (biker friendly B&B).

Germany

Yesterday's ride through Germany started with some great scenic routes away from a lot of traffic which meant excellent riding!
Then to make up time I done some motorway riding (and on their sections of autobahn without any speed limit, it was interesting)!
Then back to the twisties to finish the day finally arriving at the 'Biker Only B&B' in Germany.

To some of you these are just pictures of roads, to the bikers these are pictures of paradise.

There was of course many more but I was having so much fun I didn't stop to take photos so you will have to go and find them yourself!

From Poland to Germany

It has been quite a busy holiday with all the touristy site seeing, so Alex and I decided to skip Prague in the Czech Republic and go straight to Germany as we had done the main part of the trip, the Baltic States, and felt the best part was done, just the journey home now.
We left Warsaw at 7:30am and headed straight for the German border using mostly fast main roads and toll roads, not my favourite roads but we had lots of miles to cover. It started to rain and soon become a laborious journey. We rode through the border as there was no where to stop and take photos so we pulled in at the next fuel station to say good bye to each other as Alex was off to see his god son near Hanover in Germany for a few days and I was heading off in a differant direction for some more interesting roads and scenery!

There are not many photos of the journey because of the roads used and the appauling weather but here are a few photos of Colditz Castle that I briefly stopped by to look at late afternoon time.

View from the rear of the castle

Warsaw

The Palace of Culture & Science.

By night & by day...

Views from the Palace tower...

Have you noticed that the pedestrian crossings are done in the form of piano keys?!

Old town Warsaw...



Leaving Lithuania for Poland

Just a short stay in Lithuania and already heading to Poland. But just before we go there are a couple of pictures from Marijampole...

Crossing the border into

Poland

Once off the main roads and onto the planned route, the scenery was fantastic and the roads great for biking, in fact it was so much fun I didn't stop a lot, only when I needed to stretch my legs but here are some photos that I did manage to take. Oh, and no unpaved roads today, so Alex is happy!

From Latvia to Lithuania...

It was an early start today as there was lots of riding to Vilnius, here are some photos of the journey.

Beach at Jermala

More unpaved roads, I love them but Alex does not enjoy them!

Crossing the border into Lithuania

The Hill of Crosses

more information

Vilnius at night

Riga extended stay

We have now decided to extend our stay in Riga for a third night giving us more time to see the city.

Church of St.Peter

Views from the church tower 

 Beautiful architecture

Wow, what a stair case!

Bites Blues Club

Latvian Blues Band