Road trip: 36 European countries

Day 86 Halden ,Norway to Frederikshavn,Denmark

9/6/2015

In retrospect it might not have been such a shrewd move camping next to a stage where they are performing Tosca from tomorrow night.The dress rehearsal began at 11 pm, and although I went to watch a bit of it from the castle ramparts, up until around midnight (when it is still just twilight),and while it must have had artistic merit,it did go on till 01-30 ! After that, though, I had an undisturbed night.

I headed south in the morning to catch the ferry from Gothenburg to Frederikshavn at the northern tip of Denmark,an early evening departure.I had originally considered driving all the way down to Malmo and crossing the Oresund bridge,the eponymous Broen/Bron from the recent Nordic Noir TV series 'The Bridge'. However, when I saw the toll charge I choked (52 Euros-or 104 Euros if you are over 6m long!)Not only that, but the other side, where Copenhagen lies, is an island(Sjaelland),and to cross the Storeboelt bridge over to the mainland (Jylland) costs another 32 Euros. This makes the ferry from Sweden direct to the mainland a very competitive option, especially if you’re coming from the north.

On the way towards Gothenburg I stopped at Tanum, an area which is a Unesco world heritage site for its bronze age rock carvings. There are hundreds of locations in the immediate area of about 50 hectares(125 acres)where carvings have been discovered but there is an interpretation centre(and cafe) in the densest area. Flat sheets of granite show through the turf on wooded peaty hillsides, and have a multitude of shallowly ground out human figures,animals, boats and so on(the word carving is perhaps a misnomer here) Each picture is relatively small, the human figures from 6 to 12 inches tall.They have been painted in, using Falun red, in recent times to make them more visible (you might not even spot an unpainted one if you passed it, as they are very shallow grooves), and I think this is also an attempt to try to preserve them from erosion.Some rocks are covered with dozens of images. The meanings of many of the images are not clear even to the experts.

The van keys are for scale. I had to stop doing this when I read a sign forbidding touching the rocks, because of fears of erosion. No-one knows the meaning of the little footprints down the left hand side.

This slightly risqué image has become iconic for the World heritage site,and is known as "The lovers"

It was a smooth crossing to Denmark,on a beautiful sunny evening .It takes three and a half hours through a very busy shipping lane and in the middle you can see both coasts .I was a lone van on the lorry deck,filling a little space near the bow door:this did mean I got off quickly,and within 5 minutes of docking I was camped on a little grassy patch at Frederickshavn marina ,with the back doors open onto a small sandy beach.Its still light at 11pm.I had to pinch myself to check I wasn’t back in England as the streets of brick built bungalows that I drove through to the marina looked like a typical British estate,and so different to Swedish and Norwegian buildings.Tomorrow I’ll see if the illusion holds up.

Campervan stopover at at the marina -with its own little beach

Day 85 Oslo to Halden

8/6/2015

today's route ( 130 km)

After leaving the campsite I drove to the peninsular of Bygdoy,just west of the city centre. It is a surprisingly rural suburb ,but has several museums here.In the inlet between Bygdoy and the city there were thousands of boats(yachts,cruisers etc) moored.I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many in one place.

Of the five museums I visited, I started with the Fram museum.This was a ship constructed in 1892 specifically to survive being hemmed in icepack. It was built for Fridtjof Nansen,one of Norway’s legendary explorers, with the aim of getting stuck in the Arctic ice and proving that it flows westwards. It was successful expedition but took 3 years to drift across, but missed the North Pole.The same boat was later used by Roald Amundsen when he reached the South Pole ahead of Captain Scott in 1911.It is in an exhibition hall but you can go on board.There was much about polar exploration in general, and the specific expeditions, including Scott’s.

Across the road is the Kon Tiki museum,which displays both the Kon Tiki,the balsa raft which Thor Heyerdahl sailed across the pacific in 1947.And also there is the Ra II, the reed boat in which he successfully sailed across the Atlantic from north Africa to the Barbados.I first read Thor Heyerdahl’s book about the Kon Tiki voyage when I was about 11,and this was my first taste of armchair exploration.What I hadn’t remembered was that one of his crew on the Kon Tiki was Knut Haugland,Norway’s most decorated war hero,who had participated in the “Heroes of Telemark” sabotage on the heavy water plant.Another was Torstein Raaby,whose clandestine radio broadcasts reporting the position of the Tirpitz aided her sinking(he had “hot wired “ his radio transmitter to that of the German Admiral, and forwarded the messages to Britain)

Kon Tiki

Ra II

Also in the same location is the Norwegian maritime museum, which, despite Norway's rich maritime history I didn’t find it anything like as fascinating as the explorers’ museums.

Moving on a mile are two more museums,both a fixture in Oslo for many years.I visited the Viking ship museum.This houses 3 viking longships ,which were discovered and excavated in the late 19th century.They were buried as part of funerals in about 800 AD.Two are virtually complete,and of the third just the lower section and keel remain.There are also quite a lot of grave goods in the form of carved wooden tools,boxes,sleds etc.on display .There is also ornate metalwork although the valuable stuff was looted in antiquity.

The Gokstad ship, built around 890 AD

Finally,nearby ,is the Norwegian folk museum.This houses historic buildings,in the most part typical regional vernacular buildings,although there are also city buildings from around 1900.This museum began in the late 19th century,and there are some interesting buildings transported here including a Stave church.The buildings have obviously been around in the museum a long while,and although there were people in regional traditional dress around,showing that it is actively managed,I thought that more could be done to keep the little fields and vegetable gardens in better nick,as they were rather overgrown.I learnt the origin of the word ‘loft’ which is old Norse for a farm store building reached by outside steps.

The star of the folk museum:The Stave church,originally from Gol,dates from 1200

a collection of Lofts,farm storage buildings

By mid afternoon I reckoned I’d had enough of museums,and headed off 100km south to a stop-off at the town of Halden which is just before the Swedish border.Due to its border location it has a huge fortress,the Fredriksten festning which I drove up the hill to look at.Its current incarnation mostly dates from the 17th Century.In 1716 and 1718 it was the scene of fierce battles when the Swedes besieged it,the Swedish king being killed in the attack in 1718.In the first years of the 20th century it was updated to house modern howitzer batteries but when Norway later gained independence from Sweden in 1905,the defences were dismantled as part of the separation treaty.

Fredriksten fortress on the Norwegian-Swedish border

The park area within the huge remaining fortifications is a popular place for jogging and dog walking. A huge stage is being prepared for production of Tosca which starts tomorrow.I thought that I might as well spend a free night in the car park here than drive over to the nearby campsite 500 yards away and pay £25.

Day 84 Karlstad,Sweden to Oslo

7/6/2015

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The 120km from Karlstad to the Norwegian border is very beautiful.Leaving the big lake Vanern behind,along the shores of which is a surprising amount of heavy industry, you move into an area of smaller lakes. Although it is a very forested area, the forest seems more attractive than its equivalent in Poland or the Baltic States. Firstly,the land is hilly and undulating,but also the forest is varied.I’m no student of forestry but in the Baltics the forest seems to be all of a monotonous uniculture of a type of pine that has its growth only on the top-hence as you drive through it all you see is millions of tree trunks disappearing into infinity in a black forest. The trees in the area I drove through today are much more varied by accident or design,and there are different varieties of conifers,each a different green,and there is also considerable deciduous shrubbery tumbling down to the roads.Often the forest breaks to reveal dairy fields, or an unexpected lake. By the side of the roads are huge drifts of wild lupins.

Every building is the same colour

Every Swedish house,barn and shed in the countryside is only painted one colour, Falun Red.This,I learnt, is a bi-product of Sweden's copper industry,used by the rich till last century,when it became affordable for ordinary folk,and was discovered to be a very effective wood preservative.The richer people,as red became a colour for the plebs,started painting their houses yellow!Thus Sweden is a very two-tone country,all the buildings in Stockholm were a shade of light or dark cream(none of the rainbow of colours favoured by the Germans and Eastern Europeans)and in the countryside buildings are universally red.Apparently it is still an unwritten rule that you paint your house red, although often modern paints are used.And the only colours acceptable for your windows and eves-white or dark green!

Moving into Norway there were immediate visible differences.Firstly the “white line” in the centre of the road becomes yellow in Norway-and the houses suddenly are white ,grey,all colours ,(including a fair few red!)

Approaching Oslo I saw warning of automatic tolls ahead and had to stop to check the situation.Fortunately the Norwegian system is like the Swedish.If you enter Stockholm or Oslo,your number plate is read and you are billed at the end of the month.If you are foreign–registered,and if you are unlucky,they trace you and you eventually get a bill in the post in a couple of months. This is much kinder than the London congestion charge which you have to proactively pay immediately or be fined. Let’s wait and see if they trace me! Certainly the Swedes until recently never used to bother with the hassle of chasing up foreigners, but the EU got strict with them for (positive) discrimination on grounds of nationality.

Despite an undisturbed and cost-free night last night, I decided to opt for Oslo’s main campsite tonight. It’s well situated on a big area of open common on the heights above the harbour, with a good view and a bus stop outside the gate.Norway trumps Sweden for expense:£4-50 for a single bus ticket,but an odd pricing structure of only £8 for an 24 hour pass. In comparison, Poland and the Baltics have transport systems that cost about 50p to £1 for a ticket which lasts as far as you can get in an hour.In downtown Oslo I glanced at some menus. The cheapest burger at TGI Fridays and Hard Rock Café were £18.The cheapest burger at Macdonalds £5.(£1 in UK)Luckily I am still well stocked with Polish food and beer bought at much more reasonable prices. I’m not sure if you can buy beer in supermarkets in Norway*.In Sweden the maximum strength of beer allowed in shops is 3.5%,and on the shelves were editions of well-known beers specially made for the Swedish market, all with with a 3.5% alcohol content.I still have on board some Slovakian lager at an incredible 12% with which I shall toast Scandinavian licencing laws!

(*Yes you can, I later discovered, although you couldn't when I was last here in 1983)

I had time to get into central Oslo this afternoon.It's a very compact centre,the central grid from the main station to the Royal palace being only about 1000 metres long.Other than some grand gothic and classical revival public buidings there is not much attractive architecture on offer.The setting is spectacular,however, with Oslo Fjord and the harbour full of boats to the one side,and hillsides dotted with settlements rising up behind ,forming a bowl.Oslo has a host of interesting museums and, of these ,the Henrik Ibsen and the Munch museums I thought I could give a miss to. I went into the Norwegian Resistance (Homefront) Museum.Its one of several things to see in the huge Akershus Fortress at one end of the harbour front.Initially this was founded in medieval times,and then successively modernised.It was a royal residence up till the 17th century.

Oslo's Royal Palace-look a bit familiar?

The main pedestrianized avenue through central Oslo, King Johans Gate

Oslo waterfront

Makes you proud to be British !

The Resistance Museum was very stirring stuff. You could listen to Churchill’s speeches,including “blood ,toil ,tears and sweat”, alongside recordings of King Haakon broadcasting from London.All the major resistance feats were represented, including the Heroes of Telemark, assistance in the sinking of the Tirpitz, and quite a few more daring deeds I had not heard of. Through it all ran a strong theme regarding Britain’s assistance and close links; there was quite a bit about the ultimately unsuccessful British landings in Norway in 1940, but how the British Navy at the same time had inflicted decisive damage on German naval capability. At the exit was the following sign:

“In the skies over London

In the African desert

In the ruins of Stalingrad

And on the Normandy beaches

Norway was given back to us “

I think that the museums I plan to visit tomorrow won’t be so emotionally charged!

Day 83 Stockholm to Karlstad

6/6/2015

today's route ( 315 km )

It’s quite a long way from Stockholm to Oslo,my next target(560km).After yesterday’s hot sun it was depressingly showery and grey,but I covered a total of 340 km today.Determined to utilise my Allesmansratten(‘all man’s rights’)tonight,I finally drove down to the shore of lake Vanern,near Karlstad,and I am parked at a quiet little marina and fishing dock.There seems to be a commercial lake fishery of a number of species and direct sales of fresh and smoked fish are possible from the small packing shed.The lake is vast(maybe 120km long) and of course I can’t see the other side. It is windy and fairly rough this evening , although the sun has now come out.

En-route today I stopped at a couple of castles.The first,Gripsholm,is about 50km out of Stockholm on the shore of lake Malaren.This is another huge lake,which winds all the way back to Stockholm(Drottningholm is on an arm of the same lake)

Gripsolm castle is one of nine palaces in the Royal estate.It is a late medieval castle with renaissance interiors(which looks like British Tudor period)although some décor is from the 17th and 18th centuries.30 rooms were on display,some a bit rough round the edges,but the 'Tudor' rooms with panelled carved walls and painted wooden ceilings,were impressive.There is a tiny 18th century theatre with all the original stage furnishings and machinery viewable.This was installed by Gustav III, who clearly was a thespian as he also built the theatre at Drottningholm.All sorts of activity was going on outside the castle.There was a narrow gauge steam railway in action,a vintage car show on the quay,and much boating activity.

Gripsholm Royal castle

Gripsholm-main entrance

an 11th century Runic stone in Gripsholm grounds

Gripsholm ,from lake Malaren

Gripsholm-16th century "Tudor" interior

an 11th century Runic stone in Gripsholm grounds

Later,as it was on my route, I called into the centre of Orebro to see the castle there too.It is from the same period,and the design looks similar to Gripsholm, both rather different in style to British castles.Unfortunately,despite the website saying it was open till 5pm,that turned out to be just the shop and the last tour was 1-30,which I missed.It still seems to the the official residence of the county Governor.Seemingly the thing to do on a Saturday,a number of people were driving around the town in vintage American cars,without indicating when turning.

Orebro castle

Shortly after rejoining the main road I passed through the town of Karlscoga (population 30,000).This turned out to have been the home of Alfred Nobel,who made his money,from which the Nobel prize trust was created, from his armaments firm Bofors ,still a presence in the town, and still making armaments.He patented dynamite and gelignite ,too.This is all a bit difficult to square up with his pacifism and philanthropy. The Bofors gun was of course an anti-aircraft cannon in wide use in WW2.(Of course well after Alfred Nobel‘s time,who died in 1895)

I passed signs to the Nobel museum but felt it might be it a bit on the dry side so gave it a miss. I moved on to Karlstad and spent some time following up promising roads on the small peninsular until I managed to find one which led down to the lakeside, and the marina. This had a large gravelled parking area and the few people still tinkering with their boats didn't give me a second glance as I settled in for a night's stay.

Day 82 Stockholm

5/6/2015

Wow! Stockholm has to be one of the best and most entrancing places I’ve visited on this trip.

It’s a visibly multi-ethnic city,that is immediately evident, perhaps on a par with London.I mention this only as a point of interest, because I have just travelled through Eastern Europe where the countries (at least visibly)are ethnically homogenous. As an example the population of Poland, ironically, following exterminations and forced migrations during and after WW2,is almost 100% Polish. Other countries such as the Baltics do have a mix of ethnic Baltic races, and Russians , which my unfamiliar eye couldn't differentiate between . Of course this mix brings its own local political issues. Countries such as Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania do of course have their own regional ethnic minorities ,which again brings tensions(for example Hungarians have been badly treated in the past in the Czech Republic and Slovakia) but these are all are uniformly "white" ethnic groups. An inter-continental multi-ethnic mix such as is evident in Stockholm brings a rather different and much more visible cultural richness, and perhaps different tensions.

A five minute walk from the campsite brought me to a tube station, and I was able to get off without a change at the central island, the oldest part of Stockholm, Gamla Stan. One difference with London, however, was immediately obvious as there were spare seats on the tube train all the way into the city centre at 8-45 on a Friday morning.

compact squares and narrow medieval streets in Gamla Stan

Emerging into Gamla Stan from the tube, it was clear that all the major sights were going to be walkable, but there were so many interesting possibilities that I was going to have to ration myself carefully. I was blessed by a beautiful sunny day,and first wandered the grid of narrow medieval streets on the island. Here there are hundreds of interesting shops and restaurants and all the streets really require spending time walking through. There are three major churches (kyrkan in Swedish-hence the Scottish word Kirk)and the Royal palace(Kungliga Slottet),the official residence of the King and Queen.As I walked past ,the Horse Guards were clattering by,I think rehearsing for a state parade, as several carriages with people in tweeds and riding hats(perhaps royal stand-ins)were in the procession. It is Swedish national day tomorrow ;perhaps that is the occasion.I saw that one cavalry squadron was 100% female.

The sentries on duty in their German-style pickelhaube helmets have a more energetic time than our UK equivalent, and have to march back and forth over a 10 yard route.They seem to be allowed, once back in their sentry boxes, to fidget and look around.

The Kungliga Slott(Royal palace) in Gamla Stan

Royal Guard

The one thing I really didn’t want to miss was the Vasa, the royal flagship of King Gustav Adolf’s that foundered and sank on its maiden voyage in Stockholm harbour in 1628.It was built as a visible sign of the might of Sweden at a time when the country's empire was at its zenith and included what is now Norway,Denmark,Finland,and a large proportion of Poland. The ship sank due to design flaws:it was too tall, and narrow, without enough space for adequate rock ballast in the hold,and went over at the first vigorous gust of wind .

This was raised in 1961, almost wholly complete, and the experience gained in preservation techniques used here for the first time will have benefitted the later preserving of the Mary Rose in England.They are continually learning and are now having to re-do some of the preservation in a different way.Vasa is almost exactly midway in history between the Mary Rose (launched 1512, sank 1545) and HMS Victory (launched 1765).It is about midway in size too, but the ornate carving is much more excessive than that on the Victory.Like the Mary Rose, the artefacts and skeletons of the crew provide a window into the lives of varied classes of society at the time.

There are a number of other museums on the same island (Djurgarden) including the Abba Museum,which I had to resist a temptation to visit for sheer kitsch value.I did notice that the carpark I would have headed for if I’d had more time last night,did have about 20 campervans in it.This is along the waterfront of the street Strandvagen,just north of Djurgarden,if anyone Is thinking of visiting in a van.You could not be more central in Stockholm.The waterways are teeming with boats,probably many more boats than Venice.Several cruise liners were moored up right in the city centre but vanished among all the rest of the scenery and do not dominate the city.

Central Stockholm:Strandvagen from the Djurgarden bridge

Vasa	Vasa:the stern

There was much much more that I could have looked at in central Stockholm but in the afternoon I decided to do something a little different and took a vintage steamboat from the City Hall to the other Royal palace in Stockholm, Drottningholm .It is the actual Royal residence (they live in one wing), and it is about an hour up the waterways out of the city centre and seems, from the boat at least, to be in the countryside. I suppose it is in a similar situation to Hampton Court in London, and is in a highly attractive spot right on the water.

It is a Baroque palace, built in the second half of the 17th century by Queen Regent Hedvig Eleanora. Together with the gardens, which include a sumptuous 18th Chinese pleasure palace, and Drottningholm’s 18th century Royal Theatre, it forms a Unesco world heritage site. A series of about 15 state rooms and Royal apartments are permanently open, as is the Chinese palace. The gardens include a formal Baroque area with parterres and fountains, and an informal English-style parkland.

I caught the boat back again and it was highly convenient as halfway back to the city I was able to get off at a jetty on the beach right below the campsite. If you want to catch a boat from this isolated little jetty on the wooded shore, you have to hoist a wooden semaphore signal to indicate that you want picking up.

Drottningholm Palace from the Baroque garden

Drottningholm from the waterfront

One of several smaller pavilions at the Chinese palace

Steamboats ply from the city to Drottningholm

The 18th century Chinese palace in the gardens

Day 81 Naantali,Finland to Stockholm

4/6/2015

today's route (340 km)

With not quite such an early start as yesterday’s, I departed on the ferry from Naantali towards Kappelskar in Sweden (which is about 80 km northeast of Stockholm) and is nothing more than a dock in the middle of nowhere.We left at 9-30 ,although, having been camping just 500 metres from the terminal (albeit a pleasant wooded area on the beach of the creek) I made the check-in queue again very early at 7-30.This time, despite arriving early, I was on nearly last. It turned out that the reason the crossing I had booked was the cheapest was because it was the lorry ferry, with 3 lorry decks and the top one in the open at the back of the ship.There were,however,a number of campervans, and a few private cars going on board. Choosing the crossing had been tricky, with 3 operators, two from Turku direct to Stockholm, and also options of day and night crossings. Several factors had decided my choice, not just the price. The Naantali to Kappelskar ferry calls in at the Aland islands in the middle of the Gulf of Bothnia(at the tiny port of Langnas)and in doing so has to pass through a huge archipelago of islands. A night ferry would mean missing most of this scenery. The route in fact was a meandering course through what turned out to be thousands, probably hundreds of thousands of low rocky islands, of all sizes ,with all but the smallest wooded, and this continued without a break all the way across to Stockholm, meaning that the view was almost that from a train window, something to watch constantly .The Aland islands themselves consist of about 6800 of these myriad of islands.With the channel very narrow at times we often passed islands within 100 metres, and even on some of the smallest there were occasional little huts or houses and small jetties, and boat activity.

The Åland Islands, or Åland , is a region of Finland that consists of an archipelago lying at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia in the Baltic Sea. It is an autonomous territory and is demilitarised (e.g. the population is exempt from Finnish military conscription, which still exists) The language is Swedish,it has its own stamps, and the population is about 30,000.The EU waives certain Euro-wide regulations in relation to Åland . For example, they have preserved the historic rule that you are only able to own property here if you are an Ålander.

the Åland flag

It was a no frills service on the ferry, but included two free meals during the crossing, although the cafeteria was open at times to suit the lorry drivers(or was it the crew?), i.e. closing at 10-30 ,an hour after departure ,and not opening again till 4-30(an hour before arrival) I got the impression that most of the drivers had a cabin and went to sleep for most of the crossing, because straight after breakfast the one lounge/dining area emptied almost completely .In view of the fact that it was free it was rather unfortunate that I had already had breakfast, but with nothing available till 4-30 if I missed it, I “forced “ myself to have a helping of the free breakfast available, which, like yesterday’s on the Tallinn to Helsinki ferry, was a huge fry-up. This must be the Finnish breakfast.

The down–side of my choice of route was that it was a 100km drive into Stockholm after docking at Kappelskar, whereas other carriers would have docked right in the city centre. I hit my first fully booked sites today, with the two camper locations in central Stockholm booked solid when I rang this morning while waiting in the ferry queue. I had had to book something slightly out of the city, but wanted a proper campsite, to be safe of finding a place easily at 7pm when I would arrive in the city. The one that had spaces turned out to be like the campervan show,so many are parked on this huge site at Bredang. Actually,Finland,Sweden and Norway have a common law right of access, roughly translated as ‘Every Man’s Land’, which means you can camp anywhere for a night or two so long as it’s not obviously private land or you’re committing a parking violation. Online there is information about a number of carparks in central Stockholm you can get into with a van and where overnighting is tolerated, and this is where my van would come into its element, being self-sufficient. But with limited time, and a wariness of the notoriously bad Stockholm traffic (there is a congestion charge) I took the easy option. Sweden is not cheap: a basic carpark would be £12 for 24 hours(taking pot luck finding a space), parking in a row under a flyover on a camper park ,£20(but this was fully booked),and proper campsite at Bredang (a good one) £28. Athough I get a discount,at this rate It would be too expensive to stay in Sweden long, but I know from previous experience that in the countryside parking spots abound unlimited, and are free.

Arriving into the city on the inner ring motorway, I found why the traffic has a bad name .Stockholm is the busiest place I’ve been in for a while, with the 4,sometimes 5, lane motorway solid with traffic going at 30kph.It was at least moving steadily, probably because of variable speed limit controls. At one stage the road divided ,one half going down a tunnel,which I think the satnav possibly wanted me to enter, but then the road divided underground, and then later divided again, where of course the satnav had lost me and the tunnels went on and on for a km or two,I imagine crossing between islands.I took a gamble both times,and on emerging was relieved to find I had by pure luck I had taken the correct splits and was still on course.

Day 80 Tallinn,to Naantali,Finland

3/6/2015

today's route ( 275 km)

I was up very early this morning to drive the 3 miles from Pirita marina to the docks below the city centre in order to catch the 8 am ferry from Tallinn. I was at the check-in at 6 a.m.Because I had been so keen I was rewarded with first place in the van line,and first on,first off on the Lorry deck.You always spot these things in retrospect, but there was a huge area of grass and gravel down by the docks serving as a carpark,2 Euros for 24 hours, which would have done fine for no frills campervanning in Tallinn, and this would have allowed me to have spent the evening in the Old Town. For the extra 18 Euros per night that I paid I got toilets and a shower and a view of the yachts at the marina.

It was a miserable day to leave Tallinn, wet, grey and windy, which was a big contrast to yesterday's pleasant weather. The cruise ships from yesterday had all gone, but as we were leaving,two more appeared and docked .There were about 30 coaches waiting on the cruise dock ready to transport the occupants the half mile to the Old Town. I was never a fan of cruises, but if every stop you make is so swamped by your own and other cruise ships’ passengers, like the town was yesterday,then no port visit can ever be pleasurable.

Owing to my early start I was quite peckish when the ship's cafeteria opened and I availed myself of what was presumably either a full Finnish or a full Estonian.Either way,it was virtually identical to a full English,even down to the baked beans,except that instead of the fried bread there were cheese patty things.Interestingly, there was nothing else on offer, so I’m glad to see that we’re not the only nation who eat unhealthy breakfasts.

We landed in the heart of downtown Helsinki at 1030,but I wasn’t going to linger.As I drove out I could see that it is a ‘proper’ capital city with big buildings and big streets,like,say ,Vienna.I joined a motorway and headed 140km west towards Turku,which is a smaller city but once was itself the capital of Finland.This time I was definitely on a ‘proper’ motorway,and although the road ran through a lot of forest,it was undulating ,hilly and curving,with some tunnels;much more interesting driving than on the flat straight roads through the Baltic nations.

Turun Linna,Turku's castle

The impressive Tall Ship 'Suomen Joutsen'

The 'Karjala',a corvette,retired in 2002

Turku is Finland’s oldest city,dating from the 13th century.It is a moderate sized modern city now,I think with a population of only about 125,000.It has Finland’s leading Lutheran cathedral which towers above the river(roughly the width of the Liffy in Dublin,so not wide)where I could see there was a buzzing restaurant area with a whole line of floating restaurants.My stop came a couple of kilometres further on, down the river, in order to see Turku’s castle,Turun Linna. It’s a huge hulking structure,with the white painted walls more reminiscent of a Scottish distillery than a fortress.There are some renaissance era rooms,and a medieval section.Having looked at the pictures,I didn’t go in but instead headed 300 yards to its neighbour,the maritime museum(the Forum Marinarum).This was an impressive museum,and in my view better than the one in Tallinn.It is still a modern museum but doesn’t waste time with interactive hydrographic rubbish,but has a spanking collection of historic vessels,some afloat and smaller ones inside,and it has retained a fair few ship models! These were in particular abundance in the section devoted to the history of shipbuilding in Turku,which was impressive,and only closed down in the last decade.It reminded me of Bristol a bit,with the shipbuilding yards alongside a not too wide stretch of river,and the ship models of all vessels made in the yards,were similar to those that were in the Bristol maritime museum( until that was done away with by some idiot).But eventually the yards moved downstream and have turned out quite a few of the cruise liners that plague Tallinn and Venice.It was bought out by Kvaerner(Norwegian) and then acquired by a Korean company which has only recently shut it down .Reading about this,I smiled at the typical Finnish response:the first thing the company did when closure was announced was set up a psychological clinic to counsel everyone.

The Museum ships included the very impressive Tall Ship,the Suomen Joutsen,which had been acquired in 1920 by the Finnish merchant marine as a sail training ship.There was also a recently retired Corvette,and a Minesweeper,all to be clambered over.The museum had a restaurant that was doing lunch.It was a buffet and I had to enquire how the system worked as it wasnt obvious.It was an all-you-could-eat Smorgasbord,for a very reasonable price(for Scandinavian country) of about £20 paid in advance.I managed a big meal with several courses and tried an interesting collection of preserved fish(smoked, pickled ,etc. )and several meats.

My final destination ,and evening stop,was Naantali, just 14 km further west.Two ferry lines to Sweden depart from just next to the Forum Marinarum in Turku,but the one I’m taking goes from Naantali,which is up another arm of the creek.There is a convenient campsite very close to the ferry port, and it is on a steeply wooded slope which tumbles down to the creek, and is very attractively just out of eyeshot of the small but industrial-looking ferry terminal. This was the only campsite where I was asked, apparently as an afterthought when the white van was spied from the office window, whether It was officially registered as a campervan. Of course I could truthfully say yes !

Naantali is described in my guidebook as "a lovely seaside town".I wasn’t so sure that I was in the same place as I walked from the campsite into a modernist little town with a concrete square and a grid of modern blocks. The sight of an old church tower ahead inspired me to press on, however, and soon I had reached the very pleasant old part of the town,made of wooden buildings,leading down to a waterfront with jetties full of yachts, and restaurants bars,and cafes.This looks like a sailor’s paradise, with wide tree-lined creeks going in several directions,and wooden houses with jetties dotted along the shore.With all the historic wooden houses,this reminded me of the Bay of Islands in New Zealand.

Naantali

The waterfront,and church,Naantali

More wooden buildings in Naantali

the Moomins

What I hadn’t bargained for was Muumimaalma.This is a theme park on a small island, 200 metres off Naantali,reached by a long wooden bridge,and devoted to the Moomins,Finland’s major cartoon export.I have to say these creatures had passed me by but I must confess I did recognise a picture of them when I saw it. I would imagine British parents of small children will think me an idiot for not knowing who they were-but they are all here waiting for you when you visit Naantali !.

But the whole thing was low key, and didn't detract from the beauty of the setting ,and I couldn’t even see the car park which presumably must have been nearby.

Day 79 Tallinn

2/6/2015

Tallinn seems to have it all.To my mind it is the most attractive of the three Baltic capitals: it is also the one which looks(historic old town apart) most like a western European city.The central business district ,which begins where the old town ends, is full of modern glass fronted office buildings,and, although I think there are still some Soviet-era suburbs, they were not in evidence.

All three of the Baltic capitals are very different, and each have their attractions and interesting points: really, all should be seen as they all have different things to offer.

The other advantage for Tallinn’s position in my attractiveness stakes is that it’s directly on the sea, and has a busy port a few hundred metres from the Old Town. Historically, the trading this has allowed has made it successful: now this continues ,although some would say that it is also its downfall, because there are up to 6 cruise ships moored at any one time, and tourists swamp the Old Town. This must be good if you have a tourist-dependent business but unpleasant if you are a lone tourist. There were four of the things in the harbour when I arrived at 10am,and I would judge that the crowds were as busy as in Venice.The streets are wider,which improves the flow just a bit but in some streets it was impossible to get by as one tour group,each following its flag bearing leader ,passed another.

The roof tops of Tallinn's lower old Town,viewed from Toompea,the upper Old Town

Picture-postcard views wherever you turn

In terms of the historic points of interest,again,Tallinn pretty much has it all.It has a walled old town,with pointy roofs on the towers.Above the lower Old Town ,is the upper Old Town (Toompea),a separate citadel which has always been the base of the ruler at any given time, and where the Estonian parliament building is situated today.The Lower town apparently just got on with the business of trade and getting wealthy and was an important part of the Hanseatic league which controlled trade in Northern Europe roughly from the 13th to the 17th centuries.Pictures show quite a lot of damage to the old town during WW2 but it has all been restored now.There is an eclectic mixture of medieval merchants’ houses and Guild headquarters ,and some Baroque buildings mixed in, and now,having got my eye in while in Riga,I could spot even the occasional Art Nouveau building too.

I visited the town museum housed in a 14th century merchant's house: here there was depicted the interesting historical background regarding Tallinn’s emergence as an important trading city in the Hanseatic league,but ,like all museums in the Baltics, it also dwelt heavily on the Soviet takeover in 1940 ,the German invasion,and then the subsequent Soviet occupation lasting until independence in 1991.There was another “Museum of the Occupation” elsewhere in the town but I think I have got the idea by now and gave that one a miss.What I should have like to have visited was the KGB rooms in the Viru hotel.During the Soviet era this was the only hotel that foreigners were allowed to stay at ;It has had a thorough makeover and is a state of the art modern hotel now,but they have preserved as a museum the control centre which the KGB used to eavesdrop on all the rooms. Unfortunately this turned out to be a popular attraction and you need to book.

An Art Nouveau building has sneaked in among the medieval and baroque ones

Alexander Nevski Orthodox cathedral

By midday I found the crowds getting really unpleasant so I walked to the harbour front where there is a maritime Museum in an old seaplane hanger.It is a modern interactive museum where you can create tsunamis,fly seaplanes, redesign hulls and propellers etc,not really 'my type': however ,its centrepiece is the WW2 submarine “Lembit”,built in Barrow -in-Furness in 1936,one of two state-of-the art submarines Britain sold to Estonia, then an independent nation.It fell into Russian hands in 1940 and after an undistinguished career in the Russian navy, became a training boat.The information said that during the early days of the cold war it was considered useful to train on British equipment ,although of pre-war vintage. You can go aboard the sub and clamber through the compartments.

There was also the story of the Polish submarine Orzel,which ,after Germany invaded Poland,had put into the then neutral port of Tallinn.She was interned by the Estonian authorities but escaped,and managed to get to England(and continued the war from there);However ,The Russians accused the Estonians of aiding a belligerent power(even though Russia was not at war with Poland officially ,and claimed it had sunk a Russian ship.They used this as one of their pretexts for violating Estonian neutrality and taking over the country in 1939,before fully invading in 1940.

There were some historic boats moored at the quay too,which you can go aboard.This includes several near-obsolete minesweepers given to Estonia by the Germans in 1995 soon after independence and taken out of service 6 years later when,presumably,more up to date versions were available.Also there was the steam powered ice-breaker Suur Toll.Built in 1914,this was considered so necessary to keep the local sea lanes open in the winter that it only finished service in the Soviet navy in the 70’s.

I discovered some quiet little neighbourhoods between the Old Town and the docks, of historic wooden houses, I think dating from the 19th century.

The submarine "Lembit".No relation to the former Lib-Dem politician, but lauched in Barrow-in-Furness in 1936

Tallinn's defences against tourists are nothing like good enough.

The steam powered ice-breaker Suur Toll

several neighbourhoods of these 19th century wooden houses are close to the Old town

Returning to the old town at 3pm I found it much quieter: presumably the cruise tourists were mostly back in their ships. I visited St Nicholas’ church,a medieval building partially destroyed in WW2.It has been restored and is now a medieval religious art museum,and occasionally a concert hall.The star attraction here is the 15th century painting of a Danse Macabre,by Bernt Notke.Although only 10 metres of the original 30 metres survive,it is still interesting, showing a series of important and wealthy stereotypical people of the age,but every alternative figure is a dancing skeleton ,the message being death gets everyone,no matter your status.

The 15th century Danse Macabre in St Nicholas church,Tallinn

Day 78 Riga,Latvia to Tallinn,Estonia

1/6/2015

today's route ( 420 km )

We had some time free this morning before Julian’s flight home in the afternoon and decided to head out of Riga to see something different.

We drove 40km south west to Jelgava,which is Latvia’s fourth city.It is the historic capital ,or administrative centre,of Courland and was where the Dukes had their main,or Winter palace(The summer palace,Rundale,of course I had already visited).Like Rundale,Jelgava Palace was also designed by Rastelli,famous for the Winter Palace in St Petersburg.

Jelgava Palace

Baroque pewter coffins of the Dukes of Courland dynasty

Whereas Rundale had 'only' been seriously neglected and had needed heavy restoration to return it to its formed glory,Jelgava Palace had been firstly damaged by the Swedes in the Great Northern War,then in WWI damaged again, then looted by the Bolsheviks in 1919,and finally burnt down and nearly destroyed in WW2 ,when the city of Jelgava was absolutely flattened. Nonetheless it had been rebuilt and turned into the Latvian Agricultural University. Although the structure looks quite good (from the outside, anyway)it is in serious need of a fresh coat of paint.There was only a one room museum within, giving a bit of information, but visitors can also access the mausoleum crypt of the Dukes of Courland.This has been smashed up.looted ,and so on, several times through history,but the Baroque pewter coffins have now been restored by the Rundale team and there were 24 lined up.There was information about those entombed there,and perhaps morbidly,displays of burial clothes and coffin linings which had survived,some remarkably well.It wasn’t clear how may bodies were still in the coffins:it must have been a rather spooky and cold job for the girl who sat next to them issuing tickets. At 11-30 we were her first visitors of the day.

Jelgava is positioned in an attractive place on the banks of the river Lielupe(which later in its course runs past the coastal resort of Jurmala)There are water meadows with wild horses grazing:but the town itself,having been bombed out in the war is now mostly made of Soviet-era blocks and had become the “Experimental Bus factory" and turned out minibuses for the Soviet Union.Nonetheless,efforts were clearly in hand now to make it all more attractive.The tourist information centre was housed in a church tower,all that had survived of the building in WW2,and there was an observation gallery at the top and a local museum on several of the tower’s floors.

After dropping Julian at Riga airport I headed off for Tallinn.After taking 50 minutes getting through Riga,which has much bigger suburbs and modern shopping centres on the northern side,I took the main A1 road north .This is a single lane highway,running only half a mile from the Latvian coast,but through such interminable forest that I was only able to glimpse the sea for a couple of tantalising moments.The drive was 5 hours long in total,not helped by a 90 kph speed limit all the way.It was quite soporific as the road was nearly straight,and dead flat,with nothing to look at but forest and the lorry in front for about 90% of the way.

I am now parked up at Pirita marina,about 5km along the coast from Tallinn city centre.This was built as the home of the sailing for the 1980 Moscow Olympics.It is still an active marina and allows campervans to park for a fee.

Pirita marina,Tallinn :the view from the van tonight.

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