Young and brave. Open and friendly. Adorable! He stopped for a chat excited to see our "French plate", she joined us very soon after. French-Polish combo. Varenikes at night in a cosy Russian restaurant; lake and sunbathing the day after (including the appearance of an moose in the road!) ; davis cup and crepes, with dog Charly always around. Such a fresh moment; plenty of  ideas and ideals. "I changed country for love"! he said; "I have a Guinness Record for the longest hug- 25 hours", she said.... Funny and sweet. Thank you for the great moments, we will wait for you in Australia.... until next time!!!!

8 to 21 September
Poland

We finally decided to give Poland a fair go. We had been in the north but 3 days of continuous raining drove us off to Lithuania. Now, we entered from the east. Land of the biggest forest in Poland, Bialowieza National Park; home of the bison. Several walks and bike rides after, we still could not find any!! But another big adventure was waiting for us. Attracted by a big banner we entered a Nordic Walking National Championship! OMG, if we thought we were fit; after that walk we realised that we are not!! 10 km gruelling walking with ski poles through the forest was the trick. Of course, we could have opted for a 5 km but hey! we wanted to challenge ourselves.

The toss of the town, full on celebrity status. Armed with our Aussie tattoos we were welcomed by everybody! It was a great day starting with learning to walk with poles, the 10 km, the raffle we won, a steam train to the bushes and swamps, and to finish it off...party!! Dancing, signing, eating and a bonefire.
The next day, barely walking, with the bling around the neck we promptly checked in in a hotel and spent the afternoon in the sauna/spa!




A week in Warsaw,,,
Absolutely unexpected; and that is how we like it :)
In our minds, product of so many documentaries/movies about the war. was black and white; semi or fully destroyed; cold and grey. Well, Warsaw is nothing like that! The "old town" is fake, as this city was absolutely demolished during the war; so they built it up again "as if" and it is so well done that it looks like the real deal! What surprised us the most was the huge amount of cranes, new metro and tram lines, new bikes roads, lots of skyscrapers and the openness and freshness of all! We found the place very artistic, political, nostalgic and young. Big open spaces - a la Russia style- and a sense that we will not be able to recognise this place in 20 years time. It was a meaningful visit, feeling every bit the memory of my grandparents; a mix of wonder and sadness. The Jewish life that was totally erased, the scars of the ghettos and the
deportation "station"; all there, still raw.

August 25 to September 6
Latvia & Lithuania

We really didn't spend that much time in Latvia this time. It was sad but we found the east side to be very depressing.  I keep thinking if this is the case now, in summer (22 degrees and cloudy) what winter will look like (minus 35 degree!)...all we could see were mono blocks, very old shops (circa 60' but without flair) and a general feeling of abandonment... so we hurried up and crossed borders again to Lithuania.

Our first stop was Paluse National Park; but then it was not the only park....that pretty much sums up all our time in the Baltic countries.  We truly enjoyed so much the nature. We spend all the time looking and staying in the forest. It is a time to slow down, rest, run again, do BBQ, bushwalks, mountain bike, always a river or a lagoon somewhere...

A glorious bike ride on the forest, around the river with autumn colours around us

           Vilnius is such a cool city. Arty. It keeps reminding me of Budapest in smaller scale

The old city with a magnificent square, the cathedral, the gates, the churches, town hall, all the university buildings, the Jewish quarter. It was great to spend some days here after so many days in the bush, as I love the change of pace and the diversity of our trip.We rode along the river and visited the old KGB museum which is so scary and upsetting.

Arrived in Druskininkai in search of adventure and relaxation. We have heard about their fantastic water park with massive slides and their even more impressive spa resort area. And we were not disappointed! It took Hecti a few goes to erase the latest toboggan slide more than 20 year ago when under the wise advice of B (a teenager then) he dived head first, resulting in a shocking injury (and an emotional trauma!) But after a swim in the paradise pool with waves and  floating around the lazy river we were ready to tackle the slides! And it was a challenge! Starting from a 7 floor up, the longest (and crazy) slide. On the dark, with music and disco lights...sheer fear! After a few hours of laughing and trying here and there we rewarded ourselves with an all adults 20 saunas with treatments, swimming pools, spas , hamman and all the luxuries around! We love getting pampered and in every culture we found different rituals,,,,here the interesting one is to be in an extreme sauna and people hitting each other with a branch of oak with lots of  leaves to "open the pores and purify the skin"...it look very strange!

Ready for the next challenge! and a huge one it was! Such an incredible adventure!!!!! Three rope courses, 2.5 hours, at more than 15m high, 40 intense obstacles, more than 10 flying fox, no help and finishing with a massive 2 way flying fox crossing the river!!! Crazyyyyy.... we did it!!! So demanding, we felt exhausted after finishing and totally proud of ourselves...... and we had a massage at night just to loosen up the very tense body!....

Next, heading to Poland!! Bye, bye Baltic countries; it was a blast!

August 13 to 25
Estonia

And we are back! Reunited with our home, spent the next day chilling out. We said to each other "how the hell people do this for holidays"? meaning different hotels every night, schlepping from one place to another, always on the go. We really love our lifestyle, we made this life really possible for us! So, a great day biking to the city for a few hours browse and another few hours in the beach.

We visited Tallinn this time, and we were pleasantly surprised. The old town has so much charm! It is a very cool city and we liked it so much that we spent a few days there. We did a free guided walk with a funny guide that told us so much more about the people and the city, all cobblestone, while she showed us the major buildings. The square is so pretty and they have the best preserved medieval wall- dated 13 century.

Reached the eastern furthest point in Estonia, just on the border with Russia. Wherever we go there isn't much people here! it is summer, the peak of the season and yet the beaches are all empty. What we love the most here are all the national parks! But the absolutely best are all the facilities. Getting into the bush and we find picnic areas, tables with chairs; huge BBQ areas with wood ready to use; toilets; rubbish bins...amazing! People do come with their cars and tents and spend weekends on the park, on the edge of the river or a lake. We were near Mustvee on a lake of more than 100 km!

Tartu was a nice and easy going town. It is a university city, the second oldest in Estonia- buildings mid 13 century!. We got to do a very Estonian thing- Saturday night open air concert!!! This country is mad about signing and music and even though the signing or the music were not up there it was a very "local" thing to do!. Sunday then on the river, with its own sandy beach and at night drive to the bush for a great BBQ! (mostly pork over here...I am missing my t-bone steaks so much!!!)

We needed some help. Someone to explain. But then he also did it to us! In an extreme heat, on the sauna, he took in his hands the ritual of hitting (it is soft!) with oak leaves our bodies. And after sharing such an intimate moment we hurried up to dinner; starving by spending all day in saunas and spas! "...my grandfather had a spa in his house, as mostly everybody else does; I remember going there every weekend even with friends to enjoy; it is such a cultural thing....now that I am living in London- for the past 10 years- I come here as often as I can just to relieve those feelings again and again..."

Almost night, end of the road...as always looking for the coast to spend the night...and as often, we are getting tired and can't find a way out. A beautiful house on the corner, 3 white Siberian dogs and the owner who invite us to stay in her property. What a generous family! We were invited to "just home made smoke fish" for lunch. And yummy salads, and desert, and wine! "....my grandfather had this land before the war, he used to produce liquor just here and sell it, my father used to take me here on summer time... in soviet times my granddad was in prison and after so many years I had been able to reclaim this place....now all the family enjoy summers here". We were honoured to be their guests and thankful for the meal and the stories