Day 36 Latvia

A lovely sunny ride through the far north of Lithuania and it's politically correct road work signs (check the selfie blog!). And then over a little bridge, past the closed border check point and into Latvia, and an immediate drop in road quality. After bumping along for a few hours I make it to Daugavpils. Here I notice that much of the Soviet era monuments remain. A large Great Patriotic War memorial sits in the middle of the central park. A large monument to the 1919 Revolution sits on the edge of town.

Day 35

Utena. Utena Lithuania. In the rain. Perhaps the Lithuanian Morrissey sang about this place.I stay in a hotel, tucked away on the edge of town next to the industrial estate. I went for dinner and watched drunk lads in their late teens early twenties shout at waitresses. I took this photo tho, Utena looks quite pretty from here.

Day 34

I bumped into someone today. A prize for anyone who guesses who.

 I have never seen so many people getting married as today. It seems that the entire city has fallen in love and wants to tie the knot. Today was a good day. Lots of pottering and sight seeing. Villnius to me feels very slightly like a cross between Warsaw and Lisbon. Although in the centre and old town it seems that all traces of it's communist past are now gone. Until that is one climbs the tree covered hill that leads to the TV Tower. There it is a different story and communist era tower blocks, subways and graffiti abound. It could almost be another city, the old town that foreigners see and the rest of Villnius that is hiding behind a hill.

Day 33

Heavy rain crazy rain today. And cold. I pottered around the city, called in on the genocide museum. Utterly shocking an utterly horrible. It has the names etched on the walls outside of those killed inside. First used by the Soviets, then the Nazis and then the Soviets again until 1991. The sickening ideas inside to try and force information from people is a wonder. Ideas so horrible but often they worked. One particularly nice "room" featured a small metal disc raised about half a meter from the floor. Under the disc the "room" would be full of water. Nice and cold. Especially in the Baltic winter. Prisoners would then be thrown in naked and left, with nowhere to go but to crouch on the little metal disc.

Whilst walking around Villnius I have noticed a massive mount of E.U. and N.A.T.O. flags. I feel there is a certain element of "Fuck off Russia" in the display. Perhaps I am cynical but after visiting all three Baltic states I have noticed a definite desire to publish and broadcast the happenings of "Soviet Occupation" as it is described in the three recently independent nations.

Day 32

Lazy day, nothing day. Days are often like this after riding for a few days. Motivation to explore is minimal, desire to rest and eat is at a maximum. I rested, ate and cleaned the bike.

Day 31

I found out why town was so quiet last night, I gained an hour crossing from Poland without knowing, hence it was an hour later than I thought!

Well I've made it to Villnius! I took the wrong road out of Alytus which I think turned out to be a blessing. The route may have been longer but the road was quiet. Everything was fine until I got to the edge of Villnius when all roads turn into superbusysuperfast nightmares if you are on a bike and one ends up bombing down dual carriadge ways with lorries screaming past at a rate of knots. But thankfully Vilnius is fairly small so the chaos did not last so long.  Vilnius reminds me somewhat of Warsaw, with its old town in the centre where restaurants, museums and hostels are congretgated. I arrive in the early evening so afetr booking in I eat, then sleep.

Day 30. Lithunia.

Another massive day. Northern Poland close to the Lithuanian border is loverly. Somewhere I'd like to return to with friends. It is full of little villages, lakes, rivers and cabins for hire. The main town on Augustow is very nice. Lots of cafes and a big forested park in the center. A great area to visit if you like outdoor sports, swimming or just lazing on the lakeside.

The Lithuanian border was interesting. Now every quiet due to Schengen but the old facilities remain, now gathering dust. The quiet road to the former Soviet Union border gathers extra lanes once used by truckers queueing to cross. Buildings remain idle that once contained guards wearing peaked caps. Now just a lone Lithuanian police car, petrol station, money changer hut and broken glass liberally strewn over the now superfluous lanes and obligitory border markers remain.

I reached Alytus in southern Lithuania. Found a hotel and went for a wander to try and find a restaurant. Everything is strangely and curiously closing. I find a sandwich at an off license and sit in a suare and people watch.