With Motorcycle to NORDKAPP-Norway
Day-6 : 09 July 2016  Saturday
from Vilnius (Lithuania)>>>to Riga (Latvia) :-Total distance : 290 km

It was cloudy and a little bit wet outside. I went down to my motorcycle and connected the Arvento GPS route plotter. I checked whether the GSM and GPS connections are working well. It was OK. Usually I keep my track to be followed on the internet. And this little electronical device is tracking my motocycle on the map. Since it stopped to send data to the system heading Warshaw I cleaned it and installed again.

Then I went to the breakfast at the hotel. The breakfast is good and rich. At the breakfast I met three motocyclists from Ukraine. They are also travelling to Nordkapp. Vladimir is one of them with whom we spoke a little bit in front of the Hotel. They departed in a short time. Vladimir was saying that they would be going to head Tallinn. After the breakfast before going going up to my room I saw Vladimir and his friends departing from the hotel. I wished best luck to them and then I went to my room to prepare for the trip to Riga. I have less then 300 km s to do today and therefore I am not in hurry.

There was rain when I departed from the hotel around 09:30. I had my rain gear on.
I will never forget !! In the first 50 kms after leaving the hotel I lost my tripod. The rubber string is broken and my carbon fibre Gitzo tripod has fallen somewhere at the exit of Vilnius.
I couldn 't recognize it and it went away. 103 km to Riga I saw a fuel station and stopped for fuel and for a coffee break. The weather was nice and sunny. I took off my raingear and packed them again. Getting closer to Riga, the rising temperature was promising also for my stay in Riga. 

Entering the City Riga

I haven 't booked any hotel for Riga in advance. I crossed the Akmens Tilts Bridge and rode in direction to the Railroad Station. I searched some hotels in the downtown around the Station. I did tour a couple of times but then I turned back to the Avalon Hotel which I had seen on the main street heading to the Raiload Station entering the city.

Avalon Hotel has a modern architectural design and is at the south edge of the old town looking to the main road 13. Janvara Iela. There is also a closed private parking in the basement. The hotel is 70.-Euro for one night including breakfast. The receptionist gave me a penthouse room on the 6th floor looking to the old town.

After having shower and washing my daily t-shirts and socks I went down and used the back door of the hotel which took me directly to one of the streets of the old town. Walking to the centre of the old town I saw a lot of bars, restaurants and nice places to rest. House of Blackheads, Town Square, Museum of the History and Dome Cathedral are the buildings I saw during my first steps.

Place of the first Christmas Tree

House of  Blackheads

 taken from Wikipedia ...
"House of the Blackheads (Latvian: Melngalvju nams, German: Schwarzhäupterhaus) is a building situated in the old town of Riga, Latvia.^[1] The original building was erected during the first third of the 14th century for the Brotherhood of Blackheads, a guild for unmarried German merchants in Riga. Major works were done in the years 1580 and 1886, adding most of the ornamentations.
The structure was bombed to a ruin by the Germans June 28, 1941 and the remains demolished by the Soviets in 1948. The current reconstruction was erected from 1995 to 1999.^[2]

Like other Baltic countries, Latvia was under the occupation of Nazi Germans during the WW-2. And later the Soviets occupied Latvia and the people suffered a lot from their freedom between 1940 and 1991.

Little girl playing flute on the street

My Latvian Model

Latvian War Museum

The river Daugava has been a trade route since antiquity, part of the Vikings' Dvina-Dnieper navigation route to Byzantium. Riga is like a sheltered natural harbour at the ending of the river. I walked on the east bank of Daugava river in the south direction.

Partial capture from the Monument of Soviet Art

Huge market halls of Riga

Left over from the market place on July, 9th.

Last cherries in the market place.

On the top of the Technical Academy-Highest Building in Riga.

South view from the top of the technical Academy.

With Motorcycle to NORDKAPP-Norway
Day-5 : 08 July 2016  Friday
from Warshaw>>>to Vilnius (Lithuania) :-Total distance : 460 km

Warshaw is a big city. Someone needs minimum two or three days to get an idea about the city. As a side information. Warshaw airport is called "Chopin Airport". Sounds good. 

Doesn 't it. But I need to depart. I have taken my breakfast at the Hotel Karat. Today 's route is from Warshaw to Vilnius which is the capital of Lithuania. The weather is good. There is no.rain. I started to ride . The street, in front of the Hotel took me to the right and then I made a U-turn. In order to reach to the high way in direction to Vilnius I rode 10-15 kms. I headed Marki, Radzymin, Wyszkow, Lomza, Grajewo, Augustow Kanal and the border to Lithuania Ogrodniki. The road is offering nice view at both sides. Tall trees and forests are esential vegetation in the surrounding. There are also a lot of fields of wheat and corn. 

Café at the Augustow Lakes

When I saw a nice café at the right hand side just after the kanal -which is called "Augustow kanal"- I stopped for a coffee break. I took some pictures there. There are two lakes close to each other. Since the water level is different they had built a kind of dam with water locking system. One guy is regulating the passage of the boats from one side to the other side via a water locking mechanism. Manually-driven gates are regulating the water level at both sides.

Augustow Kanal

I continued to ride in direction to Alytus which is a Lithuanian city on the way to Vilnius. The roads are straight and paved well. Riding is easy. In some populated areas there are speed cameras. Drivers and riders must be careful. Finally I reached to my Hotel Europa City. It is just at the side of the main road and has only 400-500 meters distance to downtown. The hotel is for less then 50.-Euro incl. breakfast. Nice hotel with a free parking lot in front of it. 

After having a shower and resting a bit in the room I talked to my friend Nurhan from Istanbul and we decided to meet somewhere in the city. Occasionally he and his wife Claudia were also in Vilnius.

After walking on the main road (Gedimino Str.)for half an hour I found them in the traditional chocolate shop. On the way to the centre at the right hand side there is KGB Museum Building.

KGB Museum Building with the names of the murdered people during WW-2.

During the WW-2, Vilnius had been invaded by the Nazi Army. A lot of jewish people had been executed in this city in a very short time. 

Gedimino Street

Taken from Wikipedia :

Vilnius (Lithuanian pronunciation: [ˈvʲɪlʲnʲʊs] ( listen); Polish: Wilno, see also other names) is the capital of Lithuania and its largest city, with a population of 542,664 as of 2015.^[1] Vilnius is located in the southeast part of Lithuania and is the Polish city. Vilnius is the seat of the main government institutions of Lithuania as well as of the Vilnius District Municipality. Vilnius is classified as a Gamma global city according to GaWC studies, and is known for the architecture in its Old Town, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994. Its Jewish influence until the 20th century has led to it being described as the "Jerusalem of Lithuania" andNapoleon named it "the Jerusalem of the North" as he was passing through in 1812. In 2009, Vilnius was the European Capital of Culture, together with the Austrian city of Linz.

Gedimino Street

Famous Chocolate Shop and Café at the Pilies Street

Resim Cathedral

Cathedral Square 

There are a lot of fine restaurants in the city. Nurhan, his wife Claudia and me sat in a resataurant and had our dinner.

Gates of Dawn

Pilies Street

Cathedral Square

With Motorcycle to NORDKAP-Norway
Day-4 : 07 July 2016  Thursday
from Lviv (Ukraine)>>>to Warshaw :-Total distance : 392 km

I have got my breakfast at the Hotel around 08:30. The breakfast was poor but acceptable. The young girl was not able to speak english. It is cloudy and windy. The temperature is around 15-16deg C. After leaving the Leotel in L'viv, I followed the route to Northwest. I headed the border town Rova Ruska. It rode through the city into the countryside. I tried to reach to the border town. The roads are good. The weather was cloudy and windy. There are smooth up and downs. There are lots of orchards and agricultural grounds. As I came closer to the border I bought fuel. There was a little change office at the exit of the fuel station.  I bought a few Polnish Zloty against the Ukrainian money left in my pocket. I am watching the sky and trying to guess whether the rain will come. 
After a couple of km 's I came to the border. First there was a soldier and he gave a small piece of paper with my bike 's number. Getting out from Ukrain needs also some procedures. Nobody explains anything. I parked my bike at the end of the queue and 
followed an Ukrainian lady and did what she did at the counters with the documents. In one counter I took the stamped passport and in the next one I took the docs of the bike back.
10 minutes later one guy came and wanted to search the cases on my bike. What is the reason ? No sense ! What can I take away from Ukraine. I am riding out.

After being searched throughly I rode to the Polnish part. Polen is much more developed. The procedures are mostly like in The European Union. Things happen easily and smoothly. I passed through the Polnish border. After 10-15 km s the rain started. I stopped at a bus stop on the side of the road and put on my rain gear. The busstop was full of trash.
I continued to ride. The roads are good and paved well. I stopped for lunch break at a BP station just before the town Piaski (N51^07^53.60^ and E 22^52^26.27^). It is just adjacent to a high antenna pole on the left hand side. The restaurant was clean and good . The ladies were not able to speak English and German. But I managed the communication. Since the weather got clear and sunny I tried to get my rain gear dried. After the lunch, around 14:10 I rode away. And after a few km 's having passed around Piaski I took the high way. It is a new high way. I rode faster in direction to Lublin. After 20 minutes the route took me around Lublin and I headed Warshaw. 
Since I had already booked my Hotel on the internet I asked my garmin to get me to the Hotel Karat. My GPS instructed me to get out from the main road when there was around 16-18 kms left. As per the orders coming from my GPS I was riding in the suburbs of Warshaw. Through the clean and cute street etc. In general, Warshaw is a modern European city. Close to the city centre GPS put me on a wide street where I achieved a faster movement. In the city centre there was a hurry. I felt that there is a political meeting.
Finally, I learnt that during these days there was the meeting of NATO. There are lots of official cars with guards in the city. 
I arrived at Hotel Karat. ıt is located at Ul.Sloneczna 37  00789 Warshaw. The Hotel has got a nice front yard where I parked my bike safely. I have finished check-in and went to my room. Nice, big and comfortable room. Takes daylight from both sides. 
The building is old with modern architecture. Rooms are good but not furnished well. I am going to pay 46.-USD incl. breakfast. More then enough !!
After having a shower I went out and started to walk to the centre. Hotel Karat is only 2 kms away from the city centre. I came to the Pl.Unii Lubelskiej and then took the street Marszakowska. There are old looking buildings at both sides of the street.  

A few minutes later I came to the Pl. Zbawiciela where there are 6 roads which are merging.
The main building, there, is the Saviour 's Church.

Right at the corner where Konstytucji and Kosykowa Street are crossing each other I saw a 

girl and the breeze was blowing nicely her skirt.

I walked a little bit further to the Palace of Culture. It is very big place here. The tall buildings are also well seen within the downtown. There are lots of official cars and guards in dark suits. I am sure that the diplomatics who are in Warshaw for the NATO Convention are now returning to their hotels. I walked through the streets in the downtown.

Just for remembering the WW-2 Warshaw had been attacked by Germans' bombers and the people had lost and sufferde a lot. 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bombing of Warsaw
Part of the Invasion of Poland
An aerial view of Warsaw burning, September 1939
Date 1 September 1939 - 27 September 1939 Location Warsaw, Poland Result Surrender of Warsaw
Belligerents
Poland	Germany
Commanders and leaders
	Wolfram von Richthofen
Units involved
Polish Air Force Polish Army anti-aircraft artillery units	Luftwaffe
Casualties and losses
20,000 - 25,000 [1][2]	2 Ju-52 bombers lost

The Bombing of Warsaw in World War II refers to the bombing campaign of Warsaw by the German Luftwaffe during the siege of Warsaw in the Invasion of Poland in 1939. It also may refer to German bombing raids during the Warsaw Uprising in 1944. During the course of the war approximately 84% of the city was destroyed due to German and Soviet mass bombings, heavy artillery fire and a planned demolitioncampaign.^[3]

Most probably all these new buldings are constructed despite of the demolished buildings.

Modern part of the City Warshaw

Transition from Soviet to European Union

Modern part of the city also comprises old Soviet blocks

Shopping Mall in Warshaw

Technical University

For dinner I went to the Polska Rozana on the Chocimska Street 7. The ambiance and the service is phantastic there . It is not cheap but good experience with exclusive meal.