Latvia

We left Liepaja in the morning after a good breakfast and it was very cold outside so we wrapped up warm. Halfway to Riga we found a really nice spot for lunch and took it easy there for a good two hours to ensure we arrived in Riga when our host Igor had finished work.

Igor guided us to his parent's aparment (Alex and Jana) where we showered before heading out onto the town. Riga was very quiet, but we found a lively bar and sat down for a beer. A couple of Russian girls on another table bought us some nasty shots and that set us off down a road which ended a few hours later with Ed and the bouncer carrying me out to a cab home! Alex and Jana were very understanding and helpful and let us sleep it off today (day 59). We didn't emerge from our room until 16:30 . . .

Igor phoned and asked why we'd moved our bikes from the car park last night and got us extremely panicky as we hadn't moved them at all. We got ready to head over to the car park before he called back and said April Fool!

When we could brave the outdoors we went out for some food with Igor and his wife Lena at a great place with huge halls of food and a band playing. After that they dropped us off at a spa where we spent a couple of hours moving between jacuzzis, steam rooms, saunas and pools and emerged thoroughly relaxed and ready for bed again!

Perhaps this photo will make up for the April Fool - Igor in his more embarrasing long-haired days!

We had breakfast in a great cafe nextdoor to our hotel with good food, good music, comfy chairs and georgeous waitresses - perfect!

We set off from Kaliningrad and within the hour we had reached the coast again - the first time in just over a week and quite a relief to have made it across continental Europe without being stopped by weather on the way. The Baltic sea lived up to its name - it was freezing.

We took a road along the Corunian Spit or Korshkaya Kosa today which is a thin strip of land 100 km or so long but only 1000m or so wide and in places even less. It has some of the biggest sand dunes in Europe and lots of trees which sadly obstructed the view for most of the day!

Halfway along, Russia became Lithuania and the Russian border guards had a good chat with us about the Premiership (Chelsea and Pavulychenko popular) and after looking at the map of our route so far called us champions! We liked them!

The difference was immediate - the road surface was much better, the speed limit higher and the small towns more catering to passing hungry bikers! After a late lunch we took a sand track to the Baltic side for a great view and got slightly bogged down (photos to come) before enjoying the final 10 km or so to the tip of the spit. A short ferry across the 100m or so and we rode North.

Stopped in Liepaja for the night, a town famous for its Latvian rock and making a good impression immediately with a hotel called Liva (pronounced Leaver) and a stunning receptionist. I think 2 months on the road is beginning to take its toll!

161 miles today.