Wednesday 28 April 2010
the final day of the trip....
Tuesday morning: not such an early rise was great! but very strange knowing that we didnt need to pack everything up in the car and get going!
we had a leisurely morning; had some breakfast and went to the supermarket to stock up on the yummy pastries we had found.
Taxi was booked for 11.30am and the airport was about 25mins & 10 Lats away (£14 ish). we had been warned that Ryanair had sold about 240 seats for our flight, and there was only 189 seats on the plane so we wanted to get there in plenty of time. Our flight wasnt until 3pm so we had 3 hours to kill in the airport. Strangely that time passed quite quickly and we were getting on the plane to head home.
Turns out our flight wasnt even full, so we managed to get 6 seats between the 4 of us so that was good.
Flight was fantastic, although i was so doped up on Kalms that i slept most of the way. It was good weather for flying, not many bumps at all.
We landed back in Prestwick 10 minutes early and were greeted with a big hug & smile from Ian (Malcolm's dad) who had come to pick us up.
Meghan headed for the Train and Ellis was waiting for his mum to collect him.
Said a quick hi to Emma in the tartan shop in the airport but couldnt hang about because Ian had already paid the car park.
Once we were home the trip instantly seemed so long ago! Its all a bit of a blur because we did so much! trying to remember what we did and where we stayed each day gets a little confusing!
But we have the blog which hopefully keeps everything in order and we had loads and loads of pictures, and a few videos!!
we had a leisurely morning; had some breakfast and went to the supermarket to stock up on the yummy pastries we had found.
Taxi was booked for 11.30am and the airport was about 25mins & 10 Lats away (£14 ish). we had been warned that Ryanair had sold about 240 seats for our flight, and there was only 189 seats on the plane so we wanted to get there in plenty of time. Our flight wasnt until 3pm so we had 3 hours to kill in the airport. Strangely that time passed quite quickly and we were getting on the plane to head home.
Turns out our flight wasnt even full, so we managed to get 6 seats between the 4 of us so that was good.
Flight was fantastic, although i was so doped up on Kalms that i slept most of the way. It was good weather for flying, not many bumps at all.
We landed back in Prestwick 10 minutes early and were greeted with a big hug & smile from Ian (Malcolm's dad) who had come to pick us up.
Meghan headed for the Train and Ellis was waiting for his mum to collect him.
Said a quick hi to Emma in the tartan shop in the airport but couldnt hang about because Ian had already paid the car park.
Once we were home the trip instantly seemed so long ago! Its all a bit of a blur because we did so much! trying to remember what we did and where we stayed each day gets a little confusing!
But we have the blog which hopefully keeps everything in order and we had loads and loads of pictures, and a few videos!!
Tuesday 27 April 2010
Leaving Tallinn.....Arriving at Riga
The morning was a little bit chaotic. Our bus was leaving Tallinn Coach Station at 10am so we had quite a lot to do: Rooms had to be packed up, the car had to be taken to the drop off point & handed over, bus tickets needed to be printed and we still had to get to the station.
Ellis had to be woken up, there was no way he would have gotten up on his own. It has to be handed to him, he got up and was ready for taking the car. Turns out the Athena Hotel (the place where the cars had to be dropped for the charity) wasnt just 5 minutes away as we were lead to believe!!! it was actually a 20 minute drive away from the town centre.
This meant that megs and i had to pack up the rooms and get everything to the bus station to meet the boys! was a little stressful i have to say! meghan had to pack up all her things and ellis' stuff. I think they had unpacked absolutely everything in their bags so it was a bit mad trying to shove everything into bags.
The taxi arrived for us at 9.20, so we had to relay up and down the car park several times to get everyones bags, jackets and sleeping bags!!! there was no longer a car to just chuck everything into!
it was about a 20 minute drive to the bus station, so we got there in plenty of time to buy water etc for the 4 and a half hour journey to Riga.
I cannot fill you in on how the journey was because I slept pretty much the whole way! I woke up when the driver stopped for a coffee and then I woke up about half an hour before we arrived!
Latvia isn't really the underdeveloped country that i assumed it was! on the outskirts of the city there were some beautiful homes, old and new. Some fantastic modern & contemporary designs!!!
Riga itself was a huge mix of traditional Russian style architecture and real cutting edge contemporary buildings. We were only there long enough to explore a very small part of the city.
We stayed at Old Riga Palace Hotel which was a lovely place. nice big rooms. ours had a balcony which was really nice as well and it was down a dead end road so no passing traffic.
After getting showers and changed we decided to go for a wander about the area we were staying and get some dinner. Everyone was so wasted that it was never going to be a late night!
We opted for Italian and it was delicious, although so full of garlic that i think come the weekend we might just be rid of the smell! haha! After dinner we stopped at another bar for a cocktail but everyone was so wiped out that we headed back to the hotel for an early night and a bit of a long lie before flying home.
Checking the time when we all went to bed it was about 9.30pm (this makes it 7.30pm uk time). We didnt care because all we could think about was sleeping.........
Ellis had to be woken up, there was no way he would have gotten up on his own. It has to be handed to him, he got up and was ready for taking the car. Turns out the Athena Hotel (the place where the cars had to be dropped for the charity) wasnt just 5 minutes away as we were lead to believe!!! it was actually a 20 minute drive away from the town centre.
This meant that megs and i had to pack up the rooms and get everything to the bus station to meet the boys! was a little stressful i have to say! meghan had to pack up all her things and ellis' stuff. I think they had unpacked absolutely everything in their bags so it was a bit mad trying to shove everything into bags.
The taxi arrived for us at 9.20, so we had to relay up and down the car park several times to get everyones bags, jackets and sleeping bags!!! there was no longer a car to just chuck everything into!
it was about a 20 minute drive to the bus station, so we got there in plenty of time to buy water etc for the 4 and a half hour journey to Riga.
I cannot fill you in on how the journey was because I slept pretty much the whole way! I woke up when the driver stopped for a coffee and then I woke up about half an hour before we arrived!
Latvia isn't really the underdeveloped country that i assumed it was! on the outskirts of the city there were some beautiful homes, old and new. Some fantastic modern & contemporary designs!!!
Riga itself was a huge mix of traditional Russian style architecture and real cutting edge contemporary buildings. We were only there long enough to explore a very small part of the city.
We stayed at Old Riga Palace Hotel which was a lovely place. nice big rooms. ours had a balcony which was really nice as well and it was down a dead end road so no passing traffic.
After getting showers and changed we decided to go for a wander about the area we were staying and get some dinner. Everyone was so wasted that it was never going to be a late night!
We opted for Italian and it was delicious, although so full of garlic that i think come the weekend we might just be rid of the smell! haha! After dinner we stopped at another bar for a cocktail but everyone was so wiped out that we headed back to the hotel for an early night and a bit of a long lie before flying home.
Checking the time when we all went to bed it was about 9.30pm (this makes it 7.30pm uk time). We didnt care because all we could think about was sleeping.........
our evening in Tallinn
Malcolm took Jill & Tim to the airport late afternoon. They wanted to be there in plenty of time for their flight.
Once he had returned we all decided to have a bit of a nap! its funny how sitting in the car for so many consecutive days really takes it out of you!!
Malcolm & I woke up first, as usual, and buzzed the other room to tell them to wake up. Turns out they never went to sleep and had opened the Bar Mercedes instead! By the time we got to their room there had been a fair amount of alcohol consumed, ranging from Gin to Jack Daniels! We decided to go out to a traditional pub (somewhere Ellis had been on a previous trip to Tallinn) for some of their own brewed honey beer. Sounded like a good way to start winding down for coming home.
Meghan had decided she was going to climb onto the roof of the arctic crusader, which had been left in our possession. There is photographic proof of this which i am sure will be emailed to Jill & Tim at some point! haha!!
5 minutes walk and we arrived at the beer haus, ready for our honey beer. It came in MASSIVE tankards!!! they were so big it was hard to lift them off thet able! The beer started off quite nice as it was chilled but by the time we got half way through it was losing its appeal!!!
The Tartan Eagles joined for a quick drink before they caught their night bus and once they had left the evening descended into a bit of madness!!!
Meghan was carried out of the pub by Ellis (for a laugh) and some english bloke made comment about her not being able to handle her drink! ha! she could probably have drunk him under the table!!!
It seemed to take a long time to walk back to the hotel. Ellis had decided that in his drunken state it would be a great idea to carry meghan on his shoulders down the cobbled streets!!! he kept pausing now and again before spinning her round and round and round! made you feel dizzy just watching!!
At one point they were so dizzy they actually fell to the ground! there is again photographic evidence of them lying on the ground in the middle of the street, and a video, which will be uploaded very soon!!!
It was then the turn of ellis to try and climb onto meghan's back, that lasted about half a second before they fell to the floor again!
One last attempt was made by Ellis to be carried home. He decided Malcolm would be his next victim and promptly launched himself onto Malcolm's back! Again this lasted about half a second because they went crashing to the ground, again!!!
By the time we got back to the hotel they were in such an insane mood that the night was most definitely NOT over!!!
Meghan couldnt find her toothpaste so she decided to run along the floor where our room was with her keycard trying to open all the doors! clearly she was unsuccessful in trying to get into our room this way and eventually found malcolm in a corridor. Ellis decided to act 12 years old again and came running up to our room, knocked the door and ran away!!!!
Once all that madness seemed to die off Malcolm was then to receive messages about them going to the discotheque!!! This never happened because they actually had passed out in their beds!!!
another good sleep in a nice hotel........
Once he had returned we all decided to have a bit of a nap! its funny how sitting in the car for so many consecutive days really takes it out of you!!
Malcolm & I woke up first, as usual, and buzzed the other room to tell them to wake up. Turns out they never went to sleep and had opened the Bar Mercedes instead! By the time we got to their room there had been a fair amount of alcohol consumed, ranging from Gin to Jack Daniels! We decided to go out to a traditional pub (somewhere Ellis had been on a previous trip to Tallinn) for some of their own brewed honey beer. Sounded like a good way to start winding down for coming home.
Meghan had decided she was going to climb onto the roof of the arctic crusader, which had been left in our possession. There is photographic proof of this which i am sure will be emailed to Jill & Tim at some point! haha!!
5 minutes walk and we arrived at the beer haus, ready for our honey beer. It came in MASSIVE tankards!!! they were so big it was hard to lift them off thet able! The beer started off quite nice as it was chilled but by the time we got half way through it was losing its appeal!!!
The Tartan Eagles joined for a quick drink before they caught their night bus and once they had left the evening descended into a bit of madness!!!
Meghan was carried out of the pub by Ellis (for a laugh) and some english bloke made comment about her not being able to handle her drink! ha! she could probably have drunk him under the table!!!
It seemed to take a long time to walk back to the hotel. Ellis had decided that in his drunken state it would be a great idea to carry meghan on his shoulders down the cobbled streets!!! he kept pausing now and again before spinning her round and round and round! made you feel dizzy just watching!!
At one point they were so dizzy they actually fell to the ground! there is again photographic evidence of them lying on the ground in the middle of the street, and a video, which will be uploaded very soon!!!
It was then the turn of ellis to try and climb onto meghan's back, that lasted about half a second before they fell to the floor again!
One last attempt was made by Ellis to be carried home. He decided Malcolm would be his next victim and promptly launched himself onto Malcolm's back! Again this lasted about half a second because they went crashing to the ground, again!!!
By the time we got back to the hotel they were in such an insane mood that the night was most definitely NOT over!!!
Meghan couldnt find her toothpaste so she decided to run along the floor where our room was with her keycard trying to open all the doors! clearly she was unsuccessful in trying to get into our room this way and eventually found malcolm in a corridor. Ellis decided to act 12 years old again and came running up to our room, knocked the door and ran away!!!!
Once all that madness seemed to die off Malcolm was then to receive messages about them going to the discotheque!!! This never happened because they actually had passed out in their beds!!!
another good sleep in a nice hotel........
Sunday 25 April 2010
Tallinn......the finish line!
We have made it to Tallinn!!! what a lovely city! i would definitely not mind coming back here!
once off the ferry the hotel bern was about 1 mile away and about another 0.5 miles away is the very centre of the city!!! everything was so close!
we spent the afternoon with Jill & Tim, who drove the arctic cruiser, looking for somewhere to eat. We stopped in a main square and found somewhere nice in the sunshine so we sat down. we looked at the menu for about 10 minutes then legged it! there was nothing we wanted and it seemed very expensive (about the same prices as in glasgow!!! haha!!!). decided that going off the main square was a much better idea, correct! we went to this little traditional estonian place and ordered soooo much food!!!
We ordered 1 of each of all of the starters, then we all had a main course which was MASSIVE and all had drinks. Total Cost: £36!!! yaasssss!!!
just wandered round the city a bit afterwards. Jill & Tim are catching a flight this evening to get home so Malcolm is driving them to the airport as i am typing this. everything is so close by, the airport is only 3 miles away!
They have left their car with us to drive to the drop off point tomorow. Fingers crossed the whole dealing with the car stuff is dealt with efficiently so we can get a bus to Riga in the afternoon and spend some time there before flying home on tuesday afternoon.
Waiting on hearing back from the Tartan Eagles (Laura & John) about their car as well. they are flying tomorrow morning from Riga so they need to be on the midnight bus tonight to get there!
so we have 1 more country to get under our belts before home!! its so exciting visting so many places. it would be good to get to spend a little more time in the towns we ended up in!
next year there is talk of a rally to monte carlo, and convertibles etc. we really fancy that one, but a lot of saving will need to be done to even be able to consider it!!!
once off the ferry the hotel bern was about 1 mile away and about another 0.5 miles away is the very centre of the city!!! everything was so close!
we spent the afternoon with Jill & Tim, who drove the arctic cruiser, looking for somewhere to eat. We stopped in a main square and found somewhere nice in the sunshine so we sat down. we looked at the menu for about 10 minutes then legged it! there was nothing we wanted and it seemed very expensive (about the same prices as in glasgow!!! haha!!!). decided that going off the main square was a much better idea, correct! we went to this little traditional estonian place and ordered soooo much food!!!
We ordered 1 of each of all of the starters, then we all had a main course which was MASSIVE and all had drinks. Total Cost: £36!!! yaasssss!!!
just wandered round the city a bit afterwards. Jill & Tim are catching a flight this evening to get home so Malcolm is driving them to the airport as i am typing this. everything is so close by, the airport is only 3 miles away!
They have left their car with us to drive to the drop off point tomorow. Fingers crossed the whole dealing with the car stuff is dealt with efficiently so we can get a bus to Riga in the afternoon and spend some time there before flying home on tuesday afternoon.
Waiting on hearing back from the Tartan Eagles (Laura & John) about their car as well. they are flying tomorrow morning from Riga so they need to be on the midnight bus tonight to get there!
so we have 1 more country to get under our belts before home!! its so exciting visting so many places. it would be good to get to spend a little more time in the towns we ended up in!
next year there is talk of a rally to monte carlo, and convertibles etc. we really fancy that one, but a lot of saving will need to be done to even be able to consider it!!!
ahoy....!
we are now half way across to estonia!!! almost at our final destination for the car!
this morning we left sharp for the ferry and joined the queue in plenty of time for megs to open the wine & ellis finish off the vodka from last night! there is a 2 hour time difference in finland so although it was 10.30am where we were it was actually 8.30am and they were back on the booze!
the bar will be closing for business soon, there are only a few beers and a couple of bottles of spirits left now!
ferry crossing is lovely and smooth. we have met up with the drivers of the arctic cruiser. what a laugh!!!
should be arriving in about half an hour in estonia! another day another country!
staying at the hotel bern tonight (again managed to get it cheap so result!)
looking forward to some cheap shopping and eating like kings now we are in the eastern block!!!
woo!
this morning we left sharp for the ferry and joined the queue in plenty of time for megs to open the wine & ellis finish off the vodka from last night! there is a 2 hour time difference in finland so although it was 10.30am where we were it was actually 8.30am and they were back on the booze!
the bar will be closing for business soon, there are only a few beers and a couple of bottles of spirits left now!
ferry crossing is lovely and smooth. we have met up with the drivers of the arctic cruiser. what a laugh!!!
should be arriving in about half an hour in estonia! another day another country!
staying at the hotel bern tonight (again managed to get it cheap so result!)
looking forward to some cheap shopping and eating like kings now we are in the eastern block!!!
woo!
Saturday 24 April 2010
the final long drive
well we have made it to helsinki!!! and back enroute with the other rally-ers!
yesterday morning it was yet another early start as we had about an 11 hour drive ahead of us!
We managed to get up in time for breakfast at the hotel in Lulea before heading off.
Ellis & Megs had stayed up drinking (again) so they had had a really late one! 5 minutes into the car and they were out of it!!!
I also fell asleep so malcolm was having to drive with everyone out cold!
It didnt take long to get to the Finland border, which was exciting! but the drive through Finland was pretty dull! All you could see either side of the road was trees, and the weather was pretty dull!!!
I suppose you could go as far as saying some people got cabin fever and started making up the most inventive stories about who owned finland and the puppet royal family etc etc. oh and the paper making production process.......don't ask!
Ellis took over for a while in the afternoon giving malcolm a chance to close his eyes, albeit only for a wee while.
Another city under our belts!!!
Helsinki is nice. We managed to find a really nice hotel again for similar price to the hostels!!! why stay somewhere not very nice when you can get a little bit of luxury for the same money???
As soon as we got here it was shower, changed and go out for a drink. We though it would be nice to make a point of meeting the rally people that had kept in touch.
Turns out many of them got fined in Norway, kind of glad we werent with them!!! some 560 Euros, 850 euros and even one woman got fined 1000 euros!!
the norwegian police were not up for a rally in their country and as it turns out the truck drivers were radio-ing ahead to warn the police!!!
people got done for speeding and dangerous driving!! one person even got a 6 month ban in norway and their driving license was sent back to the uk.
it was good to put faces to names but ended up being pretty late again!!
Finland is 2 hours ahead of the uk, so we havent really gained a wee bit of extra sleep!!
Today's task is get to the ferry for 10.30 to check in and its an 11am sailing over to Estonia and our final rally destination!! the crossing will get us over there for about 2pm so it means an afternoon in Tallinn which will be nice!
weather is much more mild here so the thermals and ski suits have now been packed away!!!
yesterday morning it was yet another early start as we had about an 11 hour drive ahead of us!
We managed to get up in time for breakfast at the hotel in Lulea before heading off.
Ellis & Megs had stayed up drinking (again) so they had had a really late one! 5 minutes into the car and they were out of it!!!
I also fell asleep so malcolm was having to drive with everyone out cold!
It didnt take long to get to the Finland border, which was exciting! but the drive through Finland was pretty dull! All you could see either side of the road was trees, and the weather was pretty dull!!!
I suppose you could go as far as saying some people got cabin fever and started making up the most inventive stories about who owned finland and the puppet royal family etc etc. oh and the paper making production process.......don't ask!
Ellis took over for a while in the afternoon giving malcolm a chance to close his eyes, albeit only for a wee while.
Another city under our belts!!!
Helsinki is nice. We managed to find a really nice hotel again for similar price to the hostels!!! why stay somewhere not very nice when you can get a little bit of luxury for the same money???
As soon as we got here it was shower, changed and go out for a drink. We though it would be nice to make a point of meeting the rally people that had kept in touch.
Turns out many of them got fined in Norway, kind of glad we werent with them!!! some 560 Euros, 850 euros and even one woman got fined 1000 euros!!
the norwegian police were not up for a rally in their country and as it turns out the truck drivers were radio-ing ahead to warn the police!!!
people got done for speeding and dangerous driving!! one person even got a 6 month ban in norway and their driving license was sent back to the uk.
it was good to put faces to names but ended up being pretty late again!!
Finland is 2 hours ahead of the uk, so we havent really gained a wee bit of extra sleep!!
Today's task is get to the ferry for 10.30 to check in and its an 11am sailing over to Estonia and our final rally destination!! the crossing will get us over there for about 2pm so it means an afternoon in Tallinn which will be nice!
weather is much more mild here so the thermals and ski suits have now been packed away!!!
Friday 23 April 2010
the long drive!
we arrived last night in Tronheim and stayed in a lovely wee log cabin at Vikhamar Camping. It was very cosy!! we made some lovely tinned spag bol for dinner, nutritious!
oh, and we all got to make use of our sleeping bags, and the bedrooms were bunk beds. once in the top bunk it seems to be very high to get down from!!!
It was a very early start this morning! we were up at 6.30am and were away from the cabin at about 7.30am. it was pretty cold!!!
The journey was long but some seriously beautiful scenery was to be taken in! Norway is honestly a breathtaking country.
Maria, our sat nav, took us way off the motorway today and we headed in land from some REAL rally driving!!!! one of the roads was just a dirt track that was covered in ice and covered over again in mud!!! There were such big dips & humps to go over that megs & ellis in the back came off their seat!!!! was very very funny!
We took a break when we were away up the mountains. The roads were totally cleared but there was soooo much snow we had to get our ski gear on and get in there!
there are some videos of us sliding down the hills & pictures of the gorgeous scenery. These will be uploaded soon (the files are too big to upload just now so the pics need re-sizing).
Lots of cross country driving today! through little villages and past some massive lakes that were completely frozen over!!!!
For lunch we decided to have a BBQ by a frozen lake. We found and area that was sign posted for a swimming area (clearly used in the summer) so we decided to go there and get the coals lit! we had bought some hot dogs last night at the supermarket so it was BBQ's hot dogs on nice granary bread for lunch!
The lakes are amazing! seeing how they are used for cars & snow mobiles crossing rather than people using the roads is interesting. But Ellis though he would be smart and go walking out there! close to the edge he stood on some thin ice and it started cracking ..........
YES HE WENT THROUGH THE ICE! it was only ankle deep but i can imagine that it was unbelievably cold!!!
Malcolm did almost all the driving today (he has driven every day since we arrived), but let ellis take over with about 2 hours to our destination so that Bar Mercedes could be opened in the back seat.
Arrived in Lulea before it got dark which was nice. Booked into a lovely hotel called, Elite Stadshotellet. Its just on the outskirts of town and the rooms are really lovely!!! Ellis & Meghan have ended up with a suite!!! they have a living room area in their room!!!!
Decided that for the first time we would go and have a proper dinner tonight. We have been living off of Meghan's sandwich shop, crisps, confectionery & coca cola!!! healthy!!!
So we took a walk down the high st but in Sweden everyone must eat early or something because the kitchens were closed in any of the restaurants we tried! so we went to the trusty MAXX BURGER!
We discovered Maxx Burger in Stockholm last year and for a fast food joint its pretty tasty!
Meghan was sooooo looking forward to a Maxx Burger, Ellis too! they have a view of Maxx Burger at the lake from their hotel rooom!!
We have now transported some of Bar Mercedes up to the suite and are planning tomorrow's trip!!!
looks like another 11 hour drive tomorrow so i think we need to be leaving pretty sharp! BUT this hotel includes breakfast so i think we are going to stuff ourselves before setting off!!!
Helsinki is where we will meet up with the rest of they rally-ers hopefully! we have been about 3 days behind so been trying to get to a point where we see them before its over!!!
At the moment we have done about 3000 miles!!!!! eek!! The car is fantastic, almost to the point that we will be sad to see it go when we get to Tallinn!!!
oh, and we all got to make use of our sleeping bags, and the bedrooms were bunk beds. once in the top bunk it seems to be very high to get down from!!!
It was a very early start this morning! we were up at 6.30am and were away from the cabin at about 7.30am. it was pretty cold!!!
The journey was long but some seriously beautiful scenery was to be taken in! Norway is honestly a breathtaking country.
Maria, our sat nav, took us way off the motorway today and we headed in land from some REAL rally driving!!!! one of the roads was just a dirt track that was covered in ice and covered over again in mud!!! There were such big dips & humps to go over that megs & ellis in the back came off their seat!!!! was very very funny!
We took a break when we were away up the mountains. The roads were totally cleared but there was soooo much snow we had to get our ski gear on and get in there!
there are some videos of us sliding down the hills & pictures of the gorgeous scenery. These will be uploaded soon (the files are too big to upload just now so the pics need re-sizing).
Lots of cross country driving today! through little villages and past some massive lakes that were completely frozen over!!!!
For lunch we decided to have a BBQ by a frozen lake. We found and area that was sign posted for a swimming area (clearly used in the summer) so we decided to go there and get the coals lit! we had bought some hot dogs last night at the supermarket so it was BBQ's hot dogs on nice granary bread for lunch!
The lakes are amazing! seeing how they are used for cars & snow mobiles crossing rather than people using the roads is interesting. But Ellis though he would be smart and go walking out there! close to the edge he stood on some thin ice and it started cracking ..........
YES HE WENT THROUGH THE ICE! it was only ankle deep but i can imagine that it was unbelievably cold!!!
Malcolm did almost all the driving today (he has driven every day since we arrived), but let ellis take over with about 2 hours to our destination so that Bar Mercedes could be opened in the back seat.
Arrived in Lulea before it got dark which was nice. Booked into a lovely hotel called, Elite Stadshotellet. Its just on the outskirts of town and the rooms are really lovely!!! Ellis & Meghan have ended up with a suite!!! they have a living room area in their room!!!!
Decided that for the first time we would go and have a proper dinner tonight. We have been living off of Meghan's sandwich shop, crisps, confectionery & coca cola!!! healthy!!!
So we took a walk down the high st but in Sweden everyone must eat early or something because the kitchens were closed in any of the restaurants we tried! so we went to the trusty MAXX BURGER!
We discovered Maxx Burger in Stockholm last year and for a fast food joint its pretty tasty!
Meghan was sooooo looking forward to a Maxx Burger, Ellis too! they have a view of Maxx Burger at the lake from their hotel rooom!!
We have now transported some of Bar Mercedes up to the suite and are planning tomorrow's trip!!!
looks like another 11 hour drive tomorrow so i think we need to be leaving pretty sharp! BUT this hotel includes breakfast so i think we are going to stuff ourselves before setting off!!!
Helsinki is where we will meet up with the rest of they rally-ers hopefully! we have been about 3 days behind so been trying to get to a point where we see them before its over!!!
At the moment we have done about 3000 miles!!!!! eek!! The car is fantastic, almost to the point that we will be sad to see it go when we get to Tallinn!!!
Thursday 22 April 2010
Crappy Town To Trondhiem
Ok so late last night we arrived in Sarpsborg!
It was bloody awful! We basically slept in a doss house and pain £160 for the pleasure.
So up at 730 this morning and away we went with 2 very hungover people in the back og the car.
The journey was lovely and Norway is a breathtaking country.
Now we are in Trondhiem, just ordered 4 beers in an old mans pub and it cost £25!! God knows what it would of been somewhere nice.
Off to a campsite to sleep in a cabin!!
Will let you know how it is x
It was bloody awful! We basically slept in a doss house and pain £160 for the pleasure.
So up at 730 this morning and away we went with 2 very hungover people in the back og the car.
The journey was lovely and Norway is a breathtaking country.
Now we are in Trondhiem, just ordered 4 beers in an old mans pub and it cost £25!! God knows what it would of been somewhere nice.
Off to a campsite to sleep in a cabin!!
Will let you know how it is x
Wednesday 21 April 2010
Wednesday's drive
so today has been a long day, we have been in 4 countries today!
first this morning we decided to go into Lubeck town for a walk before hitting the road. Its such a lovely place and the weather was beautiful but it changed so quickly and we got battered with hail stones!!! the wind was pretty cold then as well!
there are also a lot of jakie's in Germany we noticed!!!! haha!
after we had all taken a beating from the hail stones and managed to get back to the car we headed back to the hotel to organise the car and get ready to set off.
the sandwich shop was open quite quickly once we set of! Megs has become a professional sandwich maker, armed with cheap meat, cheese slices, some green leaves, paprika crisps & bread we had breakfast and lunch of this delicious food! maybe she should start a business with these ingredients! sandwiches ready in a flash!!!
we got to Puttgarden quite quickly today to catch the ferry over to Denmark. The crossing was a bit choppy but was fine. cost us bloody 67 euros tho! again, i would like to point out that ferries are not what i remember them to be!!! they are much nicer!!!
so into Denmark we headed. We thought that we should really stop in Denmark and actually get out the car! we pulled into an Industrial Estate!! haha! but surrounding us was Roche, St Gobain & Dong Energy. and then we got battered with hailstones again!!!!!!
the sun seemed to come out when we were in the car and as soon as we got out the car the hail & rain started!!!
We saw some beautiful scenery, and some amazingly designed bridges! there are pictures that shall be added shortly. but then we got to the toll road, 39 euros!!!!!
We decided to power through and were aiming for Sorpsborg today so we just kept driving. We passed Gothenburg pointing out the hotel malcolm & i stayed in a couple of years ago. but no time to stop there!
we had all weathers today!!! beautiful sunshine, snow, rain & hail! it was a bit mental!!!
we finally got to a place called Stromstadt, still in Sweden, and it was a lovely town so we decided to try and get accomodation there BUT the whole town was shut or the hotel that had availability for 120 quid a night!!!
so we got back in the car and did the last half hour to Sorpsborg. the only hotel available is Hotel Olav! i tell you something, i do not feel safe in this place! its like a doss house!! but the bed & bathroom are clean so its a place to rest our heads. think we are going to try and do a runner in the morning since the check in guy never asked for any details or anything so if we dont see him in the morning then we are outta here!!!
we have a communal toilet right across the hall from our room echoes all over the the place!!! looks like a long night and lack of sleep ahead!!!
early start tomorrow, think we are up and away sharp.
we have decided to re-plan our route a bit to enable us to get to the end of the rally at the same time as the other cars.
so tomorrow we are heading to Trondheim to catch some snow!!! then we are looking for a half way stop between tronheim and oulo. oulo is about a 15 hour drive from tronheim so we dont want to do it all on friday.
first this morning we decided to go into Lubeck town for a walk before hitting the road. Its such a lovely place and the weather was beautiful but it changed so quickly and we got battered with hail stones!!! the wind was pretty cold then as well!
there are also a lot of jakie's in Germany we noticed!!!! haha!
after we had all taken a beating from the hail stones and managed to get back to the car we headed back to the hotel to organise the car and get ready to set off.
the sandwich shop was open quite quickly once we set of! Megs has become a professional sandwich maker, armed with cheap meat, cheese slices, some green leaves, paprika crisps & bread we had breakfast and lunch of this delicious food! maybe she should start a business with these ingredients! sandwiches ready in a flash!!!
we got to Puttgarden quite quickly today to catch the ferry over to Denmark. The crossing was a bit choppy but was fine. cost us bloody 67 euros tho! again, i would like to point out that ferries are not what i remember them to be!!! they are much nicer!!!
so into Denmark we headed. We thought that we should really stop in Denmark and actually get out the car! we pulled into an Industrial Estate!! haha! but surrounding us was Roche, St Gobain & Dong Energy. and then we got battered with hailstones again!!!!!!
the sun seemed to come out when we were in the car and as soon as we got out the car the hail & rain started!!!
We saw some beautiful scenery, and some amazingly designed bridges! there are pictures that shall be added shortly. but then we got to the toll road, 39 euros!!!!!
We decided to power through and were aiming for Sorpsborg today so we just kept driving. We passed Gothenburg pointing out the hotel malcolm & i stayed in a couple of years ago. but no time to stop there!
we had all weathers today!!! beautiful sunshine, snow, rain & hail! it was a bit mental!!!
we finally got to a place called Stromstadt, still in Sweden, and it was a lovely town so we decided to try and get accomodation there BUT the whole town was shut or the hotel that had availability for 120 quid a night!!!
so we got back in the car and did the last half hour to Sorpsborg. the only hotel available is Hotel Olav! i tell you something, i do not feel safe in this place! its like a doss house!! but the bed & bathroom are clean so its a place to rest our heads. think we are going to try and do a runner in the morning since the check in guy never asked for any details or anything so if we dont see him in the morning then we are outta here!!!
we have a communal toilet right across the hall from our room echoes all over the the place!!! looks like a long night and lack of sleep ahead!!!
early start tomorrow, think we are up and away sharp.
we have decided to re-plan our route a bit to enable us to get to the end of the rally at the same time as the other cars.
so tomorrow we are heading to Trondheim to catch some snow!!! then we are looking for a half way stop between tronheim and oulo. oulo is about a 15 hour drive from tronheim so we dont want to do it all on friday.
all together
so we are all together finally!!
the boys met us after a fantastic ferry trip (the ferry is so not how i remembered!!!) in rotterdam.
we took the train to harwich and stayed in a b&b above a pub that could have been mistaken for the queen vic! the owners, Rob & Lesley, were lovely to us! ferry was at 9am but left a little late because they took some extra passengers.
malcolm & ellis were there waiting for us when we got there at 5-ish. then is was straight in the car for the 280 mile drive to get to Lubeck in Germany. had a nice hotel to sleep in last night which was great.
this morning we were up early and have gone into town, changed some cash, got soaked in the rain & hailstones and we are currently waiting to check out the hotel (their computer is broken or something)
plan for to day is just to drive as far as we can. fellow rally-ers have just entered the arctic circle and apparently the roads are horrendous. just hoping we will cath up with them at some point. it might be at the end but it would be nice to see the others that are doing it!
the boys met us after a fantastic ferry trip (the ferry is so not how i remembered!!!) in rotterdam.
we took the train to harwich and stayed in a b&b above a pub that could have been mistaken for the queen vic! the owners, Rob & Lesley, were lovely to us! ferry was at 9am but left a little late because they took some extra passengers.
malcolm & ellis were there waiting for us when we got there at 5-ish. then is was straight in the car for the 280 mile drive to get to Lubeck in Germany. had a nice hotel to sleep in last night which was great.
this morning we were up early and have gone into town, changed some cash, got soaked in the rain & hailstones and we are currently waiting to check out the hotel (their computer is broken or something)
plan for to day is just to drive as far as we can. fellow rally-ers have just entered the arctic circle and apparently the roads are horrendous. just hoping we will cath up with them at some point. it might be at the end but it would be nice to see the others that are doing it!
Monday 19 April 2010
Amsterdam Morning
Been awake for ages. The tram and traffic noise has been pretty bad.
Elllis still sound asleep and unlike him I don't wake the other person up!! Looking forward to seeing the girls today and starting over again, although the thought of the dull drive doesn't do much for me. I think we are going to hire bikes today for a look around. It's nice outside again.
Will update later one back in Germany.
Elllis still sound asleep and unlike him I don't wake the other person up!! Looking forward to seeing the girls today and starting over again, although the thought of the dull drive doesn't do much for me. I think we are going to hire bikes today for a look around. It's nice outside again.
Will update later one back in Germany.
Back at square one!
Hi. So today we drove the 300+ miles back to Amsterdam. Before we left lubeck we filled up on cheap booze from lidl and some nice oil and antifreeze for the car. Was a lovely day today and the car is going great. Managing to nurse almost 30mpg out of a car that's only meant to do 26!! Would get more but Ellis has a big right foot!!
Had a total panic in lubeck today. Went to change some money and couldn't find my passport!! Had to go the 20 mins back to the car in a total panic to see if it was there. By the time I got there I felt sick with worry, thankfully it was under the car seat!! No idea how it got there but I could of cried with relief!
So now the joys of Amsterdam. Firstly it is a lovely looking city with nice old buildings full of character. Had a very nice Chinese (Ellis suggested) followed by a brief and scary walk through the red light district. Don't think we are cut out for this as we were more interested in the moor hen nesting on some rubbish and a swan fighting with some ducks!!
So a beer later we are back at the hotel in our attic room, Ellis can hardly stand up in it and the loo is a joke.
Just gonna plan what our stratagy will be to try and make up our lost ground. Esentially everyone else is about 2000 miles ahead of us.
So just gonna make the most of it between here and tallin.
Ps did you know the coffee shops are not actually coffee shops here??
Had a total panic in lubeck today. Went to change some money and couldn't find my passport!! Had to go the 20 mins back to the car in a total panic to see if it was there. By the time I got there I felt sick with worry, thankfully it was under the car seat!! No idea how it got there but I could of cried with relief!
So now the joys of Amsterdam. Firstly it is a lovely looking city with nice old buildings full of character. Had a very nice Chinese (Ellis suggested) followed by a brief and scary walk through the red light district. Don't think we are cut out for this as we were more interested in the moor hen nesting on some rubbish and a swan fighting with some ducks!!
So a beer later we are back at the hotel in our attic room, Ellis can hardly stand up in it and the loo is a joke.
Just gonna plan what our stratagy will be to try and make up our lost ground. Esentially everyone else is about 2000 miles ahead of us.
So just gonna make the most of it between here and tallin.
Ps did you know the coffee shops are not actually coffee shops here??
Sunday 18 April 2010
Lubeck update
Had a nice night in lubeck. Walked 40 mins into town had a nice beer in an old style bar-still smoking inside. Walked back Ellis had sausage and curry sause! BookEd a cheap hotel in Amsterdam for Tom night so let's see how it goes. 400 miles back to Amsterdam Tom. Car holding up well. Got bashed into in hamburg today whilst parked! Bastards were meant to be the ones bashing! Ps bits of hamburg are some of the worst areas I have even been in!!
Lubeck
Hi. Ok update time. The girls flights are now cancelled!! So plan g or someting like that! They are now going to get the ferry on Tuesday morning to Amsterdam and we are going to collect them. Ok except we are in lubeck about 400 miles north of where they will be. So tomorrow we are driving back to amsterdam and spending a night there(oh the hardship).
A special mention to the lovely Maria, without who's help we would never of got the sat nav updated. She is a lovely girl and it was a pleasure to meet her x
So night out in lubeck tonight then back on the road again.
The plan is to try and meet up with the rest of the rally in rovanami at the end of the week! Some serious driving needed between now a
d then.
Keep you posted x
Malcolm & Ellis
A special mention to the lovely Maria, without who's help we would never of got the sat nav updated. She is a lovely girl and it was a pleasure to meet her x
So night out in lubeck tonight then back on the road again.
The plan is to try and meet up with the rest of the rally in rovanami at the end of the week! Some serious driving needed between now a
d then.
Keep you posted x
Malcolm & Ellis
nightmare!
ok so here is the update!
the boys got as far as hamburg yesterday. they didnt want to go as far as getting the ferry across to copenhagen in case they need to come back to amsterdam and collect us! here's why . . . .
due do this pain in the neck volcano our flights were cancelled. SO the very very helpful andrew has changed our oslo flight from stansted to Monday afternoon. this would be ok because then we would only be a few hours behind the rest of the rally-ers! but nothing can be done about my flight to stansted today.
I booked a train ticket with a reserved seat just to be sure i wouldnt be standing all the way to london. got to the train station this morning, in plenty of time, to find that my train was cancelled due to rail works on the line!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was also informed that because of the volume of people trying to travel, any seat reservations were no longer held. I had to join the queue of people trying to get to london and hope that i could get on a train AT SOME POINT!!! train 1 left and then there was about 40 people queueing in front of me, so i was definitely going to get the next one. but it was an hour wait. i couldnt go and get a hot drink or anything because i would then lose my place in the queue and it had managed to grow so much it was winding all the way down the station and out the main entrance!!!
so the next train came in, and we got told that reserved seating tickets for this train were to be allowed on 1st!!! so we had to wait and watch all these people go past us!
then it was our turn, we got told coaches E & G was where we should head for. RESULT! FIRST CLASS!!!!!!!!!!!!
so i am currently sitting here typing using the FREE wi-fi! have just watched a movie & had some lunch. very good! there is extra room in the seats and little lamps on the tables! awesome! oh and power points so i can plug my phone and laptop in! woo!
once i get to london i will be meeting my sister and then we will be investigating the air space & flights before we decide what to do. we do not want to pay the £36 for us to get out to stansted airport to stay ovrnight and then tomorrow get told our flight is cancelled and we are another £36 to get back into the city! mmmmmm....................................
we have a bit of a back up plan if the flight is cancelled; we have been booked on to the ferry at Harwich at 9am on Tuesday and will be headed for Amsterdam. This means obviously that the boys will be doubling back the route they have just driven to come get us! and we will be days behind!
there will be lots of driving to get done to catch up. but if the car makes it with all the extra miles i have a feeling that they will want to bring it back home! haha!
who knows whats going to happen ......... the adventures have only just started!!!!
Lauren x
Saturday 17 April 2010
progress report
as of 12.30pm we have crossed the border into Germany.
some rally cars have passed us already BUT we are quite happy getting the fuel consumption that we are just now so just cruising along nicely
some rally cars have passed us already BUT we are quite happy getting the fuel consumption that we are just now so just cruising along nicely
Friday 16 April 2010
drama
so the boys are now at sea, and have been for quite a few hours now! i hope they are getting plenty of sleep because tomorrow is the big drive to copenhagen!!! although i would not be suprised if they were found raving in the ferry discotheque!!!
we have had quite the drama tonight!!! and obviously wishing we had ditched work a day early and went on the ferry with the boys!!! we were informed by Andrew (Ellis' friend) that ryanair flights were pretty much not going to be operating until 1pm on monday!!!
this is not good for 2 reasons:
1. i was supposed to be flying to london on saturday afternoon
2. megs and i were supposed to be flying to oslo at 6am monday morning!!!
so andrew has managed to sort something out for us, huge thank you for that!!! we have been transferred onto the afternoon flight from stansted to oslo. fingers crossed the volcano ash gets out the way so it doesnt delay us any longer!!! it means we will be about 6 hours behind the rest of the rally cars but we can catch up.
as for my flight to get to london - its cancelled! so i am now on a train to london, via crewe, on sunday. it was a bit of added expense bu one that i am really praying works out for us!!!
i thought i was going to have a meltdown trying to work our buses trains & ferries this evening!!!
hopefully the boys are all bright eyed in the morning when they arrive in amsterdam for the big drive!!
we cant wait to get over there and get this rally going!!!!! woohoo!!!
sunroof
sunroof just stuck open!!!
lucky old mercs have manual closure!
Malcolm & Ellis, reporting from Newcastle
lucky old mercs have manual closure!
Malcolm & Ellis, reporting from Newcastle
stage 1 almost complete
we have just filled up with booze in tesco in Newcastle and are 20 mins away from the ferry!
car is going great!
car is going great!
let the adventure begin!
well thats the boys on their way!!!!
they are getting the 5pm ferry at Newcastle this evening. will be seeing them in Oslo in a couple of days!!!
ferry is overnight to Amsterdam. Then when they get off the ferry they have the first of the long driving days! 580 miles to Copenhagen on Saturday! Then on sunday they have their drive up to Oslo where they will pick us up on Monday morning in time for heading off to Tronheim!! eek!
stupid volcano! fingers crossed the ash gets itself out the way of my flights!!!!
they are getting the 5pm ferry at Newcastle this evening. will be seeing them in Oslo in a couple of days!!!
ferry is overnight to Amsterdam. Then when they get off the ferry they have the first of the long driving days! 580 miles to Copenhagen on Saturday! Then on sunday they have their drive up to Oslo where they will pick us up on Monday morning in time for heading off to Tronheim!! eek!
stupid volcano! fingers crossed the ash gets itself out the way of my flights!!!!
Thursday 15 April 2010
the beginning of the transformation............
i would just like to say a couple of massive thank you's to Tam for helping us out with all the car stuff and toColin for supplying the SAT NAV!so the tranformation of the car started tonight!!! the official rally stickers are randomly on! ethan spray painted a lovely red patch onto the roof, and i commenced the writing of the names on the car!
over the course of the trip megs and i will fill the car up with the names of everyone that has sponsored us. we both wrote everyone's name down of course, malcolm & ellis havent! so we are relying on their excellent memories!!!
we also started packing the car up, not much to go in now! well at least i dont think there is just now! haha! i am sure that will all change in the morning!
1 day to go . . . .
ok so, i thought we had gotten past our biggest obstacle, the car, and managed to get moving on with the planning!
this is not entirely true now due to the stupid volcano in iceland!!! at the moment UK air space has been closed. i know there is still a couple of days before my flight to stansted and then on to oslo BUT will this have cleared by then???? i really hope so!!!
I suppose there is no knowing until the day! my flight to stansted is at approx 2.40pm so fingers crossed all that ash has either fallen out of the air or blown much further on than this country (and NOT over Scandinavia!!!!)
suitcase is packed, sleeping bags have arrived! car is insured! money is sorted!
just need to get the car down from the garage this evening and get stickering & making it look awesome!
the boys leave tomorrow morning to catch the ferry in newcastle.
fingers crossed no more hiccups and this ash goes away!!!
x
this is not entirely true now due to the stupid volcano in iceland!!! at the moment UK air space has been closed. i know there is still a couple of days before my flight to stansted and then on to oslo BUT will this have cleared by then???? i really hope so!!!
I suppose there is no knowing until the day! my flight to stansted is at approx 2.40pm so fingers crossed all that ash has either fallen out of the air or blown much further on than this country (and NOT over Scandinavia!!!!)
suitcase is packed, sleeping bags have arrived! car is insured! money is sorted!
just need to get the car down from the garage this evening and get stickering & making it look awesome!
the boys leave tomorrow morning to catch the ferry in newcastle.
fingers crossed no more hiccups and this ash goes away!!!
x
Wednesday 14 April 2010
result!!
so after a disasterous 24 hours, we lost the poor mitsubishi sigma with 3 days to go!!! can you believe it!!!!!!
BUT thank you so much to a lovely man called David Creighton in Newton Mearns he has let us buy his lovely big massive Mercedes 300E!!!!
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