While the girls were here I wanted to go somewhere on the subway. It’s a great system in Russia which dates back to soviet times I suppose, where you pay once to go in. Once you’re in, you can go anywhere you like for the one admission price. However, once you leave and go out to the streets, you pay again to get back in.

None of this zone 1, zone 2 or Miki rip off malarkey. Just pay to get in with a token you buy from a machine. There’s no one asking for your unused ticket as you come out, it’s great! I also knew Alice would like to go on a train.

Due to the geography, the metro system in St Petersburg is the deepest in the world, by average station depth. The escalator to go down takes a long time, so long that your mind has time to wander. You come back after whatever daydream you’re having and think ‘oh yea, I’m on an escalator!’.

This particular one descends 86 metres!

I’ve been joined by my girls for a holiday in St Petersburg, we’ve had the last 5 days together to look around the city. It’s been a great few days, we’ve been very busy doing touristy things and consequently I haven’t had time to update the blog. In that time, quite a few people have mailed me or commented asking if I’m OK!

I didn’t realise I was being followed so closely, but it’s quite touching – thank you all for your concern! No need to worry, the worst that happened to me was being ripped off by a taxi from the airport (but me being me I’m still struggling to let that one go!). I will be updating as per usual from here on in, now that the girls are safely at the airport.

The weather has turned, after a few sunny days it was distinctly cold this morning. In the picture you can see a couple of brave faces in front of the aptly named winter palace. The palace has over 1000 rooms, 1800 doors and 100 staircases. It’s over a mile in circumference and houses the Hermitage museum.

It’s been great to see Jenny and Alice and a welcome break from life on the road. I plan to leave Russia via Murmansk, where tomorrow’s forecast is for highs of 4°C and lows of 0 – it’ll certainly be hard to get moving again!! Brrrr!

St Petersburg is a very big city. I rolled in late last night, very late. It was close on midnight, dark and I was cold. I should have stopped earlier for the night, but I was in one of those ‘too close to stop now, but still quite far away’ type scenarios. What I hasn’t realised was how far the centre was from the turn off.

First impressions were awesome, even in my tired state. Long lines of great buildings along both sides of the streets. Lots of bikes around and I’m guessing it’s like Moscow, where bikers come out to play at night. At one set of lights there were nine other bikes abreast with me. I had the only set of foreign plates, so I don’t need to race to prove I’m a biker!

I’m staying at the Art Kultura hostel, which was recommended by Helgi in Moscow. It’s a handy place with friendly staff. Last night I was offered pancakes on arrival, but was too tired to partake. They were deferred to today, when Ольга cooked up a storm for all of us. Around the table are Freddy, Евгения, Ольга, Надя and Aлексей.

They were delicious, which is no surprise as Ольга is a chef. I brewed some fresh coffee to go with them, and had then with left over мёд. It’s well travelled that honey! вкуснa!

I finally made it across the border, after some hassle again. The Estonian guards are very efficient and thorough. I made sure I have them the current vehicle registration, which the guy disappeared with for half an hour.

He came back with my documents and told me the registration was invalid. He showed me a current UK vehicle registration and told me he’d checked with DVLA in Swansea, they had no record of my vehicle. He held up my registration document for all to see, then said loudly:

“Where did you get this document? Did you think it would fool us?”

I told him it was issued by the Australian government, where the bike is registered. I did my best not to laugh, but I’m not very good at that sort of thing. He tells me he is going to check with them and disappears again. Good luck mate!

At this point I knew I was in for a long wait. VIC roads are a bunch of can’ts. (Or something very similar). My hamster is more helpful, and poor Hammie has been dead for 35 years! There’s no way given the time difference he will get anything meaningful out of them by telephone. (But their website is improving).

Another half an hour and he’s back to tell me I can go. Mixed feelings, as this will be my last entry into Russia on this visa. 5 minutes later a huge pothole from nowhere nearly throws me off the bike. It’s good to be back!!

Estonia came soon enough as I trucked north. The borders are still there from times when they were controlled, but now the buildings are unmanned and you can shoot straight through. It’s handy, but I also think we’ve lost something as a result – it’s almost an anticlimax.

The old town is very pretty. I nearly didn’t find it as I ended up on the ring road. I could only find one coffee shop, but they did have WiFi so I could get my bearings and find a hostel. Right in the centre of the old town, bike parking and €14 for the night. Can’t grumble at that!

The city is lit up at night, but I didn’t take my phone as I left it charging – hence no night photos. Trust me, it’s lovely! This morning I went for a long walk to the indoor markets, full of antique stalls selling ex-soviet miliaria. Tallinn is a sleepy city and despite showing signs with opening hours of 10am-6pm, at 10:45 most places are still closed!

Hey ho, it saves me money I suppose, but I did rather fancy the Walther PPK in the window – I bet it still works too!

I climbed up the Oleviste church tower for a photo of the city instead.

This morning I went for a walk around Riga. From what I saw last night it looked like a good spot, so I wanted to check it out during daylight before leaving. Tallinn isn’t that far so I had time.

The churches and town hall are impressive, as is the new library – which caused a huge political storm when it was being built. It took 25 years to complete and over a year to install the books, which is still an ongoing job!

Pride of place though is the freedom monument. It was opened in 1935 to commemorate the victims of the 1918-1920 Latvian independence war. During the soviet occupation, it was considered for demolition! (But saved by a prominent soviet artist). Laying flowers during the occupation could land you a prison sentence!

Today it stands proud and is guarded by two soldiers. It’s an impressive sight next to the well kept gardens and canal.

This morning I went for a walk around Riga. From what I saw last night it looked like a good spot, so I wanted to check it out during daylight before leaving. Tallinn isn’t that far so I had time.

The churches and town hall are impressive, as is the new library – which caused a huge political storm when it was being built. It took 25 years to complete and over a year to install the books, which is still an ongoing job!

Pride of place though is the freedom monument. It was opened in 1935 to commemorate the victims of the 1918-1920 Latvian independence war. During the soviet occupation, it was considered for demolition! (But saved by a prominent soviet artist). Laying flowers during the occupation could land you a prison sentence!

Today it stands proud and is guarded by two soldiers. It’s an impressive sight next to the well kept gardens and canal.

Riga is a fairly large city, as you’d expect being the capital of Latvia. It’s also the largest city in the Baltic states, home to nearly 700,000 people. Not huge by western standards, but is that a bad thing? I think not.

The old town has cobbled streets and a homely feel to it. I manage to park my bike in cafe central, find free wifi and locate a reasonably priced hostel. Try that in London! After a feed I’m all sorted for accommodation, freshened up and ready for a walk around the city.

It’s late here so most places will be closed. I don’t mind, there’s nothing I need particularly other than a walk around and chill out for the night.