With thanks to Julia for the 06.00 lift

Oslo airport - not the worst place to spend a 4hr stopover

… although beer is £15 for 0.5litre … expensive even \240compared to £9 elsewhere in Norway

Airport bus

Local library has bi-lingual Norwegian-Russian signs

At the border, it’s quiet with just an occasional car crossing. \240No obvious sign of the guards on either side, but they’re there

Old border crosssing now closed. \240Taxi driver says it’s a good place to cross illegally as not many guards around

Leaving Kirkenes harbour

Sunny moment between hail showers

First E75 sign at the start of the road by the harbour in Vardø, yards from the ship

Vardø harbour by night.

Big sign on building reads “make the North great again” amen to that :-)

Morning walk to Vardø Fort

Locals skiing their shopping baskets

En route

E75

Giisa Café, Utsjoki

Essential supplies

On the road

“Area of Reindeer husbandry”. Notice this area is apx 1/3 of all Finland

The town was destroyed in 1944. \240I love the stylish 50s/60s rebuilds

About to depart Rovaniemi

Arriving Oulu - we spent an unexpected hour on this platform, although the sun did come out

Karelian pasty

Traditional food from the East of Finland

Helsinki Central, now that’s what I call a station, note Ukrainian flag, the Finns have a huge Russian border

Proper local public transport

View from my new bedroom

This morning, before travelling, a brief explore of the excellent Alvar Aalto architecture and design museum, his style modern but in no ways brutal.

Also a small exhibition there about wooden prefabs shipped from Finland in their thousands in the forties and fifties.

Aalto’s chair designs from the 30s and Puutalo Company 50s instructions to assemble a prefab - it’s the Scandinavian way, brought to us now by IKEA stores.

Helsinki Cathedral

The National Library 1

National library 2 - now thats what I call a library

Third floor of the recently-opened Oodi Library - unbelievable really, full of equipment and work spaces as well as the books

Walking tour of Art Nouveau Katajanokka

We ended the day with well-deserved beers in what would have been my dear departed friend Kath’s local, in the Kallio district. \240Sivukirjasto bar was complete with board games which she adored and sold in her shop nearby. \240We played a game of Blockus. .

For a bit of culture and exercise we walk to Kaguorg Park for the KUMU Estonian Art Museum partly for the exhibits and party for the new modern building - the cafe was pretty good too.

In the evening we headed for trendy Balti Jaam an area of re purposed industrial biddings being the station.

The Old Town is just fantastic and bigger than I remembered from last visit. Right now it seems pretty quiet at the change from winter to spring and free visitors

Ukrainian flags are everywhere.

Russian embassy spotted in just a typical cobbled side street. \240Simple crowd barrier in front much decorated with bunches of flowers and protests covering Ukraine Navalny and Georgia

Weed-grown border control.

Latvia our second country in two days, not dissimalar to what we’ve seen of Estonia, just a touch less Scandi and a touch more \240empty derelict buildings.

\240But … what can be in that yellow and blue warehouse?

Riga seems big and bustling of all cities so far on the trip.

We explore the area of Art Noveau apartments which. I visited \240years ago, \240imaging what has now become true - the area is famous and there are tour groups. All the same, \240a fantastic selection of 1900-1913 buildings.

Art Hotel Laine looking good - formerly hostel Laine my happy home last visit

Popular with tours

Maybe \240more Art Noveau tomorrow when \240it’s \240sunny.

Not Art Noveau but I rather like it, central Riga ?dept store?

Planning session en route

We are keeping to a three day plan-ahead system - so the map of Poland is out and European train timetable for the coming days after our two nights in Vilnius

The Gate of Dawn, a site of pilgrimage

Holy icon visible in window.

Vilnius Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church - renovation looks to have started recently

Former building of the Lithuanian SSR cooperative unions. 1979-86 rather nice I think

Street scene, Sv Ignato g.

Not so tidy here …

Vilnius local cat statue - why??

The morning was spent in the market for an excellent breakfast and food supplies for the journey. We visited a free local museum (Martins’s idea honest :-)

Our route was through the Suwałki Gap, the short border between the two countries otherwise hemmed by Kalingrad (ie Russia) and Belarus.

Hanging around in rural Poland at Jastrzebna

Time on the journey for forward planning, considering our stopovers in the rest of Poland, Krakow and the Tatra mountains - yes please, then Slovakia, Hungary and onwards south.

Exciting to still have some uncertainty where we will go.

Great views from the Palace of Culture a great big Soviet building in the centre of town. Also from the roof of the University new library by the River Vistula.

We cross the river to the hip/decrepit Praga suburb and visit the Absurd Bar - first cash only establishment of the trip.

Martin in Praga

Several less well maintained buildings have mesh round them above the pavement to catch the bits falling off

The city is \240full of history, much of which Poles don’t want to see repeated. As with most paces so far on the trip there are Ukrainian flags everywhere.

We take an afternoon walk to Stare Pódgórze further from the centre and visit the site of the “Płasów labour camp”. Basically a wooded hill in a well built up inner suburb. It’s the history there that is chilling. The trees there cover a haunted site. \240Lonely Planet tells much, though google maps is ambivalent about it’s existence.

Płasów main gate site http://wystawaklp.plaszow.org/1EN.html

A quick eve walk to the main town square reinforces the “tourism capital” idea. Many visitors even on a dull showery mid-Apri Monday.

We cheer ourselves with a meal, beer and vodka at the excellent restaurant recommended by my dear brother in law. It happens to be a few doors down the street from our \240digs - well within staggering distance.

View from the apartment

Breakfast

I head to the mighty Nowa Huta a 30min tram ride to the suburbs. This New Steelworks suburb was a Soviet invention and later a centre for the Solidarity trade union that shook the Polish government.

I had a Solidarnösc Nova Huta badge acquired \240acquired on 1981 rapper dancing visit to Poland, just a couple of months before martial law descended. The festival organisers were pro-Solidarity and keen for us to take their message home with us. \240Hence visit.

Formerly Central Square

Old Polish lady

Pope Jean-Paul enabled building of this the first church in Nova Huta when He was the local Bishop. Not at all bad for the era

I expected to find Nova Huta in decay but the streets are tree lined and I walked miles exploring feeling quite safe. The place is certainly more prosperous and well-maintained than say Sheffield. And feels much safer than Rotherham :-)

We choose the slower train (4hrs 160km(!)) but it’s almost empty and we enjoy.

Zakopne has changed since I visited last \240(1981, 1994, 1997) but still very much recognisable, up and together and working well as a modern resort in the Tatra Mountains. \240Adorable.

Big planning and booking \240session this eve. We re-routed to travel via Budapest rather \240 Szeged. The Serbian railways are closed [for a big updating]. \240so we need to take \240advantage of capital-to-capital bus services

We now plan to visit Budapest at the weekend then Belgrade, Nis and Sofia. \240The latter all by bus/coach.

Accommodation and travel booked for the next nights in Slovakia’s mountains, Budapest and Belgrade.

We board the mighty FlixBus to cross the border to Tatranska Lonnica,

Slovakia immediately seems less bustling and more of a backwater. It’s chilly as we finally get a view of the superb distant peaks.

Definitely a hint of classic alpine resort here in Tatranska Lomniska after the all that busy Polish bustle.

Anna and I love #accidentallywesanderson there’s more than a hint of him here.

Overnight snow

Trains for all!

Old Košice

… and new(er)

Only 60miles from Ukraine. \240Strangely there are few Ukrainian flags on show unlike almost everywhere we’ve been.

There were a pair of hi-viz social workers at the station guiding a handful of Ukrainian arrivals, but otherwise no sign of troubles in the east.

Typical Hungarian scene

Grass, sunshine, trees …. Train stuff

Arriving in busy Budapest the apartment so convenient but being in a busy city means we have no less than four keys plus one electronic fob.

It took a while for the apartment owner to appear to give us them. \240It’s significantly more complicated with an apartment \240than hotel check in.

Waiting, \240we couldn’t miss history on the doorstep

Stolperstein

Apartment courtyard

Many many big city buildings, crowded together except for wide tram-filled tree-lined \240boulevards.

Budapest Art Nouveau Gresham Palave completed 1906 on the Danube by the Chain Bridge - a contrasting re-visit

2024 Foir Seasons Hotel

1994 semi derelict

Hungarian Parliament

Metro Buda to Pest #accidentallywesanderson again.

Proper passport control as we leave th Schengen area for Serbia, feels like being back in time, \240the opposite of Schengen magic entry to Latvia (10 Apr picture)

• Off bus, queue, Hungarian exit stamp
• On bus, drive 200m
• Off bus, queue, Serbian entry stamp
• On bus, wait ten minutes for guy in neighbouring seat with Ukrainian passport, delayed by officials

Arriving in Belgrade is a proper adventure. The bus station is in a very tatty area and we have a 30min walk with bags to Sweet House Skadar Lux. Some buildings here reminiscent of the worst of decaying South Yorkshire

Happily our host is waiting and we find the apartment \240is really well done out. Third floor overlooking a characterful street, close by a market and street of restaurants and bars.

Belgrade is overall most tatty city so far but with. Plenty of redeeming features. Nice walk to the castle and then good local food (and beer).

Back view

I like at apartments’ garages

Night view

Astounding St Sava Temple

Public transport excellent (if sometimes ancient)

New Belgrade housing block’s enclosing schools parks and a tennis club

View from Zemin tower

Danube early evening

Team haircuts

240km (148 miles) 3hrs on the E75

We find again that the bus station is in the \240grottymost part of town. Crumbling pavements and there’s nothing worse than a closed undercover market in a poor country

Eventuall, \240Niš turns it to be a communist-flavoured take on any European town. The hotel is “4*” but they don’t have city maps. The hotel bar is cheap and room fine.

No shortage of street Kiosks

We’ve now booked up all the rest of the travel and overnights, but still a week before we fly home.

Motorway egg delivery

Great scenery on route, mountains and small towns. Long delay at the border for double passport checks. Lorries queued 5km either side of border.

S Serbia

We’re \240back in EU/Schengen/NATO and +2hrs time zone.

Sofia

Morning in Niš - we’ve enjoyed Serbia and folks are friendly and happy to chat.

History brought up to date with an exhibition of pictures of the 1999 NATO bombing of Niš - aimed for airport, mostly hit town. One picture shows Gen Mike Jackson who I’ve met. NišExpress transport hub was destroyed

Pavement?

My car from 1991

Protest at parliament - against electricity market changes(!)

Churches, Mosques and a Synagogue - latter with Big Security.

We find some interesting nooks and crannies and good places to eat/donk

The Fox book Café

More importantly after 24 days together Martin and I take out planned separate route tomorrow. He’s going to Athens and me to Istanbul. We’ve managed so well through the big distances, many accommodations and decisions. \240It’s going to \240be strange to be alone \240for a few days before returning home. \240.

Sofia: clear skies reveal mountains, bus, boulevard - nice

Scenery en route through S Bulgaria, just lovely

Arriving Istanbul

Airbnb: nicer on the outside

Crossing to a better part of town, shame but had to be done

.

Today’s Journal map

ps technically there’s a strip of E75 in N Crete but as it happens we’ve already been there, so job done.

Meanwhile I’ve had a general explore of the busy busy busy city that is weekend Istanbul.

Local metro stop with scooter

Taksim Square

Honest advertising?

Bosphorus: Istanbul in two halves, Asia left, Europe right

Too sights for visiting tomorrow

Local street scene

I retreat to an excellent non-tourist Hazal Börek cafe for a cheese börek and Turkish coffee from their special machine.

There’s so much to see here which isn’t a Top Sight all crammed in between shops, parks and houses.

Theodosious Cistern

Little Hagia Sofia built 536, reading area

Nuruosmanìe Mosque 1748-55, a huge single open plan room impossible to photograph

I could go on ….

Hagia Sophia Mosque

.. formerly a church

Blue Mosque - sublime

A gem: Rüstem Paşa Mosque 1560

Just one more - posh this one

Call the apostrophe police

View from the Terminal

Crossing the E75 for last time

Penultimate train