So it was time to beat up from southern Poland to the Baltics. This meant a boring stint on motorways, but leavened slightly by staying at a micro brewery in Ostrow Mas.... something! After a long hot ride (the weather has been glorious) I wandered up the bar and used all my best polish. The bar man said was that all my polish, I confirmed, and then he handed across a lovely Weissbier.
Following day up to Vilnius although a few mishaps with the sat-nav almost resulted in me inadvertently riding into Belarus. (I was taking back roads after all of the motorways of the previous day). Manage to make a U turn 500m from border.
Vilnius itself is a beautiful place (in fact Lithuania in general is stunning) and so an enjoyable couple of days sightseeing, relaxing was called for.
My date planning was a little off and I have more time in the Baltics than I thought, so rode on to Palangas on the Baltic for some beach time! (The Baltic was not Baltic!). A few Russians were staying at the same place so I started to practise my Russian and ask whether it was stupid to ride to Vladivostok. They confirmed it was and recommended I jump on the train at Irkutsk, as after then it all gets a little perilous.
So at least there is now a plan. Ride to Irkutsk, see how the conditions play out. If it looks all a bit risky then I can bail out through Kazakstan, Stalingrad then Georgia and Turkey, otherwise soldier on.
Oh - bonus point for anyone who spots the rather weak pun in the title...
It's a song by The Pretenders (oh yes, they had more than 1!) What do I win? Some of Russia's famous export? By that I mean vodka not Novichok.