Monday June 25, 2007

DATE: Monday June 25, 2007
ROUTE: Nida, Lithuania to Kaliningard, Russia
DISTANCE: 58 miles
TIME: 4h 45m
CEG: 500’
WEATHER: Perfect

This will be short. It’s late and I need to get to bed. This was a very odd day. The weather was gorgeous and the roads were mostly fine. But a lot went wrong.

The group cycled together the first 2 miles to the border crossing. The Russians would not let Polo, from Cuernevaca, through. Since he is a Mexican citizen, he had the Russian consulate in Mexico City issue his visa. They mistakenly wrote down one Russian entrance/exit instead of two. There was no flexibility on the part of the border control. He will take a taxi ($700) to our next stop and meet us tomorrow in Poland. This delayed us considerably.

When we finally got going, the next 30 miles were on the serene Curonian Spit. It is sparsely developed and looks very different than the Lithuanian half. While we were enjoying the scenery and the weather, unbeknownst to us, Monica was scrambling for hotel rooms. She had just discovered that our reservations had been cancelled. Not only did she have to find 15 rooms but also devise and mark a different route.

Coming into the city was dicey. The traffic was very heavy and erratic. It is easy to miss an arrow when you are watching for busses, trolleys, cars, trucks, and pedestrians. Nancy, Jane, and I together managed to find our way. We celebrated with a “It’s good to be alive” beer on the hotel terrace. This is one of the nicest hotels we’ve stayed in. We have lots of room and comfortable beds. The only thing missing is internet access.

I’d been feeling puny all day due to an allergic reaction to something in the hotel in Nida. I cycled today under the influence of allergy medicine, antihistamines, and Advil. I stayed at the hotel and took a nap while most went on a walking tour of the city.

After shopping and buying amber, David, Jane, Nancy, and I went to dinner at a recommended restaurant called La Dolce Vita. Inside it was dark and clandestine. Peeking around the corners we say swarthy looking sinister men having serious conversations. We chose a table out on the terrace. About 15 minutes later, Monica, Rick, Mechele, and Toomas showed up and got their own table for a "business" meeting. Everything was going great until our waitress disappeared. Really --- just disappeared. The other three had received thier salads and I had my grilled sword fish. We waited, and waited, and waited, and asked (no one spoke English) and asked and asked. After the fourth time that we were told “2 minutes” we decided to pay for what we’d eaten and leave. It was really quite bizarre. We were glad that Toomas was there to help us communicate. We got back to the hotel at 10:30 tired and still a bit hungry.

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