I'd forgotten what a 486 PC running Win98 was like. But this is Riga.When I tried to find the centre of Europe this morning it all went a bit pear-shaped, really. I tried to find the A14, I really did, and I followed the signs until they disappeared. And according to the sun I was going in more or less the right direction. But I wasn't. So I found a road which claimed to go left across country to the place I wanted. And across country I went. A few bits of the 43kms were tarmacked, to be fair, but most wasn't. All good practice, I suppose, but the big tank and tankbag don't do anything for one's stance.

Anyway, made it in the end, and if I hadn't left my GPS in the bike in the next-door courtyard I'd be able to tell you where it is. Got some nice pix, though.

So, back to Vilnius (more disappearing roadsigns) and on to Riga. The Via Baltica. Very grand name, and for the first 70 miles or so it's a nice dual carriageway with lots of little chefs. Mind you, the motel on the airfield (working) surrounded by relics of the Red Air Force made it all worthwhile. A fairly rusty MiG21, and L29 Interceptor and a CY15 (if any of that means anything to anyone), plus the odd
helicoptor (and I mean odd).

So now in Riga which has a dearth of hotel rooms. I have a decent one for tonight but I'm not sure about tomorrow or Thursday.

Random bits:--

Small world: met a German chap last night who had to visit a dental equipment firm in Newbury and was extremely pissed off with the Stakis at Chieveley Services. He was very grateful for the list of decent places I gave him as he's there again next week.

Different universe: still free internet access (OK despite 486/Win98). They obviously haven't twigged, but I'm not going to argue.

Border guards: still grumpy.

Bikes: I've only seen rocketships and cruisers. About 2 of each. Although there was a fairly laden Pan 2-up today going south but I couldn't see the registration.

Language: Most people have a bit of English. The Latvian girl I met in Poland reckoned Polish was impossible. But when the Poles borrow a word they stick a Y on the end, which makes it Polish, so you can understand bits here and there. The Lithuanian word for beer is alus, and the currency is pronounced leeta which gives rise to confusion when the barmaid says "three leeta" and you say "but I only had one".

Talking of which . . .