On a cloudless day we cruised on down to Helsinki passing numerous crystal clear lakes decorated with pine trees for good measure. A fantastic end to a fantastic part of the world. I hope to visit Scandinavia again in the future. Of course by bike.

A 2hr ferry ride across the Gulf of Finland dropped us off in the charming Estonian capital Tallin, which as well as having a beautiful Old Town also boasts some of the most beautiful girls in the world. Halfway acroos Estonia was the beach resort of Parnu, where we took an extended break to take a swim and watch the girls go by.

Two day's after arriving in Estonia we were now in Latvia. A lush coastal road that would not have looked out of place in Scandinavia led us towards Riga. As we neared the capital, sadly the road worsened as did the views. So we rattled our way to a hostel for a well earned rest day.

Full of energy from a day of rest and good food, we managed to hit career high's of 103 miles for the day. This saw us make good progress across Lituania. However with the sun nearly down we still hadn't found a place to camp.

I spotted a coulple of farmers out in their field. They spoke no English, so after a few hand gestures and what not, they got understood that we needed somewhere to sleep. They thankfully offered us their front lawn. Bliss.

Этот маршрут еще одно из преимуществ Риги осенью (особенно ранней осенью), помимо золотистых разноцветных листьев и непрерывного дождя. Летом слишком светло, а зимой бывает слишком хмуро ...

Ночью нету нервных всеподрезающих водителей, краски дня не высвечивают всю некрасоту и неряшливость за обочинами, все поглощает ночь, и лишь горят фонари ...

Направлясь в сторону рижского центра сразу за Spice, начиная с моста Калнциема, проезжая сквозь мостовые фонари через Даугаву, упираясь в Латвийский и Парекс банки, поворачивая направо вдоль посольтсв и Памятника Свободы выворачивая на улицу Бривибас, и маршрут заканчивается и пропадает за тенью церкви на пересечении с улицей Таллинас ...

We have come across some blogs that feature photos of Latvia. All of them seems to be made by individuals, with more or less sense of humor. We decided to choose three our favorites. There's a guy that takes random photos of Riga every day. The other one is the website with probably the longest domain name in the world - millionreasonswhylatviaisthebestcountryintheworld.com. And then there's a photographer who shoots the things that remind of the Soviet past. Enjoy!

This is just too good to pass by:

RIGA - A series of raids on state police stations carried out by the Interior Ministry has found that almost all of the employees in certain departments had failed to show up to work.

Interior Minister Mareks Seglins announced the results of the Aug. 29 probe on Sept. 2. He said that the results were particularly bad in two departments in Riga.

In the Ziemeli police department, the raid found only four employees at work. There should have been 130 people on duty. Department representatives said there had been a sport day planned, but that the day was canceled.

The results were even worse at the Brasa department, where only three out of 140 employees were present. Department representatives said that the head of the department told employees they could go home at noon.

Seglins has informed the police union of the situation and asked the state police interior security service to carry out an investigation of the two departments by Sept. 15.

Source: Latvian police skip work en masse

No surprise most voters in Latvia wanted the government to be recalled (see the referendum post).

The military Aviation Calendar 2009 is available for $ 19.99, exclusively atThe PatriArt Gallery.

NATO should show Russia it would defend the Baltic states - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - in the event of attack, the US has said, as Russia's recent invasion of Georgia continues to send ripples through European security arrangements.

Read more at EU Observer

NATO must strengthen its defence of the three Baltic countries – Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania – after Russia's assault on Georgia, the new US envoy to NATO said in an interview.

Speaking to the Financial Times in Brussels after an emergency summit of European Union leaders there, Kurt Volker said it was important that NATO remained "credible".

"Those countries are members of NATO; so if there is any attack on those countries we will all respond," Mr Volker told the business daily.

"They are feeling a little rattled by seeing Russia use military force to invade a sovereign, small neighbouring country. We need to send signals to shore them up a little bit."

Mr Volker said NATO must send signals that it intends to help the Baltic states, and uphold its Article 5, which guarantees the defence of each signatory by all the rest.

Вчера спеша на первое занятие по немецкому языку был план где-нибудь оставить машину. Улица Дзирнаву находится недалеко от старой Риги, и на улице Дзирнаву на определенном участке располагается бесплатная парковка. По улице Дзирнаву машинам разрешается ехать только в одну сторону, и машины паркуются по обеим сторонам. Найдя свободное место между двух машин, я ни о чем не подозревая на всей скорости устремился на занятие (которое было достаточно занимательным).

Возвращаясь к машиной за метров 30 пронеслись неладные мысли, черт ведь недалеко перекресток, и действительно подойдя к машине за дворничком меня поджидала несчастныя "желтая" бумажечка. Машина нарушила заветное правило 5м, я согласен 5м не бьло, только машина в принципе мешала только букве закона,

Я мог бы согласится про правую сторону дороги, если бы это было перед перекрестком, но в данном случаю это уж врядли чтобы чье-то движение бло нарушено. 30 Ls (60$) достаточно ощутимая сумма я вам скажу за неправильную парковку.

Under heavy security from both the Police Force and Special Services the group were able to visit the beautiful cultural and historic city of Valmera.

The present day Valmera is the biggest city of Vidzeme with bustling economic life, rich traditions of culture and sports, and appealing landscape. Welcomed by the Mayor Mr Inesis Bokis, and members of the City Council the group were invited to inspect the Vidzeme University College and its integrated Library, followed by visits to two factories manufacturing both milk products and Fibre Glass insulation, after which the group were invited for lunch at the Valmera Drama Theatre Café before joining the cavalcade for the return journey to Riga.