August 1 2000 - Finland

Waiting to board the ferry to Turku Finland from Stockholm

There ferry is really more of a cruise ship. A very pleasant ride through the many islands between Sweden and Finland.

August 2, 2000 - Turku to Oslo

Today's ride to Helsinki turned out to be about 111 miles in the end. There was a sag bus option after about halfway, but the first half was going so fast, and the bus wasn't scheduled to leave checkpoint for 2 or 3 hours, that we opted to do the whole thing. In typical TKA fashion its seemed the route circled through some mountains near the end just to take in the scenery, so this made it tiring.

August 4, 2000 - St. Petersburg Russia

Took the train from Helsinki to St. Petersburg for 2 days of sight seeing. Everything in St. Petersburg is on a big scale, the buildings are big, the streets are big, and the blocks are about 1Km long but most things are in disrepair. I saw places where the street car rails were broken with about an inch gap in the middle of a curve, but the cars are still running on them.

St. Petersburg - Russia

Monika looking inside a used Prussian space capsule in the space museum in St. Petersburg.

August 9, 2000 - Berlin Germany

We were taking the city bus in Berlin to do some sight seeing, and when we started to get off we discovered friends we know from home were on the bus! They just happened to be there on vacation and had no idea we were in Berlin. What a coincidence.

Stayed in a youth hostel in Berlin, with four to a room. It was rather noisy. Monika has a tooth problem so made arrangements to see a dentist. For the ride out of town we I hopped the subway for the first 20Km to get out of the city rather than following the TKA route which sent you circling around the city to take you by some sights.

August 11, 2000 - Dresden Germany

Dresden was mostly destroyed by bombing in world war II, and is now mostly rebuilt. There are few buildings still under reconstruction. Two years later there was flood that put this plaza under water.

August 12, 2000 - Czech Republic

Monika sagged the next day for the ride into the Czech republic, since her tooth was still bothering her. Camped in Terezin, the site of a major concentration camp during world war two. There was a heavy metal band set up in a field about two miles from where we camped, on the other side of a hill. The noise was still loud. I didn't know it was possible to make such noise without using explosives. They seem to blare for a few minutes and then there was be a pause (probably recharging their capacitors for another blast). Anyway it looked like there were a lot of people there intent on damaging their hearing.

August 13, 2000 - Prague Czech Republic

Monika still didn't ride because of their tooth problem. Had the next day off so took the bus into town from the campground to look around. Rented a rowboat on the river for an hour to paddle around.

August 15, 2000 - Passau Germany

Stayed in Passau long enough for Monika to get a root canal done, then took the train to Munich to rejoin the group.

August 16, 2000 - Munich Germany

Three day's off here. Went through the "Deuthsches Museum", a big science and tech museum here. There is a lot of incredible stuff, there, didn't really have enough time to take it in. Among other things I liked U1 (the first U boat) intact inside the museum with the side cut out of it so you could see everything inside.

Decided to rent a car here, and follow the group through Geneva, then head back to Bremen to visit Monika's mother one more time before we leave Europe.

August 20, 2000 - Oberammergau

Stopped to look at three castles, the best being Neuschwanstein, the one the fantasyland castle in Disneyland is modeled after.

August 20, 2000 : Braz Austria

August 21, 2000 : Lichtenstein

Drove through this tiny little country on the way to Switzerland.

August 24, 2000 - Montreaux Switzerland

With a rented car, we have been following the route from
Munich to Geneva. From there we will go off for a week
to Bremen again to visit Monika's mother.

In front of the castle of Chillon

August 25 2000:

Well we arrived in Geneva, where we were planning to stay two nights for an off day here (TKA scheduled layover), but since the arranged accommodation was a bomb shelter with about 40 bunks per room, we've decided to leave early in the morning and drive the 1100 Km thru to Bremen. The bomb shelter was pitch black when the lights were turned out. I might add that the staff have private dorm rooms in the university across the street where we are eating.

Inside the bomb shelter in Geneva

Bremen Germany,

Made it from Geneva in 14 hours of driving along the autobahn.

Went to an internet access place by the train station to update the website. I had to stop uploading photos, because the staff at this internet place said I can't use these 41 floppies unless I pay them a mark apiece to scan them for viruses.

Also yesterday the vitamins I order from the states for the rest of the trip arrived here, but customs wouldn't let me have them, saying something about bleimettal (which I think is lead, which they don't contain), and alles ist verboten. Starting to see why Monika left Germany.