St Petersburg, summer 2007

Took the car with Brith and Göran Pettersson from Uppsala via ferry to Finland to arrive in Roshchino, Russia July 21. Here we spent a few days bathing (Roshino beach is very nice!), water skiing, shashlick eating, sightseeing, and shopping with Irisha, Gesha, Vadja and Lena. We also went to see Lintula larch forest.

In St Petersburg we did more shopping and sightseeing. We went to see the Electric market, Putin's recidense in Strelna, on a night boat trip on river Neva to see how the bridges open, to Money Honey with Leo and Sveta, and to the Palace square to see a fantastic live concert with The Rolling Stones.

Late on the 28th we returned to Roshino to have a party with 20 guests the 29th to celibrate Elena's birthday. It was a very memorable evening with shashlick, many speaches, and many vodkas.

Some pictures and videos are available here.

Prices: (1 kr=3.9 rub)
• Big Mac 52 rub
• Jeans 800-1150 rub
• Boss 100ml after shave 950 rub
• Boss deo stick 390 rub
• Shirt from 200 rub
• 1liter premium vodka 150 rub
• 1liter car gas 20 rub

Riga, Latvia

Just came home from a trip to Riga in Latvia. In Riga we visited Jurmala (i.e. Riga beach), the old town, the city center, and Lido. The weather was very warm and sunny!

Golden Sands, Bulgaria

We just came home from a nice charter vacation week in Golden sands, Bulgaria. Traveled from Arlanda to Varna airport 6th of July. We arrived in Golden sands at 2300. Turn out that our hotel (Hotel Aphrodite) was on the party street so we took a quick look around midnight - which turned out to be too early. Later we learned that the action starts at 0100 and ends around 0600 (the street is silent 0700-1100).

Golden sands is a resort city with no local Bulgarian inhabitants. It has lots of hotels, restaurants, and fake shopping (jeans, wrist watches, bags, sun glasses, clothes, perfume, etc). It is not easy to find anything authentic. Golden sands also has a lovely long beach which offers the usual stuff including banana riding, para-sailing, massage, beer, fresh fruits, and Mc Donald's.

On the 9th we took a bus tour (0900-1500) to the city Varna (20km away, 28 lv pp). We visited the gypsy market, the city center, and a shopping center. It was not so much to see, but a nice break from the sun bathing.

The 11th we went on a full day trip (1000-1900) to see Nessebar at the resort Sunny beach (110km away, 33 lv pp). It was a very nice trip. Nessebar is a small island/city ranked as UNESCO World heritage site. It has a long and interesting history and many sights to see - mostly old and small churches, and picturesque streets. The shopping was also more varied and cheaper than in Golden sands. We enjoyed this trip very much.

The weather in Golden sands was usually sunny and 30°C. However, one of the days (12th) was cloudy, cold (16°C), and rainy.

Some pictures.

Prices (1 lv = 5 kr)
• Big Mac 4.69 lv
• Kebab 5 lv
• Pizza 6 lv
• Beer 2-3 lv
• Cocktail 5-7 lv
• 1.5 l water 1.5 lv
• Hair cut 15 lv
• Manicure 12 lv
• Pedicure 15 lv
• Ray Bans 15 lv
• Omega automatic watch 78 lv
• Ceramic bottle w. 6 glasses 10 lv
• Towel 10 lv