- Date
- 7 July 1999
- Lodging
- Hotel Intourist
- Distance
- 769 KM
- Total
- 26963 KM
Germans Manfred and Heinz, both about 60, are trying to drive around the world in 80 days in a 1963 Citroen. When we met, the odds looked slim since a recent robbery meant a passport, visa, scrapbook and jacket were missing, since “someone in the wilds of Siberia” broke into their dented, green machine. We invited the spunky men for dinner on the dock. At 10:15 p.m., seated under the just-now setting sun, Manfred, Heinz, two Russian friends Sergei and Larissa, along with Jim and me drank Russian Baltica beers. A fish market next door sold us huge, succulent steamed crabs for next to nothing and we bought bread, cucumbers, tomatoes, garlic and onions at a nearby shop. What a perfect Russian feast. Manfred, a guitarist and vocalist, and Heinz on the tambourine sang for their supper. Initially the other patrons at the café looked away, wanting nothing to do with our group, but by the end of the night, all eight tables of Russians, Americans and Germans sang the chorus of Willie Nelson’s, “On the Road Again”.Russia