This year’s Baltic Run winners answer our questions.
The Baltic Run is over for another year, so we took the chance to interview this year’s champions: Team Oachkatzl. They excelled at the various challenges set throughout the Baltic Run, and for their victory were presented with a remote-controlled car. We caught up with Christina and Christian a few days after the rally.
Hello! How are you?
Christina: Christian and I arrived safely in our snow-covered home in Austria and now I want to thank you again for those unforgettable, adventurous days we spent with you on the Baltic Run. It was GREAT !
The gang at the start of the Baltic Run
Why did you decide to do the Rally?
Christina: We are still in contact with participants of previous rallies, and we knew that Annie and Simon, as well as Dirk, wanted to participate, so we thought signing up for the “Baltic Run” would be a nice occasion to meet them again.
Christian: And we visited the Baltics including Kaliningrad in the summer 2015 and we wondered what it might look like in winter and it definitely was worth a second visit!
Were the Baltics what you expected?
Christina: We knew the beautiful Baltic States already from a holiday in May and June, so we were afraid of the dark, long winter-nights and thought we would miss the blooming meadows and the sun. Instead we were surprised how wonderful it was in winter: we enjoyed the Christmas decoration in the lovely towns, the snow-covered backroads and all the interesting sights we got to visit.
What was your craziest experience?
Christina: The stay in the Hotel “Fontaine Royal” in Liepaja [where the owner was a very eccentric, but generous, host].
Christian: We even spend Saturday night 3 more hours in the Fontaine-Lobby waiting for our ferry. Regrettably, Louis didn’t show up. Kaspar was disappointed and wanted to change the hotel: for me it would’ve been a loss.
What was your most positive experience?
Christina: There are just too many positive experiences. First of all the many interesting places you offered us to visit: there was the intimidating “Wolf’s Lair”, the variety of bunkers, the missile base, all the underground facilities, not to forget the memorable “day in prison” or the mining experience. All those places you would never get to see on a normal tourist trip.
Another positive item : all the little tasks we had to do (looking for Lenin-heads or Stalin-statues etc or being a good navigator by following your drawings and km-instructions on dirt-roads).
And last but not least: very positive were all the nice and like-minded fellow travelers from all the different nations. We just loved the being together with the participating teams and all the parties you set up.
How would you describe the Baltics!
Christina: They are Beautiful And Lovely Terrific Interesting Countries (BALTIC)
Christian: By the way, they are very cheap comparing German price levels. That makes it even more worth going there (the pragmatic look on the Baltics, so to say)
“Only in the Baltics…”
Christina: You can find such a nice guy as Kaspers [co-organizer of the Baltic Run].
And finally… will you be joining in the future?
Christina: Definitely!
