I took the train from Dublin to Belfast, and as soon as I walked out of the station, I noticed the difference between the cities. The impact of years of unrest and turmoil was obvious. Perhaps it was an ever-present tension? Or perhaps I was just imagining it? Don’t get me wrong…I always felt safe, and never had the impression that I was holidaying in a place I shouldn’t be. It’s just that you get a sense of the pain…
I had never been to Ireland before and had no preconceived ideas about what to expect… that is, apart from what I had read in Emily’s book, Vignettes of Travel, which she wrote after she and Alfred (my great grandparents) visited there in 1886. So, when I was wandering around the city I did seek out some of the sights which she mentioned. Emily mentioned the statue of Daniel O’Connell. O’Connell (1775 -1847) was known as the Liberator for his…
Our three night stay at the Muotka Wilderness Lodge in Finland was packed with activities. We started with dog sledding. After receiving some brief instructions on what to do and how to control the sled, we were paired up with our dog team. It was absolutely glorious travelling through the snowy landscape. The dogs really just followed the team in front. So, the main responsibility was to keep the lines under control (not too loose) and to keep the required…
I’d like to refer back to an earlier post, where I wrote about what a fjord is, and also mentioned a couple of fjords which I had thought we might have been visiting. As it turned out, we didn’t visit the Geirangerfjord, although we did indeed cruise down Trondheimsfjord, and many many other fjords. In fact, just about the whole voyage was made up of cruising into and out of the various fjord systems along the coast of Norway. In…
I will start with a few quick facts about Bergen: It was Bergen’s architecture which spellbound me. (Sometimes even scared me!) The buildings which flanked the old port area were old, leaning and seemingly unstable. As I wandered around and through them, I was constantly amazed that they were still standing! Inside one of the buildings – the Christmas Shop no less – the floors were not just uneven; they were positively on a slope! Navigating the stairs from one…
While on our voyage north up the Norwegian coast, we would make a point of doing as much walking as possible whenever the ship stopped. Much of the walking was in the form of exploring the cities, towns and villages we came across. But, whenever there was an opportunity to do a ‘real’ walk we jumped at it. We managed to do two. The first was from Alesund. Alesund is a port town, located at the mouth of the Geirangerfjord. …
It was the second time I’d been in Oslo, and I’ve decided that it is my favourite of the Scandinavian capital cities. I have already mentioned our visits to some of the museums and historical sites in my earlier posts. And the harbour with its Striking Opera House is a stunning sight in both winter and summer. But the visit to the Ekeberg sculpture park was one of the highlights of the trip for me. It was quite surreal wandering…
It’s time to share some of the food experiences. Where to begin?? Let’s start with the meatballs. Even though I had set myself a goal of trying each country’s specialty meatball dish, this just wasn’t practical! However, we did make a point of visiting a restaurant in Stockholm called, “Meatballs for the People”. We figured that this would be a logical choice!? Meatballs were pretty much all they served. And we were rewarded with a delicious array of this Swedish…
Everywhere we went I made sure that we received an appropriate dose of history. The museum visits tended to have a focus on the Vikings; after all, I wanted to see first hand some of the relics which I had read about!. However, we also enjoyed other historical sites and collections with their amazing stories. It all started with a visit to the Swedish History Museum in Stockholm. It was here, in The Viking World exhibition, that I saw the…
Visiting Copenhagen straight after Stockholm, we found this city a complete contrast. It was busy and vibrant, notwithstanding the cold. And while the weather continued to be changeable, we were able to wander around and explore the many sights. Apart from the fact that Jaegersborggade Street has a seemingly impossible name to pronounce, it was a delightful street which we thought would present some interesting shopping opportunities. And it would have, except that the stores didn’t open until 11am! And…