Category Archives: Uncategorized

Helsinki-Tallinn We woke up the morning of our cruise docking in Helsinki worried about making our connecting ferry to Tallinn. We had experienced such nightmares disembarking in Russia that the two hour connection time just didn’t seem enough. We were assured by our tour company that the Finish customs people were very efficient, so weContinue reading “Itinerary, What Itinerary? Tallinn to St. Bees”

Our trip to Tallinn was short and semi-sweet:  we arrived together, Art stayed 2 hours and left for Stockholm and I stayed the night in a hostel and left the next day.  Tallinn is beautiful certainly.  It is a perfectly preserved walled medieval town, narrow cobblestoned streets lined with fine old buildings.  There is, ofContinue reading “Eastern Baltics: Part 3 – Tallinn”

From Helsinki, our next stop was St Petersburg, Russia. This tour was called a 5 day cruise but was really 2 nights and 3 days in St Petersburg with an overnight boat voyage on the St Petersburg ferry line on either end. Additionally there was a tour arranged for each day with an official tourContinue reading “Eastern Baltics: Part 2 – St Petersburg”

We were fairly spent after numerous back to back days riding so our Helsinki experience was fairly sedate by design. Additionally, Heidi’s broken thumb (sustained by stepping back without looking while trying to get the perfect Instagram shot of Art in front of a church) further hampered our desire to engage in all-day, every-day, sightseeing.Continue reading “Eastern Baltics: Part 1- Helsinki”

Our Return to Bergen Our luck and fortune on this trip were never so evident as our visit to Bergen Norway. Having been introduced to new friends before our cruise, we were invited to overnight with Sten, Veronica and family before resuming our journey. Not only did they store our bike for the duration of the cruiseContinue reading “Our Ride Across Scandinavia”

Our voyage began in Bergen and sailed north visiting countless fjords and archipelagos from latitude 60 degrees north all the way to the North Cape at latitude 71 degrees north, which is 5 degrees above the Arctic Circle at 66’ 33” N. Our voyage was blessed with phenomenal weather: temperatures exceeding 25 degrees on mostContinue reading “Norwegian Voyage on the Hurtigruten”

After learning we needed to exit Europe earlier than expected we looked for travel options to extend our adventure rather than return home. We had always said SE Asia was high on our list, so once we completed the Coast to Coast walk across England we headed east to discover Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.

November 13-30, 2019 Siem Reap Siem Reap is best known for the ancient temples of Angkor Wat and indeed, other than that, there is no real reason to go there. Don’t get me wrong, the temples are awe inspiring. But if temples are not your thing, Siem Reap likely isn’t either. We were there 4Continue reading “Cambodia”

Oct 23rd – Nov 12th, 2019 Bai Xep In our search for the perfect place to relax, Heidi and I both shared a similar vision that it be like Rincon de Guayabitos, Mexico. We have so many fond memories of the place from year after year returning with our kids for our mid-winter escape toContinue reading “Central and South Vietnam”

Oct 11-23, 2019 Luang Prabang, Laos We weighed the option of going the overland route from Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang against the short flight. We had heard and read about the bus trip and slow boat option up the Mekong River as being an extraordinary experience, but this would have taken an extra threeContinue reading “Laos and Northern Vietnam”