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Hurtigruten Voyage 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 degreesContinue reading “Our Arctic Experience”

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”

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 “Our brief visit to 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 “Our visit to 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 “Our time in Helsinki”

Fredrikstad Travelling north into Norway, we meandered through beautiful farm land and rolling hills and also took the time to stop and see some of the historic and archaeological points of interest along the way.  This area of Norway has the most concentrated collection of cultural monuments from the Bronze and Iron Ages:  ancient burialContinue reading “On to Amazing Norway”

The Highlights of Copenhagen You cannot visit Copenhagen without taking in the harbour front. The city flocks to the edges of the sea to enjoy outdoor cafes and restaurants as well as people watching. Nyhavn is where it all happens and is at the very end of Strøget, the main shopping street in Copenhagen. It’sContinue reading “Copenhagen and Western Sweden”

Tenze The main reason for our return to northern Germany was to celebrate the 80th birthday of Heidi‘s aunt Heidrun. These milestone birthdays are a big deal in Germany and so, a great chance to see all family and friends in one place. This one was no exception: a 16-musician classical concert in a medievalContinue reading “Exploring Northern Germany: Tenze to Zempin”

The European summer heat wave hit us just as our Lyon stay finished. Hot winds from the Sahara desert were battering Europe with wave after wave of heat, reaching temperatures of 40-45 degrees in some areas. Our original plan was to visit Geneva and then ride the Black Forest and Rhine Valley region of GermanyContinue reading “Lyon to Tenze, a Race Against the Saharan Heat Wave”

Leaving Taillades, we travelled north again to Lyon, where we enjoyed a week in the lovely home of our friend Marie-Agnes and her family.  Her son, Arthur, attended UBC in Vancouver last year where we met him, and we looked forward to discovering Lyon for the first time and seeing them again!  Lyon is aContinue reading “Lyon, the City of Food”