Category: Travel

  • Svalbard Express, Day 7, Honningsvåg (Magerøya), 120924

    Svalbard Express, Day 7, Honningsvåg (Magerøya), 120924

    The globe at the North Cape/Nordkapp – 71 degrees, 10′ 21″ north I didn’t have the best night’s sleep last night. The boat was rocking a bit as it headed further north, so it was hard to settle. I had remembered to set an alarm to make sure that we got up in time, as…

  • Svalbard Express, Tromsø, Day 6, 110924

    Svalbard Express, Tromsø, Day 6, 110924

    I woke early this morning as I knew that the ship would be docking in Tromsø at 8am. The sea had been calm on the journey overnight and I slept fairly well despite being disturbed by Lady Aurora. We didn’t each much at breakfast, maybe due to the excesses of our five course meals every day.…

  • Svalbard Express, Day 5, Reine (Lofoten Islands), 100924

    Svalbard Express, Day 5, Reine (Lofoten Islands), 100924

    I’ve not really spent much time anywhere else than home on my birthday, except the odd visit to London, or my 21st in Amsterdam. I never would have expected to wake up on my birthday, on a ship sailing down the beautiful Vestfjorden area of the Norwegian Sea. We passed some very dark and brooding…

  • Svalbard Express, Day 4, Træna, 090924

    Svalbard Express, Day 4, Træna, 090924

    Morning view of Mount Torghatten, Torget Brønnøysund The overnight sailing was fairly calm following a bit of a swell when leaving Åndalsnes yesterday. We weren’t rushing to get ready for breakfast and were having a cuppa when there was an announcement over the tannoy. Another one of Hurtigruten’s ships, the Otto Sverdrup was passing by…

  • Svalbard Express, Day 3, Åndalsnes, 080924

    Svalbard Express, Day 3, Åndalsnes, 080924

    We woke early and opened the curtains to some fabulous scenery around the Vestnes area. The waters were calm and still, everything was just so peaceful. I wished my son, Lewis, a happy birthday for his 28 years young birthday. We got ready for breakfast and went to the Røst Restaurant. There was a good…

  • Svalbard Express, Day 2, MS Trollfjord, 070924

    Svalbard Express, Day 2, MS Trollfjord, 070924

    Nordhordlandsbrau – Nordhordlands Bridge We woke early to another lovely day, a bit cloudier than yesterday, but still very pleasant. We had chosen our breakfast booking for 8am, so we had plenty of time to pack our bags before we went downstairs. Hotels in Norway | Clarion Hotel® Breakfast was typical Norwegian style, with lots…

  • Svalbard Express, Day 1, Bergen, 060924

    Svalbard Express, Day 1, Bergen, 060924

    I started studying a part-time STEM degree with the Open University in 2020, and one of my modules was called “Environment: Journeys through a changing world”. Its focus was climate change, life in a changing world, and the anthropogenic activities that are causing the (sometimes) irreversible changes to the environment and our beautiful, fragile planet.…

  • Roma, Italia, day 3, 260824

    Roma, Italia, day 3, 260824

    Today we had three things to do.1 – Go to the Lazio football shop2 – Visit the Vatican as it is close by3 – Catch a plane homeIn that order I wanted to get my son a football top from the Lazio shop. It seems to be a “thing” with him, he likes to wear…

  • Roma, Italia, day 2, 250824

    Roma, Italia, day 2, 250824

    It was nearly 10am when we finally left the HiSuite apartment to go and find a breakfast place. It was an easy task, we found a charming little cafe called Fico Ristorante, which was about 10 metres away from our front door. The breakfast menu offered omelettes, eggs, pancakes, croissants and all the usual continental…

  • Roma, Italia, day 1, 240824

    Roma, Italia, day 1, 240824

    It was an early start after a comfortable night at the Sofitel on Friday night. However, as soon as our heads hit the pillow it felt that we’d had a very rude 4am awakening by our alarm phones. Despite this, checking out and getting from the hotel to LHR terminal 5 is so easy: it’s…