Ships Everywhere

This post is for my naval architect friends! I suppose I should have realized that there would be a lot of boats and ships along the coast of Norway, but I never expected as many interesting ones as we’ve seen, from LNG tankers to very short and tall fishing boats. We’re sailing on the Havila […]

Far North

The scenery continues to be spectacular as we go north. We’re past the time of the midnight sun, but the sky is still light at 11 pm: We did an e-bike tour in Tromsø, the “Paris of the North.” According to the book “Exploring the Norwegian Coast,” that’s “not because the people are arrogant, or […]

Mostly Asea

We boarded the Havila Castor a week ago in Bergen. She looks just like her sister ship, Havila Capella, which we passed a few days later: The Havila ships are mail boats, delivering mail and packages all along the coast. We’ve booked a 12-day roundtrip, but some people use it to travel shorter distances. They […]

66°33′44″ N

We’re above the Arctic Circle! I’m behind on the blog – it’s tough to tear myself away from the scenery to work on it, and the internet is quite slow on the ship. I’ll go back to catch up, but right now I’m super excited to be in the Arctic with fabulous scenery. Pictures never […]

Bergen

On Saturday, we set foot in Norway for the first time. We were in the southwestern town of Bergen, in preparation for heading out on a cruise north along the coast. So, apparently, were lots of other people – I never expected so many other tourists! The old town Bryggen area along the harbor was […]

Out and About

We’ve visited several of our favorite spots – the beaches at Cameros and Pentrez, which we can easily walk to, Pointe de Dinan and Cap de la Chèvre – and enjoyed a new one – a hike at Pointe du Van, about an hour away by car. So many beautiful views, it’s hard to choose […]

Crêpes

We were very pleased when the gîte owner asked if we would like to get together for a dinner of savory crêpes, made right here in our rental. We have few in-depth interactions with locals when we’re traveling, unfortunately – we’re taking in the culture at a distance. Interacting in French and eating crêpes sounded […]

Temptation

France is full of temptation. Most of it’s food – for me, at least. Everyone knows the baguettes and croissants, but there are so many other delicious things. The local farmers’ markets have incredibly fresh fruits and vegetables And there are so many things you can cook with such great ingredients – or, even easier, […]

It’s good to be back

We’re starting a trek through Europe (M likes to call it the great circle route) with two weeks in Lézargol in Brittany. This is our third time at this rental, and it’s just as delightful as ever. As we drove into the familiar beautiful countryside after a night in a hotel in Brest, we breathed […]

A Taste of the Black Forest

Our arrival in Titisee did not look promising. It was hot and the small town was packed with tourists. Our lunch was okay, nothing special. But then we checked into our hotel, Treschers Schwarzwaldhotel. Ahh. Despite being right in the center of town, the hotel blocked the noise from the street completely. Our room had […]