Ears There is a moment of silence just before an announcement. It is that quick pause when the airline ground staff takes a breath—the gap between the crackling of the PA system and the sweet voice with calculated intonation, calling on a passenger: “Paging (insert name). You are needed at gate (insert number).” I am standing inside a store, surrounded by aisles and aisles of eco-friendly school products when I heard a page. I look up … [Read more...]
Sofiero Palace and Gardens
My visit to Sweden this time was decidedly different than my previous. Enduring cold weather, cloudy skies and drizzly conditions during my last visit we spent much of our time indoors drinking hot chocolate, eating sushi and visiting with family who live in Malmö. During the entirety of that trip, the cold weather followed us up to Oslo Norway - and then over to Stavanger and Bergen with fleeting glimpses of the gorgeous fjords tantalizingly … [Read more...]
Culinary Highlights at Sweden’s only Floating Hotel
Both my Napa Valley winemaker friend, Emil and I were looking forward all trip to a visit and stay at Sweden's only floating hotel - along with a visit to the adjoining restaurant (Salt & Sill) - in the small ocean-side town of Klädesholmen on Tjörn Island in Western Sweden. This was one of the restaurants on our itinerary we had planned to wear the finest clothes we brought along! However, it was not to be - we barely arrived before closing … [Read more...]
Visiting Monaco
Monaco is the world's second smallest independent nation, the most expensive country based on per capita income, containing the most expensive real estate in the world across the country and the world's most densely populated country! We weren't sure what to expect prior to visiting this remarkably wealthy country. You know you are in Monaco when you hear the throaty growl of some super car in the distance racing through the steep hills of … [Read more...]
I’m just a girl…
I’m in love with adventure: I always have been and I always will be. And water is a big part of that adventure and of my life; this element has fascinated me ever since I was a little girl. It was hard at first, but somehow my wish overcame fear and I learnt how to swim. On my own, when I was 15. From then on, I couldn’t get enough of water: I sometimes joke that I could live my life in water if only I had food within easy reach, a water … [Read more...]
Greenland – The World’s Coolest Place
Leaving the comfort of blue skies at 37,000 feet, above a thick cloud layer, we started our slow descent down into Greenland. It was hard to believe that we were actually stopping in Greenland, a place that I had only flown over so many times between the USA and Europe. It isn't a place I ever thought I would actually stop in. I always thought it was a place where no one ever went, somewhere inhospitable to life. It was hard to believe we … [Read more...]
Pie-eyed for Pizza: A Love Story
“I could eat pizza seven days a week.” The sentence grabbed me, but I couldn’t decide whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. It was on a site where few sentences grabbed me: Match.com. I jumped to two possible conclusions: a) NBlikesbikes is really boring, or b) NBlikesbikes is really quirky. I have a soft spot for the quirky, and while I was mentally kneading a) vs. b), NBlikesbikes e-mailed me. After a few messages, he asked me … [Read more...]
Street Angel
Sighing with tired relief, we plopped our suitcases into the dusty, grey earth – we had arrived! The journey to Florence took far longer than we had anticipated and weariness dragged through our bodies like a ball and chain around an ankle. Our train started to pull off, rattling and screeching away from the station as we soaked in the new surroundings in the cool night air. I squinted at some small colourful objects in the distance and … [Read more...]
Exploring Coimbra Portugal
Today we spent the day driving around Northern Portugal - with the highlight being a stop in Coimbra. This quaint hillside town is situtated above a large river - with the March chill clearly evident as stiff breezes blew us across the bridge into the old town. We raced our little mini Fiat up the narrow cobblestone streets, dodging pedestrians, parked as well as moving cars and soon found ourselves at Portugal's oldest university - the … [Read more...]
Coastal Fun in Portugal
We spent the day driving along the coastline from Lisbon up to just south of Coimbra. The first stop was at Obidos, a small ancient walled city of about 3,000 people. As luck would have it, this was one of the weekends for the Chocolate Festival and cars surrounded the outskirts of the city with thousands descending into the old town. We parked along with many others on the side of the road and some old guy started yelling at us and everyone else … [Read more...]
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