Berlin, beer & bratwurst to Piemonte & prosecco

Wow, Berlin! Fabulous. Vibrant & vivacious, heaps to see & do. And, thankfully, affordable after Scandinavia & particularly Norway where the only affordable thing was the air we breathed! Stayed in the old East Berlin, by far the funkier part, despite its rather sad history.


Visited a couple of places where the wall is still standing & also the GDR museum. 12,000 guards protected the wall & guards needed to guard the guards! Crazy.

And we went to the Holocaust museum & monument. All very sobering stuff.

On our way to Dresden we had an afternoon in Potsdam, until 1918 the residence of the Prussian Kaisers. OTT Baroque, as was Meissen & Dresden.

Meissen tiles on the Procession of the Princes in Dresden

One of the hunting lodges of Augustus the Strong.

The confluence of the Danube & Inns rivers in Passau, SE Germany

......and the beer & bratwurst

Vienna - a taste of the old....

....and the new

And so to Italy....

.....wonderful, and incredibly frustrating at the same time! So many extremes.

Milan - the duomo & the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele

St Mark removing the lion's tooth, duomo, Bergamo

Arona, Lago Maggiore

.....and that's all folks. Home soon to another summer!

When I've organised all the photos I'll put them on Flickr

Vikings, trolls & polar bears

 Vikings, trolls & polar bears

Geiranger fiord

(No, we didn’t see any of the above, alive at least!)

A trip on the coastal express up the coast of Norway, 2,600 kms from Bergen to Kirkenes. Stunning weather, blue seas, blue skies & a glimpse of the Northern Lights.

In the past the route was a lifeline for all these communities & today the ships still deliver goods up & down the coast.

Seven sisters & the Geiranger pass

Beware of trolls!

Christmas tree house! Soil is placed on the roof where plants germinate & insulate the house

Our ship was old & no stabilizers, but thankfully the sea was calm. the food was amazing - fish - yum!

Bergen

Kirkenes, 300 kms N of the Arctic Circle. Blue sky & 16 degrees!

Back to Oslo & its piece de resistance is the new Opera house. Controversial during its building (sounds familiar?!) its now hugely popular & attracts thousands of visitors.

Before Norway we spent some time in Sweden & also a day across the water in Copenhagen. Some more beautiful buildings.

Black diamond - library Copenhagen

Opera house, Copenhagen

And of course Nvhaven

I learnt about the closing of the Netherlands Zuiderzee in school but actually seeing the dam was another thrill. Built in 1933 & 32 kms long separating the Ijsselmeer (fresh water) from the North Sea & creating & protecting thousands of square kilometre of land.

That’s all folks! Farewell until the next episode!

I'm in love.........................with Amsterdam!

Loved it!

Stayed in funky Jordaan with its cobbled streets, shops & houses all mixed together & of course, canals. And bikes, bikes everywhere, more than I've ever seen in one place. (Almost) everyone riding one, except us! I could live here, though winter may be a bit challenging.

Spent the previous 3 weeks in the UK. Left London after 2 nights of sirens & armoured police vans racing up Kingsland Road. Shops boarded up & closed by mid afternoon. Scary. Went to the usual suspects - National Gallery, V & A & the Imperial War Museum was really interesting, as was Churchill's subterranean wartime cabinet offices & a tour of the Houses of Parliament.

Before then we'd spent 2 weeks house/cat sitting for a family in Hampshire, looking after their 3 cats, one rather old & doddery. But it survived!

Never been to that part of the UK before so we tripped around the lovely Hampshire villages & visited Winchester, Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, the New Forest & Dorset. Beautiful countryside & great weather.

Cloisters at Salisbury Cathedral & below Holly & Pete in Jane Austin's garden in Chawton, Hampshire.

Warbarrow Bay, Dorset

Cows, cheese & chocolate

Monday July 12^th

Switzerland. Today a day on the Naft – a mountain to us, but to the Swiss just a hill. We have the benefit of local knowledge – our friends Hans & Claire take us off the beaten track.

Napf

Well we made it - all 1500metres!  And down via the local farmers cablecar. Spectacular!

Switzerland, so beautiful, almost unreal with its green pastures & pristine villages.  And tonight another trip on the cablecar to a tiny restaurant with a view of Lake Lucerne.

Restaurant Alp Gschwaend, overlooking Lake Lucerne

Lake Lucerne

Last week a trip through Alsace-Lorraine – quaint villages & another wine route. And more supplies collected, of course!