Tag: Europe

2 Days in St. Petersburg (Old Sankt Pete)

2 Days in St. Petersburg is just enough time to get a good taste of the city.  Ideally there would be time for more, but on this trip I had many days on the Transsiberain railway on my way to Mongolia and China and only a month to do it. Amazing Architecture Driving into and …

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Long Layover in Helsinki (A Hel of a Time)

Had a beautiful flight over Iceland to land in Helsinki.  Followed by a Long Layover in Helsinki before catching my overnight bus to St. Petersburg, Russia. Met Jakko, a guy I met in Cali, Colombia. It was cool to check out the art deco buildings in Helsinki. Tonight, I will take an overnight bus to St …

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Long Layover in Istanbul

I have been to Istanbul before. An ideal time is 3 days in Istanbul. But today I only would get to enjoy a long layover in Istanbul, for the duration of a day. Arrival in Istanbul was at 6:45 am local time after gaining 2 hours on the flight from TBS to IST. I got …

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Scandinavian Capital (Destination: Oslo)

We found plenty to stay busy on the full day of sailing from Bergen to Oslo and Mom’s choir gave a performance in the foyer. In Oslo, Mom and I had a big walk planned for today and Dad decided to take a day of rest.  We walked past the Nobel Prize building And the royal …

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Bergen Norway Cruise Stop (Cruise Ships Invade Norway!)

There were 9 cruise ships scheduled at the Bergen Norway Cruise Stop today so we found ourselves docked in a shipping yard with a free shuttle to the center of the city.  We did our own walking tour of the town, stopping in the central park, walking the pedestrian shopping street, and looking at all …

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What to Do with one day in Flam, Norway

Are you traveling on a cruise and only have one day in Flam, Norway? Check out this diary of what I did while on my cruise on the Celebrity Summit ship, an 11-night cruise of Norway departing from Amsterdam. We had booked an afternoon ride on the Flam railway today, so we had a full …

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Most Beautiful Fjord of Norway? (Destination: Griengerfjord, Norway)

I had booked my parents on a hop on hop off bus plus a boat ride today and I decided to go solo to get a chance to hike up the hills of the arguably most beautiful fjord in all of Norway.  We were so lucky with the weather today – one of the sunniest …

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Troll Road, not Toll Road (Destination: Alesund, Norway)

We had booked another full day bus ride with our friends from Cruise Critic.  On this date, we had a bus ride on the loop through the Trollsteigen, or so called “Troll Road” of Norway.  There are many stories of trolls in Norway – as little children were told they would be kidnapped by these …

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Great Atlantic Road (Destination: Molde, Norway)

A guy from Cruise Critic had organized a full day tour today, with a bus load of others.  We took the bus north on the Great Atlantic Road, a recently built road connecting many islands with bridges that has become one of the top tourist attractions of Norway.  There are great views along this road. …

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Things to do in Olden, Norway – One Day in Olden

The sail up the fjord to Olden town is great.  The sunny morning highlighted the views, including a mountain that’s the Norwegian version of Half Dome. Today I had booked my parents on a tour and I was going to catch the public bus to the Briksdal glacier.  Upon arriving, I walked with a few …

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