Day 88 Bergen to Oslo

25 July
After a HUGE buffet breakfast that all four of us finished with shots we walked down to a bakery to get lunch supplies. We then walked down to the front tourist area around the port where there were some souvenir and fish markets (one stall was selling sausages made of deer, reindeer, moose and whale). Then we went to Bryggen which has old wooden wharf buildings that used to be used for trade by ships. Ivar, Alistair and I walked up to a lookout at the top of floeyen. We met Jenny up at the top and looked at the view over Bergen, the fjord, the islands and the ocean beyond. In the afternoon we visited the leprosy museum which had a lot of information about the disease in Norway, the treatment of patients, the establishment of an epidemiological registry and the evolution of theories of the cause of leprosy from inheritence to bacteria. At 4pm we caught a 6 hour train home to Oslo.

Day 87 Oslo to Bergen

24 July
Today we had an early start with Jenny and Ivar to the train station to get our train to Myrdal. The scenery was very pretty, we saw lakes, mountains, a ski jump and a glacier. At Myrdal we changed trains to the Flam line that took is from over 800m down to sea level. It is one of the most beautiful train lines in the world, I liked looking at all the waterfalls. In Flam we got on a ferry that took us through the sognefjord the longest and deepest fjord in Norway. Once though the fjord we saw the coast and some of the islands in the area. We got into Bergen around 9pm, checked into our hotel then walked back into the main street for dinner.

Day 86 Oslo

23 July
After breakfast in the same bay where we slept, we headed off to explore more around the islands. Whilst the weather has been beautiful and sunny there was not much wind today so we used the motor. In another bay we stopped for a swim and lunch before cruising back to the main port area of Oslo and doing some tourist sightseeing from the water. We attempted to sail but there was still not a lot of wind.

Day 85 Oslo

22 July
On the way to the shops we enjoyed picking wild raspberries and strawberries on the side of the road. We packed up overnight bags and went down to the harbor to go sailing on Ivar and Jenny's boat. We sailed around a few of the islands before finding a spot to spend the night and go for a swim in the (freezing) water. We had moose for dinner up on deck watching the sunset and playing Yahtzee.

Day 84 Helsinki to Oslo

21 July
Today might have been our record, 3 countries in 1 day. We met Nick and Tuuli for coffee before getting on the ferry to Tallinn in Estonia. The ferry was less than 2 hours. We went straight from the dock to the airport and checked our bags then caught a bus back into the old town section of Tallinn. We had lunch in the old town at a cafe recommended by Tuuli before doing a quick lap within the old town walls and getting the bus back to the airport to fly to Oslo. I wish we could have spent more time there looking at all the nice fairytale style buildings and holiday atmosphere. We got in early evening and we were met by Alistair's family- a luxury to be met at the airport and driven home instead of facing a bus/train/walk in an unfamiliar city. As it was such beautiful weather we sat outside for dinner and planned the next week in Norway.

Day 83 Helsinki

20 July
Today we met up with Nick and headed down to the port. We bought  some strawberries and peas and took a ferry across to Suomenlinna, a little island off the coast of Helsinki. The island is a maritime fortress with bunkers, tunnels and lots of other old buildings. We took our picnic lunch to the far edge of the island watching boats sail by. Back in Helsinki we walked with Nick around the port area. We went out for pizza before heading to a house party on the top floor of the tallest building in Helsinki. It was a bit of a wild night...

David

Forgot to mention the most awesome Skype chat with David Meili last night! Was the best part of the whole day.

Day 82 Helsinki

19 July
We met up with Tuuli at 1030 and she was our personal tour guide around Helsinki. We went to a church built into rock, some second hand markets, walked around a lake to an amusement park where we went on a really old wooden rollercoaster, to some food markets and then back to the centre. We tried lots of Finnish food like rye bread with rice in the middle, big cinnamon rolls and Finnish coffee. We went for dinner at Nick and Tuuli's apartment where we had an awesome home cooked meal. We walked down to the port to the tall ships sailing event and watched a fireworks and smoke show at 9pm-still light!

Day 81 Berlin to Helsinki

18 July
We went for a walk down to the kaiser-wilhelm-gedachtniskirche shopping area and the ruins of an old church. We went inside the remaining part of the church that had been bombed in WW2 and we could see the cracks in the ceiling that had been repaired. It was interesting to see photos of the church next to photos of the ruins and how the council was trying to fix the area. Next to the old church there is a new church built with blue stained glass windows and from inside it was like a blue glow. We used the bus and train to get out to the airport. We flew to Helsinki arriving in the middle of a thunderstorm. We met up with Nick and Tuuli for dinner and went for a walk around some of the tourist areas. The first two photos are Berlin, and third is from Helsinki taken at 1030pm.

Day 80 Berlin

17 July
Today we went by train to one of the concentration camps, the sachsenhausen memorial. The grounds were laid out as a big triangle so as the grounds could be seen by the main watch tower. There was an example set up of the border of the grounds; a path where you would get shot without warning, an electric barbed wire fence, another path then an 8 foot wall. We went into some barracks that had been restored and had some of the details of the daily life in the camp as well as prisoners' stories. More disturbingly we saw the execution trench, the crematorium, the burial ground of the ashes and the memorial site. It was very emotional and confronting.
In the evening we went to a beer festival for a look around then headed to a pub for schnitzel twice the size of our faces - the meals in Germany really are huge!

Day 79 Berlin

16 July
Happy 24th birthday Alistair!
After a bakery run for breakfast we caught the metro train into Berlin centre. We started at the Reichstag building and also walked though the Brandenburg gate. Next we went to the holocaust memorial site, 2711 concrete blocks in an open square. We also went through the underground information centre which had a timeline of the holocaust, excerpts from letters and diaries of Jewish people- sometimes right before they were murdered, and also stories of Jewish families. We visited the topographes des terrors and checkpoint Charlie. After a sombre morning we had hamburgers for lunch. We went to the longest part of the Berlin wall still standing, now the east side gallery with murals covering the wall. Late afternoon we also stopped at the alexanderplatz square. For dinner we had HUGE serves of pork and duck, thank you Chris and Steve for dinner. Later we also made a visit to the microbrewery, Hops and barley.

Day 78 Amsterdam to Berlin

15 July
Today after breakfast we went for a walk along the canal close to our b&b. We then used the tram to get to the central station where we caught a train to Berlin. It ended up being quite a long day, getting in to Berlin around 9pm. We used the metro to get to our hotel. There are lots of little cafes and shops in the area surrounding the hotel. Alistair satisfied his cravings with a German beer and huge piece of pork for dinner.

Day 77 Amsterdam

14 July
Today we used the bikes from our  b&b to go back and look again at some of the sights we passed on the bike and boat tours from yesterday. We went to the highly photographed I Amsterdam sign near all the museums, to one of the more beautiful canals in the city with 7 bridges and climbed to the top of the Nemo building for a good view of the port. We then locked our bikes and went into the main square. We followed a free audioguide around the red light district and learnt a bit more about how the government is controlling weed and prostitution- was definitely eye opening but very glad to get out of that area! The city has been very busy this weekend, lots of tourists and people coming from other parts of the Netherlands during the holidays and for the summer weather.

Day 76 Amsterdam

13 July
After a huge breakfast from the b&b we rode to the central station to meet up with my family. We spent the day sightseeing around Amsterdam with my mum's cousin, Petra, her husband Robert, and son Maurits. We did a bike tour around the main sights of the city, then had traditional Dutch croquettes for lunch followed by a leisurely boat cruise along the canals. We really enjoyed the day being shown around by locals and learning a bit more about my family. We took a picnic dinner to the park and stopped by a free concert but the Dutch comedy show was a bit over our heads!

Day 75 Antwerp to Amsterdam

12 July
We took a few different trains to get to Amsterdam, we got in just before midday. Arriving in Holland marks the 4th area my family has come from that I've visited (England, Wales, isle of man and now Holland.) We are staying in a small b&b towards the south of the city. We also have 2 bikes to use as much as we like. After lunch we headed towards the centre of town through a big park. We left the bikes and walked through the old town to the main square where we saw a palace,  we also walked through a few markets and the red light district. There are lots of canals running through the city. The bike paths are good, although the intersections are a bit difficult.

Day 74 Antwerp

11 July
In the morning we walked up to the park spoor nord and walked around the grounds before heading back to the port area. We went into the MAS building which was free to get to the top for a panoramic view of Antwerp. We had lunch in the student suburb before heading to the southern areas of the city. We went back for dinner at the markets tonight. Alistair is enjoying Belgian beer and we are both enjoying the chocolate and waffles.

Day 73 Paris to Antwerp

10 July
Today we caught a train from Paris to Antwerp in Belgium. It was a really nice train and only 2 hours. The train station in Antwerp is one of the tourism sights, it is a very large beautiful building with 3 levels of trains. We are staying in an ibis hotel very close to the train station. After we checked in and had lunch at a beach themed cafe we walked into the historic city centre full of beautiful old buildings. We also found a touring market selling lots of fresh food and crafts. We walked down to the old port and looked at a boat museum. We went back to the markets for dinner.

Day 72 Paris

9 July
After a slow morning we caught the train to musee Rodin and entered into the gardens. We looked all around at Rodin's statues including the thinker. We had our lunch down the back of the garden under the trees. We then used the trains to get to the centre pompidou. From there we walked to place de la republique then along the San Martin canal up to the sacre-coeur. We had a macaroon at the top overlooking the whole of Paris. We also had a picnic dinner on the grass before heading home on the train.

Day 71 Paris

8 July
We caught the train to the Louvre stop and got in the line at around 845, the gallery opened at 9 so it wasn't a long wait. We followed another downloaded audioguide inside the Louvre taking us around the Greek and Roman sections, Italian and French paintings including the 500 people on front of the Mona Lisa. We also walked through some of the Egyptian section on our own out of interest looking at ancient parchment, sarcophagus and a mummy. After the Louvre we walked the avenue des champs elysees to the arc de triomphe. Our walk then went down to the Seine opposite the Eiffel tower then to the musee Rodin which was unfortunately closed because it was Monday. We went to a creperie for dinner.

Day 70 Paris

7 July
Our first real day in Paris. We walked out onto the street and found a Sunday food market just outside and bought some fresh croissants. We then caught the train into the centre of Paris. We started at ile de la cite, one of the islands in the Seine. We went inside the Notre Dame and also saw the palace on the island. We then walked along the banks of the Seine to the Eiffel tower. It was so awesome to see it up close and stand underneath it, we also walked up the park to get some good photos. We had lunch at the jardins du Luxembourg where you are not allowed to sit on the grass apparently. Today we also went to the st sulpice and st germain. After some well earned cold showers (28 degrees in the city today) we caught the train back into the centre with a picnic dinner and sat along the Seine watching people and boats go by. We watched the sunset then walked along the banks both islands, Notre Dame, saw the Eiffel tower in the distance, and down to the Louvre where we saw the pyramid lit up in the dark.

Day 69 Bordeaux to Paris

6 July
Our last journey with busabout but not the least. We left Bordeaux at 11.30am and got into our hotel in Paris at 11.30pm. I enjoyed the last bit of the drive seeing all the main sights of Paris like the Eiffel tower, Louvre, Notre dame, moulin rouge, the islands in the middle of the city and a few of the cathedrals. Looking forward to exploring tomorrow!

Day 68 Bordeaux

5 July
I love France for the fact you can go and buy fresh hot croissants from the bakery 2 doors down for breakfast! Today we walked the main tourist areas of Bordeaux and saw St Andre, Rue St Catherine (the main shopping street), the musee d'Aquitaine, the Esplanade des Quinconces, and the public gardens. We also went to the wine museum and tasted a local red and white as well as learning a lot about the wine region and how to taste wine. In the afternoon we stopped by the river and had a rest under the trees before heading home. We are both feeling the effects of the last two months, both a bit tired and run down but trying to keep the momentum up for the home stretch. For dinner we had another home cooked meal of pasta. The photos show our picnic spot in the garden and the wine museum.