I had 2 days in Porto before beginning the Portuguese Coastal Camino. Besides sightseeing, there were 2 things I needed to do: get my Pilgrim “passport” for the Camino at the Catedral do Porto and figure out my bus route out to the coastal edge of the city to start my walk. There wasn’t really …
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Workaway in Germany
When I started looking at Workaway listings, I stumbled on listings for helping in monasteries or convents for nuns. I wrote to a few, and was happy to be invited to go to help at one a few hours’ train ride from Berlin in the countryside. The community of sisters are from several different countries, …
Berlin
Berlin in WWII features a lot in historical fiction books I’ve read over the years. Since I had a few days before my Workaway in the North Rhine-Westphalia region, I decided to spend 3 days in Berlin. I was curious about it asa modern day city, and about how the horrors of WWII would be …
Oslo 2025: Art Everywhere
I posted photos of the Opera House last year, but I think it looks different with changes in light and weather. We booked for one of the many tours in English. It was led by a man named Dag whose love of the arts and the house shone through everything he said. No photos were …
Saunas
We’ve been to several saunas on this trip and find the small ones to be some of the best. I’m starting to understand why sauna is such a big part of life in Scandinavia and other places. It’s really relaxing, even when the sauna is in a busier place. The one pictured above is on …
Stockholm
This year we decided to return to Sweden, but to start in Stockholm, the capital city on the East coast. It was a little intimidating to think about where to stay in a city that ‘straddles 14 islands and is connected by more than 57 bridges.” (Eurocities.com). But it was a fun puzzle to tackle …
A Few Days in England
We had the offer of staying in our Peaks Island neighbors’ flat again in London, so we went there before heading home. It was breezy and sunny when we arrived from damp old Bergen. I got the drying rack out and put out our bathing suits and ‘quick” dry towels before they started molding in …
Norway: 2
Everything you read about the train across Norway from Oslo to Bergen on the west coast mentions that it’s one of the most scenic train trips in Northern Europe. For the 1st hour or 2, I was wondering what all the excitement was about. But then the train began to climb into the mountains and …
Norway: Oslo
We stayed in an apartment in the old Posthallen building (former post office). Beautiful marble entry floors and stairs that are clearly old and well maintained. There are 200 or so apartments in the building with halls like dormitory hallways with no windows, with the overhead lights turning on as you approach a section. Our …
Sweden 4
The Rohsska Museum of Design and Craft in Gothenburg isn’t big, but it sure held our attention for a few hours. They have a permanent exhibit on East Asian crafts and other exhibits that show how Scandinavian art is influenced by those designs and crafts. Will and I watched a short video on the process …
