Uppsala is a university town north of Stockholm with a rich historical and scientific heritage. Among other claims to fame, it was the home of Carl Linnaeus, the father of modern taxonomy.
Stockholm syndrome
You may or may not have noticed that I went quiet after we arrived in Stockholm. To be honest, I’m horribly guilty about the fact I went to the most beautiful city I’ve ever been in – and that includes Paris and San Francisco – and all I really wanted to do was hide in the hotel. The problem was that Stockholm is so fucking overwhelming. It’s big, gorgeous, self-assured – fantastically expensive – and was just too much to consume even in little bites. Also, it rivals Rome for the volume of tourists and the annoyance and traffic caused thereby. It’s exhausting struggling through rude,yelling teenagers, and clueless Italians, and everywhere I might have liked to have gone was chockablock with groups.
Lund
Lund is a medieval town a short (but expensive) train ride from Malmö, and a true delight in every way. We travelled on a train that should have been taking us to Ystad, i think 🙂 Continue reading “Lund”
Malmö ohhhh
We knew we would like Malmo almost as soon as we set foot in it. Not only does it present a lovely face from the train station right on a little canal (our hotel is just on the other side, about 100m away from the station), but we had fortuitously arrived in at the start of the Malmö festival. The festival meant a lot of noise but lots of life in an already lively, pretty town. The gorgeous and very old St Peter’s church is around the corner from our hotel
Goodbye Copenhagen, hello Aarhus (and Aalborg)
The crap hotel in Copenhagen tried to stiff us to the end by charging us for things we had not bought, so we were both glad to see the back of it. Continue reading “Goodbye Copenhagen, hello Aarhus (and Aalborg)”
Copenhagen, the days all blur together
So, my cold has gone and my foot is somewhat better. However, Copenhagen is a city of stone streets and not much rest, so it gets tiring fast. Continue reading “Copenhagen, the days all blur together”
Denmark day one
Just as my cold was finishing, I’ve managed to sprain my foot getting off the Flybus to Keflavik airport. So another day sitting in the hotel for me 🙁
Our hotel is in a popular area so is very noisy, and since it’s rather hot here, we had to leave the windows open – the hotel is rather proud of its ‘environmental’ ( ie cheapskate) rep, so no airconor propers. We are just around the corner from a rather swishy food market (think selfridges food hall) so i hobbled there for brunch. Now doug is exploring, and i have my foot up again. Sigh.
Tomorrow i hope to be mobile enough to go sightseeing.
Iceland days eight and nine
Drive along the south coast to Landeyjarhofn harbour and take a ferry from Bakkafjara to Heimaey Island, the largest of the Westman Islands. Visit the puffins in Storhofdi, climb the crater of a recently active volcano and admire the flora growing in a new lava field.
Iceland day seven
Visit Skaftafell National Park, an area renowned for its natural beauty and dominated by the magnificent Vatnajokull – Europe’s largest glacier. Continue to the Jokulsarlon Glacial Lagoon, where huge icebergs drift through the still, deep waters.
I sat this one out because of my cold, and Doug said it wasn’t anything i’d be sorry to have missed.
But check out the view from the hotel!
Iceland day six
Drive south past fertile farms and glacial rivers to Skogar and the Skogafoss waterfall. Visit the Thorvaldseyri farm, located at the foot of the infamous Eyjafjallajokull volcano, whose 2010 eruption shut down European airspace for over a week. Stop off at the Skogar Folk Museum before continuing to the dramatic Solheimajokull Glacier.