Maja's travel blog:)

Svalbard

2018-03-20T13:08:00.002+01:00

Have you ever dreamed of reaching some the most remote places in this world, where the landscapes look like from a sci-fi movie, where half of the year is complete darkness and the other half the sun never sets, where there are more wild animals than humans and the land is covered with ice?

All of this you can find on Svalbard, the archipelago that is the closest place to the North Pole and maybe northernmost populated area.

Svalbard is easily reachable with direct flights from Oslo. When I visited Iceland, I thought that was the most out-of-this-world landscape I have ever seen. But then I went to Svalbard :) (Fingers crossed that Justin Bieber doesn't hear this and makes some music video)

The obligatory tourist photo, beware of polar bears. Or tourists. The latter can often harm you more.

Even though they look cute on Coca-Cola advertisments, polar bears are very dangerous. They weigh between 300-800 kg, but don't let that fool you. There average running speed is 40 km/h! Polar bears can be mostly seen on the east coast of Svalbard and unlike the other members of the bear family, polar bears mainly live on the coastline where they can hunt. They have rarely been seen in the mountains on Svalbard.

Our trip started in Longyear city, the "capital" of Svalbard with around 2000 inhabitants. The reason why there are people living there is the mining industry that started on Svalbard in the beginning of the 20th century. Nowadays there is no mining industry left, people on Svalbard live on tourism and there is even a University (it's actually a campus part of the University of Tromsø).

Not the most crowded place you've seen I assume? :)

Very Norwegian feeling here...

Let me start by saying that we are not in Texas :) In Svalbard it is very common to have a gun in order to protect yourself. Sometimes the polar bears get so hungry because they lack food (are there any climate change skeptics among you?) and come near the city. So, if you leave the very town of Longyearbyen, you are obliged to have a gun with you and the gun can only be used for self-defense.

It is strictly forbidden to tease polar bears to come close to you and then shoot them and then say that you did that in self-defense. These excuses are not tolareted. Journalists have learned this lesson the hard way.

In rest of the world, guys like to have cool cars to impress girls..I have a feeling in Svalbard a nice scooter scores high with the girls :) Or with boys. Gender equality, we are in Norway after all.

The day after we did something very exciting. We signed up on a hiking tour and went to the top of Sarkofagen. We started with our hike at the end of Longyearbyen. We had to walk up on a glacier and very steep paths before we reached the top. Our guide from Poli Artici told us really great things about the places nearby and had the equipment that we needed. He also brought his dog with him (big points about this :))

Lars glacier (the two pictures bellow)

On the top!

I'm very proud of this picture, I took it when we started walking down, when we met another group of hikers.

Svalbard is full of fossils, there is one area that is almost like fossils park where you can pick some and take home with you. As the glaciers are moving, new fossils keep reappearing. They are estimated to be 60 million years old!

These two photos are taken on Longyearbreen, the Longyear glacier

At the end of the tour, approaching the town. I have to say once more, the nature here is so dramatic.

After the long hike, a well deserved beer from Svalbard Brewery. Did you know that it wasn't allowed to brew beer on Svalbard until recently? However few very persistent guys decided to change this and after long efforts, this law was removed.

In the evening we even saw a small glimpse of northern lights. Unfortunately my camera was not good enough to capture the light.

I don't know if you knew this..but it is actually not allowed to die on Svalbard. If old or close to death, you are kindly asked to travel to mainland Norway and die there. In case you die, you might be sent of to the mainland anyhow.

But now..the opposite of death, now it is about life and joy. Yes, I will write about dogs :)

Our next tour is dog sleighing. There wasn't snow when we were there (October) so we had to do dog sleighing on wheels. This is definitely a must activity on Svalbard. The guides from Svalbard Husky let you do all the work. Say hello to the dogs, but also organize them and fasten them in the right order on the sleigh. You feel like you are part of the process and not just a tourist who sits and waits to be amazed. This way, we were extra amazed :)

We drove the sleighs around the Advent valley but we also took off the beaten (read bumpy) track. From time to time we had to stop, give water to the dogs, pet them a little bit and take these amazing pictures. We also took a ride in valley 1 and 2.

Norwegians always impress me with their creativity.

And here is my friend, one of toughest people I know. If it wasn't for her, I would probably still not visit Svalbard. At the end of our tour, they let us say hello to the puppies. I was "aaawwwing" until we left.

I always have to write about the food that impressed me in each place I visit...In Svalbard we had the tastiest whale. I know it's ethically problematic to eat whale..I feel bad..I do.

For the end, I will post some Svalbard humor that I hope you will enjoy it :)

P.S. Please go to Svalbard and you can thank me later.

Vilnius, Lithuania

2018-03-13T19:39:00.001+01:00

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I am under the impression that most people become immediately confused when they hear something about the three Baltic countries, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Which one was which? .."Was Riga in Estonia?", "And Vilnius is in Latvia, right?", "Do they speak the same language?", "Yeah, they all speak Russian". The answer is NO, on all of the above :)

I cannot praise the Baltics enough and I have always said they are underestimated. Beautiful old towns, safe and easy to orientate and travel around, with super good food and...here is the part that makes them stand out: cheap, very cheap! :)

After having had an amazing time in Estonia and Latvia, this time I decided to visit the third and most anonymous Baltic country, Lithuania.

The Christmas vacation sounded like a great opportunity to travel to Vilnius. The city was so beautifully decorated, with several Christmas markets and Christmas trees. I had the feeling that they have been celebrating for ages, and every night was Christmas Eve.

Every city has something to be proud of, Vilnius has many things but the most fascinating for me was Vilnius University. It's story starts all the way back in the 16th century and the entire campus looks very medieval. The highlight for me was the University library (picture bellow), founded at the same time as the University (actually the library is a bit older). The library is home to thousands of books, including a translated version of the Bible by Martin Luther and the first edition of the revolutionary Nicolaus Copernicus' De revolutionibus orbium coelestium. Need I say more? :)

Slowly moving to the next interesting thing about Vilnius...street art.

Let me guess, this one was your favourite? :) Are you laughing? Rolling your eyes? Get reminded of what kind of world we live in?

So do I :)

Speaking of being alternative and free minded...Within Vilnius you can find a self-proclaimed Republic! The Uzupis Republic has its own anthem, an army (with 11 people), flag, currency, president...It reminded me of Christiania in Copenhagen...or Vevcani in Macedonia ;) The fun fact about Uzupis is that their Constitutional Day is April 1.

The name means the other side of the river

Is this the most obscure picture you have seen? :)

Vilnius is famous for the two hills. Actually, I've read somewhere that Lithuania is so flat, if your dog runs away you can see it running for two weeks :) (I fear this will give food to flat-earth society members).

Anyhow, the picture above is towards Gediminas Hills (closed for visitors when I was there) and the picture bellow is from the Hill of Crosses.

The view of the city from the Hill of Crosses

Another typical thing for Vilnius are churches. Churches, churches everywhere. Just in the Old Town there are more than 50!

If you remember my blogpost on Riga, you will remember how fascinated I was with their food hall. Vilnius has a similar one but quite smaller in size. I couldn't help but try their soups and bagels.

This traditional mushroom soup in rye bread was to die for!

After exploring Vilnius for days, we decided to take a day trip to a smaller place. The choice was Trakai castle. 2 euros and one hour away you will reach Trakai village. From the bus station in the village, it is about 30 minutes walk to the castle island.

Detected: Scandic influence :)

The cutest coffee shop

Approaching the castle island

Ta daaa!

The castle was built in the 14th century and it was of a great importance for the grand duchy of Lithuania. I know very little about Lithuanian history, so I am afraid I have to stop writing now before I make a mistake :)

I will finish this blog post with several pictures capturing the holiday season in Vilnius. I hope you will enjoy them.

Thailand (Elephants World and Bangkok)

2017-06-18T10:44:00.000+02:00

South East Asia is a very exotic area for many due to the unique culture, mix of ethnicities, food, exotic fruits and flowers..But for animal lovers, like me, encountering wild life is maybe the most spectacular part of this region.

The dark side of South East Asia is actually their treatment of animals, especially elephants. Elephants are used for tourist riding them, they are exposed to heavy weight and they are walking for many kilometers every day without enough food and water, sometimes even with broken legs. Elephants are also used for entertainment, sometimes used for labor to collect logs in the forest.

I have seen many documentaries about elephants and how smart and caring they are and how cruel they have been treated in SEA.

Slowly the mentality is changing. Many animal rights activists have influenced law changing, to improve the condition of elephants. The governement in Thailand has been most progressive about this issue, Vietnam and Cambodia have a lot more work to do.

Before my trip to SEA, I read a lot about organizations helping elephants and I accidentaly ran into one, not too far from Bangkok, a city that I had on my itiniary. The volunteer organization is called Elephants World and they function as a sanctuary for old, sick, injured, abused elephants saved from cruel treatments.

We decided to visit them and it was the best day on my trip. Here is why:

The people in Elephants World say that they work for the elephants, not the other way around. After we got some safety information from the group leaders, we were allowed to feed the elephants. Every elephant in the sanctuary has food preferances. Yes, you read that right, elephants just like humans (read: me) are picky and snobbish when it comes to their food :) Some like bananas, but not watermelons. Others want that you peel the corn before you give it to them, otherwise they will not eat it ;)

Here is an elephant throwing mud at himself. The mud is a natural sunscreen!

After being fed, we walked together with the elephants to the river Kwai for their shorth bath. This was a routine for them, so it was quite simple and straight forward. Every elephant has its own mahout, elephant keeper who they trust.

After their bath, they were allowed to rest while the rest of us made food for the old elephants. Most elephants die of starvation because their teeth fall of after the age of 60. At the sanctuary we were preparing soft rice balls with pumpking and then we fed the older elephants!

And at the end, it came the best part. In the afternoon we were allowed to go into the river and give the elephant a bath! It was so much fun and they were enjoying it. I took this photo shortly before I joined the bath, because let's face it who wants to take pictures when you can play with elephants :)

After Elephants World we returned back to Bangkok and explored the city. The picture above is taken from the roof bar at the hotel where we stayed in, at Rattanakosin island.

After visiting Cambodia and the temples of Angkor, it was difficult for Bangkok to impress me :) I almost think that I should have travelled first to Bangkok and then to Cambodia :) The temples in Bangkok are beautiful, it's obvious that they were a rich kingdom. But they still looked like any other buddhist temple I've been to, just more lavish..and crowded.

The picture above is from the temple Wat Pho, the Temple of the Reclining Buddha.(he is 46 meters long!). This temple is famous for being a traditional school for massage. You can still get a massage here.

These two photos are from Wat Arun, The temple of Dawn. This temple is across the river, opposite of Wat Pho. The ferry ride takes only 2 minutes. This temple is very beautiful and special for its white pearl color.

Lunch with a view towards Wat Arun

One of the most famous cites in Bangkok is the Royal Palace. I couldn't take many pictures because either a. it wasn't allowed or b.there were so many tourists that I wasn't happy with any of the pictures :)

The Palace is grand, lavish, expencive..not a single corner or a tile is modest :) It may sounds strange, but the museum for fabrics that belongs to the Queen of Thailand was very interesting. The queen was very fashion-interested (surprise, surprise), and she was curious and interested to dig into Thailand's past and see how people dressed long time ago, what kind of national costumes they had. This idea developed over time and thanks to her, the Thai national costumes were re-born.

We visited Thailand several months after their King passed away and the people were still mourning.

This place was very interesting in Bangkok, it's a flower market. Stalls and stalls with beautiful fresh flowers. I wanted to buy everything and take it with me in Norway :)

I would really recommend everyone to visit South East Asia. If you missed my other blogposts about Cambodia and Vietnam have a look here:

http://mooseinasunset.blogspot.no/2017/05/cambodia-angkor.html

http://mooseinasunset.blogspot.no/2017/05/vietnam.html

But no matter where you decide to go and what you want to see, I will ask you for one favour: Do not ride an elephant!

Thank you for reading,

Maja

Cambodia (Angkor)

2017-05-19T10:53:00.002+02:00

Just few kilometers away from Siem Reap, you can visit one of the largest religious monuments, Angkor, also known as the Temple City. The temples are spread on an area larger than 400 square kilometers.

The Angkor temples are the most magical place I have ever been...it is the most authentic spiritual place, with no limitations to where you can go, many surprises hidden in every temple, almost a thousand year old history. It feels like it was a place build for Gods, not people.

Angkor were originally Hindu temples, built around 1200. Later on many were converted into a buddhist religious place. If you look at some of the drawings you can see a Buddha drawed over a Hindu God.

The vast area in Angkor is best to be explored by a tuc-tuc. You can tell the driver which temples you want to see and he can take you on a tour. I would also recommend hiring a guide for at least one day. There is so much history between these walls, it's a shame to walk around without knowing it.

My favourite temple was Bayon. It represents the point between heaven and earth. Bayon is characteristic because of the many "smiling" statues. The terraces around Bayon are carved and they depict historical and mythological scenes.

The entrance gate to Bayon

What I really liked in Cambodia was that as a tourist you are allowed to explore the temples on your own, there are very few limitations to where you can go (usually connected to safety). So if you want to have a real Indiana Jones experience, I recommend you visit Angkor. Once you enter the temples there are many hallways, passeges, doors, back yards..and which ever road you take you never know where it will take you and who you will meet!

A Buddhist monk, saying a prayer

Cambodia has been lucky never to have an earthquake and there are many restoration work going on in the area. Not every restorantion has proved to be right though. The Indian restoration team made a huge mistake here in the 80s when they washed the statues with acid.

And for the best Indiana Johes felling I would recommend Ta Prohm, a temple hidden in the forest, and captures by a vast root system. Ta Prohm can give you out-of-this-world feeling and even though it may sound as a cliche, this temple will remind you about the power of nature. Part of the nature here was destroyed in order to build the temple but now the nature has taken it over. And what is interesting, if these trees are removed, the temple will fall apart.

It was here where Tomb Rider was filmed.

It's almost like the evil forest has swallowed it :)

There were many kids playing in the area near Ta Prohm and selling souvenirs. This photo is taken from the walls surrounding the temple

The gate entrance to Ta Prohm

This is Neak Pean temple. It was believed that this lake had magical powers who could heal the sick and the temple functioned as a hospital in that time

The staircases in all these temples are very narrow and the people belive that the top of the temple is Heaven. Meaning, the road to Heaven is not easy (well the road down from Heaven is not any better:))

Ta Som

Baphuon

Prasat Kravan

..as I said, you never know what you will see once you start exploring;)

This is Angkor Wat, the center of the Angkor temples and an old capital of the Khmer empire (Khmer=Cambodia). It is the biggest, the best preserved but also the most touristy part of Angkor. Both the sunrise and the sunset here are beautiful.

Our photo was taken at sunrise

Buddhist monk entering the temples, at sunset

Prayer in Angkor Wat

The entrance in Angkor Wat, where Kings would come by elephants

The entire temple areas was built with massive stones and each stone is carved. I cannot imagine how much work has been done, especially having in mind that this was 9 centuries ago. Archeologist believe that the temples were also painted, but there are no visible signs of that anymore. In the walls of Angkor we could see some damage that has been done due to the long war in Cambodia, bullets that have destroyed the walls. It was only in the early 2000s, after the war conflict subsided, that people discovered Angkor and now there are more than 2 million tourists every year. The Cambodians are so proud of it, that they have Angkor Wat on their flag and their money! It's not difficult to see why. ;)

Vietnam

2017-05-03T23:10:00.001+02:00

For a very long time I associated Vietnam with the war (even though it has passed decades), probably due to the many American movies and the hippy movement ("Hair" fans? anyone?)
However, the more I got interested in travelling, the more bloggers I follow on Instagram, the more I realized how beautiful this country looked. It became more and more clear to me that Vietnam is a jewel I must see with my own eyes.

Our first stop was Hanoi. Vietnam has a similiar geography of Norway, long and narrow. I spent some time thinking if we should focus on the northern part or the southern, Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City. Hanoi is old city, with unique architecture(both vietnamese and french colonial), fascinating street life, parks, lakes...Ho Chi Minh is more for party, nightlife, dining and similiar. For me the choice was easy. One of my dreams was also to take a boat trip on Halong Bay which is very close to Hanoi.

Hoan Kiem Lake with the Turtle tower

We had tour guide in Hanoi, where we visited an old traditional house, the Ho Chi Minh house, several temples and we heard many stories about Hanoi. The city is split into two parts, the old town and the french quarter. You can tell the difference immediately, just have a look at the two photos bellow.

It wasn't difficult to guess which photo is taken where ;) The buildings in the Old Quater are high but narrow, the reason for this is that people were asked to pay housing taxes based on the width of the house in the front, not by the height. Another thing that is special about the photo above is the cafe where they serve egg coffee! I know it sounds strange, but we tasted it and it was excellent. The story behind this comes from the time when the Frenchmen were coming to Vietnam and they wanted to have a capuccino type of coffe (Im guessing cafe au lait?). A barman at one hotel in the city did not know how to make coffee with creamy foam, so he improvised. He wipped egg whites and mixed them with the coffee! The egg coffee is nowadays symbol of Hanoi and it's very untypical for rest of Vietnam.

This was a common site in the Old Quater in Hanoi, millions of motorcycles, who do not care for pedestrians! the trick is to wave at them with the hand while passing, but it can be helpful to try to cross the street with several other people...to kind of win them over by number ;)

Romance is not dead in Hanoi <3

This photo is one of my favourites, a street seller in Hanoi. For the record, I have the exact same hat ;)

After Hanoi, we took a bus and a ferry and went to Cat Ba island. Cat Ba is the bigges island and is located both on Lan Ha Bay and the famous Ha Long Bay. We stayed in bungalows near Cat Ba town. There is not much to do in the town itself, this island is a gateway for exploring the nature, beaches, and the many many islands in Ha Long Bay.

The bungalows at Cat Ba

Cat Ba town

Cat Co 2 Beach

We started very early in the morning with the cruise and ended late in the evening. The boat tooks us through Lan Ha Bay and then on to Ha Long Bay. On the way we stopped for kayaking, swimming, saw monkeys on a deserted island and all in all we saw amazing nature.

Swim trip to this island

Kayaking in 3 caves

Special rock and island formations in Ha Long Bay

Floating fishing village on Lan Ha Bay

Monkey island beach and the reason why the island got its name

Sunset on Cat Ba island

After Cat Ba we continued south east and arrived in Tam Coc, near Ninh Binh. We spent the night in the hotel overlooking the rice fields. We took a very nice walking trip around the lake and the rice paddy fields. The rock formations here remind of Ha Long and Tam Coc is often called Ha Long of the innland.

Tam Coc

boat trip in the lake

biking in Tam Coc

After Ninh Binh we continued west. This part of the trip was absolutely the best and the most unique adventure I have ever taken. It all started with my big dream to see terrace rice paddy fields. I spent hours reading books, blogs, trip advisor reviews..I discovered that is possible to see blooimng terrace rice fields in April in northern Vietnam, but only if I go to Pu Luong Nature Reserve and nowhere else (Sa Pa was on my list, but there the rice fields blossom in June).

You'd think that travelling to Pu Luong is easy...oh no no :) Most Vietnamese people told me: "I didn't think you could go there" or "I did not know about this place".

The village Mai Chau is famous but that is at the border of Pu Luong and the area in Mai Chau is flat.

After thorough researching I found a guide who could take us there and show us authentic Vietnam.

After driving for hours from Ninh Binh, we stopped the car and the guide took us for a walk..and then I saw this:

My behaviour resembled a child in a candy store, I think I took like 1000 photos...minimum :)

We also saw how they water the fields, with an old style water wheel

In the evening we arrived in one village which believe me does not exist on google maps! Even the road there wasn't marked on google maps :) We could drive one part of it and then we had to hike. Most of the roads were gravel roads. When we arrived we were invited in a local house for tasty dinner and drinks!

We spent the night in a very simple bungalow. I underline simple. Because it had a matress on the floor and nothing else ;) And many bugs and insects...but it also had a natural pool from the waterfall nearby so that's ok :)

this was our bungalow and the nature around it. I considered myself a lucky person that day...well, I still do

The day after we got up early and took a hike in the jungle. Parts of the path were litteraly "unbeaten", the guide had to use a knife and an ax to remove plants and small bushes so that we can pass.

and the views...

We managed to do all of this in one week, but once we were there we wished we could stay longer. I can without a doubt say that the people there are the kindest I have ever met. I have never felt safer than in Vietnam. They are very poor but very modest, I didn't see any beggers, pushing sellers, noone tried to fool us and they would do anything to make you feel welcomed despite how little they have. I wish that many visit Vietnam, not only because it's worth visiting, but that it deserves and needs the boost from tourism.

I will finish this blog post with a photo of pineapple field, one of the most common fruit in Vietnam!

Christmas in London

2016-12-14T22:25:00.000+01:00

There is nothing more "feel-good" than a Christmas atmosphere, whether it's a Christmas movie, cartoon, decorations, tree, presents..ok, let's be realistic, the last one is the best thing about Christmas

London surprised me how exceptionally beautiful it is at this time of the year. Every decoration, every light was thought trough, everything was in the right "dose".

Someone smart has said all that glitters is not gold. He is right, it could be Christmas lights.

Bellow you can see a collection of my photos taken during my last trip to London, now before Christmas. If every picture tells 1000 words, mine tell 5 words only: I want to go back.

Oxford Street

House of Fraser, department store

Libery, the nicest and coziest department store I've ever been to

The inside of Liberty

Carnaby street

Soho

(no location here, Im not sure where this was :D )

Covent Garden

Strand, day and night

Santas' get together at Trafalgar Square :)

Ice skating ring at Somerset House

Did you miss my blogpost about London? Check it here: http://mooseinasunset.blogspot.no/2016/12/london.html

London

2016-12-14T22:19:00.003+01:00

Every time when I travel to a new destination my friends and family ask me: How did you like it? Was it beautiful?

I found answering these questions about London quite difficult. I probably have to reply with a question: What makes a place beautiful? Is it the architecture/the urban part or the cultural importance?

If you are visiting London and have been for example to Paris before, you should not expect the same. As a colleague of mine once said: "London is not beautiful, but it has beautiful moments". This is something that I agree with because you find unique neighborhoods in London with (partly) beautiful architecture, but you cannot really see the consistency that Paris for example has.

And then we have the cultural aspect in which case London wins over any other place on this planet. You are curious where Pink Floyd played their first concerts? Do you want to know where Ringo Star and George Harrison shared an apartment? Sure, it's all in London. You pass by the Thames and you can just imagine Sex Pistols and their legendary performance on God save the Queen :) Which other city is so epic?

Here I can also write a lot about football references, but (un)fortunately I don't care for football ;)

Abbey Road

St. Paul's Cathedral, Thames, Tate Modern

St. Paul's Cathedral

Speaking of the Queen, the famous Buckingham Palace. One can visit the inside of the palace only in late August

Change of the guards. Head to St. James's palace for the actual place of changing of the guards. Don't fall in the tourist lack-of-information trap thinking that it this ceremony happens at Buckingham palace.

If you are visiting London, one of the must things to do is go and see a theater play or musical on West End. Skipping this is like skipping Broadway when in New York. Crazy, right? :) On the picture below it's me in a mild delirium that I will see Jesse Eisenberg live :D

There is however something that it's better than a West End show and that is watching a performance in Shakespeare Globe Theater. The theater is not at the same location where the original theater was, but quite nearby, around 200 m away. The theater is made almost the same, based on the evidence from 17th century. I saw Macbeth and a ticket costed just 5 pounds. You can see the plays either standing or sitting, the part of the theater where the audience stands is open (so do check the weather forecast before going). Some of you might be tempted to get a sitting ticket, but no. Do it the original way, do it like it in the 17th century, by standing and enjoying a great performance. (photo bellow)
One small thing: you need to have a good English or have read the play before coming, to be able to follow the play

Big Ben and the mother of all parliaments (day and dusk)

The impressive Tower Bridge

Once you have seen all the must spots, I recommend you doing an alternative tour. By a recommendation we joined an Unseen Tour. These are tours guided by homeless people. Yes, you read that right. People are either skeptical about these tours or they would join because of sympathy or pity..but think about it...who knows a city better than a homeless person? Who has better stories to tell? :) No one!

Shoreditch

We chose Henri (or Henrik without the k) and his tour in Shoreditch. If you don't know what and where Shoreditch is, I will give you some key words: East London, hip neighborhood, mecca for street artists.

If you have followed my blog closely, you know by now that I have a thing for street art. Henri showed us really cool places and he was really..honest :)

For example: "Do you know Banksy?" answer: "Yeah, he is a twaat"

"Here it's Johnatan Swift's grave. The guy with the one book hit wonder". I think fire was coming out of my ears, but Henri didn't care :)

street art Henri approved (above and bellow)

Street art Henri didn't like:

Banksy

Back to the touristic London and straight to Hyde Park

the fancy part of Hyde Park

Royal Albert Hall

I expected that Hyde Park is similar to Central Park, but they are quite different. Central Park is more picture perfect where every leaf or flower is in the right place. Most of Hyde Park reminded me of the City Park in Skopje, where I come from. Bit messy, bit wild :) Just like my heart...LOL :)

Do you love old movies and good food? I know I do. Head to the Breakfast Club (..don't you forget about me, I'll be alone dancing, you know it baby..), the interior is with school benches (obviously;)) and the food is great. It's more of a breakfast/brunch and you might have to wait in line to get a table.

If you are more for a fancy dinner for an affordable price (compared to Scandinavia, of course) and have this fantastic view (photo above) then head to the OXO Tower Restaurant. The prices are similar to many other restaurants in London, but the location and the view are not easy to be found elsewhere.

Loving this :) I felt like I walked into a British movie :) I only lacked Hugh Grant and a cup of tea. Benedict Cumberbatch would do the trick also.

Natural History Museum

For great panoramic shots of London, go to the top of Tate Modern

Another hip place to visit is Notting Hill and the Portobello Road Market happening on Saturdays. Even though it's a cool place to be and who doesn't love buying antiques, still it's sooo crowded that I barely survived. The speed of movement of the crowd was about 1cm/minute. The photos (bellow and above) are taking from the side streets..thus lack of people.

Waterloo Bridge and St. Pauls in the background

Do you want to see how London looks like for Christmas time? Then check out my London part 2 blogpost: http://mooseinasunset.blogspot.no/2016/12/christmas-in-london.html

Iceland

2016-10-06T09:28:00.001+02:00

There is a story or a myth how Iceland was populated, it started with a Norwegian who sailed the Atlantic ocean until the waves brought him on a smokey bay which he called Reykjavik.

The story on this blog begins with an almost-Norwegian buying a plane ticket, getting on a plane to Iceland and falling in love with this country immediately :)

There is something about Iceland that other countries don't have. The landscapes look like from another planet, like sci-fi movies from the Moon. Another thing is how bizarre the contrasts are.

Sure, many countries have contrasts in culture, social standards, history...But how many countries have a volcano covered by a glacier?! Where in the world can you be freezing to death while watching geysers exploding out of the surface with a temperature of 80-100C?

Only on Iceland :)

First thing first, a car rental. Iceland is living on tourism and there are many travelling agencies that can take you on tours from Reykjavik, but having in mind how expensive Iceland is (Norway and Switzerland I'm looking at you), I would recommend renting a car. There is not much traffic in Iceland, the roads are great and you will have the freedom to travel and stop wherever you want to.

There are many waterfalls in Iceland, one nicer than the other...after visiting Iguazu Falls it's difficult to be impressed really, but I have to say that the surroundings and the rock formations around the Icelandic waterfalls are quite unique. On the two photos above you see Seljalandsfoss and Skogarfoss.

This stop was my favorite, the glacier lagoon at Jokulsarlon. The Jokulsarlon glacier is located between Vik and Hofn, in the Vatnajokull national park. It's possible to take a speed boat or a amphibian boat. The photo bellow is from the amphibian boat, you come really close to the glacier and it was a special atmosphere to see the ice rocks floating surrounded by fog. (fog due to heave rainfall, please don't ask me how cold it was!)

Being impressed by glaciers, I wanted to come even closer to one and even to walk on one! So I joined a tour with Arctic Adventures and went glacier walking on Solheimajokull glacier. (Solheima=the sunny home; jokull=glacier).

You start the hike near the glacier and for this you need to wear special gear, crampons over your hiking boots, special belt and an ice ax. The way of walking is quite special, especially going downhill on the glacier..for the skiers among you, this technique is very similar to the Telemark skiing technique.

This glacier has a lot of cracks and holes, unlike many other glaciers which have a smooth surface. Here it's especially important not go without a guide. It can be quite dangerous especially with the moulins (see photo bellow).

If you wonder why I'm bigger around the waist, the answer is simple: food supplies in my pockets! :)

The "dirt" you see on the glacier it's actually ash from the volcano.

The area around Vik was very beautiful, even if you just drive around you will enjoy it. The 2 next photos I took from the car and I believe they capture how a road trip on Iceland looks like.

Another beautiful rock formations around Vik are Reynisdrangar and Dyrholaey.

Reynisdrangar, below and above

Dyrholaey, bellow and above

Near Reykjavik, you can go on a round trip called The Golden Circle, it's a must for every tourist. One of the stops is the famous Gullfoss waterfall (picture bellow)

...and the famous geysers. The geysers erupt in different time spans, but the one I saw was erupting every 10 minutes.

before

and after

lava fields covered in moss! (yet another special rock formation..Iceland must be heaven for geologists)

I will finish my story with Reykjavik. The city itself is nothing special, for me it looks like any other Scandinavian/Nordic city. Nevertheless they had some things that were very unique.

Panoramic view over Reykjavik, taken from Hallgrimskjirka (Hallgrim's church)

The inside of the church: plain, simple, Lutheran :)

The outside of the church: plain, simple, Lutheran :)

The population of Iceland is around 340 000 and some peculiar information about the country: they have a website called The Book of Iceland where you can go in and check for people if you are related to them or not. It's not a surprise that most clicks on this website are on Sundays :) As one Icelandic said: we are all related to one another, but after a night out in the city, when you are searching the book you are always praying that the girl/guy you just met, is not your first or second cousin :)

But with 1.5 million tourists a year plus a growing number of expats taking jobs in the tourism sector, I believe it's easier and easier to find a partner in Iceland ;)

Another interesting fact is that they don't have an army! They have police but the crime rate is on minimal level, their prisons are half empty and most of the inmates are bankers...It cannot be bad to be in prison now, surrounded by smart folks :)

Harpa, concert and theater hall in Reykjavik. The exterior is an inspiration from northern lights, fish scale and hexagons :)

street art in Reykjavik

The old part of Reykjavik

When it comes to the food, they eat mostly fish and lamb and they take pride in the quality of these two. I love fish and I can confirm that it was very very good.

Being isolated from rest of Europe for many years, their traditional food is very strange. This includes: rotten shark, boiled sheep head (common in Norway too), goat's testicals...just to name a few ;)

Icelandic people, just like their fellow Norwegians, hunt and eat whales. And they don't care for any international regulations. When it comes to Iceland, the issue is even more controversial because the demand for this meat mainly comes from tourists not from locals. In Norway on the other hand, whale meat is common for the locals....you can hate me now, but I must admit that I like it :) But I don't buy it and don't consume it! :)

And here is another special thing about Iceland...they have Penis museum! Yes you read that right :)

What is even more funny, it's the following story. We all know how important gender equality in the Nordics is. In Iceland, an artist was fed up that the word penis (and it's synonyms) is used so much, while we rarely say vagina, even when we are cursing! Provoked by this, she painted a huge vagina, and this floor-to-ceiling size canvas is now hanging in the Reykjavik City Hall.

I will finish this blog as a hard core romantic, with a beautiful sunset while I'm daydreaming for traveling here again... :)

Brazil: Rio de Janeiro and Buzios

2016-05-11T21:36:00.001+02:00

Rio de Janeiro or as its also known Cidade Marvilhosa (the marvelous city) has not only deserved its nickname, but it exceeds it. The first time I saw Rio from Corcovado I felt that the word marvelous is an understatement :) Rio is extraordinary, spectacular, divine...and all the other superlatives that I cannot think of right now.

The picture above is taken from the mountain Corcovado (meaning hunchback in Portuguese) where the famous Christ the Redeemer statue is. Corcovado is at the edge of the city and it actually belongs to the Tijuca Forest, which is a rain forest. (amazing that they have a rain forest so close to the city)

You can reach the Christ statue in 3 ways: to take the train at Cosme Velho, to take a special bus shuttle to the top which starts at Copacabana (what we did) or to hike. The last one is the most difficult option having in mind the high temperatures.

It's interesting that this statue is not only a religious symbol, but it has become a trademark of Rio and Brazil in general. I can imagine even if you are not Christian, it's a beautiful symbol..you are welcomed to Rio with open hands and there is a nice guy overlooking everyone in the city. (If you pay closer attention you can notice that Jesus's head is bend little downwards facing the city)

At the other end of the city you find the famous Sugar Loaf mountain. (the mountain behind us :)) To reach Sugar Loaf you should take 2 cable cars. I'm always nervous in cable cars but the views are so worthed.

View towards Rio

View towards Copacabana

Back in the city we went on a walking tour with a guide, we usually do this to get an impression of the city, learn about the safe or unsafe places and then explore things on our own.

Brazil has quite a dark history, one thing is that they were a Portuguese colony and we all know the stories of colonized nations, but when the Portuguese came to Brazil they also brought a lot of slaves from Africa.

Brazil was the last country in the world to ban slavery and once they did, they didn't make it easier for the slaves either. No one would give them jobs and they were extremely poor which later led to creating the notorious favelas (slums).

The fanciest cafe in Rio de Janeiro, Confeitaria Colombo exists from 1894 and it was the place where leaders, kings, queens, presidents used to come. It was quite packed for lunch time when we were there, but we bought the famous Brazilian desert brigadeiros (chocolate fudge balls).

Parts of old Rio

Rio De Janeiro Municipal Theatre

My favorite part of Rio were the neighborhoods Lapa and Santa Teresa. They are close to one another, Lapa is more know for the nightlife while Santa Teresa for the food. Santa Teresa can be reached by a old-style tram (photo bellow) that goes on the aqueduct arches you see on the photo above.

I don't know if you are a Disney fan, but if you have seen the cartoon Rio, this is the tram Blu and Jewel took in that romantic moment when Blu wanted to kiss her....oh I'm such a die hard fan. :)

And back in Lapa, another famous Rio attraction, Escadaria Selaron. The chilean-born artist Selaron made this project as a tribute to the Brazilian people. The entire staircase is covered in tiles and when other countries heard about this project, they sent their contribution. So here you can find a tile from almost every country of the World. I couldn't Macedonia though, but I found Norway :)

Nothing in Rio is ordinary or simple, including the cathedral. This cathedral is inspired by the architecture of Maya civilization. The glass inside is 64 meters high and it was quite spectacular.

The photo bellow is what I previously wrote about, a favela. Before coming to Rio I read a lot of texts about the safety and almost everywhere Rio was described as a dangerous city. I had the opposite impression, I felt very safe and the entire journey went smoothly.

Many think that the favelas are very scary places where you will be killed immediately. In the last years there has been many favela tours, which try to brake this stereotypes.

It's amazing how diverse Rio is, there are huge fancy mansions on one side and poor favelas on the other side. But interestingly, they both enjoy the same beautiful view of the city and the ocean.

Enough about history and facts, now some enjoyment photos. Even if you don't see any of Rio and just decide to stay at the beach-I will completely understand you and support you :)

Life doesn't get any better than having a cold caipirinha on Copacabana or Ipanema.

Avenue Atlantica, at Ipanema

Copacabana, Sugar Loaf at the background

cold caipirinhas

I can stay here..all my life :)

Buzios

Buzios is located 3 hours drive from Rio and it's a famous weekend get-away spot for the Cariocas (people from Rio). Buzios is completly the opposite of Rio, it's a calm, small fishing place, with cobbled streets and small cafes, the beaches are amazing, they are many small islands one can take the boat to...

Back in Rio, having a lime caipirinha at the rooftop bar at the hotel, with a view to Corcovado contemplating how I can escape Norway and stay here forever :). Brazil amazed me, the food, the people, the culture...it's just...well amazing. :)

Paraguay

2016-05-09T22:15:00.000+02:00

Once we booked the tickets to Iguazu, I knew I had to visit Paraguay as well. The city Cuidad del Este is connected with Foz do Iguacu (the Brazilian town near the waterfalls) by bridge, called the bridge of friendship.

I was skeptical if we will have time to visit this city, with all the border procedures and processes, but our Brazilian tourist guide convinced me that I can enter and exit Paraguay without even having my passport checked! :)

And of course, this was true. The control included a wave and a smile from the border police officer. Easy peasy, and on the way back there was no control.

There wasn't much to see in Cuidad del Este. The place looks very poor, completely different than Brazil and Argentina. Paraguayan government has established some kind of tax-free zone here and everything is much cheaper than in the neighboring countries. It's overcrowded with people from the area and tourists looking for good offers, especially on electronics.

The guide told us we can buy anything we want here...drugs, guns, passports, driving licences.. I really hope he was joking :) I'm afraid he was not.

The last picture is taken from Argentina and it is the point where the three countries meet. On the right side we see Brazil and on the left we see Paraguay.

In case you missed my blog post about Argentina, you can read it here: http://mooseinasunset.blogspot.no/2016/05/the-argentinian-jungle-iguazu-falls.html

The Argentinian jungle: Iguazu Falls

2016-05-09T17:54:00.000+02:00

I consider myself as a fairly well traveled person. I've seen most of Europe, I've been to Asia, Africa, USA, I have hiked in nature, slept in tent, cruised the fjords in Norway etc. I have always loved in the World we lived in, from busy cities to breathtaking nature. I thought I knew what breathtaking nature was. And then I went to Iguazu Falls in Argentina.

It was the most wow-feeling I've ever had, nothing could be compared to it. The hundreds of waterfall curtains were definitely the highlight of this trip, but the entire forest area, the whole jungle and all the insects, butterflies, birds, animals, reptiles even...It had it all, this jungle was like the perfect guy or the perfect woman, when you find everything in one and you are amazed by it.

Isn't this heaven on Earth? :)

The most touristic place in Iguazu Falls national park was the Devil's throat. (picture above and bellow). Almost half of the river flows here and in a way it's difficult to capture it with camera from all the steam and water that splashes. But it's quite fascinating how big and powerful it is.It's around 80m high and 150m wide.

Our tourist guide had a masters degree in biology so we were lucky to hear and learn a lot about the bio diversity of the jungle. The jungle is home of many animals like leopards, jaguars, tapirs (Guide: "Do you know tapir?", me:"No". Guide: "Keep it that way"). We saw many butterflies, birds, a crocodile, strange animals called coati and...the most beautiful wild bird I have ever seen: a toucan.

By now, I have a "light" obsession with toucans. The tourist shops in Argentina and Brazil earned a lot from this... :)

Throughout the park you walk on different platforms, something I really appreciated. Instead of making roads and paths to destroy the nature, the Argentinians have built this walking platforms.

At the waterfalls it's possible to take a boat trip that will take you through the river and then come under the waterfall curtains. You cannot take many photos of course and yes, you are soaking wet once the ride is done :)

I read somewhere that when Eleanor Roosevelt visited Iguazu the first thing she said: "Poor Niagra".

The border between Argentina and Brazil goes through the river and the waterfalls. Most of the waterfalls belong to Argentina (around 85%). We visited the Brazilian side as well (photos bellow), but it wasn't as spectacular and the park can be seen in an hour or two. It was good for taking panoramic photos and get splashed, but nothing more. Here one can also see the difference between Brazil and Argentina, Brazil being the richer neighbor. Even though they have a tiny part of the forest and the falls, still they have made a lot from it (advertisements, tours, shops, cafes).

If you want to know more about Iguazu, you can have a look on this youtube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kY5G8s99Fl8).

Switzerland: Lucerne and the Alps

2016-02-07T14:51:00.004+01:00

"Lucerne, the chief city of the canton, situated on the shore of the Vierwaldstatter See," says Murray, "is one of the most romantic places of Switzerland: here cross three important highways, and it is only an hour's distance by steamboat to Mount Righi, from which is obtained one of the most magnificent views in the world."

I can dislike Tolstoy's life style or I might not be a fan of War and Peace, but his description of Lucerne is exactly how I experienced the city and Mt. Rigi.

The day when we arrived in Lucerne, the weather was beautiful, we went for a walk and I didn't take any pictures. The next day the fog came...Murphy's law I know :)

The symbol of the city is this Chapel Bridge from the 14th century. In the 17th century they added painted panels depicting life in Lucerne and its patron saints. The wooden bridge survived a terrible fire, luckily it is still preserved but some of the panels were missing. The city didn't want to replace them, saying that the empty spaces should be a reminder of the tragic event.

The old town in Lucerne

Unlike Zurich where it's obvious where the old town starts and ends, in Lucerne I had an impression that I'm in the old town all the time. Every building was beautiful and what was impressive, that each facade was painted and decorated, in medieval style. Lucerne is quite small, only 80 000 people are living there, but it's definitely worth the visit.

The city walls (picture below) are part of the old city fortification with nine towers. From April to November you can visit 4 of these towers, in other times of the year it's a beautiful walk above the old town.

Falkenplatz, Lucern by night :)

After seeing most of Lucerne it was time for visiting the Alps. In Lucerne we got on a boat for approximately two hours til we reached Vitznau on the other side of the lake. From there we took the cogwheel train, Europe's oldest mountain railway, until the top of Mt. Rigi, on Rigi Kulm 1800 m. The word breathtaking is an understatement for this majestic place.

On the top there was a hotel and a restaurant with fairly good food. From here you can ski (if enough snow), or hike. Instead of the cogwheel, you can take a cable car to the top. If you want to do a round trip, you can take the cogwheel to Goldau and then the train to Lucerne, instead of going back the same way.

Interlaken

When deciding where to go in Switzerland I spent some times reading guide books and reading travel forums...Most of the travelers and locals mentioned that their favorite train ride is the Golden Pass. The train vagons on the Golden Pass route have panoramic glass and the train line stretches between Lucerne and Montreux. We did a shorter version of the route, from Lucerne to Interlaken.

The journey was indeed amazing, Lucerne-Interlaken takes about 2 hours and you see mountains and lakes..all the way.

Interlaken was a small and nice town, it's usually a gateway to the Alps and skiing resorts. It has a special geography, situated under high mountains and between two lakes. From Interlaken we took the train to Bern, passing by the picturesque Thun.

Back to senses, back to food :) I don't know how many chocolate shops I saw in Switzerland, I saw more chocolates, cakes, candies than Charlie saw on his trip to the chocolate factory ;)

Cheese heaven vol.2

If you missed the blog post on Zurich and Bern have a look here:

http://mooseinasunset.blogspot.no/2016/02/switzerland-zurich-and-bern.html

Switzerland: Zurich and Bern

2016-02-07T14:49:00.003+01:00

Last year on my birthday I got a small and simple present from my husband, a chocolate and a birthday card. I never expect anything big and I was very pleased with the chocolate (who wouldn't be with Lindt chili flavor), but then I noticed there was a quiz in the card. To cut the story short, my actual birthday gift was a trip to Switzerland!! :):) I was over the top and I couldn't wait to travel there.

We flew to Zurich and stayed there at first. We bough the Swiss travel pass, which gave us unlimited travels around Switzerland for several days. Having in mind the prices in Switzerland, this was the real deal, plus you have the convenience to go on train, bus, boat, tram without booking different tickets and keeping a lot of notes with you.

We visited Switzerland in the Christmas-New Year period and the weather was surprisingly mild and pleasant. Some days we had 13-14 C degrees and sunny cloudless sky.

If you have been following my blog you will notice that we tend to join walking tours, to get to know the city. We did the same in Zurich, our guide was local, young and energetic guy doing a Ph.D. in law.

Even though Zurich was founded in the early Roman empire, it didn't reach its peak until 14th century when aristocrats and craftsmen dominated the city. This was the period of creating many guilds, which are the foundation of the political structure in Zurich. You can still find some of these guild houses in Zurich, we visited one with the guide. It was a very old house which was now used as a restaurant (the rooms were occupied when we were there) and we could see the emblems of the merchant and craftsmen associations as a window decorations.

Burkliplatz and Lake Zurich

In Switzerland it's not allowed to take photos inside the churches, so you have to take my word that the glass windows in Fraumunster are very beautiful. They were made by the Russian artist Marc Chagall.

If you are asked, what is your favorite place in a city you've been, you will probably say: the old town. The same with Zurich.

Individual boutiques, antique stores, cute houses with courtyards...Lenin's house :) Lenin lived in exile in Zurich in 1916 and it was here that he finished "Imperialism as the Highest Stage of Capitalism". He was allowed to do pretty much everything, except spreading his political ideas and forming political parties. After a year of living in Zurich and at the time the Revolution took place in Russia, Lenin went back home.

It was an interesting story that the building where he lived, is now a private house. The Russian embassy has tried hard to convince the owner to sell the building to them, so that they can make a museum...the owner wouldn't sell, regardless of the price :) Maybe he just likes to have tourist loitering around his house...you cannot put a price to that

Paradeplatz, home of a luxurious hotel, banks and stores I cannot afford :)

One hour by train from Zurich you will reach Bern, the capital of Switzerland. Bern is quite small and it might be confusing why it is the capital, and not Zurich or Geneva. The story goes that the French-speaking wanted Geneva to be the capital and the German-speaking wanted Zurich to be. Not being able to reach an agreement, they decided that it should be Bern, a small town bordering with the two regions.

Being from the Balkan I can relate to the arguing story. However, finding a decision that will make two parts happy, is too distant and difficult to relate to :) :) :)

Bern is breathtaking, it is by far the most beautiful place in Switzerland. The old town is situated on a peninsula surrounded by a river. Amazing architecture (the old town is protected by UNESCO) and where ever you turn you see the Alps, high peaks covered with snow.

Fake snow in Bern :)

The citizens of Bern, besides living in one of the most beautiful European cities, have other things to be proud of. For example, that Bern was home to one of the brightest minds, Albert Einstein. You can visit the apartment where he lived, that looks the same way as when he lived there with his wife and son. Or you can visit the permanent exhibition on Einstein in the Historical museum of Bern.

One of Bern's landmark is Zytglogge, or the clock tower. It reminds of the clock towers in Prague and Munich, with astrological clock and mechanical figures moving every hour.

An impressive Cathedral. (picture above and bellow)

When travelling it's important for me that all my senses are satisfied, including the sense for taste :) An obligatory meal when in Switzerland is the cheese fondue. I tried a version with prosecco, heaven for cheese- and wine lovers :)

Back in Zurich and back on the square where I cannot afford the stores, you will find one of the oldest confectioneries in Switzerland, founded in 1836. They are famous for the Luxemburgerli, special macrons (photo bellow).

The spaghetti-looking cake might look strange, but it's very popular in Switzerland. I had to try it, out of curiosity, and it turned out the "spaghetti" are made from chestnut cream. Super delicious, for me the smell and taste of chestnuts remind me of my home and childhood. Who needs a time travel machine when we have tastes and smells.

A happy couple high on sugar (in Sprungli)

Want to read more about Switzerland and see some beautiful photos of Lucerne and the Alps? Check out my other blog post on Switzerland:

http://mooseinasunset.blogspot.no/2016/02/switzerland-lucerne-and-alps.html

Western Norway: Flåm, Aurland, Nærøyfjord

2015-08-21T13:20:00.001+02:00

What are the first things that cross your mind when you think of Norway? :) If I guess, that would probably be: fjords, mountains, glaciers, snow and skiing. In this post I will show you all of those, except the skiing :)

The most beautiful part of Norway is definitely the western region, an area with narrow fjords, high mountains, majestic landscapes, glaciers and glacier lakes, dramatical cliffs etc. We drove by car, took a train, went on a boat cruise, hiked, climbed and explored Western Norway.

Olden

On the picture bellow (the snow tunnel) is the famous road Valdresflye, a mountain plateau in Jotunheimen (mountainous area, with the highest peak in Norway 2469m). It was a very special scenary, all covered in snow even in early summer. Flocks of reindeers can be spotted and in addition to the wet and sometimes slippery road, one has to be very careful while driving.

Our first stop was Borgund Stave Church. At the moment there are only 28 stave churchs preserved in Norway. It's made only from wooden boards and the period of building is around 12-13 century. This one is no longer used as a church, but as a musem and preserved monument.

If you pay closer attention you can see dragon heads behind the crosses. Same type of dragon heads were used as decoration on Viking boats, very common for that period of time.

the interior of the church

#vikingselfie

Once reaching Flåm, we took the famous Flåmsbana, a train journey from Flåm to Myrdal. At the begining everything was green and lush, as you go higher in the mountain there was more snow. First we saw people hiking and biking, then we saw people skiing-and the train line is only 20km long! :)

Together with the Bergen train line, the Flåm railway is often on the "The most beautiful train journeys" list.

Myrdal

Kjosfossen. Here the train stops for 5 minutes, so all the tourist can stream out and take photos:)

Aurlandsfjord

After the train, it was time for the boat cruise. The cruise begins from Flåm and the boat cruises Aurlandsfjor and then continues into Nærøyfjord. Both the Aurland and Nærøy fjords are part of the biggest fjord in Norway-Sognefjord. The Nærøyfjord is verry narrow and is protected by UNESCO. I read somewhere that this fjord was the inspiration for Arendelle, the kingdom in the Disney cartoon Frozen :)

Gudvangen, small town on the Nærøyfjord

Nærøyfjord

Here is another special things about the Norwegians-they are into roads :) The roads with the most beautiful scenaries are listed under National Touristic Roads. Many of them have viewing points and they are marked on maps. I have written before about the Atlantic Road, this time we visited Stegastein.

High on the Aurlands mountains you find the viewing point Stegastein. With its glass ending, you have a (scary) unique view of the mountains and the fjord. If you dare, of course :)

Aurlandsfjord

#lovebythefjord :)

Aurland and Flåm

Flåm is a very small place, it's more as a center from where you start exploring the nature. However, there is one thing special about it. They have a brewery, making different types of fine beers. In the Ægir brewery there is a restaurant with extremely good food and also a hotel. We had beer tasting which I highly recommend, if you are in the area.

From Flåm and Aurland we continued driving to Stryn, another center for sports and outdoor activities. If you are into skiing it is the place to ski the year around. And yes, they do have summer skiing :)

Near Stryn is the famous Briksdalsbreen or the Briksdal glacier. I'm always fascinated by glaciers, their color, their shape, their strength :) Even though it's tempting to come as close as possible, still it's very scary and people should be very careful. While hiking in the area we heard a loud crack, it was very kreepy. There have been several accidents in Norway due to disconnections.

Amazing. At the end of the glacier there is a small glacier lake

Kleivafossen, waterfalls from the glacier

These two photos are taken on Loen, small village and lake near the Jotunheimen national park. I love these old cabins with a garden on the roof, don't you? :)

Tenerife

2015-06-07T19:10:00.001+02:00

Before coming to Norway I thought the Canary islands are one of the most exotic destinations in the World. When I moved to Norway I was told that vacationing on the Canary islands is tacky, without class and that it's the place to drink-party-drink-party all day long.

I can tell you from the start: don't listen to these Norwegians :):)

Tenerife has the perfect temperature (around 25C), the water is warm enough to swim (I was there in April), it's one of the cleanest places I've ever visited (note: I've been to Singapore:)), food is super tasty, they have local cuisine that differs little bit from continental Spain.

Just like the other Canary Islands, Tenerife is a volcano island and most of the beaches have dark sands. An exemption to that is Playa de Las Teresitas, beach located the north east part of the island, near the small village of San Andres. The sand (picture above and bellow) is white and it's actually brought from Western Sahara!

We took the bus here, from Santa Cruz de Tenerife (the capital, or the biggest city). It costs 2 euros and the ride lasts 20 minutes. Good standard, sun beds, changing rooms, toilets, showers, cafes, huge parking space..ideal:)

We spent most of our holiday in Costa Adeje, an area full with tourists, hotels, restaurants and shops. Highly recommendable for a relaxing or a family holiday. Most of the aqua- and jungle parks are also located in this area.

I loved these sand castles and sculptures, they were everywhere. Some people really have a talent. I can barely make the pizza dough circular. :)

This beach was in Las Americas, also an area with tourists and hotels, but here there were a lot more surfers. In the evenings Las Americas was very lively: shops opened until late in the evening, bars, restaurants with live music, salmon-burned tourists drinking sangria...you got the picture :)

I went to Tenerife with my mom only, it was her wish for many many years. Seeing her so happy and enjoying, made me never regret taking this trip.

Traveling to an island like Tenerife makes you tempted never to leave the beach and swim all day :) However, we went on some short day trips. One of them was Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the biggest city on the island. The picture above is Auditorio de Tenerife, designed by the architect Calatrava. If you remember my post about Valencia (if not click here and scroll down for English) you will recognize immediately the style.

The city was very nice, open and spacious with lots of green areas. My favorite part was the old market space, picture above and bellow. The picture above reminded me of my dear Macedonia and our fresh fruits and vegetable markets. Here they had some exotic fruits I'm not used to and I don't know their name...it was fun to browse and mingle around the locals.

The picture bellow is from the fish market! You can say that fresh fruits and vegetables are easy to find, but having market with fresh fish everyday is definitely a privilege. I can imagine a yard in the Canary's, people grilling octopus just like we are grilling sausages:)

Another thing that is very special in Tenerife: the sunsets. Everyday the sky had a show for us, these last two pictures are my favorite.

New York City (part 2 of 2)

2015-04-19T13:45:00.000+02:00

In case you missed part 1 of the post about New York,click here.

After seein the East Village, we continued south towards Little Italy. This neighborhood is located on Mulberry street and it's full of Italian restaurants. I thought it's funny how they painted the buildings as the Italian flag :)

Further south from Little Italy is Wall Street (picture to the right) and the Financial district of NYC. There isn't anything special to see there except huge skyscrapers. Nearby you can visit the 9/11 memorial and museum.

At the tip of Manhattan is Battery Park, nice green area with view towards The Statue of Liberty. From here you can take boat to Ellis island, Guvernor Island and Staten Island. We took the ferry to Staten Island and I recommend it to everyone. The trip is free and it takes 20 minutes each direction. The views are just perfect.

I'm not a big fan of fast food, but shortly before traveling to New York I read an article on 50 best hamburgers in USA. There I read the story about Shake Shack. They began as a hot dog cart at Madison Square Garden and the people lined up waiting for hours to buy food. Eventually they opened up food chains around NY. Their meat is without hormones and antibiotics. They were really tasty, I have to admit :)

It is safe to say that the World's best musicals are on Broadway. When we were browsing which show to watch I had a feeling that there are hundreds of theaters on Broadway :) We went for "On the town", a musical about three sailors who only have 24 hours to explore the city.

On Easter Sunday we decided to take a slow day. First we went to see the NYC Easter and Bonnet parade. For this occasion part of 5th avenue was closed and people come downtown dressed in a very unique and nontraditional way. Accent is given on the hats and here we see that the creativity of some people is endless. I loved it so much and took so many photos. Enjoy: (the text continues bellow the pictures)

I even met the Easter Bunny:

After the parade we went to Central Park, we walked around, we had picnic, we enjoyed the sun and the nice weather. I loved this day and I loved the park. People of NY are so lucky to have this space. I saw people cycling, jogging, playing basketball, baseball...

For picnic we were recommended to grab food from Wholefoods market. For the non-us among you,

this is a supermarket chain, focused on organic food. I also liked that they have labeled products that are local :) I don't know how it is in the rest of US, but in NY there was a lot of focus on local and organic food. I'm glad people are more and more aware of this.

In Central park we also stopped by Strawberry Fields, a memorial dedicated to John Lennon.(picture to the left). Behind it's the Dakota building, where John Lennon lived before he was killed.

On our last day we visited the Flatiron building, one of NYC symbols and iconic building.

Near the Flatiron building, there is restaurant/bar on the top of the building. It's called 230 Fifth and you take an elevator to the 20th floor where the view is breathtaking. This rooftop terrace is open the year round, they heat it during winter times.

The picture to the right is from another restaurant, located near the park. It's called TAO and I'm sure that the Sex and the City fans among you, will recognize it immediately :)

We went there because of the food which was really good. Another impressive thing besides the food was the Buddha statue, in the middle of the restaurant. One can wonder how they put it inside.

At the end, Im sharing some photos from Manhattan skyline, this city can never bore you. I read an interesting line saying "A bad day in New York is still better than a good day anywhere else" and I had wonderful days in NYC :)

New York City part 1 of 2

2015-04-19T12:43:00.002+02:00

It's the city that excites, the city that inspires, it's the city you have seen in so many movies and TV shows: It's New York City :)

It all started with Seinfield, then it was Friends, Spin City, Sex and the City, Will and Grace, How I Met Your Mother...you even watch Gossip Girl (secretly) for the sake of NYC :) And finally you decide to travel there.

A short story, how NYC grew on me. I hope the feelings will be everlasting. :)

Our hotel was near Times Square, the busies and noisiest place in the city. I've read somewhere that New Yorkers avoid Times Square and would rather walk a longer route than going through the square. I can understand why, there are so many tourists, sellers, lights and screens that will make your head spin.

Our first day schedule included all the major sites in Midtown Manhattan. We started at Bryant Park and visited the New York City public library (picture above, the library is to the left). The library was very elegant and old style. Few minutes walk from the library was the Grand Central Terminal, NYC train station(picture bellow).

When we think of USA, we think of it only as something modern, keeping up with the latest technology. The Grand Central Terminal reminded me of different times, like you've seen in old movies. You can still buy tickets at these old fashioned ticket windows, with green lamps and bars. The ceiling definitely caught my attention, it had astronomical decorations, even though I read somewhere that it was inaccurate, but that's not important now :)

Walking up 5th avenue from The Grand Central Terminal, you will see two impressive buildings, in their own categories. To the right, we saw St. Patrick's Cathedral, a beautiful Neo-Gothic style Catholics church. It's the seat of the archbishop of New York. There is an interesting Easter parade in front of the church on Easter Sunday, more about that later in this blog post.

On the left side, opposite St. Patrick's church, it was the Rockefeller Center. There are two buildings in NYC for great views, the famous Empire State Building and The Rockefeller Center. We had time for only one of them, so we had to make a decision. The Empire state is the tallest, the Rockefeller has a view towards Central park. We chose the latter.

Empire State Building seen from The Rock

Central Park

The Love sculpture, inspired from the famous pop art image by Robert Indiana

In the 20th century New York there were elevated trains which were supposed to bring safety in the traffic. Nowadays none of these trains run and most of the tracks were demolished. However, there was one track left, on the western side of Manhattan. In 1999 it came a initiative from the people living in this neighborhood to "recycle" the track, making it a nice park and recreational area. This was how the High Line was created.

You can see on the pictures above, that the tracks are kept, but in addition they have put benches, sun beds, they have planted trees and flowers (that were not yet in bloom :))

The track passes by Chelsea Market, if you are food fanatic I recommend a visit to this market. There is nothing you cannot find, in addition to very exciting restaurants. We ate at the Green table, who had plenty of vegetarian and vegan dishes, made from local ingredients.

After we have eaten, it was time for sports. We had tickets for the finales in college basketball at Madison Square Garden. As a not big of a sports fan, I was more excited to actually be in MSG than watching basketball. College basketball in USA is far better that major national European leagues.

The next day we joined a walking tour in Brooklyn. I highly recommend NYC Free Tours by foot (http://www.freetoursbyfoot.com/new-york-tours/), our guide Zach had so much knowledge and made the 3 hours tour to seem like 3 minutes :) They have also on their website, self-guided tours in .pdf which were really helpful.

Anyway, to come back to the tour, I loved the Brooklyn Bridge. I have to admit I imagined that you are walking the bridge on the sides (like any other bridge, right?:)) but this one had a platform above the vehicles where you see all of lower Manhattan, the river and Brooklyn. I think it was a romantic moment. We were lucky to be there in the non-touristic season, it was peaceful and without crowds (unlike rest of Manhattan).

Brooklyn Bridge seen from Brooklyn Park

They look quite similar, but on the picture above is the Manhattan Bridge

Brooklyn was quite different from Manhattan, when we crossed the bridge suddenly I could hear birds singing, the sound of people walking, the wind blowing between the leaves :) Not that there are no birds, trees and people on Manhattan-it's just that you cannot hear them from all the traffic noise.

Brooklyn was also very homey, we walked in the expensive area of Brooklyn Heights and DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass).

The picture on the left is taken from Washington Street in DUMBO, I have seen this image in so many movies that I had to find out where is taken and go there :)

The picture on the right, is Grimaldi's pizzeria-the first pizzeria to be open in NYC. Their rule is no credit cards and no slices and they are located right under the Brooklyn Bridge. We were lucky to get a table once we got there, but on the way out of the pizzeria we saw a really long line!

After Brooklyn, we took the metro back to Manhattan and directly to MoMA, Musem of Modern Art. If you are fan of Dali and Andy Warhol this is the place to be.

At the evening we had tickets to Radio City Music Hall. This concert arena is huge with over 6000 seats. We saw the New York Spring Spectacular with the Rockettes. This show had a premier this March and it was announced to run only until early May. The show included various effects and it was a spectacle for the masses :) The best part of the show are the Rockettes, I have seen them on TV but they are even more impressive in live.

NYC is food mecca, restaurants popping up every day, but I wanted to find some legendary places. One of them was Carnegie Deli, located next to Carnegie Hall. Yes, you have to wait minimum half an hour to get a table but it's worth it!It first opened in 1937 and I was under the impression that nothing has changed since :) I had a pastrami sandwich and New York style cheese cake. The cheese cake tasted like heaven and it was different than the one we have in Europe. Do you remember the episode of Friends when Chandler and Rachel are so desperate that they will even eat the cake from the floor...that's the feeling :)

If you are married to a music geek, you know that there is a lot of rock, pop and punk history in NYC. It's also highly likely that you will be forced to go on a rock and punk tour in NYC :). At least, I was :) The tour took place in the East Village and it covers many stories about the Ramones, Iggy Pop, Hendrix, Madonna, you will see where Bil Grahams club was,where C.B.G.Bs was...and then you will stop in front of a building, a regular building. The guide will ask you if you recognize it and you will hear the music geeks saying: It's building from the Physical Graffiti album cover!!! (Led Zeppelin)

If you are married to one of them, he will make you take a picture:

In case you wondered why this building in particular was chosen for the album cover, it was someone's drug dealer that lived here...It's rock and roll :)

On our way back home from NYC, my husband said that this tour was the highlight from the trip. Thus, I highly recommend you: http://www.rockjunket.com/

The New York City blog continues on: http://mooseinasunset.blogspot.no/2015/04/new-york-city-part-2-of-2.html

Riga and Sigulda

2014-12-30T20:31:00.000+01:00

The first thing that I will say/write about Latvia is that I'm impressed. I'm impressed how nice the capital city is, how welcoming and helpful people are, how tasty the food is and how practical and easy traveling in this country is.

Let me start with Riga, the capital of Art Nouveau architecture :) The old town is so picturesque, you can wander and wander around without getting bored. However, that is probably the most common mistake tourists do in this city. The old town is so captivating that you think there is nothing to see outside of it. I witnessed that Riga is more than the old town and I fell in love even more.

The House of Blackheads (picture above) is one of the Riga's landmarks. This building was made from the Brotherhood of Blackheads (unmarried merchants and fishermen) to organize meetings and celebrations. The original was destroyed, the one you see in the picture was rebuilt in the 1990s'.

Riga's dome

St. Peter's church

This is the entrance to a very interesting and cool restaurant. You go down the stairs and you enter a medieval world. The rooms are lighted up by candles and the waiters are dressed in 17 century clothes :) It sounds like a tourist trap, but it was fun!

Walk by the river Duagava.

If you've been to Moscow or Warsaw-you will immediately recognize this building and know who's idea is it :) It's Stalin's gift to the city. First it was made for the farmers to meet and discuss farming, then it was made for sciences and nowadays are more than hundreds of organizations having offices there.

The Freedom Monument

If you want to see Riga outside the Old Town I recommend you joining the Yellow Free Tour (http://freetour.traveller.ee/?page_id=5&lang=ri). They meet up everyday at 12 in front of St. Peter's church and the tour takes around 2-2.30 hours. The guide was very interesting and we heard a lot about Riga, legends, stories, how the city was created etc. We went on a tour in the Central Market which was a sight for the sore eye.

The central market consists of five halls/pavilions each with different products. Milk, Bread and pastries, meat, fresh fruits and vegetables and the last one: fish! This one was most special, I've never seen so much fish in my life! :) If you cannot stand the smell of fish I don't recommend you going. Otherwise it's one of a kind experience.

In other countries it's very popular with this local, organic foods that you find in specialized stores and you pay high prices. In Riga you have it all here, the old traditional way. You buy the food from local farmers and everything is fresh and tasty. It reminded me a lot of my home country.

Riga was very beautiful in the Christmas period, here are some pictures which capture the atmosphere:

We wanted to take a trip outside the city and we decided to go for Sigulda, a town 55 km from the capital. If we were here in the summer period probably we would have chosen Jurmala (the nice beach area). I read that Sigulda is Latvia's Switzerland so we were quite excited. :)

The church in Sigulda and some guys playing ice-hockey (the most popular sport in Latvia)

The inside of the church in Sigulda. The lady working there told us we can climb up the stares all the way to the top where the church bell is and enjoy the view over Sigulda. It was very nice.

Besides being famous for sports tourism, Sigulda is also known for its walking cane production. They have even made park with canes and you can buy small ones in the souvenir shops.

Sigulda Castle

The cable car in the Gauja valley

Turaida Castle (13th century)

You can reach the castle from Sigulda either by foot (4-5 km), you can take the cable car and walk or you can take the bus (0.45 euro per person). If takes some time to walk, because you have to go first down in the valley and then up from the valley to the castle. People say the trip with the cable car is fantastic, but I didn't dare. It looked so scary :)

view from the tower in the Turaida castle

Vidzeme Church (the oldest wooden church)

I have to say once more that I fell in love with this country.

Usually countries with lower living standard (for example, the Mediterranean countries) tend to have bad service. By bad service I mean people not trying to speak English to tourists, taxi drivers trying to swindle you, sellers running after you pushing you to buy something (my all time favorite: special price for you people) etc. In Latvia I didn't see that, people who live here have good manners, they try hard to help tourists and not even for a moment we were fooled. The country goes through very hard economy and still people are modest and honest-that says a lot for me!

When you combine this with low and affordable prices-Latvia is a dream destination and I'm sure I will come back very soon.

Check out my post from the trip I took to Tallinn in 2011.

Malaysia

2014-08-26T20:08:00.001+02:00

After Japan we continued to Malaysia. We found very cheap low cost flight with AirAsia that took around 7 hours. Malaysia has an interesting geography, it's spread on the peninsula between Thailand and Singapore, and on the Borneo island (sharing it with Indonesia and Brunei). We visited Kuala Lumpur, the Batu caves and we went to a beautiful, secluded resort on the coast for a more honeymoon-feeling ;)

First stop: Batu Caves. Located 13 km from Kuala Lumpur (reachable by local train) you can visit 3 hindu temples inside the high hill. The hindu statue in the front is 42.7 meters and you need to climb 272 stairs to reach the temple. On the way, you will see a lot of monkeys and at first they are very cute, but eventually you realize they like to steal food and can be quite agressive. :) But it's always amusing to see them drinking youghurt, licking ice cream...

Inside the cave

Back in Kuala Lumpur we started with the Central Market. This market was originally a wet market, nowadays they sell Malaysian handcrafts, art, kebaya etc. Inside the market you can visit the "Little India" section, selling Indian products.

In Malaysia you can meet people from everywhere, especially in Kuala Lumpur which is very international city.Even though they have their own language, Malay, still English is widely spoken (they used to be an English colony until 1957). The transport system, all the signs, menus in restaurants are in English and I was under the impression that everyone is fluent.

The Central Market

Colonian style buildings

Kuala Lumpur, or as the locals call it KL, has a very humid climate in addition to the high temperatures. I can be difficult to go sightseeing. Another problem this, otherwise exciting, city has it's the crowds and the noise. In KL you can be a witness of big contrasts, from post modern buildings (see picture bellow of the Petronas Towers) to houses which are on the verge of falling apart. However, Malaysia has a growing economy so hopefully the poverty will decrease in the near future.

Islamic Art Center

Kuala Lumpur Railway Station

The Petronas Towers (88 floors!:))

Jamek Mosque, the oldest one in the city

China town in Kuala Lumpur

After Kuala Lumpur we continued south west, in the Avani Goaldcoast resort, near Bagang Lalang village, not too far from Port Dickson. There are many resorts in this area, but I chose this one because they offered tour and excursions. Knowing myself, I know I cannot "sit on the beach and read a book" for more than one day :)

Over water bungalows inspired from Malaysian fishing houses

I had to share this picture with you, this is the window/door from our shower, with a view towards the ocean. First class feeling :)

Biking around the resort (they also have organized sightseeing tours on bikes)

Our first tour was Agro tour where we had breakfast and lunch in Malaysian home and we visited many farms. We saw so many trees and fruits that I cannot remember their names, we made coffe in the old way, we tried producing rubber from a tree and we visited tapioca chips factory.

rubber tree

coffee

coffee: from fruit to coffee powder

tapioca chips factory (much tastier than potato chips)

lunch in a Malaysian home (super tasty)

Chinese dinner (basically you put many ingridients in spicy soup and warm it up for 20 minutes. Voila;))

Tour number 2: Mangrove cruise. With a boat from the hotel we went on a river cruise into the mangrove forest. This type of forest can only be found in the tropical and subtropical areas and it was quite unique (since I live in Norway of course it's unique :))

We had a chance to see rich wildlife here, on the picture above is white headed eagle.

We saw a small reptile, similiar to crocodile, but he was not dangerous. He disappeared the moment he saw the boat.

Here we were planting trees in the mud

After half an hour journey the boat parked on the bay, between the mangrove trees, and the guide asked us to throw some grapes and to see what will happen. We threw some and suddenly monkeys appeared out of nowhere. It was so amazing, they started eating even though they were very shy and careful. It was first time for me to see wildlife monkeys in their natural habitat. When they were done eating, the had a little performance for us (jumping from trees, spining on branches), we watched with our mouths open:).

He is my favorite. Monkeys of this type are shy and scared but he liked to pose :)

Malaysia is another country I have a feeling I need to see more of it, to explore more. They have delicious food and very unique since the country it's a mix of many nationalities and cultures. The government invests a lot in tourism and people are very welcoming. No wonder Malaysia is one of the 10 friendliest countries in the world.

Japan (part 2 of 2)

2014-08-16T17:31:00.000+02:00

After Kyoto we began exploring the wider Kansai region. The first thing you will notice is that in Tokyo, you stand on the left side and walk on the right, while in the Kansai region is the opposite.

The reason is, when samurais lived in Tokyo if they were walking on the right they could hit eachother with the swords which was always on their left side. Such an event would be interpreted as a call for duel fight. To prevent this, they had to walk on the left side, while in the Kansai part people were mainly merchants and worked with trade, so this was unneccessary. :)

Nara was the capital of Japan in 710 and this part of Japanese history was known as the Nara period. They have many temples and all together they are UNESCO protected. However, the thing that wil strike you the most in this city are its fellow citizens, the deers.

There is a huge park in Nara where deers walk freely. We were told that more than 1000 deers live here, they move freely and are not afraid of humans. The story started when one sacred person visited the place and brought a deer with him. Since then this animal is seen as sacred as well.

You can buy the deers cookies (specially made deer cookies) and feed them. When they see you they come straight at you hoping for food. Shy is a word that doesn't exist in their language ;)

The beautiful Nara park

Before coming to Japan I was sure that I wanted to go on some mountain and the first thing that came to my mind was Mt. Fuji. However, I read that if I want to visit the soul of Japan, the spiritual mountain where monks and temples are on every corner I should go to Koya-san. So I did.

The trip might sound complicated, you take the train from Osaka, and then the funicular and then a public bus, but believe me it's very simple and everything is organized. It's Japan.

This was my first train trip in Japan where I could see real, untouched nature. No houses, no people, just the train and thick beautiful forest. The last half an hour of the train ride is amazing.

Koya-san

This will sound strange to you so try to have an open mind. In this mountain you can go and visit cemeteries and for me it was the most beautiful part of the area. Picture above and bellow. Tall pine trees, cerenity, temples, streams, buda statues, and japanes graves. It was so magical...I know it sounds strange.

Our last destination in Japan was Osaka. We actually used it as a base for few days (very simple to travel from Osaka to many places in Japan, Kyoto, Nara, Koya-San or Kobe). Even though it is a commercial city and not as modern as Tokyo, still it's worth a visit. Two things I loved about Osaka: the food and the castle.

There is no need for me to tell you that the castle (picture above) is an impressive building. It's located in beautiful park and here for a change, it's possible to enter inside. The history of the area is described on each floor as you go up and on the top you can enjoy a panoramic view of the city.

Osaka is also know as the kitchen of Japan. They are known to have good food, so first thing we had to do was to try the local cuisine. Okonomiyaki (picture above) is actually a pancake made of cabbage filled with meet, sometimes also with noodles and served with special dark sauce on a hot plate. Delicious! I couldn't get enough of it.

We tried frozen beer in Japan!

And we had a glass (or cup) of sake! It was too strong for my taste...

The fish market in Osaka is worth the visit, it's much smaller than the one in Tokyo. But, unlike the one in Tokyo where you have to wait in line to see the tuna auction (limited places), here it's open to everyone that comes. We didn't go on the tuna auction, the idea to wake up at 2 AM, so that you are there at 3 AM seemed like a lot of fuss. Plus that will mean the day after I have to sleep and miss on sightseeing...

This on the picture, just like many things in Japan, I have no idea what it was, but it tasted so good!

You remember how people say: "In Japan they have gardens on the top of the building! Can you believe that?". This picture is evidence, I'm actually on the eight floor of a shopping mall :)

The part about the sushi comes now. So, as I said before, sushi is not the most common Japanese food, definitely not an everyday meal. To try sushi, you have to either go in a fancy sushi restaurant or on this conveyor belt sushi (picture above). Basically the belt is moving and all the time is refilled by the chef and you can choose any plate you want. At the end, they count how many plates you have taken and you pay. This is the cheaper version of sushi. My advice for the sushi lovers is to eat in the small restaurants/stands near the fish markets (both in Tokyo and Osaka).

I guess many of you think that Japan is very difficult and expencive to visit. On the contrary, it's not very expencive (something like the European average, much cheaper than Scandinavia), people are extremely polite and even though they don't have good english skills they really try to help. For me, it was the easiest country to travel, there are signs everywhere, you can rely on public transport, many shops are open 24/7 and you can find everything you want. No "special price for you madam" people, the crime level is very low and there are clean public toilets everywhere. Important to know: for foreign cards it's best to use the 7/11 ATMs.

For the end, something fun: the Japanese toilet! The flushing sound was my favorite button:) This panel is installed on almost every toilet seat, it's so out of this world :)

If you missed the part one, you can read it here.

Japan (part 1 of 2)

2014-08-16T17:29:00.000+02:00

Me and Hallvard got married earlier this year and what more can a travel-addicted couple wish for than a trip to remember for life. We wanted something different, something new and exciting. The choice was easy: Japan :)

Shinjuku Gyoen

I'm under the impression that every of us has some idea how Japan looks like. Either that you can see geishas everywhere you turn, or that men are dressed in ninja suits, that people do suicides because their coffee was no sweet enough etc. But no matter how you imagine it, Japan will turn out different, it will surprise you no matter how prepared you are, I'm sure :)

Our trip started in Tokyo, our hotel was in the Shinjuku area (modern part of the city with many stores, pubs and young people, popular for tourists). We took a walk around and all we saw were skyscrapers, crowds, big streets..and suddenly we noticed a garden, The Shinjuku Gyoen. It was a paradise hidden in the urban jungle (cliche I know, but it's true :)). So from concrete and flashy advertisments you enter calm and peaceful spacious place with people meditating, drawing, reading, having a picnic...Impressive (the two pictures above).

View of Tokyo and the Rainbow Bridge from Odaiba (on the Tokyo Bay)

The picture bellow is from a Japanese fast food chain. And what you see on the picutre is how you order food there! :) It looks like an ATM, basically you have pictures of all the meals they have, you choose what you want, size, side dish, you pay and wait for your order. Simple and straightforward. Note: Japanese fast food does not include hamburgers and french fries, I had for example rice with beef and cheese served with soup. Tasty, cheap and fast :)

While in Tokyo we decided to have a personal guide, we wanted to get to know the country and learn from a Japanese person. We got in touch with our guide through http://www.tokyofreeguide.com/. He spent the whole day with us and the curious me couldn't stop asking questions :) :)

Here is us, having a tea ceremony in Japanese tea house in Hama Rikyu garden. Inside these tea houses you sit on the floor on your knees (not like us:)) and you are served green tea with some sweets (made from beans!) and there is a way how you hold the cup and how you drink. You bow when you receive the cup, take it with your right hand and place it on the palm of your left hand. You rotate three times clockwise and then you drink. After drinking you wipe the cup (where the lips touched) and you rotate it three times counterclockwise before returning it to the host.

We went for a typical lunch, udon noodles served in soup with different tempura. So tasty, I got surprised to find out how little sushi Japanese people ate and how delicious food they had (other than sushi). I read somewhere that Tokyo has more than 80 000 restaurants (New York has only 15 000!). Stunning.

Next stop after Tokyo was Kyoto and how is the best way to travel around Japan: with the Shinkansen!

Shinkansen is also known as the bullet train, Japan's super fast train line that this year celebrated its 50th annyversary. Even though it can go as fast as 300km/h the journey is very pleasent. I usually can be sick on trains and buses, but here the ride was really as smooth as silk.

Some Japanese are Budhists, while others belong to the Shinto, an authentic Japanese religion.

After Tokyo we went to Kyoto, the former capital, the city that has more temples than houses (almost :)) This city is visited by many and it's very tourist-friendly. Maps, brochures, tourist info offices, menus in english-you name it they have it.

In some temples you can think of a wish a draw a stick. Depending on the stick you choose different paper and it can be good or bad, you will have luck or misfortune. Chances are 50-50 and of course I had the bad luck paper. No need to worry, if you tie the paper around the rope (picture above) and you will brake your bad luck! :)

Fushimi inari taisha

The first temple we visited was the Fushimi Inari Shinto shrine and it was breathtaking. I complete lost it there. It's on the base of a mountain and in a span of 4km you can see many temples, big and small, and the entire road is under these torii (picture above). You are in Kyoto but I had a feeling we were on a holy mountain.

Entrance in the Nijo Palace

One of the most beautiful palaces I have seen in my life was the Nijo (picture above and bellow). Inside it was not allowed to take pictures, but the paintings, the tapestries, wooden floors and drawings were so beautiful, Japan in it's best. It so easy to picture the shogun in the palace drinking tea :)

The garden in the Nijo Palace, looked very zen with all the stones, ponds, green areas

Ginkaku-ji

Or the Silver Pavilion with the most typical Zen temple and Zen garden. It was not allowed to enter inside, but the garden was very beautiful very unique and with excellent view of Kyoto.

The following pictures are taken in the Gion area, in Kyoto. While we were there we saw a bunch of tourists waiting in front of a building. I asked them what they are waiting for and the answer was: a geysha to come out. It turned out, that particular building is a geisha school! I thought they no longer excist, but I was wrong.

Around the city you will se many girls dressed up like geisha, but to see a real one is very difficult. One tourist told me he just saw one for few second entering quickly in taxi and that was it..

Street signs in Gion

One day, we decided to leave the city and see little more nature in Japan. Near Kyoto there is a place called Sagano (half an hour with train). They have bamboo forest, you can take a open train ride (romantic) or climb a top of a mountain to see Japanese macaque monkeys.

bamboo forest

They have made commercial park with monkeys you can feed. They are not too keen on you taking picture of them...believe me, I had an incident which ended in screaming and running (I had the lead role) :))))

Landscapes from the romantic train ride

Back in Kyoto, it's majesty: The Golden Pavilion. (Kinkaku-Ji) This Zen Budhist temple had a typical Japanese classical style garden. You cannot come even near the Pavilion, but it's impressive enough from a distance :)

I like this picture a lot, they were taking a selfie while I took a picture of the area.. :)

Our last stop in Kyoto, Kiyomizu-dera temple. This wooden temple is UNESCO protected and it's part of a pilgrim route. In older days, if you jumped from the stage of this temple (13 meters high) your wish would be granted. Nowadays it's not allowed to "try your luck" :)

Click here for part 2 of my adventure in Japan :)

Krakow/Краков

2014-06-08T00:24:00.000+02:00

Krakow is a city that first comes to my mind when someone talks about Poland. First time I was there in 2006, Krakow was followed by a trip to Auschwitz-Birkenau which definitely put a grey shade on my impression of the city. This time it was on a work trip with my colleagues, smoothly organized with a tourist guide:)

The whole region of Malopolska is very nice, small green hills and long lush valeys with small villages spread around. The city itself is old and elegant, very central european. Many compare it with Prague, but in my opinion Krakow is more casual, not too decorated and like it doesn't care that next to a royal building there is a shabby house with dirty windows and rusti street signs. I loved it just because of that.

We had dinner at the Wentzl restaurant (the picture above is taken from the restaurant) which is located on the main square. The interior was very decadent and the food was superb, maybe not typical polish but still...

If you ever go to Krakow and you are in the city center it's very probable that you will hear a music (trumpet) that suddenly stops unexpectedly. It's in the honor of a trumpeter from the 13 century who was killed in that exact moment by a Tatar arrow. This music can be heard hourly, at the St. Mary's church.

We visited Collegium Maius, the oldest part of the (Jagiellonian) University in Krakow, one of the oldest Universities in Central Europe, place where Nikolas Copernicus studied. In this old building and nice yard, the professors used to live in the upper part while the lectures were held in the ground floor.

After the Collegium Maius the tour continued on the nearby Wavel castle dating from the 14th century. The legend says that a dragon used to live under the castle who terrorized the people living in this area. He was eventually defeated when a young boy gave the dragon a lamb full with sulphur. The dragon had so much stomach pain that he started drinking from the Wisla river, but it wasn't enough so he eventually died. Our tourist guide however had a funnier version of this story.

According to another legend, the dragon only wanted to eat girls who were virgins. The people of Krakow kept him fed for couple of days, but very quickly they ran out of "food". So the dragon just died from hunger :) If you remember the Polish song on Eurovision this year, the second story is easy to believe :):)..poor dragon

The beautiful Wavel Cathedral, the place for coronation of polish kings and the same cathedral where Karol Wojtyla became Pope John Paul II.

One night we went to a restaurant with our guide where we had pirogi workshop. Polish pirogi, in english: dumplings, remind of the Italian ravioli. We made the deig very thin, cut circles and filled them with either sour cabbage, spinat or the russian version with potatoes. They should be cooked for 8 minutes in total and they are super tasty.

Back in the city, the St. Mary's church should definitely not be missed. I can tell you one thing that was different that I noticed here.

Europe is full with wonderful Cathedrals, you see them everywhere from Spain to Sweden, France to Italy etc. But always, as a rule, in this famous buildings there are more tourists than locals, more pictures taken than prayers told. In St. Mary in Krakow it was the opposite. For the first time, the sign: please don't disturb, was appropriate. So I kept my visit short and respectful.

On the market square it's impossible to miss the Cloth Hall (the first picture in this blog post). In the lower floor there is a gallery with handcraft stores, products made from wood, fur, amber and of course some souvenirs. There is an art gallery which belongs to the National Museum and a nice cafe in the upper floor.

Wandering around the streets of Krakow is very relaxing and laid back activity, no pushy tourists, no pushy sellers nagging you to buy something...just the city, the colorful buildings and cobblestone streets.

Out of nowhere, this book cafe popped up. I love this concept I wish we had them in Norway too. Books and tasty drinks together. Pitty most of the books were in Polish..

Beautiful, isn't it? :)

Македонски:

Краков е град кој прв ми доаѓа на памет кога слушам или читам нешто за Полска. Прв пат го посетив Краков во 2006, но тогаш пред Краков бев во посета на Аушвиц-Биркенау така да иако беше очигледно дека е убав град, сепак сивилото и импресиите од Аушвиц влијаеа на целиот мој престој. Овојпат, во повесела пригода, на шетање преку работа со колегите го доживеав Краков сосема поинаку.

Целата област Малополска (превод не е потребен :)) е живописна, со зелени ридови и бујни плодни полиња до недоглед. Краков е стар и елегантен град, типичен средно-европски. Многу го споредуваат со Прага меѓутоа мене Краков ми е по опуштен, неформален, без изфорсирано китење. Фактот што покрај аристократски згради има и стари куќи со скршени прозорци и ‘рѓосани улични табли го прави оригинален и баш затоа ми се допадна.

На плоштадот има еден хотел и ресторан Wentzl со прекрасен поглед (сликава погоре е всушност од ресторанот) со декадентен интеиер и одлична, несекојдневна храна..бар не за мене :)

Кога сте во Краков сигурно ќе слушнете една песна отсвирена на труба која наеднаш престанува, ненадејно во еден момент. Тоа е во чест на еден трубадур кој во 13тиот век додека ја свирел оваа мелодија бил убиен со стрела токму во тој момент. Мелодијата се свири точно на секој час од кулата на базиликата Св. Марија.

Во близина на плоштадот се наоѓа и Collegium Maius, најстариот дел од Универзитетот (Jagiellonian) во Краков, еден од најстарите Универзитети во централна Европа. Тука се образувал и Никола Коперник, а во тоа време професорите живееле во горниот спрат а предавањата биле не приземје. Овој колеџ има многу убава градина и стара библиотека.

Од колеџот отидовме во замокот Вавел изграден во 14тиот век. Според легендата испод замокот живеел змеј кој бил ноќна мора за локалното население. Еден ден, некој млад храбар дечко му однел јагне на змејот полно со сулфур. Змејот добил болки во стомакот и почнал да пие од реката Висла, но ни тоа не го спасило змејот кој на крај експлодирал.

Нашиот туристички водич ни раскажа друга верзија на оваа приказна. Наводно змејот сакал да јаде само девици, така да после два дена снемало „храна“ и змејот умрел од глад :)

Ако гледавте Евровизија годинава, вторава верзија на легендата не би ве изненадила :)

Катедралата Вавел, до самиот замок, е место каде се крунисувале Полските кралеви и каде Карол Војтила станал Папата Јован Павле Втори.

Додека бевме со водичот не однесе во еден традиционален ресторан каде не учеа како да правиме пироги! :) Полски пироги личат многу на италијанските равиоли. Се прави тесто и се расукува најтенко што може, се формираат кругови кои се полнат со спанаќ, месо, кисела зелка или руската верзија со компири, потоа се затвораат ќошињата и се варат во вода околу 8 минути. Вкусно, оценка: 5 алачки :)

Базиликата Св. Марија во центарот на градот е од 14тиот век изградена во Готски стил во која препорачувам да влезете, внатрешноста е 10 пати поубава од надворешноста.

Европа е преполна со убави катедрали, од Шпанија до Шведска, од Франција до Италија. Правило кога одам во овие свети места е дека секогаш има повеќе туристи од верници, повеќе фотоапарати од молитви. Во Краков беше обратно и ознаката: Не вознемирувај, имаше смисла. Затоа мојата посета беше кратка.

Кога сте на плоштадот сигурно ќе приметите огромна долга зграда (првата слика во овој блог) каде на првиот спрат се наоѓа галерија со тезги каде се продаваат традиционални производи, изработени од дрво, крзно, народни везови, килибар и секако неизбежните сувенири. На горниот спрат има уметничка галерија дел од Националниот музеј.

Прошетка низ улиците на еден град е секогаш најдобар начин да го откриете, но тоа што ми се допадна во Краков е дека овие улички не се преполни со туристи, продавници, келнери кои те канат да влезеш во ресторанот. Само градот, шарени згради и калдрма.

И наеднаш, неочекувано, книжара-кафуле. Овој концепт не е нов, го има насекаде ама на жалост редок е во Норвешка и во Македонија. Огромна книжарница и вкусно кафе, штета за мене што повеќето книги беа на Полски..

Магија :)

Trollstigen/Скалата на тролот

2013-11-20T22:07:00.001+01:00

It is not a secret that Western Norway is the most beautiful part of this country and tourists often visit because of two things: to see the fjords and majestic mountains. Here is one of them, an intimidating and dramatic landscape that you think could be only found in children's scary bed time stories. You are actually not far from the truth. I present you Trollstigen, or in English: Troll's ladder.

I've been several times in the nearby towns, Åndalsnes and Isfjord, but I've never driven this road. Usually is closed, they keep it open from end of May/June til September and then again, even in summer if it's very rainy or bad weather Trollstigen will be closed. Actually, the locals try to avoid it but tourists don't, on a nice summer day around 2500 cars drive here per day. The road is extremely narrow with steep hairpin turns.

Stigfossen (320m waterfall)

So, the best way to see this road is to travel to Åndalsnes (you can take the train from Oslo or from Trondheim to there) and then either rent a car or take a round bus trip. It is possible to agree with some of the taxi companies but that can be little costly.

On the top of the road there is path which leads you to several viewing platforms, some of them little scary but the view is so worthed all the effort. Huge mountains, wild nature and a view to the valley with the fjord in the far distance.

(the picture above is taken at the entrance of the souvenir shop) :) Next to the souvenir shop you can find a restaurant and a small museum with pictures and models from the construction. It was actually the King Haakon VII that opened this road in 1936, but back then it was much more narrow and of course more risky to drive.

Македонски:

Надалеку е познато дека Западна Норвешка е најубавиот дел од оваа земја и туристите обично доаѓаат поради две причини: да ги видат фјордовите и огромните планини. На сликите можете да го видите доказот за втората причина, драматични планини кои некому (мене) му делуваат и страшни, како илустрација од некоја хорор приказна за деца со мрачни чудовишта..пример тролови :) И не е ни случајно што Trollstigen во превод значи Скалата на тролот.

Неколку пати имам отидено во Андалснес и Исфјорд, мали селца во близина на Скалата на тролот, ама никогаш се немам возено по овој пат. Главно, овој пат е затворен за сообраќај, го отвораат од крај на Мај/почеток на Јуни па до Септември, ама сепак дури и во лето ако многу врне или има невреме патот е затворен. Локалното население всушност избегнува да вози од овде, имало многу несреќи, ама туристите ништо не ги спречува. Кога е времето убаво околу 2500 возила дневно проаѓаат тука. Патот е доста тесен со многу стрмни кривини.

Стигфосен (320м водопад)

Најдобар начин да стигнете до тука е со прво со воз до Андалснес (возови и од Осло и од Трондхајм идат до тука) и после тоа да изнајмите кола или со автобус (дневна повратна тура). Може и да се договорите со некој таксист да ве однесе, не е далеку од Андалснес, ама може доста скапо да ве чини.

Најгоре, или на крајот од скалата, има паркинг и патека до 2-3 панорамски „тeраси“ каде погледот вреди милион долари, некои од нив се малку страшни (ако погледнете надолу) ама вреди! Огромни планини, дива природа, Раума долината и фјордот во далечина...

(сликава е од влезот во продавната за сувенири) :) Кај паркингот, покрај продавница за сувенири има и мал ресторан и музеј каде се изложени слики и модели од изградбата на патот кој е отворен од кралот Хакон VII во 1936 година, кога и бил потесен и потежок за возење.

Bergen/Берген

2013-08-12T18:42:00.000+02:00

I have been living in Norway for the past 3 years and until now have never visited Bergen, the second largest town in this country! There was never a particular reason, even though I do suspect my Trondheim-loving boyfriend has something to do with this :)

The first thing every person and guidebook will tell you-is not to miss the fish market (or fisketorget in Norwegian ) located in the very city center near the port. It was quite nice, but very tourist-made, meaning all the fish and the sea food were decorated, ready for photos:) and everything written in English, people selling definitely did not look like fisherman (exception is the guy above:))

So you could get nice meal, like this mussels but also next to the for example the whale you could buy berries:) Note: It's normal to eat whale in Norway, it has a strong taste, maybe most similar to liver...Anyway, near the tourist office there was a kind of a food hall and there I had more Norwegian-real-life fish selling experience and we met lot more locals..

smoked whale

the berries :)

On the right side of the fish market you find Bryggen (old wharf), an area of the city protected by UNESCO. They were build around the 14-15th century and even though there had been many fires in this area and damages still they were always rebuilt by the original pattern and the main structure was kept preserved.

Nowadays there are total of 62 buildings remaining, however most of them are quite small. Just look at the photo above, this was a store where you could buy hand knitted crafts and crochet :) Cute!

This building are an evidence of how big fishing port Bergen was, maybe even the oldest in Norther Europe. The ones that were on the front, the most touristic buildings are nowadays souvenir stores, caffes..the usual. One of these had Christmas shop all year round. Even in July I had few seconds of I wish it were Christmas feeling ;)

The Rosenkrantz tower, another symbol of Bergen was built around 1270 for King Eirik Magnusson and it it is one of the most important Renaissance monuments in Norway. As the usual, if you climb up the stairs you have an impressive view of Bergen:)

Back in the center, this was a walking area with many shopping malls, stores, street performance etc.

Old Bergen (the houses you see on the hill)

Cute little alleys in the old part, Bergen is so pleasant and charming town..No words describe it better:)

And now I present you the must-thing in Bergen: Fløibanen! I read in the guide book sentence that went like this: If you are only 15 minutes in Bergen take the Fløibanen:) You take the funicular (just 150m from the fish market) and in 6-7 minutes you are on the top! And there...there you see this:

View over the entire Bergen, the fjord, the sea, the mountains....

There on the top you find restaurant, but if you are into nature you can start a trip in the forest. Very nice hiking trails.

Me and my mom couldn't be happier:)

We took the train to Bergen and back, the main reason for this was the Bergensbanen. Very popular on world level, some travel magazines have chosen Bergensbanen as one the best train trips. You start from Oslo, you pass Geilo-skiing restort, Hardangervidda-national park, Finse-highest point of the trip 1222 m above sea level, Myrdal where the second most famous train trip starts-The Flåm railway, Voss-the center for extreme sports and at last, Bergen.

Finse

Here is a short video from NSB about the Bergen railway. It's in Norwegian but I hope you will enjoy it anyway:

Македонски:

Скоро 3 години како живеам во Норвешка и до сега никогаш немам отидено во Берген, вториот најголем град во оваа земја. Нема никаква посебна причина за тоа, иако почнав да се сомневам во дечко ми кој инаку е од и е заљубен во Трондхајм:)

Прво нешто што секој турист го посетува во Берген е рибјиот пазар. Огромен пазар на отворено, блиску до пристаништето и стариот дел на градот. Иако беше фино, сепак беше премногу туристички и воопшто немав впечаток дека сум во Норвешка. Сите риби, цела таа морска храна фино наредена декорирана спремна за фоткање, сите цени и описи напишани на англиски, ниеден од муштериите не е норвежанец ниту пак тие што продаваа личеа на рибари (со исклучок на дечкото на сликава горе:)) Во близина, испод турист инфоцентарот, имаше еден вид на хала за храна, во последно време се многу популарни овие места, и таму имав посилно чуство дека сум на рибји пазар

На рибјиот пазар се готвеше и многу храна, пример овие школки. Само што разочарува и атмосферата дека покрај месото од кит пример се продаваат малини и јагоди. Чисто информативно, во Норвешка се јаде кит. Има многу силен вкус, ама е вкусен, најслично би го споредила со џигер.

пушено месо од кит

еве ги јагодиоте и малините:)

На десната страна од рибјиот пазар се наоѓа Бриген, старото пристаниште каде рибарите ги врзувале бродовите и ја растоварале рибата. Овој дел од градот бил изграден околу 14ти-15ти век и иако имало многу пожари низ годините, секогаш овие згради биле изградени или реконструирани по оригиналот. Овој дел е заштитен под Унеско, во делот на културно наследство.

Во денешно време се останати околу 62 згради, иако повеќето од нив се многу малечки. Пример за тоа е сликава погоре, внатре имаше продавничка за плетени и везени работи, рачна изработка. Ептен слатки :)

Овие згради се главна мета за туристите и по нив се гледа колку голем град бил Берген порано и дека претставувал главно пристаниште за рибарите во Норвешка, па и цела Северна Европа. Сега во приземјето на секоја зграда е или продавница за сувенири или мали ресторанчиња и кафе барови. Една од нив е продавница за Новогодишни украси, па дури и во Јули посакав за момент да е Божиќ ;)

Кулата Розенкратц е уште еден симбол на Берген, изградена во околу 1270 година од кралот Еирик Магнусон и е една од најважните историски споменици од ренесансата во Норвешка. И како по обичај, ако ги искачите многуте скали може да уживате ви панорамски поглед на Берген:)

Назад во центарот на градот, во пешачката зона, покрај многуте трговски центри, продавници, ресторани, концерти итн...

Стариод дел на Берген (убавите куќи на брдото)

Многу мали улички во стариот град, уникатни продавнички го прават Берген многу пријатен и убав град. Ова е една од ретките ситуации кои можеби тешко се опишуваат, ама мислам дека секој има такво чуство за некое место :)

И сега, според мене, најубавата работа во Берген: Fløibanen! Мала железница која оди ептен стрмно (малку е и страшно) и за 6-7 минути пристигнувате на врвот. А таму ве очекува ова:

Поглед на целиот Берген, фјордот, морето, планините....

На врвот на планината има и ресторан, но ако сте повеќе по природата препорачувам да се прошетате низ шумата, имаа супер одбележани стази за шетање

Јас и мајка ми пресреќни!

До Берген отидовме со воз и тоа се поради познатата железничка линија Bergensbanen. Многу е популарна, некои списанија ја имаат и прогласено за една од 10те најубави патувања со воз. Трае околу 7 саати, почнува од Осло преку Геило (познат скијачки центар), националниот парк Хардангервида, Финсе-највисоката точка на оваа железница, возот оди на 1222 метри надморска височина, Мирдал-местото каде почнува познатата Флом железничка линија, Вос-центарот за екстремни и адреналински спортови во Норвешка и на крај завршува во Берген.

Финсе

Ова е кратко видео од NSB за оваа железница. Видеото е на Норвешки, ама пејсажите се на сите јазици:)

Berlin/Берлин

2013-07-22T23:47:00.000+02:00

First time I visited Berlin in 2008 as a tourist. This time I went there to see an old friend. We grew up and spent every day together until she moved back to Bosnia. Now she lives in Berlin so I couldn't miss the opportunity!:)

Now back to my traveling stories:) Before coming I had the obligatory reading and I found out that every Sunday people in Berlin gather in Mauerpark. So from the airport we went there directly. They had huge flea market and nearby many people had picnic, did some sports and, the best thing was that some took part in karaoke show! I really admired the ones that had the guts to sing in front of the audience, even though everyone was nice, supportive, applauding etc. ;)

After the park we went on a river-pool which was quite cool, they had also small beach, deck chairs and beach bar (with real sand:))

Among other, we visited the obligatory touristic destinations: walked Unter den Linden, Brandenburg Gate, Reichstag, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Alexander Platz, Potsdamer Platz...

The photo above was a very nice church and area, it reminded me little of Munich. The church is St.Nicolas and is the oldest in Berlin.

Another exciting thing we did in Berlin was watching a movie in outdoor cinema, we saw Oslo 31.August. Most of the movies are dubbed in German, but this one was a Norwegian movie subtitled in German,so..

As a recommendation from my friend we visited the Nature and Science Museum and the highlight for me were the dinosaurs!:) or their bones :)

The same night we went out in a pub (I don't remember the area but it should be some hipster part of Berlin) and watched stand up comedy:) Most of the comedians were expats living in Berlin but there were quite a few Germans as well. Some were very funny, some..well not that much:) You can watch the whole show for 2 euros and in addition you get vodka shot!:)

The next thing we visited was the DDR museum, luckily it wasn't one of those boring museum you see everywhere. You could open boxes and see how people lived, their furniture, clothes, hear the radio, learn to dance on the music they liked, play games like they did, ride the famous trabant, pretend to have an important phone call...

For a journey further back in history (i.e. World War II), one should surely not miss the Topography of terror museum..quite disturbing tough...

And if you have a wish to go on a air balloon ride-you can also do that in Berlin!:)

Berlin is so exciting city, I was surprised by a spontaneous things showing up out of nowhere. For example this old phone booth covered with post-its people leaving messages all over it. So did I:)

...or the traffic lights for the bikes....I loved them. Just as much as the pedestrian traffic lights. Cool!

As usual I keep the best for last:) A collection of my favorite street art around Berlin, most of them from the East Side Gallery.

Македонски:

Прв пат бев во Берлин во 2008 и тогаш градот го видов само од очите на турист. Овојпат отидов да се видам со една другарка со која израснав, а ја немав видено со години!:) Нејзиното преселување во Берлин беше одлична прилика за средба.

А сега да се вратиме на патувањето:) Секогаш пред да посетам некое ново место собирам задолжителна литература и правам планови кои не секогаш се остваруваат во целост ама знам што ми е приоритет. Овојпат знаев дека не сакам да го испуштам Мауер паркот каде секоја недела има огромен пазар на старо а во близина еден куп млади луѓе прават пикник и/или слушаат и пеат караоке! Им завидував на храброста на сите оние кои се пријавуваа и без срам пееја на цел глас, а публиката ги поддржуваше сите еднакво! Супер атмосфера.

После паркот отидовме на базен кој беше во самата река, имаше мала (една песочна и една со даски) плажа и бар:)

Секако дека ги посетивме и задолжителните туристички места како Бранденбуршка порта, Бундестагот, улицата Унтер-ден-линден, Александар Платц, Потсдамер Платц итн. Но тие овојпат не ми оставија најголем впечаток...

Сликава погоре е Св. Николас, најстарата црква во Берлин која се наоѓаше во многу убава област, малку ме потсети на Минхен:)
Вечерта отидовме на кино на отворено во парк, го гледавме Осло 31. Август. Обично филмовите во Германија се сихронизирани, ама овојпат беше норвешки филм со обичен превод, така да ни се погоди:)

По препорака од другарка ми отидовме во Природно научниот музеј кој беше огромен, а мојот омилен дел беа диносаурусите! т.е. нивните коски :)

Истата вечер излеговме во еден паб (не се сеќавам на областа каде се наоѓа како се викаше ама се работеше за некој нов хипстерски дел на градот) на стенд ап комедија. Главно беа млади кои се преселени од други земји во Берлин, а имаше и неколку германци. Јазикот на комуникација за моја среќа беше англиски:) Некои беа многу смешни, некои не толку ама сите беа супер. За 2 евра добиваш влезница за 2 часа хумор и чаша вотка!:)

Следно на агендата ни беше ДДР музејот и среќа не беше од оние досадни класични типови на музеи каде вниманието ти опаѓа после 10 минути. Целиот музеј беше интерактивен и успешно ја долови атмосферата на просечен живот во поранешна Источна Германија. Цели соби уредени во тој стил (изненадувачки е колку личеа на македонски соби од 80тите), облека која била модерна, музика, игри, на кои места оделе на одмор, секој посетител имаше можност да влезе во познатиот трабант или да се преправа дека ѕвони некаде и е многу битен...:)

Ако сакате да „патувате“ нешто подалеку низ историјата (Втора светска војна) не треба да го пропуштите музејот „Топографија на терор“..прилично вознемирувачки, но..

На позабавната страна, ако имате желба да се возите со балон во Берлин може да испробате. Јас не се одлучив ама Халвар ме убеди дека глетката е преубава. Се гледа и на сликите!:)

Берлин е многу возбудлив град, каде и да одите нешто ќе ве изненади. Како на пример, додека шетавме по една неприметна улица наеднаш се појави оваа стара телефонска говорница цела излепена со оние жолтите post-its и на нив луѓе пишувале секакви пораки. Напишав и јас:)

или на пример погледнете ги семафорите за точаците..Мене ми беа многу интересни, исто како и семафорите за пешаците. Кул!

Како по правило, најинтересниот дел за крај:) Колекција на најубавите графити низ Берлин, повеќето се од галеријата на источната страна (на самиот берлински ѕид) но има и случајно фотографирани низ градот.