England (part 1)

August 21 through 26, 2022

"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page." - Saint Augustine

We wrapped up our time in Stavanger with a lovely dinner out (I discovered I love Korean BBQ sticky wings!) and dessert at a cool little ice cream place called Moo Goo (I'd include our fun selfie but I really suck at selfies 😅). Trust me, the ice cream was delicious! We didn't really partake of much traditional Norwegian cuisine (neither of us eats much fish) but suffice it to say, we got a taste of the region 😊. We also really enjoyed the cooler weather even if overcast skies made it hard to capture the photos I was hoping for. I did get lucky with a fabulous sunset on our sailing expedition 🌞

Happily our flight to England went smoothly, even with a tight layover in Oslo, and we arrived in England by early evening. It took a bit of trekking through Heathrow and many train transfers to find our way to Willesdon Green (special thanks to our Airbnb host for her great directions). Lydia lives upstairs so she helped us get settled in right away. The location is in north-west London, about 20ish minutes from central London, and the neighborhood is a bit working-class (but not too dodgy), and it's right near a tube stop so that's very convenient. The house itself is spacious and about 100 years old so it comes with some (fun!) quirks. There's wifi, which works really well in the living room (and that room only 😬); maybe that's good for curbing my late night scrolling? The kitchen and bathroom are both modern so I can't complain (much) 😑

We gave ourselves some time to settle in, unpack, grocery shop, and do laundry (always important!). On the second day, we stopped by the bank to visit our account that we set up here 10 years ago. It was nice to see it was still there and accessible 😅 We requested new ATM cards but unfortunately they will be sent to Claremont, so it may be a while until we get those in hand (December maybe? when we see our girls? ah the challenges of not being able to get mail ...) We're also enjoying the ability to understand the local language, recognize more familiar foods, and best of all, enjoy some Cadbury chocolate 😋

I'm realizing how restless I get when I'm doing "not-much" while in a foreign country. Luckily I had a tour planned for the next day, so off I went to see the real-life castle from Downton Abbey. The full-day tour included 4 stops/villages from the show and movie, with Highclere Castle being the big final one. I'm happy to report it was so worth it! Except for not being allowed to take photos inside, the tour was super cool and brought back fond memories of working our way through the 8-year-long series (which we got hooked on while we were here for our last sabbatical). 

We also got out to see some theater and explore other parts of London, both near the theater district and near our Airbnb. Since we did live here before, I feel a little like a local (at least until I get very lost 😟). Luckily there's almost always a tube stop nearby and I can find my way back from just about any tube stop in London. The theater show we saw was "To Kill a Mockingbird" and it was amazing! The acting was fantastic and the story-line was, sadly, as relevant as ever. Art also saw "101 Dalmatians" in Regent's Park and said he just loved the outdoor venue. We may go back there this weekend.

Lately I've been missing my girls 💝, and my Claremont friend lunch dates, (and also my hair gel 😏). Art and I have been working on our relationship communication and downtime balance; it's a process. Overall I'd say it's going pretty well 💗  And speaking of books (at least my opening quote did!), I've gotten back into reading and recently finished my 4th book since our trip started. I forgot how much I enjoy reading, especially when there's no time pressure involved (my recent recommendation is "The Nickel Boys" by Colson Whitehead). Art and I also finished up The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel series which we loved 😍 Looking forward to the next season!

Deena and Art

London theater district
 

Art by the Sondheim Theater
 

Chinatown district
 

British vibes
 

Flora with British vibes ;)
 

Church from Downton Abbey
 

Highclere Castle (setting of Downton Abbey)
 

Better view of castle
 

London architecture
 

 (I just *had* to revisit it...!)

Stavanger, Norway

August 14 through 20, 2022

It's hard to sum up a country having seen only one of its cities, so I can only talk about Stavanger in this post (we will also be visiting Oslo and Tromso in the next month or so). We are currently in Stavanger, a town I'd never heard of until this trip, and now I know that it is the 4th largest city in Norway and is almost 900 years old. I've also learned that Norway only became an independent country in 1905, which was surprising (I thought it was a country for a lot longer). Clearly I don't know much about Scandinavia 😮

I also thought it was going to be hella expensive but it's only sorta expensive. Mostly eating out is pricey but even that is not terrible. I think the exchange rate has been helping us on this trip. Dinners out seem to cost about $50-60 for both of us, but I'm pretty sure Thai Orchid back home usually runs close to that. Our hotel doesn't have a restaurant (or a mini-fridge) and strongly encourages eating out so we've tried many options, including pizza, Mexican, Thai, and Korean. Notice I didn't mention Norwegian food 😬

Art's backgammon tournament started yesterday and he's having fun. Before that, we went on a couple of adventurous excursions including sailing into the local fjord and hiking a famous (1800 ft tall!) mountain called Pulpit Rock. The sailing was lovely even if only 3 of us from the tournament came (the organizational skills of the tournament coordinator could be better 😐) and I did get some amazing sunset photos.

I bought hiking shoes in Stavanger for this hike and then mailed them to our friend (relative?) in Tromso so I don't have to shlep them around the next 3 countries. It was only about $15 to mail the box, as opposed to the $500 that it would have cost to mail them from the US (crazy!). And it appears that we can mail them home from Tromso for only $50 (huh?). Who's making money on this US-to-Norway postal scheme? 😜

The Pulpit Rock hike nearly killed us both (but it didn't!) and was definitely one of the hardest I've ever done 😩. It was not only steep but rocky and uneven and it rained halfway up the mountain so it was slippery as well (and no handrails!). The only 2 people who came with us were clearly 100% more fit than us (those Norwegians 😉) but they were very patient. I honestly couldn't believe how many people of all sizes and ages climbed this mountain. We were personally lucky not to sprain an ankle (or die! 💀) We both agreed to call it "our last hike" this year (and maybe ever). We were achy for the next day and a half 😰.

Fun facts about Stavanger: most of this city/country is cashless (everyone pays by credit or debit card), cruise ships stop here (but there seems to be a local love/hate relationship with them), oil and gas are Norway's main exports, bikes and scooters are prevalent, overcast seems to be the most common weather, lots of people own boats, fruits/veggies have been surprisingly good, and everything is geared toward being eco-friendly (straws are paper, cutlery is cardboard 😬). Should have packed my own silverware for this trip 😁

While Art's free time is taken up with backgammon playing and research, mine has been with reading, learning more about iPhone photography, and keeping up with my social media (LOL). Gotta keep my 15 fans happy. We're also almost done with watching The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel :)

Enjoy these latest photos (btw that's really us at the top of the mountain!)

Deena and Art

Stavanger harbor
 

View from top of Pulpit Rock
 

Halfway up to Pulpit Rock

The summit!
 

Sunset sailing
 

 

 

 

 

 

Sweden (and more Denmark)

August 8 through 13, 2022

One cool feature of Denmark is its proximity to Sweden 😀 They are so close you can take a one hour train ride across an incredibly long bridge (5 miles) and then you're in Malmo, Sweden. No passport or customs check needed! As mentioned in my previous post, we spent a day checking out this cute little town, including its cool architecture and its coastline and its gelato 🍨. And Art got to check off Sweden on his "new countries" list (it was my second time there). I also got to see Helsingborg Sweden on another tour this week (just a ferry ride from Helsingor Denmark which has the famous Kronborg Castle). Gotta love the freedom to travel between European countries so easily👍

It has been a real treat to have two weeks of vacation in one place. For most Americans, that's a luxury 😐. Two weeks allows you to explore more slowly, find the local's favorite places, go grocery shopping, and even learn a bit of the language. I learned that "tak" means "thank you" and "mad" means "food" (gives new meaning to the word hangry). It also allowed us to have some downtime days (usually doing laundry!) and not feel like I'm missing out on seeing another attraction. As we approach the end of our stay in Copenhagen, I am balancing the feelings of "have I managed to see it all?" and "where to next?" 

Art and I are also balancing time together and apart. It can be challenging at times, being together 24/7, so we're recognizing the need for separate time and space. Luckily he found his backgammon community in Copenhagen and has been out playing a few times while we've been here (he's actually at an all-day tournament today). I've spent my free time reading (still getting used to the Kindle), learning more about iPhone photography from an online course, and stressing over how often and what to post on Instagram 😜. Our AirBnB has really been great since it's big enough for us to spread out, make home-cooked meals, and not interfere with each other's sleep 😬

Our time in Denmark has been largely wonderful 😀 We've seen many of the highlights and landmarks (Kronborg Palace, Round Tower, Tivoli Gardens, Christiania, Nyhavn) and enjoyed a lovely canal boat ride (which included the Little Mermaid statute). We even tried several "danishes" here though I'm not sure that they think of danishes the same way as Americans do 😂. We've wandered all over the city, gotten "lost" a few times, and happened upon even more picturesque sights! We've been very fortunate with the weather which has fluctuated between "a bit too warm" and "absolutely perfect." Watching the locals zip by on their ubiquitous bikes is impressive and is apparently a year-round custom (you just need the right winter coat 😅). Everyone we've encountered has been friendly and helpful and (mostly 😉) speaks English. The cost of eating out is exceptionally high, but I guess you can't have everything.

We spent one lovely evening at a fancy restaurant (Nimb) next to Tivoli Gardens (the world's third oldest operating amusement park, and an early inspiration to Walt Disney). Celebrated our 29th anniversary (again 😉) with a fabulous meal and a walk through Tivoli. We plan to return to Tivoli once more before we leave, to soak up more of the hygge atmosphere. We learned that the oldest amusement park (Bakken) is also in Denmark so we're planning to visit that tomorrow (cuz why not?). All of this has afforded me great opportunities to practice my new iPhone photography skills. I've already learned lots about how to take better photos without needing a big fancy camera, which I of course brought along on this trip 📸

Enjoy these photos that I chose from the many hundreds (thousands?) that I've taken in the past two weeks 💗 Our next destination will be Stavanger, Norway where Art will get to play in a backgammon tournament and we'll both get to do some serious hiking (Art might need a 4th nap that day 😂).

Deena and Art

Boat ride from Helsingor to Helsingborg
 

Gorgeous Denmark waterways
 

Copenhagen views
 

Cute canals
 

Nimb anniversary dinner
 

Tivoli Gardens (Japanese area)
 

Mural artwork in Helsingor (painting in progress)
 

Danishes?
 

Trying the local gelato

Copenhagen, castles, and concerts

August 1 through 7, 2022

Hard to believe we've been in Copenhagen for about a week already! The travel to get here was long and hot and overwhelming (especially for me), but we survived. We took the train from the airport to our Airbnb which was super convenient, and then we got very lucky on finally figuring out how to get the key for the apartment (who knew it was at the candy kiosk store next door? not us 😐). We got in just in time for me to collapse. We gave ourselves the whole next day to recover which we sorely needed. 

The weather has varied from slightly cooler than Sarajevo to downright chilly at times (I had to break out my puffy coat once). Art is somehow managing with just his flannel shirt and/or sweatshirt 😦 Our Airbnb apartment is spacious, has a great kitchen, and is full of hygge vibes. We did laundry (to wash out the Sarajevo smokiness in our clothes) and discovered the combo washer-dryer kinda sorta does work. We're also making good use of the drying rack provided 😉 There isn't any A/C but apparently opening a window helps a lot (so they claim) and besides, most of the year Denmark doesn't need A/C anyway. We also went grocery shopping, conveniently located across the street (we're not far from the city center, in a lovely suburb called Frederiksberg), so we can finally eat home-cooked meals for awhile. The area seems well appointed with food, restaurants, kiosks, hair places, and tons of bike shops. Denmark is second in the world in bicyclists (second to Amsterdam) and the city revolves around them. We thought about renting one but we're not sure our biking skills would be "up to speed" 😜 Using public transportation, especially trains, has been super easy and you can get pretty much anywhere you need to go.

We've taken some tours of Copenhagen (including a beautiful canal ride in Nyhavn) and the outlying areas (some together, some separately) and have a pretty good overview of the city and a sense of its history. I have visited castles and a Viking museum, and together we even went to Sweden for a day (just a one-hour train ride!) and saw funky architecture (Turning Torso) and a super cool bridge that connects the two countries. Going from Bosnia to Denmark has really made us appreciate our first-world privilege and all that being a European Union member has to offer a country. Denmark seems to have a strong infrastructure with its citizens' needs all being met (e.g., covered healthcare) and it shows 😀 Also the cost of everything here is way higher than Bosnia ($5 ice cream vs $1). I guess that's the price you pay to have all your other needs met 😅

Having two weeks here has also allowed us to have some downtime days which was more necessary than we thought. It also gave Art the chance to seek out and find the backgammon community, and me the chance to find a Toastmasters meeting (and gave us some time apart which was also a good thing 💕). Cool aside: the TM meeting theme happened to be "sabbaticals" - what are the odds?! 

Added bonus: One of Art's backgammon friends told him (yesterday) about a concert happening in Copenhagen, and it was none other than Ed Sheeran! And since we are real fans (not fake fans, as some people might think 😆), we hopped online and amazingly managed to get tickets. The concert was outdoors at a park venue and was fantastic, with Maisie Peters as the opener (we're also big fans of Maisie). The queue to leave by train afterwards, however, was horrendous (and by then it really was cold). We were so impressed with how patient everyone was and how efficient the trains were. We were back in our apartment within 1.5 hours which could have been way worse in some other cities we know 😛

Enjoy some pix of our recent adventures (below)! More to come soon.

Art and Deena

Turning Torso building in Malmo, Sweden

An old church in Denmark ;)
 

Kronborg Castle in Denmark
 

Better view of Kronborg Castle
 

Waterways in Copenhagen