Everybody knows about the Rio Carnival, right?
Even people who have no intention of ever visiting Brazil can tell you that every spring the streets of Rio de Janeiro come alive to the seductive sounds of samba and the sashaying …
Relocating to Tenerife: How to Rent an Apartment
Much of Tenerife’s accommodation market is aimed towards holiday-makers or Timeshare apartments and is very expensive if you intend to stay for longer than the standard two week vacation, but it is possible to take out a long-term lease if …
Relocating to Tenerife
It is always sad when travels come to an end but I knew that my trip around South America would be relatively short so I have been considering various plans for my next step. The options have included: making a …
Package Holidays: Love Them or Loathe Them?
Most people spend the year looking forward to the time when they can take a well-earned rest from the hard work of the daily grind. Many people envisage a couple of weeks on a sun-soaked beach, with a selection of …
8 Things I Have Learnt in Sweden
What’s the point of travel if not to learn from your experiences? Here’s what I have learnt during my year in Sweden.
Bikes with a basket and bell are not just for little girls
Pretty much everybody in Sweden has …
Guest Post: The Best Greek Restaurant I Never Knew
In honour of my travels to Greece next week, I thought I’d get in the Greek mood so here is a guest post from David Baboulene to get you into the mediterranean mood!
David ‘Windy’ Baboulene and his friend NotNorman …
My First Tweet-Meet!
My blog has been running for almost a year now but it was initially a diary to document a year of living in Sweden so that my friends and family could keep up with what I was doing. Before long …
Funballz, Hillbillies and a Raving Baby!
This time last year I was preparing to make the move from Vietnam to Sweden and I wrote a post about Västerås, the Swedish city that was to become my home. Now, here I am a year later preparing …
Europe Food and Drink Friends and Family Life in Sweden Partying Swedish Tradition Tradition Travelling
Midsommar: a night of Swedish madness
“Why, this is very midsummer madness!“ (Twelfth Night)
Not long ago Sweden welcomed the spring but Valborg is only the warm-up act. Midsummer, or Midsommar in Swedish, is the biggest party of year. …
Wimbledon – A British Institution
It’s already well into the swing of tennis season and the next tournament on the agenda is, of course, Wimbledon. Even though the UK has not enjoyed much success on the hallowed turf of SW19 in recent years, it is …
Five foods the Swedes go crazy for!
1. Meatballs
Ask anybody what they think Swedes like to eat and the chances are that they will say ‘Meatballs’. This is probably largely due to IKEA chains worldwide serving traditional-style meatballs with a cream sauce, potatoes and lingonberry jam. …
Bad Wolf Bay: The Rugged Coastline of South Wales (UK)
Although I enjoy travelling the world and have branded myself a Runaway Brit, I do still appreciate the beauty of my home country. The UK is a small but diverse island and has many unappreciated areas of natural beauty. Many …
Valborg – Sweden Welcomes the Spring
In Britain, Bonfire Night conjures up childhood memories of sheltering from the driving November rain, eating jacket potatoes while effigies, or ‘guys’, burn on a huge bonfire. Overhead, fireworks crackle with the acrid smell of sulphur – all to commemorate …
Spring Fever
It has been a long and cold winter in Sweden. After a very short Autumn, it started snowing in October and powdered snow lay on the ground until March. The temperature remained below zero for almost five months, sometimes …
72 Hours in St.Petersburg Video
Rather than putting up numerous photos of my time in Russia I thought I would try to capture the beautiful city of St. Petersburg in video.
I hope that you enjoy it.
Please feel free to leave comments below, I’d …
A Day on board the Princess Anastasia
The journey from St. Petersburg back to Stockholm takes about 25 hours so we were pretty grateful to discover that the newly refurbished Princess Anastasia boat had a bit more to offer than the Princess Maria—the duty free shop …
Getting a drink in St.Petersburg is impossible!
I always imagined that drinking vodka is a national pastime in Russia so imagine my surprise when I discovered that it is almost impossible to find a local bar in St.Petersburg!
Of course, this is based entirely on my own …
St.Petersburg – No Visa Required.
According to the St.Petersburg Times officials are concerned about the lack of tourism to the city and measures have been put into place to address the problem. In early April of this year visa rules were changed to allow ferry …
A Few Hours in Helsinki – Photo Essay
We had a few hours to spend in Helsinki after taking the Silja line ferry from Stockholm to Helsinki and then planning to take the St.Petersline from Helsinki to St.Petersburg. The weather was clear and sunny, if a bit cold.…
The Baltic Journals #4. Tallinn’s Turrets and Towers
On Thursday we said goodbye to Riga and headed to Tallinn, capital of Estonia. The journey took 4 ½ hours on a nice warm and comfortable bus. We arrived at our hostel which is right in the heart of the …