Archive for August 2015
Roskilde, Denmark, Scandinavian Adventure Day Five. A Visit With The Danish Rulers And Viking Ships.
Sorry but harder than I thought to find the time to post a blog everyday. Hard enough to just edit the many photographs I’m taking and to write in my journal. But I hope to get better at it. It is early on the morning here and have a few moments before we are off to…
Read MoreA Walk In The Rain Through The Streets Of Stockholm.
Good morning, and finally have some down time as I cross the Baltic Ocean on my way to Helsinki. And that is only because it’s raining out again. It rained yesterday morning too, my last day in Stockholm, but I was still able to get some walking in. I wanted to explore one of Stockholm’s islands,…
Read MoreTime Waits For No One, A Lesson Learned From A Two Week Vacation And A Walk In The Woods.
I returned from a fabulous two week vacation in Scandinavia which seemed to go by in the wink of an eye. All of the wonderful sights kept me so busy it seemed like I was gone for a day. Well a few hikes in the woods today showed me that the passage of time in…
Read MoreMalmo Sweden: Those Swedish Folks Sure Love Their Flowers.
Sorry I left you folks in Sweden, but it was difficult keeping up with my blog posts after I joined up with my fellow group of travelers in Denmark. We spent so much time exploring the beautiful countries cities of Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki and the unplanned visit to Tallinn, sharing meals and traveling, what…
Read MoreScandinavia 2015 Day Two. Lund, Sweden. Old World Charm At It’s Finest.
After spending some time exploring Malmo on Sunday , and getting some sleep, I decided to take the early train to the historic city of Lund. I had thought about renting a car and driving, but the efficient and modern train ride from the airport in Copenhagen to Malmo persuaded me to try the train…
Read MoreScandinavia 2015 Day Two. Lund, Sweden. Old World Charm At It's Finest.
Copenhagen Denmark. Something For Everyone: Gardens, Palaces, Shopping, History And The Second Oldest Amusement Park In The World. Part One.
It is going to be very hard to summarize all I saw and did in my one full day in the “city of green spires”. I knew it was an amazing visit, from the opulent Christianborg Palace to the magical Tivoli amusement park. But, in reviewing the photographs I took for this blog, I realized…
Read MoreThe PPL Wetlands In It’s Summer Splendor.
It has only been about five years or so since I first discovered the PPL Wetlands but I have come to love these canals and ponds along the Susquehanna River and enjoy visiting them in all seasons. It seems it was just yesterday that I was listening to the chorus of the awakening spring peppers and…
Read MoreThe PPL Wetlands In It's Summer Splendor.
Copenhagen Denmark. Part Two. Observatories to Amusement Parks.
Sorry I didn’t finish up my tour of Copenhagen. I left after a nice lunch in a restaurant near the Stroget, over a mile long, it is one of the longest pedestrian shopping streets in the world. My sister and others from the group went to find a boat tour of the canals but I…
Read MoreScandinavia Day Seven. Copenhagen To Oslo: By Boat And Bus. Some Down Time Taking In The Countryside.
Although we got in late from our visit to Tivoli, I was up early the next morning to get my walk in before our bus left for the long ride to Oslo the capitol of Norway. I walked to the reservoirs near our hotel and found the moon setting in the west. Even at this…
Read MoreScandinavia Day Eight. Oslo Norway, A Lovely City On A Fjord. So Much To See In So Little Time.
After our long day on the bus I was up early in Oslo hoping to see some of residential parts of the city before my group’s tour of the city. Unfortunately the weather was co-operating as i watched a heavy storm move in form the south and bring with it some torrential rains. The storm…
Read MoreScandinavia Day Eight. . Oslo. Norway Part Two: A Tour Of The City And A Legacy Of Peace.
After leaving the Vigeland Sculpture Garden on our second in Oslo we toured the cities revitalized harbor and it’s many new building, including the slick and modern new Opera House. The harbor is connected to the North Sea by a long fjord and there are many marinas and docks along the waterfront. Here is a…
Read MoreOslo Norway: Part Three. Norsk Folkemuseum A Visit To Norway’s past.
After I left the group in Oslo Harbor I boarded a ferry to the Bygdoy peninsula, where we visited the Viking Boat Museum earlier in the day. This time I headed to the Folkemuseum. I enjoy learning about the history and culture of the country’s I visit so I thought this would be a good place…
Read MoreOslo Norway: Part Three. Norsk Folkemuseum A Visit To Norway's past.
Scandinavia Day Nine. On The Road Again, A Pleasant Drive To Stockholm.
There wasn’t any time to sleep in on this trip and I was up before the early rising sun again to take a walk through the lovely streets of Oslo one last time. I walked to the harbor and enjoyed the beauty of the waters of the North Sea that stretched so far inland.…
Read MoreScandinavia Day Ten. Stockholm, Sweden: “The City That Floats On Water”
I was up early on my first full day in Stockholm, but not early enough to beat the early rising Nordic sun. It was already shinning when I headed out for a morning walk. I made my way down to the water, which isn’t hard in this city made up of fourteen islands. I…
Read MoreScandinavia Day Ten. Stockholm, Sweden: "The City That Floats On Water"
Stockholm Sweden: Part Two. More Water And A Visit To Royalty.
For any new readers, I am recollecting my recent visit to Scandinavia, and left off when we boarded a ferry from near City Hall in Stockholm for a pleasant one hour boat ride to famous Drottningholm Palace. We left the old building and churches of old town Stockholm and passed the stately City Hall Building. …
Read MoreStockholm To Helsinki. A Rainy Morning Walk In Stockholm And Then Crossing the Baltic Sea
I was up early my last day in Stockholm, hoping to spend my last morning in Djurgarden Island. I wanted to walk through the famous wooded parks and visit some of the many museums. Unfortunately heavy rain changed my plans. I did get to see a lot of the island including the Rosendal Palace and…
Read MoreScandinavia Day Twelve: A Morning In Helsinki Finland: Churches, Sports And The Arts.
I awoke early aboard the ferry on the Baltic Sea hoping to watch the sun rise over the ocean but was disappointed to find rain falling falling from a cloudy sky. Breakfast wasn’t served until 7:30 a.m so I spent some time editing photographs and catching up on Facebook and a blog post. After breakfast,…
Read MoreHelsinki Finland Part Two: History, Hiroshima And A Heavenly Sunset Under Finnish Skies.
My day in Helsinki continued with a very scenic ferry ride through the harbor to the historic Fortress of Finland or Suomenlinna. It was a beautiful mostly sunny day with puffy cumulus clouds floating in the blue sky. A perfect day to be on the Baltic Sea. We passed large cruise ships and the…
Read MoreScandinavia Day Thirteen: An Unscheduled Visit To Enchanting Tallinn Estonia On The Last Day Of Our Tour.
It was another early start on the last day of our tour of Scandinavia. Our group decided to take the 53 mile trip over the Baltic Sea to Tallinn the capitol of Estonia. I would have liked to have seen more of Helsinki but was excited to see another, even more exotic country. Our ferry…
Read MorePicking Mushrooms Is No Picnic, But We Love It Here In Northeastern Pennsylvania.
Searching for and picking edible mushrooms has long been a tradition here in the “coal regions” of Northeastern Pennsylvania. Each ethnic groups had it’s own traditions and picked different species of the many edible mushrooms that grow in our woodlands and countrysides. Today I decided to look for the hen of the woods (known around…
Read MorePPL River And Wetlands. Summer’s Last Hurrah?
It was hazy, hot and humid here in Northeastern Pennsylvania today, it is still August, for one more day anyway, and it sure felt like Summer. But I found plenty of signs Fall is near during my hike in the PPL River and Wetlands this morning. As some of you know the Wetlands and Riverlands…
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