Norm & Felicity’s Travel Diary

 Hi all, Today we got up early for the 7:30am ferry to Tallinn, we were there by 9:30am, a smooth sailing across the Baltic. Nice Finnish ship and great infrastructure, just saying! There isn’t much to say about this small city of 500,000 people, except it is a stunning 12 to 14 Century gem. A double walled city, with much of the lower and upper walls still very visible in places - I’ll just let the pictures do the talking. One immaculate, one fixer upper! Both over 600 years old. Walled in. Stunning squares and streetscapes, with the best town hall. The views from the upper town to the lower town below it. Some beautiful churches, including a Russian Orthodox - they were “in charge” here a for a few centuries, then from 1945 to 1991. Plus another quaint house, we could have taken100’s and the Parliament building. Then even more ancient walls and city gates to finish. We caught the 4:30pm ferry back to Helsinki, had a great day, including an Estonian lunch, Roast Elk for carnivore ...

 Hi all, Last night we did find a genuine Finnish restaurant and had a great dinner. Whilst we avoided the Bear and Reindeer - the Artic Char and Salmon were excellent. Today we got up late, after watching the Collingwood - Melbourne game, which came down to the wire -unfortunately for Norm Collingwood won by one point! Anyway, it was a rainy day, so it fitted his mood, Felicity on the other hand was very Sunny! We just wandered around the vibrant waterfront and visited the  Lutheran Cathedral that we missed the other day. Some snaps from today: The Church on the rock below, is one of the other Cathedrals in Helsinki, very prominent. Then we went around the Market Square and the old Market hall, which is now mainly restaurants, but nice and cosy. There always seems to be plenty happening on the water. So a quiet day today, as we get ready for our overseas trip tomorrow - the 2 hour ferry trip, to Tallinn, Estonia, just across the Baltic. So more to report when we get back. All...

 Hi all, Yesterday we said farewell to Berlin, after a great week in the German Capital. We took a two hour flight to our last European stop this trip - Helsinki. After a train from the airport, we found our apartment easily, just 500 metres from the main station right in the middle of the action. We had a great dinner at Penelope’s restaurant- so good in fact that we have rebooked for our last night in town. This morning we had a walk around the town, as recommended by Lonely Planet, around 5km in a loop, which gave us a good feel for the city. Plenty of water and green space. As you can see, we already found two Cathedrals, which were not open for visits due to Sunday services - so a revisit will be on the cards. The tram to the waterfront is right outside our door, so we have had a few trips down there already, however this is a town for walking, as the main quay is only 5 minutes away by foot. We wandered down to the Market Square Quay for a Hot Dog 🌭 lunch (which might have b...

 Hi all, Our week in Berlin is nearly at an end, as we fly to Helsinki tomorrow - it has been great to visit this formerly divided city to see how much has been done to repair and unify the capital. Today we thought we would fit in just one more Schloss, the late 17th Century Schloss Charlottenburg, which was built by Prussian King Frederick 1, for his wife Sophie Charlotte. History shows he nearly bankrupted the state due to the lavish interior and the sheer size of what started out as a modest summer house. The palace is very reminiscent of the Hapsburg palaces in Vienna, maybe a bit of regal rivalry? We had a very relaxed tour, as tourists seem to be put off by the location, a bit out of the main city. Still only about 20 minutes by S Bahn for us. We have certainly got our monies worth from our 50 Euro weekly transport ticket, we must have had 50 individual trips in and around the greater city area, we almost feel like locals after only a week. The apartment has been great and w...

 Hi all Last night we went back to our current favourite German tavern, for a Bratwurst, potato and sauerkraut, again. It has great comfort food, good people and is just around the corner - perfect. Norm had his weekly catchup with Emily at work this morning,  while in the background the Tasmanian Parliament was disintegrating. Could be an interesting return to work, perhaps while the Government is in caretaker mode - our EBA negotiations might be in disarray Em! Today we used our greater Berlin transport pass again to go to the old town of Spandau (now a Suburb really), looked out for the Ballet but without luck! Spandau has a nice old Alstadt and a 14th Century Spanish Citadel - mostly used now for events and concerts, which they were setting for when we visited. We returned back to Potsdamer Platz as Felicity had spotted a Gallery with some interesting old masters featured. So we walked from the train station to the Gemaldegalerie, which is part of a complex of modern arts ...

 Hi all,  Time for Norm to brace himself as we headed back to the Museum Island to finish off our obligatory tour of Berlin’s great museums. First was the Antike Museum, featuring Etruscan, Roman and Greek antiquities. A great collection, in a pretty impressive 17th centenary building. The Prussians really liked copying Ancient Rome in their designs, most of the impressive buildings on the island have similar features Next was the Neues Museum, in an old restored palace (most of the structure was demolished in the 1900’s so the building is a real mix of the old and new), I guess they could have called it MONA! However the antiquities inside are purely ancient, with one spectacular exhibit - the bust of Nefertiti, from 1353 BC Egypt, stunning in form and original colour. The museum is in the bottom left, with the top right the Altes National Gallery which we visited last, again in a stunning old 18th century building. The following shots are from inside the Neues, showing some ...

 Hi all, We took the excellent S Bahn a short 40 minutes to the former East German town of Potsdam. This town has around 180,000 residents, however the public transport is streets ahead of Hobart - not many cars in the city centre as PT is the preferred mode due to the interconnected train, bus and tram network. Whilst the town got a fair pasting by Allied bombers in the war, it has been restored beautifully. The town was a favourite of the 18th Century Prussian King Frederick III, and he managed to leave his mark. Firstly with his summer palace, Schloss Sanssouci, just out of town by bus. Not quite Versailles, but a good attempt, although the outside could do with a bit of reno. The gardens are expansive and beautiful, and the inside with its many decorative rooms is well worth the visit. We bused back to town and explored the town. Frederick left his mark again when the ordered the construction of houses to encourage Dutch artisans to work on his projects - the result a very Amst...

 Hi all, Another day to explore Berlin, including revisiting some places from yesterday to view from within. Firstly, we took advantage of our pre-booked (free) entry into the Reichstag and its new dome. This is the German parliament so security was necessarily tight. The elevator took us up to the base of the Dome, which Felicity managed well, however the spiral foot way on the way to the top defeated her (you never know until you are there if the fear of heights is going to kick in). Anyway, Norm took one for the team and went to the top, while Felicity ( the green speck in the top right photo) read about the history of the Reichstag). The views from the top were great over the Tiergarden on one side and the River Spree on the other. We then took a bus ride to the Gendarmenmarkt, a huge square with a couple of big churches facing off - the French church and the German Church! Next we visited the Potsdam Platz, which by contrast was vey modern, with some odd shaped skyscrapers. Ju...

 Hi all We journeyed from Gdansk to Berlin yesterday, an uneventful 6 hours on the train. Found our way easily to our apartment in the Mitte, a great spot close to the centre. We had been deprived of good sausages in Poland, for some reason not a Polish sausage to be had anywhere - so for our first evening meal in Berlin we sought out a local German pub, for Bratwurst, potato and sauerkraut. This morning (Sunday) we watched a dismal performance by the demons, before heading out to purchase our weekly combined train/tram/bus/ferry tickets. We headed for some of the local landmarks Brandenburger Tor, the Reichstag and the Berliner Dom, just to mention a  few. We then headed to our first museum of the visit, on the museum island, the Bode Museum with a very well presented range of renaissance through to 18th century paintings and sculptures. Only about 7 more to go on this precinct alone! On the way back we spotted (bottom left) what we presume was a former post office - we need...