Pining for the Fjords

I've always had something of a love affair with Scandinavia; I think its something to do with the fjords, waterfalls and girls in incredibly tight pants. When I discovered that my Norwegian airlines flight had free wifi that love was instantly re-kindled.

I arrived at Oslo airport to find that my travelling party were waiting for me with a tiny rental car in tow. From left to right my road trip crew were Daniel and Ramona a Romanian couple currently based in Dusseldorf and Tim a friend from Adelaide who is one of the few people who works less than I do. 

We immediately headed north towards Trondheim and Daniel took the wheel to give me a taste of Romanian driving. Nightmares of ChrisV's driving on my last visit road-trip in Norway came flooding back as he powered through traffic on narrow and continuously winding roads while Tim and I tried desperately not to watch. Remind me to pack plenty of tranquilizers when I get around to visiting them in Romania!

We never actually made it all the way to Trondheim, choosing instead to veer West along the somewhat underwhelming Golden Route. The scenery picked up as we headed South into the highlands and one spectacular road carved sharp switchbacks over a giant waterfall.

Although we brought tents and sleeping mats, we ended up mostly staying in picturesque campsites with comfortable 4-person cabins.  They were cheap, rain-proof and had cooking facilities, internet and showers. Although having the internet was handy for planning our trip, I didn't want to completely ruin the camping experience so I drew the line at daily showers. 

A couple of days later we stopped near Skala, one of the tallest mountains in central Norway and, much to the dismay of Tim, decided to actually climb it. Starting from sea-level we hiked out of the forest and past several glaciers before finally reaching the 1850m summit about 5 hours later. As we started our descent the thick clouds shrouding the summit cleared for just a couple of minutes and gave me a chance to snap this impressive panorama of the fjord peeking through the mountains.

The next morning Tim and I were even slower than usual to get out of bed but fortunately Ramona and Daniel have experience dealing with hopeless children and usually had the car packed and ready to go before we were even awake. Ramona also took on the role of head chef and although she cooked up lots of healthy and delicious food, the lentil soup was definitely a mistake. Insert obligatory pull my finger joke here. My main role was as team morale officer, but I offered some basic photography advice, conservative driving and an iPhone full of Wesmusic.

Although Bob Dylan and Van Morrison were vetoed very early on, I did manage to win over the Romanians with Xavier Rudd and Bon Iver. I spent a lot of time listening to "Boxer" by the The National's however, the soundtrack of the trip was definitely Shearwater's, 2008 album "Rook" - an absolute masterpiece!

My favorite photos of the trip came from a short walk through an old ruined village that had been overrun by sheep. Most evenings Tim and I would compare photos and argue about the best angle, cropping ratio and lightroom adjustment. My photography skills have definitely improved as a result. 

On the final day of our trip we headed out for a short 3 hour hike towards Preikestolen, an iconic cliff that towers 600m above the fjords. Unfortunately the conditions were a little wet and about an hour into the walk  I rolled my ankle on a wet rock and tore a bunch of tendons along the side of my foot. With several weeks of travelling still on the horizon, I decided not to risk any further damage and hobbled very slowly back down the path to grab some ice while the others continued on to the summit. Ramona came back with this spectacular shot of Tim standing by the edge. 

Although my foot glowed an impressive bright blue colour for about the next 2 weeks, the good news is that it was never particularly painful and is almost back to full strength now. Many thanks to Daniel, Ramona and Tim for a fantastic road-trip.

Ich Bin Ein Berliner

After 6 weeks on the move I was glad to put down my pack for a while and explore Berlin. I arrived knowing only a couple of locals, but via the wonders of the Internet I was able to join up with a few different 'meet-up' groups, and although they mostly catered to ex-pats I was never short of something to do. A photography group run by an enthusiastic Australian, got me out on a some vaguely photo-themed day-trips, although there seemed to be more beer drunk than photos taken. I also joined a foodies group which headed out weekly to sample a different restaurant.

The food options in Berlin are diverse, reasonably priced and usually delicious. Against my better judgement, I even tried a few German delicacies, narrowly avoided a fatal encounter with an Eisbein, and discovered that Flammkuchen, a super-thin crust pizza from near the French border, is actually really good! Although Australian Asian food sets the bar very high, my local Vietnamese cafe did a decent Pho soup and there were plenty of Indian and Thai options if I needed a fix. I enjoyed a slightly more upmarket meal at an outstanding Mexican Taquería, however the culinary highlight was definitely dinner-in-the-dark at the Nocti Vagus restaurant with my German friend Mandy.

The restaurant experience started with a briefing and browse of the menu and then we were escorted downstairs into a pitch-black room to enjoy our meal. The serving staff are all visually handicapped and able to function with relative ease, but for the rest of us, chasing food around our plates for 2-hours in total darkness was very unique. For the complete experience, Mandy and I both chose the 'secret menu' so we had to try and work out what were eating from only the taste and texture - It was a lot harder than I expected.

Although the restaurants are good, the staple diet of most Berliners is the Doner Kebab. Available everywhere, they are served in various breads with all kinds of fillings and at many different price-points. The best felafel I had was from Dada Felafel and cost an outrageous €3.50. Near my apartment in Schöneberg I could get a really tasty chicken and vegetable doner-im-brot for €2.50, a slightly less good lamb kebab for €2.00 and although I built up the nerve to actually try one, a dubious looking store advertised kebabs made from an undisclosed meat for €1.30. The way I figured it, a store charging €2 a kebab probably wasn't paying their immigrant employees much but with a store charging only €1.30, there was a fair chance the "mystery meat" might actually BE the employees!

Between the U-bahn, S-bahn, trams and buses getting around Berlin is a breeze however after I picked a second-hand bike I rode just about everywhere. My evening rides along the old Berlin Wall, past the Reichstag building and under the Brandenburg gate never got tiring and also helped me get to know the inner city quite well. A lot of the main roads have separated bike lines and although a few absent-minded pedestrians almost got cleaned up and I never wore a helmet, riding in Berlin felt much safer than back home.

I came to Berlin with very good intentions of learning German and left with the vocabulary of a one-year old that knows a lot about food. Although I spent a lot of time online, it wasn't a completely waste. Between the gaming and chatting, I managed to read several photography books, completed all the online Lightroom tutorials and sorting through a bunch of my old photos.

After a month in Berlin I did eventually make it out of the city for a 2-day hike around the Harz mountains with Mandy. We climbed a few hundred meters to the highest  point in the area (which also happened to be one of the last communist outposts in Germany) and then wandered back down along a picturesque forest path called "The Witches Trail" which was lovely despite being crawling with old-people.

After living there for a bit over five weeks I feel qualified to rate Berlin as one of the world's great cities. It is alive with activity and excitement, the huge transient population makes it very easy to make new friends although the atmosphere is often described as 'dirty or gritty' I didn't once feel unsafe. But perhaps the thing I like most about Berlin is the sense of freedom and acceptance that I felt there. It is the kind of city where no matter what your race, job or style clothing people will treat you the same and accept you for who are. I look forward to returning some day soon.

Cycling in Czech

After a couple of days in Vienna I met up with Amber, a friend from university, and we headed up by train to Mikulov, a medium-sized town just across the Czech border. We picked up touring bikes, shoved a few clothes into small panniers and cycled out to explore Moravia.

I knew very little about southern Czech before I arrived and was pleasantly surprised to discover that near the Austrian border the terrain is relatively flat and dotted with wineries. After sampling the local wine at a few different "Weinkellers" I learned to stay well clear of Czech red wine. However their ice-wine and several of the white table wines I tasted were fantastic, particularly sweeter grape varieties like Muškát Moravský.

Our completely unplanned journey took us west along well sign-posted forest trails and minor roads eventually arriving at "Vranov nad Dyni," a local tourist hot-spot on the banks of the Dyje river and overlooked by a spectacular palace. We found a pension with a great view, run by a friendly old couple who spoke absolutely no English and used sign language to negotiate a room. Random adventures are always the best!

As we headed north, the vineyards gave way to fields of wheat, maize and sunflowers and the terrain became rolling hills that were fun to roll down but hell to pedal up. It was about this point that I discovered Amber had actually been awarded an Oxford Blue for cycling so I didn't feel quite so bad as she disappeared off into the distance every time we climbed a hill. She would inevitably loop back a few minutes later to find me "taking photos" at a particularly steep section.

Most days we would head out in the late morning and ride for a couple of hours before stopping for a lunch of bread, cheese, pickles and Vegemite. After lunch we'd ride for another 3 or 4 hours, stopping to admire the alarming green architecture and to scrump raspberries, cherries and apples from the front yards of unsuspecting locals. 

Although your average Czechoslovakian isn't exactly friendly, we were warmly received at an Irish pub and shared a table at a Moravian restaurant with a local wine-maker. He told us the history of the region, invited us to an underground rock party, offered to drive us back to Vienna and then talked me into ordering a local specialty that was delicious despite containing more garlic than I would normally eat in a year.

Although they occasionally dabble in wine, the Czech Republic is most famous for inventing lager style beer and I tried a lot of Pilsners before settling on Pilsner Urquell - the original and still the best. Czech's pole position in the beer drinking stakes is aided by their ordering system. At any local bar you only have to order one beer and as soon as you finish it, they'll automatically bring you another. I was quite drunk before I realized that you actually have to go up to the bar and pay in order to get them to stop.

In the end we covered a little under 400km in six days of riding, hit a top speed of 65.4 km/h and with Amber's expert organization and navigation, I hardly even had to look at a map!

Berlin, Hamburg & Düsseldorf

Next on my travel itinerary was a whirlwind trip through Germany. First stop was Berlin where I spent a couple of days catching up with friends, running around the Tiergarten, eating felafel and organizing an apartment for later in the month. Finding an apartment was easy and disturbingly cheap. After looking at a couple of places, I settled on a large room in a twin shared apartment in Schöneberg. It has high ceilings and is located on quiet street in a leafy suburb a few kilometers south of the city centre. Although I didn't take any photos, you can have a look around using Google Maps.

With my future organized, I headed across to Hamburg for the weekend to catch up with Hanna, a friend I met while travelling in Malaysia last year. Although the rain clouds were still stalking me, I toured the city in the rain, checked out a fantastic photography exhibition and met a bunch of smart and friendly locals. If I ever need a doctor or automotive engineer in Germany, I'll know where to come!

Hamburg has fantastic parks (complete with flying foxes and giant swings) and a safer, cleaner feel than Berlin but it doesn't feel quite as vibrant or exciting. I get the impression that it would be a great place to live if you already had a group of friends, but that making new friends might be tough. Many thanks to Hanna for sharing her friends and also for taking time off from final exam study to show me around.

After five weeks on the move, I was quite relieved to meet up with Tim in Dusseldorf for a week of doing not much. I was less relieved to discover that he'd just moved into an apartment right in the centre of the city and directly above Düsseldorf's worst nightclub. The city seemed to be full of friendly ex-pat Vodafone employees and we joined them for several dinners, a couple of pub crawls, some indoor beach volleyball and even made it outside for an excursion to Eifel Nation Park.

Staying in one place for while also gave me a chance to organize my life. I sorted out my future travel plans, ordered a fancy new computer and shopped for a German sim and cheapest phone I could find. My new Nokia 1800 might not have 'features' but at least the battery lasts for a week. I can now be contacted in Europe on +491637700122

Many thanks to Tim for letting me crash at his place (earplugs included) and to Miren for supplying a mattress and great travel advice!

Ireland - Cork, Galway and surrounds

After a quiet and slightly disappointing weekend in Dublin, I headed down to Cork via a scenic coastal road. Although the scenery was impressive, it wasn't always visible due to the "atmospheric" weather.

Cork is the second largest city in Ireland and even has a population large enough to cause a traffic jam on the main street! The city is built around the Lee river which offers some nice views and although I was only there for four days, I met a few locals and really enjoyed the atmosphere and live music at the pubs around town. I will certainly consider returning to Cork later in the year.

I caught Paul Simon at "The Marquee" as part of the Cork Summer Festival. Despite being 69 years old and only about 4 feet tall, he sounded as good as ever. He mostly played older solo material and got through about half of Graceland (quite possibly my favourite album of all-time) before finishing with a very hopeful cover of "Here Comes The Sun". 

The sun didn't come. In fact at one point it had rained pretty much continuously for a week. Over the 'summer,' Budweiser were running a promotion called "The Ice-Cold Index" which offered discounted beer based on the weather. At 16 degrees you got 1 euro off, another at 18 degrees and by 20 degrees the beer was free. When I first read the conditions I thought they would put themselves out of business. Needless to say there was no free beer given away while I was in Ireland! Try and spot the country on the following rain map...

While I was in Galway I made the foolish decision to stop drinking Guinness for a few days and ended up in bed with the flu. As a result I didn't get to explore the city as much as I would have liked but from what I did see it seemed friendly and quite live-able, if slightly on the touristic side. 

Staying in hostels in Cork and Galway made me feel old. Although I met plenty of cool people they were usually a few years younger than me. It didn't help that Ryan whipped up a song especially for me entitled "Ode to my long-lost father".

I only had a couple of days left in Ireland when the sun finally reappeared and it was just in time for a road-trip around Galway and Mayo. My incredibly talented personal chauffeur, Kate, picked me up in Galway and we headed up to Westport, a scenic coastal town. From there we climbed Croagh Patrick, the highest mountain in the North-West and took in the scenery which was very different to the South.

The weather was perfect on my last full day in Ireland and I got some really great shots as we drove around the coastline of Achill Island. 

Despite the weather and the recession, Ireland still has the best pubs and the friendliest people that I've met anywhere in Europe. I'm excited about returning for an extended period later in the year!