Snæfellsnes
It’s my last night in Reykjavik, and the last night of my Nordic adventure. Tomorrow at this time I’ll be home. Well actually, I’ll still be in the air somewhere over Canada, as it’s still afternoon in Seattle, and my … Continued
The Golden Circle and Langjökull Glacier
Sometime in the last few days, my vacation stopped feeling like I’m on vacation and started feeling like my regular life. It’s as if being in new places, seeing new things, and meeting new people is the norm of my … Continued
A day in Reykjavik
No matter how well I understand logically that the sun doesn’t set here until almost midnight, when I look outside at 10:30 pm and see bright sunshine, my mind can’t understand why my body is so ready for sleep. Today I … Continued
Farewell Scandinavia, Hello Iceland
Yesterday was mostly a travel day, so there wasn’t a lot to blog about, and there still isn’t, since I just woke up and am at a neighborhood coffee shop having what they call an Americano. (I’d call it a … Continued
Day trip to Turku and Naantali
I’m going to start today’s post by talking about an interesting confluence related to my trip. About ten years ago when I was singing with the Esoterics, we performed a wonderful piece by the Finnish composer Jaakko Mäntyjärvi, Canticum Calamitatis Maritimae. … Continued
A lot of walking in Helsinki
Pretty much all I did today was walk. Helsinki is a very walkable city, but I really covered a lot of ground today.
Helsinki and Suomenlinna
Today was an “Intro to Helsinki” day. Mary and I bought one-day Helsinki Cards, thinking we’d cram as many of the things the card covers as we could into one day. It was a good idea in theory, but there … Continued
Tallinn and arrival in Helsinki
Saturday, 26 May 19:30 I’m on the ferry, about an hour from docking in Helsinki. We left Tallinn about five minutes before the scheduled sailing time of 18:00, and I’ve been looking for a place to plug in my phone … Continued
Uppsala, Ferry, and Tallinn
Thursday 24 May, 22:30 We set sail at 17:45, went through about 4 hours of the most beautiful scenery, the sun has set but the horizon is still glowing red out my cabin’s porthole.