Marrakech Photo book - February 2018

We went to Marrakech at the beginning of February.

Here are some photos for you to enjoy.

We had watched Monty Hall's programme about Islamic gardens before we went so were inspired to visit these - so glad we did.

Also had a lot of fun wandering around the souks - as you will see from the photos.

https://www.bonusprint.co.uk/view-online-photo-book/a68ec034-d167-4e06-b87b-f588474cd5c8

Berlin 2017 Photo book

https://www.bonusprint.co.uk/view-online-photo-book/66a67bc7-5dcf-4db3-b261-e5e5dd94e745

Here is a link to my latest photobook - check it out.
I do enjoy making these.

3 days in Berlin in December - pandas (and other sights)

3 days in Berlin

From the outset let’s be clear. I came to Berlin for the pandas. Anything else was totally co-incidental to me.

Hubby, on the other hand has a more cosmopolitan view of life, and doesn’t wear "panda blinkers" so had a list of things he wanted to see. Berlin is quite a compact city with excellent public transport and we were both kept happy.

We arrived in Schonefeld Airport late afternoon. I’d bought a Welcome Card online before we set off so we just had to collect that from the Tourist Information desk in the arrivals terminal and we were able to use all public transport for the duration of our stay. I’d recommend getting one – it gives some discounts which may, or may not be, of use to you – it gave us discount on the zoo and the Trabi Museum so we felt we got value for money from it - quite apart from the convenience.

www.berlin-welcomecard.de

We stayed in the Select Hotel Berlin-The Wall and this was brilliantly located. Come out of the hotel and turn left – you’re at Checkpoint Charlie, turn right and you’ve got the Topographie of Terror and a large section of the Berlin Wall then it’s a short walk to the Potsdamer Platz with its range of shops and attractions

So here’s what we did………

Day 1.

No messing about today – straight up and out to the zoo to see the pandas. Here’s my review of the zoo should you be interested

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g187323-d314008-Reviews-Berlin_Zoological_Garden-Berlin.html

and here’s me looking really happy with a panda.

Because of where we were staying we also visited Checkpoint Charlie and a Christmas Market (which were literally everywhere!)

Day 2

We had pre-booked a visit to the Reichstag

https://www.bundestag.de/en/visittheBundestag/dome/registration/245686

and it was wonderful to see. Following our visit there we wandered back past the Brandenburg Gate and the Jewish Memorial along the Potsdamer Platz back to our hotel. Later that day we visited the Topographie of Terror, a free to enter museum on the site of the former Gestapo HQ, and saw a section of the Berlin Wall which remains in situ. Got a real sense of WW2 history and the post war impact on Berlin. 

Reichstag Building

Brandenburg Gate

Section of Berlin Wall

Day 3

I’m not going to apologise or explain myself – we went back to the zoo to see the pandas again! After that we looked at some of the sites around the zoo – including the ubiquitous Christmas Market!

Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, the symbolic centre of West Berlin, an anti-war memorial to peace and reconciliation.

We also checked out the Trabi Museum – a fun attraction, literally opposite our hotel and full of information about this famous East German car. You can do Trabi Tours around the city which all looked rather fun. 

Early flight home the next day so no sight- seeing. We loved Berlin and would happily go back. It’s easy to get round, it has an abundance of historic sights and is relatively cheap for a European capital city. Whatever your interest Berlin will deliver!

Flying Ryan Air to Berlin December 2018

Flying Ryan Air.

This was our first time flying Ryan Air and our first time in Berlin. I was a little bit nervous given all the negative publicity earlier in the year with flight cancellations etc. I did a bit of a Trip Advisor haul and went as prepared as I felt I could be. For 3 days we decided we could manage with hand baggage and we didn’t take the hard “trolley” cases but rucksacks – for 2 reasons.

1.    Easier to carry round getting to and from airport / hotel (there are a lot of cobbles in Berlin so this proved the right decision).

2.    I’d read that, while Ryan Air will often make people put hard luggage in the hold when the overhead lockers are full you are usually ok with rucksacks. This proved to be case (pardon the pun). It’s also not pleasant to see other passengers nearly coming to blows because they can’t get their luggage in an overhead compartment and something we like to avoid.  On the way back we chose to throw one of our bags into the hold (for free) just so we didn’t have to bother with it. There was so little luggage on the flight that it was there waiting for us when we got through passport control in Manchester.

We also bought an additional small hand luggage bag each (standard Ryan Air size)– these proved perfect for carrying the essentials, they fitted perfectly between our feet in the legroom space and I’m planning on using them on other flights in the future. The Ryan Air website gives full information about luggage sizes and limits and there were plenty of bags available on Amazon which fitted these limits.

All in all

The flight was absolutely fine. We didn’t buy anything on board – it was only a very short flight. Crew were friendly and helpful and we were on time. With a bit of pre-planning a hassle free journey and one we'd happily repeat.

Daily timetable for Hurtigruten 12 day coastal voyage.

I am attaching the following for the people who may be considering the trip we did this February (2017). The following are scans of the timetable we received every day outlining each days itinerary for our 12 day Hurtigruten coastal voyage along the coast of Norway from Bergen to Kirkenes and back again.

They clearly show the nature of the trip with the many stops along the way. The Hurtigruten ships play a vital role as the coastal link for the small communities along the Norwegian Fjords during winter and you can stay on them (for a price). This is not cruising as you may think of it but it is a wonderful way to get a taste of life in the Northern most parts of Europe.

How to photograph the Northern Lights

I cannot take credit for this - I am simply sharing the handout provided by Hurtigruten during our 12 day voyage with them in February. 

What I can take credit for is these - taken following the above instructions....

Hurtigruten Norwegian Coastal Trip Day 10, 11 and 12

Thought I'd better finish off the trip blog so you know I returned safe and sound 😉

Day 10

The return trip seemed to have fewer long stops and we didn't get off the ship at all today. Also - the fact that we experienced a Force 8 storm during the night and there was torrential rain today didn't give us much of an incentive to get off anywhere.

We saw some spectacular scenery along the way though

and I did quite a lot of this.....

and when I got bored of that - I did a bit of this....

As I have nothing insightful to share with you about Norway today let me tell you about my Zyliss Cafetiere hot mug which you can see in the photos above. Those of you that know me will be well aware I love my coffee in the morning and that I am a real coffee snob - I love my filter coffee, preferably Lavazza. In the past, as well as taking a kettle on holiday with us we have also taken a full size cafetiere - told you I love my coffee! These mugs were a real find. Cafetiere and thermal mug in one.

Here's some close up photo's - I did tell you I did nothing else today.

Another thing I love about them is that one of these mugs starred in Avatar (it was a non credited role)

Day 11

Sunrise looked like this

Sadly it was our last full day and we had to pack. We did get off the ship a few times but literally for 10 minutes at a time. If you are thinking of doing this trip I would recommend you do the Bergen to Kirkenes part of the trip (The Northbound leg) then fly out from Kirkenes. The Southbound section of the trip had far fewer longer stops and some of the longer stops were very early in the morning. There were a lot more people getting off on the Southbound leg - particularly at Tromso and Trondheim. I took a photo of empty cabins to show what they are like. The top photo is a (just vacated) three berth cabin - we had one of these. Because it was made up for 3 we had extra pillows and towels which was a bonus. Also the bunks fold away during the day - one becomes a sofa. The bottom photo is a (vacant) 2 berth cabin on Deck 5 showing how they looked made up for the day. NB I took that photo through the window because the cabins on deck 5 have their window looking onto the deck that you can walk all the way round. A very good reason for not having a cabin on deck 5 - unless you don't object to having people wandering in front of your cabin.

Night time looked like this

 Day 12

Luggage out by 9.00 am and cabin vacated by 10.00 am. Then we mooched around the ship until we docked in Bergen at 14.30 pm. The stretch of coast into Bergen is particularly stunning - you can see where Disney got the inspiration for Frozen. 

Bergen itself is also picturesque..

Then we flew home and started planning our next trip!