Category: Scandanavia to Dublin via Hereford 2023

Wednesday 15 – Sunday 19 November

A CITY OF CONTRASTS

A CITY OF CHIMNEY POTS

A CITY OF DOORS. A pint of Guinness to anyone who can find a duplicated door

A CITY OF BOOT SCRAPERS

THE CITY OF OSCAR WILDE

THE BOOK OF KELLS (no photos allowed) AT TRINITY COLLEGE

THE LONG ROOM. The old library at Trinity College, 65m long and normally filled with 350,000 ancient books. The library contents are currently undergoing conservation and almost all the books have been removed for this work. A few left.

This 6m diameter installation is NASA image of the earth’s surface.

THE CITY OF ST STEPHEN’S GREEN

A CITY OF CASTLES

THE CITY WITH HUGH LANE GALLERY & ANDY WARHOL

Who knew Warhol painted Dutton?

HUGH LANE GALLERY & FRANCIS BACON’S STUDIO

HUGH LANE GALLERY & HENRY CLARKE’S amazing stained glass

THE CITY WITH THE HEART WRENCHING FAMINE MEMORIAL

THE CITY OF THE CHESTER BEATTY GALLERY, set within beautiful gardens. The gallery has a collection of manuscripts, paintings, prints, rare books and decorative arts from Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

A VIVID CITY OF LIGHTS

A CITY OVERTAKEN BY HUGE GULLS

GREY OCEAN & STONY BEACHES. We took the train to Dalkey, which we were told was a very beautiful seaside town. Cherrie took a stroll along the beach. In the rain of course!

We didn’t feel overly welcome

A CITY OF MURALS

AND A CITY OF, WELL, IRISH SIGNS

So, for all you cynics out there, and perhaps with a bit of the luck of the Irish, we have made this 5 week adventure without mishap. A guardian angel looking over us maybe

Currently in Dubai, with a two hour stopover and a further two hour delay. We had wonderful weather in Norway and we have had rain every day since. We understand that we are coming home to a week of rain. Ah well, so be it. We’ve had a wonderful trip and look forward to landing on home soil. So Dubai and hallo!

Saturday 11-Tuesday 14 November

We have come to the UK to visit very old and dear friends. David and John were living in Tenby in Wales before recently relocating to Hereford. We fly into Cardiff and David picks us up and drives us the two hours to their lovely terrace in Hereford. It’s so lovely to catch up with them again, but sad to see John so affected by Parkinson’s.

Saturday is Armistice Day but in the UK they also celebrate Remembrance Day the Sunday after the 11th. David, Cherrie and I stroll down the road to observe the service at the Cenotaph. Of course, it’s raining but that doesn’t put the crowds off.

It’s a really nice service, with all the pomp one expects of the Brits

There’s not an unruly spectator in sight, and even the kids have been well briefed by their parents. Of course, with a bunch of volunteers looking over us, who would dare go off the rails?

Hereford is a lovely town

on the 4th largest river in the UK. Why am I telling you this? It’s the Wye River

And, it has a very beautiful Cathedral

David, who has a beautiful tenor voice, will join the choir here on Saturday night singing Bach’s Mass in B Minor. His sister Lynne, a soprano, is also singing. We’re sorry we won’t be there for it.

Medieval times were no different. There’s always someone lying down on the job

The house that David and John are now in

is in a terrific position. A short walk to town and to the local park, where Penny is walked at least three times a day

A local horticulture loving resident has labelled all the varieties in the hedge

This is a mitten bush

On matters horticultural, David the Welshman bought John the Australian, a glorious Mount Buffalo Eucalypt for their Hereford courtyard

After three days of laughter, tears, wine and food we wave farewell to these dearest of friends.

Off to Dublin. To be sure to be sure.

Saturday 4 & Sunday 5 November

We have booked a cab to meet us at Helsinki Airport, and there was our driver, holding a sign with my name on it. A large-ish woman, she introduced herself as Charlene. Originally from LA but more recently 14 years in North Carolina. Married to a Fin, they spent 4 years here when first married and then she moved him to the States. Two kids and 23 years later they move back to Helsinki. She had been in the Police Force and was getting a bit sick of criminals, he was offered a good job here and so they moved here four years ago. And we’re not at the taxi yet. I use that word advisedly. It’s a van that once was white but it has not seen a hose or soap since it was first registered, many years ago. A bit cleaner inside but near impossible to get in. Charlene instructed us to step up and do a shimmy between the front and back seats, since the back seat is rusted into position. Eventually the dance moves work and we strap ourselves in.

Driving into Helsinki is like entering Moscow, without the glory. Tall, bald face blocks of units, all identical, on both sides of the road. But Charlene keeps talking. Are we interested in trying Finnish food? I responded that I always finish my food. She can recommend some restaurants near to our hotel, and one a bit of walk away but worth trying. The latter is set in an old Greenhouse and is in a park somewhere. Actually she tells us exactly where it is but we have no idea what she means. So we nod enthusiastically. The other two are great she says. A Pizza Place and a Burger House.

We arrive at the hotel, extricate ourselves from the van, grab our bags and wave farewell to Charlene. An afternoon walking through the streets of Helsinki has us wondering why on earth we bothered. There is really nothing to recommend it.

But the street signs are nice

Not surprisingly we decide against Pizza and Burgers, and choose a little Italian eatery we discover on our walk. We have taken to two meals a day, Linner, eating around 3 or 4pm, since breakfast is included in all Scandinavian hotels. We enjoy a delicious meal in the company of the house chocolate Labrador Leo. He was flesh and blood, not chocolate at all

On our stroll we were advised by the menu in the window of those eateries we passed, and did not always succumb

However, things look up on Sunday, despite the drizzling rain, which has us walking in the opposite direction and we see some really lovely architecture, amongst the dreary stuff

We walk past a lovely park which has community members raking up the leaves and binning them. It is a volunteer day and we turned the down the invitation to join them with a rake each (there were plenty on site) and a bowl of hot soup with bread.

Instead, we park the dog

And head to the Design Museum. Finland is, of course, home to Marimekko so it’s not all bad. The stuff that Finland has designed and developed, which are now in commonplace usage throughout the world is something else.

They even designed the first porcelain sink with tap

Those Fins saw me coming

But, hey, it’s Sunday. And the purchase of alcohol on Sunday is banned on Sunday, Yikes. But Christmas is alive and well, and already the decorations are up and the windows alive with the sound of Santa

So, we Finnish in Helsinki. A big day trip tomorrow to Tallin