Eleven years ago, I began my blog post on the first day of our trip to Southern Europe with words sung by Bilbo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings:
The Fellowship of the Ring, Book I, Chapter 1
It seems fitting to begin this blog, when we will travel through parts of Europe new to us, with words from a similar source - Frodo, Sam, Pippin and Merry as they leave the Shire:
The Fellowship of the Ring, Book I, Chapter 3
Now, after three years when we spent our summers in the UK it feels like the right time to expand our horizons again.
I'm reminded of the words of one of my favourite authors, James Baldwin, who said:
I met a lot of people in Europe. I even encountered myself.
So, I'm looking forward to a journey of discovery and encounter as the trip goes on.
Our Route
Our planned route looks something like this:
Google Maps will only allow ten separate locations, hence there being 2 As, Bs, Cs, Ds and Es (location J is then covered by the second A!), but I hope the route is clear.
For those who prefer words to pictures the plan (subject to all the transport links and connections going fine!!) is like this:
A Trip Around Northern Europe
| Day | From | To |
|---|---|---|
| Friday August 4th | Taffs Well | Brussels |
| Sunday, August 6th | Brussels | Cologne |
| Monday, August 7th | Cologne | Berlin |
| Thursday, August 10th | Berlin | Warsaw |
| Saturday, August 12th | Warsaw | Vilnius |
| Monday, August 14th | Vilnius | Riga |
| Wednesday, August 16th | Riga | Tallinn |
| Thursday, August 17th | Tallinn | Helsinki |
| Saturday, August 20th | Helsinki | Stockholm |
| Tuesday, August 22nd | Stockholm | Hamburg |
| Thursday, August 24th | Hamburg | Paris |
| Saturday, August 26th | Paris | Taffs Well |
I loved so many of the places you are planning to visit
ReplyDeleteHi Norah,
DeleteApart from Brussels, Berlin and Paris they are all new to me - so any tips based on your experience would be very welcome.
As regards Berlin, you are bound to get a mention when we get there - my one and only visit there was that time with you 😂
Fabulous, I was thinking to visit Tallinn and Riga, can't wait for your update
ReplyDeleteI've always wanted to go to the Baltic States, so I'm really looking forward to that part of the trip.
DeleteSorry, didn't notice that appears as anonymous it's me
DeleteYou did have me wondering - thanks for confirming who it is.
DeleteWow… this is an impressive trip. I’m a little envious.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure which of the anonymous commentators I'm replying too!
DeleteIt does look like a lot, but I think we are up for it. We have found in the past that holidays like this aren't as frenetic as driving holidays, as the train journeys can be quite relaxing. I hope this is true this time too!!
Sorry Haydn, It’s Jayne ( your neighbour) I really looking forward to reading your blog and seeing the photos.
DeleteHi Jayne,
DeleteNo problem. It isn't always easy to guess who is who, but I like to leave the anonymous option open, so people who struggle with log-ins don't get blocked from contributing.
You are really welcome, especially as a newby to my holiday blogs. I hope you have lots to contribute as we progress along the route, your most welcome.
Brill, I shall look forward to your new adventures with Captain Jack, well and the co-pilot🤣
ReplyDeleteThanks Linda, great to have you on board for yet another trip.
DeleteLet's hope the sun shines for your traditional Taff's Wells stroll to start the trip.
ReplyDeleteHi Janet,
DeleteIndeed, I just popped into see one of my neighbours and she asked if we were getting a taxi to the station - I think I looked perplexed at the question. But, as you say, she may not know the walk is part of the tradition (but may now if she is reading this 😉)
If I'm lucky Drew will take a walking shot of me about where he did 11 years ago when we did the Southern European trip!
I've been looking forward to this blog (and the accompanying photos on Flickr) since... er.. this time last year.
ReplyDeleteThanks Robin,
DeleteGreat to have you with us again this year. Our visit to Cologne was inspired by your trip last year - the Cathedral looked so impressive in your pictures, like this one: https://flic.kr/p/2nKTwXZ
I forgot you have to add html to make links work in Blogger comments: One of Robin's photos of Cologne Cathedral
DeleteWhat an amazing trip! So looking forward to (virtually) travelling with you. Norway is next on my list of places to visit so particularly looking forward to that leg of your journey!
ReplyDeleteHi Siobhan,
DeleteWe actually don't make Norway this time - we rearranged the trip to save that up for another time. Sweden is as far North as we go this time, but I've started looking at options for Norway.
Hi Haydn, am so envious, always wanted to see the Øresund Bridge, Geneen
ReplyDeleteHi Geneen,
Deletethe Øresund Bridge is amazing. We will be travelling over it on the sleeper train. But we have already been over it when we had a week in Copenhagen when Drew was running the Half-Marathon.
You can see our write up of the day on the blog here and some photos from the Danish side here.
I seem to have missed a letter in the Flickr link this should work
DeleteI have tried to publish via my Google Account but it keeps failing! Anyway, hope you both have a fabulous time. Tallinn is lovely around the old city. So many places to visit in Berlin how will you choose?
ReplyDeleteWe have more time in Berlin than anywhere other than Stockholm, to reflect the fact there is so much to see. We've looked at a couple of 'Three days in Berlin' articles on Trip Advisor, Time Out or equivalent and combined them into something that suits our tastes. This approach worked well on our Lisbon trip earlier this year, even though we lost two days of that trip because of snow at Bristol Airport!!
DeleteI'm enjoying seeing lots of places I visited in Lisbon in the images on my social media from those who are out there with Pope Francis for World Youth 'Day' this week.
It‘s Maren here :) We love following these posts and I am excited to hear about your journey - Bon voyage 👋
ReplyDeleteThanks Maren and I'm going to Berlin for the first time since I went to the Online Educa Berlin conference 17 years ago - more time to explore this time, I hope!
DeleteBeen to a few of these when I was stationed in Germany, even visited Berlin when the wall was still in place, crossed into the East at Checkpoint Charlie which was an experience in itself (scary). Koln/Cologne Cathedral is a must and if you are still allowed to climb the steeple it is well worth the effort. Travel safe and have a lovely time look forward to reading your blog as always.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sue,
DeleteI've never been to Koln, but the cathedral does look beautiful - I suspect Drew's camara finger might get repetitive strain injury while we are there 😂
Marvellous trip, Haydn - my mind is boggled at the organisation of it!
ReplyDeleteSorry - that last comment re organisation was me, Denize.
ReplyDeleteHi Den,
DeleteI'm sure you'd have enjoyed the management the planning as much as I did.
Remember our hours of strategic planning for Hefcw and the annual return. It was that level of detail, but for fun😂
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThere's a lot of names here I recognize from all those years ago in Treforest. Hi everyone! Sit back and enjoy the ride.
ReplyDeleteGoing back to the beginning. So many places either on the list or being ticked off the list. The covid mention reminds us of our original planned trip for Summer 2020 which took in a bit of what you planned to do. Stockholm, then ferry and a car through the baltic states to Poland was the dream. Even before covid did its worse the car part of the trip was proving difficult as certain suppliers wouldn't work across all the countries, so I'm not all ears for a train option for when we revive this plan.
ReplyDeleteThe train is proving very comfortable so far - we have two early mornings planned due to timetables, but most are at reasonable times. Even the early morning isn't really early as we are both early risers even on days we aren't travelling.
DeletePS loving the LOTR quotes, will you be fringing Mordor, or indeed going to the heart of Mordor!
ReplyDeleteVilnius is surprisingly close to the border with Belarus - Indeed, the town of Grodno where I presented at a conference on the Bologna HE Quality programme for enhancement in the country (in the days long before the current war). Is only just over the border - a pity I can't pop back to see the people from those days!! That's close enough to the Mordor of our times!
Delete