Riga – 1 June 2011

Riga is a very relaxing place to have a short break. There are many interesting streets in the Old Town, all pedestrianised, and full of cafes and restaurants with al fresco dining.

To start the day, we walked north of the old town, to the other UNESCO area – the Art Nouveau precinct. Unlike similar cities in Germany, this area was not bombed in WWII, and has survived intact. The buildings in this area range from late 19th to early 20th centuries, showing the change in Art Nouveaux from ornate to severe stylised exteriors (but nowhere near as severe as the Soviet era architecture). It was great wandering around in the lovely sunshine, using a map supplied by the Tourist Office.

Before lunch in one of the many reasonably priced restaurants, we took a canal/river cruise in a lovely old varnished boat from 1915. We were the only customers in the front of the boat, and enjoyed the city from a 1915 classic.

After lunch, we visited the Museum of the Occupation, suitably housed in an depressing (presumably ex-Soviet) building. The stark exterior mimicked the stark facts of the comprehensive exhibition inside. The Latvian people had a very bad deal under the Soviets, with 1/3 of the population killed/relocated/lost in the early years. Then during the war, the Germans gave them an equally bad deal, until in 1946, the Soviets marched back in again and continued their earlier regime of repression. The Baltic countries seemed to come off worst after WWII.

Finally in 1991, the growing voice of the people had effect, and in the Prestroika era, Latvia was one of the many countries which finally gained their independence from the USSR. One fact that really registered, was a demonstration of 2 million people on 23 August 1989, who held hands from Tallinn to Riga and on to Vilnius. Having visited Tallinn in March, we can somewhat visualise the distance covered, it must have been amazing to take part, and just over a year later these people tasted freedom for the first time.

Leaving here to enjoy a drink in the lively square, seemed almost decadently Western. But times have changed, and this is what the move to democracy by the Latvian people 20 years ago was all about – freedom to live life without restrictions.

It was time to just wander again; exploring streets, alleyways, and many fascinating old buildings, before dinner. Given the Soviet theme so far, we went around the corner from the hotel to the Austrumu Robeza restaurant where our bourgeois and non-Aryan lifestyle was frowned upon by busts of Lenin, Stalin and Hitler. We enjoyed the irony of sitting in an ex-Eastern-bloc country enjoying a fabulous Russian three-course meal washed down by an excellent NZ Savignon Blanc delivered from Marlborough via a distributor in the US.

Off to Riga - 31 May 2011

It was great to swap Oslo at 10 deg and rain, for Riga at 27 deg and brilliant sunshine. Riga is the capital of Latvia, a UNESCO city centre, and as an ex Soviet Block country, much cheaper than the Scandinavian countries.

For half the price, we found a very comfortable boutique hotel, in the centre of Riga. It's great to step out the front door of a hotel, right into the old town. Riga has escaped modernisation, and some buildings which needed replacing (as a result of WWII), have been rebuilt exactly as they were. The House of the Blackheads was rebuilt in 2001 as an 800th birthday present to the city. The original building dated from 1344, and to see it crisp and new, but just the same, is amazing. It gives an idea of what these towns looked like in medieval times.

We decided to start our tour of Riga, by climbing the tower of St Peter's church. Unlike most towers, the climb came first, followed by a lift to the top. The views are great, and give an idea of how much there is to see.

For dinner, we were enticed by a photo of a meal called “The Key to Riga”. A giant tree shaped kebab holder was covered in large chunks of beef, pork and turkey. It was quite delicious and extremely filling. Unlike Oslo, food is cheap here, and as the old town is pedestrianised, all the squares and pavements were full of cafes, quite delightful to eat out in the warm summer evening. A walk after dinner was essential, so we walked along the river to see the Riga Castle.

Norway in a Nutshell – 30 May 2011

Today was a day of superlatives: the highest railway; the steepest railway; the longest fjord; the deepest fjord; the narrowest fjord; the steepest road; the smallest church and the silliest farm.

The day began at a reasonably civilised hour at the Oslo Station when we boarded the scheduled service to Bergen and from that point climbed steadily until we reached 1222m at Finse which is the highest railway point in northern Europe. We had passed through the tree-line and the snow-line before we got there and on arrival the guard gave us time to get out and look at the glacier (or have a very quick snowball fight as some did).

We did not stay long, fortunately, as it was snowing and the warm train was inviting. After descending to 866m we arrived at Myrdal where we left the main-line train to take the Flam railway down to Flam. Known as the “twenty line” it took 20 years to construct this line which passes through 20 tunnels on its short 20km journey down from 866m to 2m making it the steepest adhesion railway in the world. There are stops along the way to admire waterfalls and view points and the trip takes an hour to cover the short distance.

After a brief look around Flam we boarded a ferry on the Naerofjord, the longest and deepest in Norway. The two-hour trip basically takes you from one arm of the fjord, passing the smallest Stave church in Norway and a (silliest?) goat farm 300m up the fjord wall that was originally only accessible by ladders (and goat tracks) and then round the corner and up the next arm; passing through the narrowest point in the fjord where it is only 250m wide. Although there were intermittent showers, the fine spells were sufficiently long to enjoy the views for the waterfalls cascading down into the fjord, all very reminiscent of Milford Sound.

Unfortunately a shower was waiting for us at Gudvangen as we dashed across the carpark to the waiting buses which took us up through a winding tunnel to Stalheimskleiva where we turned off the main road and descended the 13 hairpin bends on Norway's steepest stretch of road, passing two magnificent waterfalls on the way down. At the bottom we seemed to simply retrace our path up through the tunnel to the top and then on to Voss for a short wait before boarding a local train down to the coast at Bergen.

Although it was 2030 by the time we arrived in Bergen it was still light enough to explore the fascinating World Heritage site comprised of buildings from around 1700. These old warehouses lean at crazy angles and seem to be propping one another up side-by-side and across the narrow alleys that provide access between them.

There was time for a delicious meal before heading back to the station to catch our overnight sleeper train back to Oslo where we had time to collect our luggage from the Hotel, have some breakfast and dodge the rain on the way back to the bus terminal to catch the bus to the airport for our next leg of the “cruise”.

A Day Out in Bygdoy – 29 May 2011

An Oslo Card is well worth buying, to spend a day on the island of Bygdoy. With the card, the ferry ride is free, as are the five excellent museums there. We had decided we would like to visit them all.

First up was the Norwegian Folk Museum. About 170 old buildings have been relocated there, and the costumed custodians are very knowledgeable and helped us understand how they were built. Nothing changed for centuries, and in fact the women of isolated villages wore the same traditional style of dress from the 14th to the 20th centuries.

As well as rural farmhouses and food store buildings, the reconstructed village also had a magnificent wooden church. This was similar in style to several we had seen in rural Russia.

As well as the old rural style of architecture, they had also reconstructed a more modern town, complete with pharmacies from different eras, four storey apartment building (refurbished to show different eras and tenants), merchant's house and a fascinating look at the history of dental surgeries.

This took us several hours to view, so it was time to press on. Next up was the Viking Museum. The Viking ships on display were found in burial mounds, and also on show were artefacts needed in the next world. The building was once a church, and the high ceilings were perfect to display the boats.

We walked to the next bay, where the excellent Kon Tiki Museum was also well worth visiting. The original Kon Tiki balsa wood raft built by Thor Heyderdal was on display, as well as the papyrus Ra II. The Kon Tiki sailed from South America to Easter Island and Ra II completed the theory by sailing from Egypt to South America.

Thor's aim was to prove the links between Egyptians, Mayan and Polynesian depictions of boats and platform temples. So, theoretically the Egyptians were able to sail in papyrus boats to Polynesia via South America, and left evidence of their culture in building pyramid type buildings.

Next door is a Museum commemorating the life of Roald Amundsen and his ship 'Fran' which took him to the Antarctic, where he was the first to successfully reach the North and South Poles and lived to tell the tale. The Museum was purpose built around the ship.

Next to this Museum is the Maritime Museum, which we nearly skipped, but were pleased we didn't, as there is an excellent film shown on five screens, with fantastic scenery. We were inspired by this to decide that we would like to come back to Norway to tour the northern fishing villages.

Back in Oslo we had enough time to visit the Town Hall. This stunning Art Deco building is open for the public to wander around. Next time we hear that the Nobel Peace Prize has again been awarded, we'll be able to picture the ceremony in this magnificent building.

The Queen Mary II was in port, and we walked back through the Akershus Fortress at the top of the cliffs, to get a great view of the cruise liner. The Fortress is well worth a visit, its buildings date back to the Middle Ages, and occupy the commanding cliff-top position above the harbour.

Oslo – 28 May 2011

Our plans to conclude our Ryanair “Baltic Cruise” felt very shaky at the beginning of the week, as the Icelandic volcano Grimsvoetn, started erupting on Sunday. The ash reached Scotland by Tuesday, and all Scottish airports were closed. The prediction that the ash would reach London by Saturday, was very disconcerting and we began to wonder if we should have taken our Baltic Cruise by ship after all,. Fortunately a combination of strong winds, extremely heavy rain on Thursday removed that possibility, but best of all, the volcano stopped spewing ash, and merely started letting off steam.

So our flight left at 8:25am as scheduled. London was grey and cold, and unfortunately, so was Oslo, but at least we had made it there. Our central city hotel was great for exploring between the showers. Directly opposite the hotel is the stunning modern Opera House, only opened in 2008. This building reminded us of an architect's computer graphic visualization from a distance, with small figures walking all over it. It really had a surreal, stylised look. Up close it is amazing. Totally clad in white marble, it really is like a giant playground for all. Angles, steps, glass walls all add interest and texture and the slope which begins as a roof, becomes a piazza before transforming into a beach which simply disappears under the waves.

This is a modern building with a difference, that should stand the test of time. It is a building with a function as well as fabulous form but introduces fun by allowing people to interact with the structure in a way that is rare. Where else can you walk off the street and by means of gradual ramps end up on the roof of an Opera House? From the height of our hotel vantage point we could see people freely walking over the entire structure making it a “we have to do that too” attraction.

Jane Austen – 22 May 2011

Jane Austen finished writing and published all her books while living in Chawton. These were her final years, before becoming really ill and moving to Winchester, where she died and is buried in the cathedral.

Her books are drawn on her life experiences of being the poor relation. Chawton House was provided by Jane's brother Edward, who became the heir for a wealthy relation, who had no children. Edward then provided this house free of charge for his mother and two sisters to live in.

It was so interesting to see where she lived and even the small table she wrote at. The house is now preserved as a museum commemorating her life.

From Chawton, we did a “Jane Austen Trail” which took us past Chawton Hall where her brother came to stay from time to time, the church and then on to the lovely town of Upper Faringdon, where Jane was known to walk to, to visit friends. This little town is as attractive as Chawton, and the walk was a circular route, returning via a disused railway line. It was amazing to think that in the 200 years since Jane lived in this area, the railways have come and gone, she certainly never saw a train.

Our return route to London, was via Old Basing. This has many lovely old houses, the most important in it's day, being Basing House. It was the largest private home in Tudor England, but sadly, less than 100 years after it was built, Cromwell's troups besieged the house on and off for three years, and finally defeated the Royalist family, and burnt it to the ground.

Today, it is a wonderful tranquil spot, with an interesting and informative film about the siege, and a visual reenactment in the large hammer-beam barn.

Watercress Line 21 May 2011

The super warm and dry spring has fooled all the plants, and gardens are well ahead of usual. Clara was out of storage, and we left London for a weekend away in Alton. It's not possible to cover long distances with Clara, so this was a perfect distance to travel.

Our lunch stop was at West Green Gardens. This was looking picture perfect, roses blooming, the flower colour scheme of white, lilac and purple was wonderful, and clearly showing how summer-like it had become in just a week. These gardens combine all the best elements of an English garden. Water gardens, a lake, formal box hedges, vege garden that looks as good as a flower garden, as well as colourful flower borders.

A short distance away is Oldiham, an attractive market town when driven through, but behind the main street is Old Oldiham, which is a really lovely old town. The village stocks are still on display outside the church. From Oldiham we did a walk to the Basingstock Canal and along this as far as King John's Castle. This wonderful scenic picnic spot, was the marvellous fortified castle lived in by King John in the 13th century.

England is full of short-run railway lines, keeping a host of steam-train enthusiasts off the streets and out of the house. Last weekend we watched the steam trains running along the Spa Valley Line. From Alton we boarded the Watercress Line. Sadly, as it was the last run of the day, the train was not scheduled to return, so we did a short trip, to the first stop, crossed the tracks and caught the return train on the opposite side.