odohertyelaine

I’m flying to Cancun on New Years Eve on KLM from Dublin with Shane… it’s a very early flight as we are flying through Amsterdam so we are up before 4am but by the afternoon we will be in sunshine. We are flying fancy class and the booze and food is fantastic – It doesn’t get much better than this!

We’re staying in Playa Del Carmen at the Reef Coco resort for a few nights before we embark on our Central America adventure. The next few days are all about relaxing and chilling out. We are all inclusive and I’m looking forward to doing very little as we ease into our month long trip.

We check out the resort and have a cocktail on the beach looking at the stars. We are really tired so it’s hard to stay awake for the bells at midnight. We manage a few cocktails, a nice dinner at the really good buffet restaurant and then we have to call it as I cannot stop yawning and we really don’t have it in us to stay up for the festivities!!

Next morning we are up nice and early as we got a great sleep and we walk the length of Coco beach.

This is the Caribbean Sea, along what is known as the Mayan Riveria. The sand is cool underfoot (it is winter after all) and so soft.

There are plenty of people on the beach and many of them seem to be still partying from the night before! We have a nice dip in this beautiful Caribbean Sea – it’s so warm, especially considering the last time we were in the sea was the Irish Sea on Christmas Day and it was freezing!!

While we’re splashing away we witness a terrible incident where a girl is dragged out of the water…. Her friends are screaming and we really think she might be dead but after medics and the police eventually arrive she comes to – seems she was very very drunk and went into the water – scary stuff. What a start to the new year!

The breakfast buffet is extensive and has all sorts of local dishes I want to try. I also have my first ever Bloody Mary on New Years Day and I’m not even hungover!

The food is really good at the resort – in addition to the buffet which is excellent, we book into the Mexican restaurant one night and the Italian another. The Mexican food is really good – I love a dish called chilaquiles for breakfast which is essentially tortilla chips soaked in some delicious sauce with cheese and red onion on top – it’s so good.

I do also love a nice view for breakfast.

Our resort is very central to Playa Del Carmen town so we bust out of the resort and take a walk down 5th Avenue which is the busy street. Lots of shops and restaurants and it’s quite buzzy. The police station is an interesting building in the middle of the road!

We do stop to have a drink that Shane is keen to have. It’s called pulque which is a strange milky concoction – also known as agave wine, it’s made from the fermented sap of the agave plant. I taste it but it’s not for me, instead I have a delicious margarita!

After our evening meal we have a drink looking out to the beach and catch some local entertainment!

The resort looks really nice at nighttime and it’s not too big or too busy – it’s just about right.

We start each day with a walk of the beach going all the way to Playa Punta Esmeralda. At the top of the beach there’s a little break in the sand which forms a pool which we realise is a fresh water cenote. It’s so clear and warm and although shallow, nice for a little sit down!

When we checked in, a guy (who was actually Italian) did the hard sell for us to attend the “presentation” where they try to sell you a timeshare. I have to say I was tempted as the free stuff for going included a massage and facial! Although we tentatively said we’d go, on reflection we ditched it as we just didn’t have enough time to fit it in and really the thought of sitting through it just didn’t appeal to me- I was that soldier before with my San Fran girls but that was a different time!! I do love a bit of pool time and I’m planning to catch up on a backlog of books I haven’t had time to read so I think this is a better use of my time!

After three lovely nights at this resort we have a final walk of the beach, pack our bags, have a last brekkie and head to the bus station. We are taking the ADO bus to Mérida. It takes about 4 hours and we are met by Shane’s friends when we arrive.

Mérida is the capital of the Mexican state of Yucatán. It is quite a big city with a rich Mayan and colonial heritage. We arrive in the afternoon and I’m excited to meet Shelagh and Fernando, friends of Shane’s for more than 30 years. They welcome us into their beautiful home and have a fabulous guest room for us at the back of their garden facing out to the pool. This is gorgeous!

There’s a lot of catching up to do and obviously that’s best done over a margarita or two! For dinner they take us to a local place called Las Vigas which has fantastic ceviche prawns and tacos and surprisingly to me, some really nice wine! What a great fun night to kick off our Mérida adventure.

Next morning we get a tour of town which involves an early stop for Mexico City style tacos on the side of the road…. Wow these are good!

There are a lot of Christmas decorations still around and most of the roundabouts are decorated.

We do a drive by of the Monument to the Fatherland, a landmark sculpture on a traffic roundabout depicting Mexican history from the Mayans to modern day.

Walking around the city, we admire the colourful and ornate colonial buildings.

We walk into a number of famous hotel buildings, most still decorated for Christmas.

It’s time to stop for, you’ll never guess what, ok maybe you can, a margarita or some sort of tequila cocktail! 😜

This place is called LA PARRILLA and the vibrant decor is fab!

Across the road is Parque Hidalgo and another church – Iglesia de Jesus. There are churches everywhere!

Next we go to a traditional cantina called EL TUCHO. It is fantastic. It’s not so busy when we arrive but within a half hour it is packed.

We order a round of drinks and are given some free “snacks” – it is a serious amount of food!

There is also some local entertainment which is really good and I find the singer totally mesmerising. Love a bit of local entertainment…

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We take a walk around and see the city’s focal point, Plaza de la Independencia, which has a nativity scene with an elephant – I’m not sure there was an elephant in Bethlehem!!

We also check out the Mérida sign!!

The square is bordered by the fortresslike Mérida Cathedral and white limestone Iglesia de la Tercera Orden, both colonial-era churches built using relics from ancient Mayan temples. This catholic cathedral is one of the oldest cathedrals in the Americas, construction having completed in 1598.

Inside the cathedral we see photos of John Paul II who was the first pope to visit Mexico in 1979. A local man notices me looking at the photos and tells us he didn’t say mass here but he prayed at the cathedral.

Among other interesting statues, we see our first black Jesus.

We walk through the Santa Ana neighbourhood which has some old grand houses where the wealthiest of Mérida once lived.

Next stop is Hennessy’s! Now normally we wouldn’t visit an Irish bar when we are travelling but this is a favourite of Shelagh and Fernando’s and honestly it is a really nice proper Irish pub. I get to meet Sean who’s one of the guys who runs it and he is super nice. He even gives us a round of drinks on the house as I’m “real” Irish – apparently not a whole lot of Irish tourists visit Mérida!! I try a Mexican cider called Robin Hood and we enjoy meeting a few locals and having a chat.

A view of the Monument to the Fatherland by night on the way to our next spot.

The final stop of the evening is for tacos at TAQUERÍA HERMANOS 2. We had so many snacks today so can’t do a full dinner but there’s always room for tacos. These ones are “Barbacoa” which are barbecued lamb. They’re really tasty and someone is very happy!!

Next morning after Fernando rustled up some very tasty eggs for breakfast we drive for about 40 minutes to a cenote. A cenote is a natural sinkhole created when limestone bedrock collapses in upon itself, creating a system of caves and sinkholes. Something I never knew is that the asteroid that hit earth millions of years ago, and is believed to have killed the dinosaurs, was centred on the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. In fact the impact site, known as the Chicxulub crater, is exactly where Mérida is!!!!

We start with a tour of the hacienda. Hacienda Mucuyché dates back to the 17th Century. Agriculture, livestock and the growing of henequen were some of the activities in the hacienda. Henequen is a fibre that comes from the leaves of the agave plant and it was used to make strong rope which the guide demonstrates for us.

The gardens around the hacienda leading to the cenote are really nice…

We even get to see an iguana looking to the sun!

Next it’s time to go down into the caves and enjoy the crystal clear water of the cenote. The water looks very inviting.

Everyone is given a life jacket and you must wear it so I’m delighted! We get in and bob our way along this narrow channel to the second cenote.

It is so beautiful floating around.

My water camera photos aren’t great and it’s very dark in the second cave but we capture some of the atmosphere.

We have a snack and a dip in the poolside bar and decide after another quick visit to Hennessys that we’ll roll on to dinner. This evening we eat at a really nice restaurant – Matilda Salon Mexicano. We have delicious but giant sopes and I find there’s barely room for the main course – the lads do a decent job on it though!

Next morning we are leaving Mérida to travel to Campeche but we’re leaving behind our big bags as we will just do an overnight before travelling onward. So it’s not quite goodbye yet!

More coming in the next instalment…..

We are on our way from Latvia to Lithuania using the same transfer company as we did to get us to Riga. We cross the border a short while after visiting the Rundale palace and our first steps on Lithuanian soil is for lunch!

Lunch is at a restaurant called Audruvis that specialises in venison, although deer is not the main meat eaten by the Lithuanian people, it’s pork. I try venison soup and some venison filled dumplings. It’s a lot of food but very tasty. We eat outside and the grounds are lovely. All fed it’s time to visit the famous Hill of Crosses!

This really is a strange place…. The precise origin of the practice of leaving crosses on the hill is uncertain, but it is believed that the first crosses were placed on the former site of an uprising back in 1831. Over the generations, the place has come to signify the peaceful endurance of Lithuanian people despite the threats they faced throughout the multiple occupations.

Next stop is Kaunas, the 2nd biggest city in Lithuania after Vilnius. It’s a pretty town for a stroll which we start in town hall square.

We continue on our stroll and see Kaunus castle, another medieval castle built in the 14th century.

We see the beautiful Basilica of St. Peter and Paul, a Gothic style church and the biggest building of Gothic sacral type in Lithuania. Although the Cathedral was built in the 15th century it was reconstructed several times and has a mixture of architectural features.

The Cathedral has 9 altars, the newest of which is that of Pope John Paul II with the saint’s relics and a very nice picture. John Paul II was the first pope to visit Lithuania in 1993.

Back outside wandering around, there’s a really cute area with some cool shops and restaurants and I really like this mural on a building.

Look what we happened upon! Once we’ve taken the obligatory photo at the Kaunus sign we are off…

We head back to the car and drive for about an hour to the capital. Laura drops us off in Vilnius old town at an archway that leads to our final Airbnb of the trip. It’s fairly late in the evening when we arrive so we head out for some dinner and find a really great spot close by. Beerhouse not only has good beers and nice wine but the sharing platters we order are excellent.

Next day we are up and out to explore the last capital city of our Baltics trip – Vilnius. We start at Cathedral square. If you’ve read my Latvia blog, I talked about the event that happened in 1989 where approximately two million people joined hands to form a human chain spanning 690 kilometres across the three Baltic states. Well this square is where that chain ended or began (depending on how you look at it).

The cathedral itself is massive. It was built in the 13th century and surprise surprise there were many reconstructions after fires so it has changed significantly through the centuries. One of the most magnificent additions was the chapel of St Casimir. The frescoes at the top were painted by an Italian painter Michelangelo Palloni – not THE Italian Michelangelo!

I knew there’d be some sort of relic in here! We see a piece of bone from a bishop, a small piece of cloth from Pope John Paul II And… we have the earliest surviving reliquary in Lithuania which is part of the forearm bone of the Bishop of Krakow – St. Stanislaus (whom the cathedral is named after).

We walk a little further and spot our next place on the list – we are heading up to Gediminas tower. Gediminas was the Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1315 until his death in 1341.

We take the funicular up to Gediminas castle to look at the lovely views, narrowly avoiding a large tourist group.

It’s lovely up here and we are roasting in the sunshine!

Having surveyed the town from up here, we walk down the hill and through a park where we stop for some tea and coffee in the sunshine. It’s so sunny I need a loan of someone’s hat!

Side bar: “they’re eating the dogs, they’re eating the cats!” 🤣🤣 (I can’t get it out of my head!)

We have bagels for lunch as the Lithuanians claim they were invented here and they’re not wrong. Between 1569 and 1795 Poland and Lithuania were part of the same kingdom so yes Bagels do originate from Polish people but also kinda from Lithuania!

Next is a complex of churches – Ensemble of the Church of St Anne and the Bernardine Church.

I always check out the stations of the cross when I’m in a Catholic Church and here I see the oddest looking stations of the cross I’ve ever seen. They are an unusual artistic interpretation.

Our next stop is a bit of a non event. There’s a beautiful book shop in the college grounds – it’s called Littera and it has paintings all over it (like a take on the Sistine Chapel but the characters are the college professors!). Unfortunately it’s closed 😩. It is nice to see the college grounds though.

We visit the republic of Uzupis which means “the other side of the river”. It is famous as a group of artists, on April 1st 1997 declared it a Republic, along with its own flag, unofficial currency, president, cabinet of ministers, and a constitution.

We pass the border control building where you can buy souvenirs and get your passport stamped (don’t do that!) and walk further along the river to see the famous mermaid statue.

And the chair in the river for that Insta shot!

There’s a lovely view from down here to The Cathedral of the Theotokos, it is the main Orthodox Christian church of the Republic of Lithuania.

I’m a bit behind the gang as a couple of ladies stop me to ask directions and would you believe it they’re Irish!! They’re mad for a chat and God love them one had a terrible fall on the cobblestones in Riga and is covered in bruises. They take a selfie with me (presumably for posterity) so I do the same but I couldn’t post it here… the poor woman looked like she’d gone ten rounds with Mike Tyson.

Walking inward from the river we see the “Angel of Uzupis”

Along Paupio street we see the constitution in 23 languages and yes it’s in Irish! We read the 38 articles of the Republic’s constitution and 3 mottos – “Don’t Fight”, “Don’t Win”, “Don’t Surrender”.

We’re all a bit tired from shlepping around so we hit +++ (that’s actually the name of it) for some refreshments. It appears to be the Weatherspoons of the Baltics and it has a delicious semi sweet cider.

We move to another craft beer bar called Alaus Biblioteka, which is around the corner with a fine selection of beer but no cider or anything else – I’ll have to settle for water!! As we’re sitting there a delivery arrives and I joke about how maybe it’s a cider delivery. Would you believe the lady comes over and tells me they’ve had a delivery of 3 different ciders!! Now they’re not cold and she doesn’t have any ice (seriously!!) but I try one and it’s very good.

We move on to yet another craft beer bar that has a fine selection of ciders – it’s called Local Pub. I try a quince cider which is tart to say the least. The best part of this pub is that as we are ordering at the bar they play the Smiths “Heaven knows I’m miserable now”. I’m loving this place.

After quite the pub crawl we are ready for dinner so we eat at Etno Dvars which I had heard about in some blogs I read (and watched on YouTube). It’s a famous chain serving Lithuanian cuisine and it is really delicious. Nearly all the dishes we order come with a side of “sauce” which appears to be some sort of fattty bacon bits!! Soooo tasty!!

Next morning we walk to the train station. I’m interested to see the portal which has been set up between Vilnius and Lublin in Poland. It’s a bit early for our Polish neighbours so it’s quiet, we get a better chance of a wave when we return later in the afternoon.

We take the train to Trakai, first class carriage of course and there’s a giant statue of Tony Soprano on the platform… seriously!!

The train leaves us a couple of kilometres from the island of Trakai but it is a beautiful walk along the lake to get there.

There are some beautiful reflections in the water.

The small town of Trakai is home to a tribe of people known as the KARAIMS. They have their own religion which is based on the Old Testament and have lived in this town since the 12th century. They have specific traditions when it comes to their cuisine, in particular their famous kibinai, which is a savoury pastry filled with meat, onions, and spices. We stop at the KYBYNLAR for tea and coffee and we might even have a sneaky taste of these pastries.

The small town of Trakai is picturesque, with painted wooden houses.

We arrive at the bridge and admire the castle in the distance before walking over to the tiny island.

We pay to go inside the castle and look at the exhibits. There’s some interesting silver and glassware and a lot of coins, some turned into trays and other decorative stuff! There’s a lot of construction going on so it’s not ideal and a bit underwhelming!

We walk around the entire island which takes all of about 10 minutes!

It’s lunchtime so we sit down and have the traditional pastries that we had a sneaky taste of earlier.

Time to walk back to the Trakai train station and then home for a short turnaround before the next item on our itinerary. As we exit Vilnius train station, we check out the portal again and get a wave from a few people this time. We take a different street back so we see more localness including this cool mural of a gangsta Einstein!

Before we hit the apartment we decide to nip into the market to pick up some dinner for later. We buy some meats and cheese and pickled cabbage so we can enjoy an easy snack later at home.

After a quick turnaround, we head back to Cathedral Square for our catacombs tour which we booked when we visited yesterday. It’s still lovely and sunny but we are heading underground.

These crypts of the Lithuanian rulers that were buried underneath the cathedral were just recently discovered in 1984. Much of Lithuanian history was stolen, moved or lost because of the Soviet rule, so the fact that these survived detection is quite remarkable. We see the Royal burial chamber where Alexander Jagiellon, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, along with the wives of Sigismund Augustus, Elisabeth of Austria and Barbara Radziwiłł, as well as the heart of ruler Władysław IV Vasa, find eternal rest. Our guide tells us the story of the 2 wives where legend has it that one was extremely plain but Barbara (or Babs as we like to call her) was quite a looker!

Once the tour ends we head for the Bell tower which is one of the most beautiful places to get a bird’s-eye view of the roofs of Vilnius Old Town.

Built in the 17th century, the Bell Tower has 193 authentic wooden steps that take you up to the 45-metre high observation platform. No bother to us!

We stop for a quick refreshment at a bar called 7 Fridays where we sit in the beer garden. I enjoy a Chardonnay which is unusual but it’s one I recognise from the US and I’m delighted to see it on the menu. We also try the local garlic bread which is so garlicy and delicious but I think the Latvian rye garlic bread still beats it.

From here we walk back to the house to have a restful evening at home catching up on some Late Show Trump commentary and a glass of red wine from Georgia.

It’s our last full day in Vilnius so we have lots to tick off our list. We start by taking a walk to the Choral synagogue. I have to google what choral synagogues are – they were built in Eastern Europe, from Hungary to Russia and they represented the ideas of Jewish Enlightenment making certain reforms to the traditional Jewish customs. I’ve attempted to visit synagogues before and don’t recall ever actually having made it inside any. I’m so happy to get inside this one as it is beautiful.

I love a good church as you know and I’m loving exploring this synagogue.

We continue on our way to the KGB Museum formally called The Museum of Occupations and Freedom Fights. The Museum is located in the former Vilnius courts building which was built in 1899. During the Soviet occupations (1940-1941 and 1944-1990), the building belonged to the Soviets and in between to the Nazis. This is where plans for the annihilation of the population and persecution of dissenters were created.

During the occupations there was a prison in the basement of the building and during the second soviet occupation there was a chamber for executing death sentences.

There are so many stories of people who were arrested and deported. Check out these three “enemies of the people” below….. seriously…. it’s hard to read a lot of this stuff..

One of the rooms displayed many of the freedom fighters – a lot of whom were women and there are a lot of disturbing photos of dead freedom fighters on view.

It’s a big building with a lot more in the basement than we were expecting. We look in the cells that housed so many prisoners over many years.

Coming outside, the weather is sunny and there’s a lovely park with fountains and just beyond another massive church… good for the soul after engaging with all the tragic history.

We continue exploring and walk over the river to find the traffic lights that don’t have a green man but have a green lady.

We ladies are very excited to see the green and red lady… well two out of three ain’t bad!! 🤣🤣

As we head for the river we spot this sign on a high rise building….. interesting.

And all the buses have this on their display …

For lunch, we check out a Georgian restaurant in the food court of a nearby shopping mall. We have dumplings and salad and cheesy bread with a fried egg (I’m looking forward to eating this in Georgia at some point). After lunch it’s time to head back to the main square and visit the Grand Dukes palace. This is a huge museum and after doing a bit of research we establish that of the 4 routes you can do we are going to buy a ticket for route 1 which will take us through the rooms of the palace when it was a royal residence.

This was home to Sigismund Augustus who we learned about last night during our catacombs tour – he was the guy who had the ugly and the beautiful wife!! We get to see paintings of them and it’s pretty obvious which was which!!

The palace was built by Sigismund Augustus parents in the 15th century. There’s an interesting mix of history to read and rooms to view. There’s a massive family tree on the wall which is mind boggling but we do spot Bona Sforza and figure out the lineage, although I can’t remember it now and I’m sure you’re not all that interested! 🤣

On the 6th floor we get some nice views of castle hill and the 3 crosses.

We make our way back to the apartment and I put my feet up with a cup of tea. Everyone is having a little rest but I’m not feeling so tired so I sneak out for a last look at some of the churches close by. I start with the Church of St Teresa. Mass has just started so I sit and listen for a few minutes while admiring the large church.

Part of St Teresa’s and placed above The Gates of Dawn is the chapel of Our Lady Mother of Mercy which houses the famous Renaissance painting of the Virgin Mary painted in the early 17th century. The painting is covered in a silver gilt setting and is believed to be miraculous. Pope John Paul Il prayed here in 1993, and Pope Francis in 2018.

Opposite our apartment is the Orthodox Church of the Holy Spirit and Monastery which has a distinctive architecture. In the 16th century a wooden church was built here with a school beside it. A Baroque church in the shape of a Latin cross was built in 1638 after which, having suffered a number of (you guessed it!) fires, it was rebuilt in the late 18th century.

As I approach the church I can hear singing so I stand in the doorway to watch the service. All the women I see have headscarves so I don’t want to go inside without one in case it’s a massive boo boo. It’s a fascinating service. The music is beautiful and the priests are all in their finery.

I assume this is the high priest with the veil! I stay and watch for about twenty minutes as I’m fascinated by what’s going on. I’ve never seen a full ceremony like this before. I shouldn’t be taking photos but I take a sneaky bit of footage after I see one of the priests (at the back in blue) check his iPhone for messages and the other one take a photo of the big kahuna and his veil… bizarre!! Also one of the ladies wearing a headscarf and blessing herself multiple times whips out her phone and takes a few photos too!!

At the back of our apartment is the entryway to another church and monastery – The Holy Trinity. When I walk into the church I get a bit of a shock as it is under renovation and it looks like I shouldn’t be in here! As I look toward the alter it looks suspiciously like an Orthodox Church but then I look up on the wall and there’s a picture of Pope John Paul II! I’m confused.

Outside I find a plaque in English and all is revealed. In 1595-1596, a church union between the Orthodox and the Roman Catholics of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was announced in Rome. This union created a new Christian denomination, the Greek-Rite Catholic, or Unitarian, Church, which recognized the jurisdiction of the Holy See in Rome, but followed the rites of the Eastern Church.

It’s time to get ready for our final meal of the holiday. We have a reservation at Ertlio Namas which is a fine dining restaurant where we’ll have the 6 course tasting menu. It’s three and a quarter hours of delicious food and excellent wine!

Next morning we’re up early for our flight to Finland where I’ll say goodbye to himself and head home to Dublin.

Goodbye Baltic countries, you have been extremely interesting to visit and I would happily come back one day.

We are transferring to Riga and looking forward to seeing some sites along the way. This is a great way to travel between cities and also get a “tour” while you do it. It cost around €80 per person and was well worth it. When I left you in the previous section of the blog we had lunch in Valga, a border town. Well we crossed into Latvia and there was no hint of a border other than it said Latvia on the side of a building!!

We drive to Gauja National Park which is the largest and oldest of the national parks in Latvia, characterized by its limestone cliffs, picturesque views and home of the bob sleigh!

It was established in 1973 and stretches over more than 90,000 hectares, protecting the most beautiful section of the Gauja Valley along the Gauja River.

We do a loop walk and it’s quiet and beautiful among the trees. There’s a spot where an amazing echo comes from across the river. Very impressive…

Our next stop is a little town called Cēsis. We pass the castle as we start a loop walk around the town.

We call into a lovely Orthodox Church where a couple are about to lock it up but they wait (without saying a word) until til we’ve had a good look around.

We pass through the centre of town which has lots of old wooden houses and a beautiful church.

At various locations around the city, on the footpath outside buildings that were owned or occupied by Cēsis’ members of the Jewish population, pairs of concrete shoes have been installed. 

When we circle back to the castle there’s a wedding party dancing which is great fun to watch.

The castle is impressive and on the way back to the car having explored this small cute town I have an avocado and pineapple ice lolly – really quenches the thirst!!

Our last stop of the day is at Sigulda Bobsleigh and Luge Track. The track is suitable for organizing bobsleigh, luge sport, and skeleton. (I know I’ve seen these in the winter olympics but don’t really know what they are. Now that I’ve walked the track I’ll keep an eye out). 

It’s quite an effort just getting in and out of this thing!!

We arrive to Riga and are staying at another beautiful, spacious apartment beside the freedom monument. We have a great view of the Cathedral of the Nativity which has partially covered golden domes. It looks like a Nevsky but it’s not.

In fact the Nevsky church which we drove past on our way into town is a bit of a disappointment compared to what we saw in Tallinn!

Once we’re settled in, we take a walk into town to get some dinner. We eat at a Russian restaurant called “Senās Tradīcijas” which means Old Traditions and we are seated in a private room upstairs. Surprise surprise we are given a small shot of vodka to start our meal!! The food is excellent.

On the way home we admire the freedom monument which honours soldiers killed during the Latvian War of Independence.

Next morning Caroline and Tom arrive and with Janes and Ravs daughter joining us from the UK, that makes a gang of nine for our Riga sightseeing. Looking forward to catching up with these pair and hearing about all the travel they’ve been doing.

We are on our way to the market for some breakfast and en route pass the famous House of the Blackheads. This is an amazing looking building, originally erected in 1334 as a warehouse, meeting and celebration place for merchants.

Riga Central Market is situated a few hundred meters from the Old Town on the banks of the River Daugava. It is not only one of the largest marketplaces in Eastern Europe in area, but also one of the most visited. It spans approximately 4 zeppelin hangers, built in the 1920s for the military and is even UNESCO listed! There couldn’t be anywhere better for these two to catch up than at a massive food hall… they live for this stuff!

When we finish noshing on some delicious pastries (mostly savoury), we walk through the other side of the market to see the Academy of Sciences building, known as Stalin’s birthday cake!  It is a very distinct looking high rise built in the Social Classicist style, that was commonly used for representative buildings in the Soviet Union, during Stalin’s time.

We buy some meats, cheese, salads (pickles and beetroot of course!) etc… for dinner and then Caroline takes the lead to bring us on a tour of the city. We see the building known as The Cat House, which is famous for the black cats sitting on top. It’s styled as medieval architecture with some elements of Art Nouveau.

We see the “3 brothers” which together form the oldest complex of dwelling houses in Riga. Well here’s 2 of the 3….

The 3rd was a very different looking building.

We’ve seen quite a lot of the city and ticked off most of what was on my list (you know I always have a list!!) so it’s time for lunch at the famous Lido. Lido is a self service, canteen style restaurant serving local home cooked dishes. It’s fantastic – busy and bustling, you can pour your own glass of wine or pint from a beer tap and point to the many dishes they have on offer. We also get to try the popular garlic bread which is made with dark rye and is so good. We loved it!

We continue our sightseeing and see the impressive St. Peters gothic church. It’s unclear exactly when it was built but was first mentioned in writings in 1209. Surprisingly it’s one of the few buildings we’ve come across that wasn’t damaged by fire and rebuilt as it was built with bricks and stone!

I really do think the tower looks like what Charlie and Willie Wonka flew off in at the end of Willy Wonka‘s Chocolate Factory. I bet the director of the film found himself in Riga at some point and this spire was inspiration!

Right outside of St Peters is a statue for the Musicians of Bremen (a Brothers Grimm fairytale). The legend is that you will get an amount of luck depending on which animal you can reach! Not looking so good for me!!

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We all agree it’s that time of day for a little respite and Caroline has found a gin distillery that also does a range of local beers and cocktails. We are at the door 5 minutes before they open!!! It’s a very nice place and lots of space for our gang. Considering what should we drink in this place…..

Most of us go to for a flight of gins and they are all really good. This is a gang of purists so I get lots of extra tonic!

Back home after a bit of a rest we lay out the food from the market and enjoy some delicious local grub.

Next morning we start with a delicious pastry at MAIZE & RAFIJA, a very popular bakery in an area we haven’t yet explored.

This sets us up for this mornings activity which is a walking tour of the art noveau neighbourhood. Led by Shane, we follow a walking tour from the Lonely Planet and learn so much about art noveau architecture (not!)). We do see some beautiful buildings that aren’t even mentioned in this tour!

Towards the end of our walk we pass the KGB museum. There’s a similar museum in each of the Baltic countries we’re visiting but we won’t visit this one as we’re been told the best is in Vilnius.

We walk through the lovely park and past the Opera house to get to our next destination.

The museum of the Occupation of Latvia is housed in this large dark building.

It tells the story of the Latvian nation and the many fights it battled, in particular against German and Russian overlords!

There is so much information to absorb including heart breaking stories that in equal measure make me horribly sad and very angry. I spend far too much time reading details on the ground floor exhibits that I have to rush through the exhibits upstairs or I’ll be here all day!

There is an amazing thing that happened back in 1989 (I was 16 about to turn 17 and I don’t remember it in the news). We’ve heard it mentioned a number of times since arriving in these Baltic states and it certainly inspires hope after reading about so much horror.

On 23 August 1989 – exactly 50 years after the signing of the Hitler-Stalin Pact – Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian independence movements organised the largest demonstration to regain freedom. 1.5 million people formed a 660 km long chain that stretched from Tallinn to Riga, to Vilnius. By holding hands in unity the Baltic nations demanded the Soviet rulers restore the independence of the Baltic States. Although it would take a little longer (until 1991), this was a key demonstration ahead of the dissolution of the USSR.

The pictures of people holding hands across cities and rural areas is fantastic and definitely has cheered me up. There are also some nice views from the museum.

Shane and I leave the museum and head to the market to meet Caroline and Tom for lunch. There are far too many delicious options but this time I go for a cheburek which is a deep-fried turnover with a filling of ground or minced meat and onions. It’s just been cooked fresh in front of me and it is piping hot. It’s the type of thing I love and it is really good!

After walking through a carpark and narrowly avoiding a smack of a barrier, we happen upon a Sidērija – a pub with just all ciders – I’m in!! So much choice.

Luckily this gang are always happy to try out something different… ciders all round!

We take a walk back to the square and take a moment to consider the Memorial to the Victims of the Soviet Occupation. It has special audio-visual equipment that creates emotional sound and vibration effects daily, fitting into the environment of the city of Riga.

Further along the river front we find the Big Christopher statue. When I originally added this to the list I thought it was a statue depicting St. Christopher, the patron saint of travelers but it’s not. Apparently it’s about a giant who resided in a cave on the banks of the Daugara River and would carry travelers across its raging waters. He’s a bit scary looking but we take an obligatory selfie none the less!

We meet up with the gang and have an amazing feast at Ala Pagrabs which is a cool medieval cavern. There’s a massive amount of food across two platters and the beer is served in jugs!

An amazing meal all round with more great Latvian garlic bread.

On the walk home we pass through the car park where we were nearly killed earlier today so we stop for a photo opp and a giggle…. what we don’t realise is that the guy from earlier is still sitting in the hut and sees us…. holy crap, we leggit outa there like bats outa hell!!!

Next day is our last day in Riga and it’s gonna be a sunny one, getting up to 26 degrees, so we head to Jūrmala.

We are very brave and all go in… we have to walk out quite a bit to get full coverage!

It’s a beautiful stretch of beach and we enjoy a walk for a bit…

We take the train back into the central station and have lunch at Lido. I go for fish and veg – they’re hiding under all the sauce!

Next we walk the bridge toward the library and see this cool giant piece of art!

The national library is housed in quite an iconic building known as The Castle of Light.

Inside there’s an interesting exhibit on the ground floor and the book display across multiple floors is very impressive. I could hang around here all day as I love a good library and love just looking at books!

You can also go to the 12th floor and see an all round view of the city…. which of course we do!

Outside the library we decide to take a tram back across the bridge into the centre of town. We let at least four of them pass us as they’re new trams and not the old soviet ones that we want to travel on! I notice there’s a sticker of the Ukrainian flag on the window which is nice to see how they stand in solidarity with their old USSR neighbours.

Traveling on the soviet tram….

Shane has dropped Caroline for her bus to the airport so I meet him at the church of the Nativity so we can take a look inside. True to form and my navigational skills, I take the scenic route which unfortunately for Shane, means he’s waiting at the church a lot longer than he should have, but for me, I do pass a couple of very nice looking buildings.

The Church of the Nativity is the church that we can see from our bedroom window. It is stunning and the inside is much bigger and more ornate than even Nevsky in Talinn.

From here we head to Skybar which is in the Radisson hotel on the 28th floor. We enjoy a cocktail and the amazing 360° views.

Tonight we all agree and easy dinner is on the cards and so we try the local Hess burger which is the McDonald’s of the Baltics! It’s a fairly average burger and fries but hits the spots nonetheless and I suppose, it had to be done!

Next morning as we leave Riga, we visit the Salaspils Memorial to victims of Fascism.

The memorial is built on the grounds of what was a punishment camp built by the Nazis and the stories we read about in the exhibit are horrifying. Salaspils Camp was officially know as an extended police prison and later became a “labour correction” camp “for those who did not follow work regulations”. Data indicates that approximately 23 000 people may have been imprisoned in Salaspils Camp: half were political prisoners, work avoiders and convicted soldiers, and the remainder were prisoners resulting from special campaigns against civilians in Belorussia, Russia and Latgale.

The memorial consists of giant statues, each one in the blocky Soviet realist style,representing a different kind of prisoner. There are a mother and her three children, a weeping woman, a labourer on his last legs, and four men who could’ve been in a protest

We somberly move on……. Our next stop is apparently the most beautiful palace in the Baltics – Rundāle palace. We don’t go in to the palace itself, but we walk around the extensive gardens. It’s a beautiful sunny day and the gardens are a perfect place to walk around and enjoy the sun and the greenery.

The palace was designed and built by the same architect who built the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg. This was also a summer home for Catherine the Great and from the outside with the yellow colour it is similar to the Hermitage

Our next stop will be across the border in Lithuania – that’s in the next instalment. Until next time…

The ferry journey from Helsinki to Tallinn, the capital of Estonia is a pleasant couple of hours. We booked in for breakfast which has an impressive buffet including herring and other Baltic delights!

We take a taxi from the ferry building just a short distance to our apartment which is in the old town. It’s a lovely three bedroom apartment on the fourth floor and really well located close to town Square. We drop our bags and take a walk to the square just around the corner.

One of the first things that catches my eye, well except for the beautiful old buildings all around, is a sign outside of Mad Murphy’s (you guessed it an Irish bar!). That certainly sets the tone.

There are obviously some very strong feelings toward the Russian neighbours here and as we continue our walk, we happen upon the Russian embassy where there is a permanent guard on duty and the following material outside.

There are a lot of really interesting buildings on the streets surrounding the square which is the lower part of the old town.

The whole town is UNESCO listed and most buildings have a plaque which gives you the history of the building. There are lots of ornate medieval doors too.

We stop for some refreshments in an outdoor cafe and then continue exploring the town. The church of the Holy Spirit is from the 13th century and is considered one of the most beautiful churches in Talinn. It has the oldest clock.

Moving to the upper old town we climb the hill to Tompea and admire the highlight – Alexander Nevsky Eastern Orthodox Cathedral. It was built between 1894 and 1900 when Estonia was part of the former Russian empire. It is stunning from every angle. We go inside (no photos inside) and it’s quite small but full of icons and extremely ornate.

Opposite the Nevsky church is the Tompea castle which is now the seat of the parliament of Estonia.

We continue climbing the hill and the narrow cobbled streets.

At the top there are a couple of viewpoints where we see the iconic view of the city.

A different and maybe even better view at the next viewing point

We walk down the hill and see the old walls of the city….

We are heading to a bar, not just any bar, a very special bar that I’m very excited about!

In the ex-Soviet states, Depeche Mode are apparently bigger than the map on Mikhail Gorbachev’s head. 🤣 This may explain the DM bar! Set up by a hardcore fan in 1999, the bar is festooned with Violator red flowers and serves cocktails with names like ‘just can’t get enough’ and ‘master and servant’. I am so excited to visit this really cool bar. In fairness to the gang, they stay way longer than I would’ve expected and we enjoy a full live concert on the big screen. We are treated to some old tunes that bring back quite a few memories..

After purchasing a DM mug and taking the opportunity for a photo behind the bar, we leave to get dinner. We end up having our meal in the square in one of the popular tourist restaurants called Ule Estonia, that we wouldn’t have settled on if we weren’t all starving and enticed in by a man in costume!! That said, it’s surprisingly good and we’re happy out!

Next morning we’ve booked a walking tour of the city and we meet our guide at 10 am at town Hall Square. We have a small group of 11 people – a couple of Americans, two Latvians and a guy from Switzerland. A nice size group for walking around together and listening to the guide. She tells us her name is Svetlana O’Lana which I am super impressed with and record it so I won’t forget. When the gang tell me later she said “Svetlana or Lana” we get quite a laugh!

Svetlana is very knowledgeable and a really good speaker, although she talks quite fast so even though her English is excellent, I have to concentrate to hear everything she’s saying. She tells us a little about the history of Estonia and as we walk from the square we stop at a patch of land that has an agricultural truck parked on it. She tells an interesting story about the man who owns the land and would not sell to the authorities. He decided to grow potatoes there and often they were spread with manure which gave a terrible smell right in the centre of the old town and below the very important church of Saint Nicholas. There was uproar by town officials and ultimately he decided to park his truck there. At this stage it has been there so long, it looks a little like an art installation. What a funny and interesting story!

Svetlana recommends visiting Saint Nicholas Church which we will do later. For now we continue toward Freedom square where we see the The Cross of Liberty and the Monument to the War of Independence.

Continuing up Tompea Hill, we pass some of the landmarks which we visited last night. It is nice to revisit and hear some of the history from an expert. She takes us to the viewing points again where we took some photos last night, but they are nice to enjoy a second time.

She gives us some recommendations for food and particular things to try which we are keen to hear about. When we finish the tour we go to the café where she’s recommended we will get a traditional Estonian sandwich of rye bread with herring and egg. We get three of the small sandwiches to share amongst us so that we have enough room to taste the fish pie that she mentions we can get in another café around the corner.

We find the very old St Catherine’s passage

There are interesting statues everywhere…

We stop for a taste of the ancient local fire water at Olde Hansa. They have a number of flavours of aquavit and we try a strong one with pepper, another with caraway seed and a wild forest berry schnapps. The aptly dressed lady gives us a bit of history of the booze and makes us follow an old ritual involving shouting very loudly before downing the beverage (which I obviously sip!!)

It’s time to visit St Nicholas’ (also called Niguliste) church and museum. There’s a glass lift to the bell tower and the 360 degree views make you feel like you’re in the middle of the town. The view across to Nevsky is awesome.

The church itself has some amazing artwork including a fantastic painting called “Dance of Death”. The Dance of Death (Danse Macabre), developed in the Middle Ages, invites one to contemplate the transience of life. The topic, emphasising the universality of death, first arose in medieval literature and art and received great attention due to the Black Death plague that devastated Europe in the 14th century. The dance is performed by mortals lined up according to their social status dancing with skeletal figures of Death. The sequence begins with the mightiest, such as the pope or emperor, and ends with either a peasant, a jester or a child.

I read in Atlas Obscura that there’s a “Chopin bench” in the small park at Freedom square and when you sit on it it plays Chopin, so Rav and I head off to find it. We’re delighted when we spot it but alas there’s no music… maybe it’s out of batteries!!

We’ve booked a tour of the KGB museum which is in the Viru hotel outside of the old city gates. Walking over gives us a chance to see and walk through the very old Gates of Viru.

The guide tells us stories of how the KGB bugged all of the rooms in the Viru hotel and listened in to conversations of visitors from other countries. The hotel has 22 floors and the 23rd floor was the KGB floor which, to everyone else l, did not exist. We see the rooms where they operated, listened in and recorded conversations. It all seems ridiculous and futile and when I ask the guide if they ever got really good info to act upon he told me most of it was useless rubbish! That said, it didn’t stop them making plenty of arrests.

During the Soviet era, many things were forbidden or illegal and the least infringement could get you in trouble and possibly thrown into jail. The tour is about an hour long and interesting in itself, but it’s a bit gimicky. The roof top bar where we were hoping to have a drink afterwards is closed as it is officially no longer Summer. We are here the second week in September so we have just missed out on a number of things that no longer open, after the summer season. We are always happy to be away during the “shoulder” season though and not when there are hoards around. There are definitely not a lot of tourists and it’s very comfortable walking around the city.

We have dinner tonight at Bier House and I order Gröstl which is essentially pork served with a bacon, onion, and potato fry-up and topped off with a fried egg. Shane ordered the ribs and we share half and half – it’s really good. We finish our meal with the quite tasty “Vana Tallin”- the creamy one is a little like Baileys.

Next day we take the bus a little further afield to Kadriong park which was built by Peter the Great in 1718. This beautiful home was essentially his summer palace which he built for his wife Catherine the 1st. The building houses the art gallery but we don’t go in, just admire from outside and the beautiful gardens surrounding it. The flowers are really colourful and it’s very pictureesque.

From there we carry on to the Russalka Memorial and see the angel pointing toward the sea where the Russian warship “mermaid” sunk en route to Finland in 1893.

Continuing further along the coastline, we find the Tallinn sign – you know that means an obligatory timer shot!!!

Further on we arrive at Maarjamae memorial, dedicated to those who lost their lives defending the Soviet Union in WWII. This is a very strange complex of memorials that appear to be somewhat abandoned. The centre part of the memorial is an obelisk which was erected in 1960 and beside the obelisk, the palm of the hand-prints and bronze seagulls named “Perishing seagulls” are also erected.

There is no-one around, there’s barbed wire around parts of it and the area is overgrown – very eerie! Further along we see a much newer, shinier memorial to those who lost their lives during Soviet occupation.

THIS MONUMENT COMMEMORATES OFFICERS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ESTONIA WHO FOUGHT IN THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE OR SERVED IN THE ESTONIAN ARMED FORCES, BORDER GUARD OR DEFENCE LEAGUE, AND BECAUSE OF THIS WERE MURDERED BY THE OCCUPYING SOVIET REGIME OR PERISHED IN IMPRISONMENT.

ESTONIA’S MILITARY ELITE AND HEROES OF THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE WERE AMONG THE FIRST TO FALL VICTIM TO THE WAVE OF TERROR IN THE SUMMER OF 1940. THE TERROR CONTINUED WHILE ESTONIA WAS OCCUPIED BY GERMANY DURING WORLD WAR II AND IN ESTONIA AFTER THE WAR. A TOTAL OF 801 OFFICERS AND MILITARY OFFICIALS FELL VICTIM TO THE SOVIET TERROR.

Onwards again through the park area, there is a cemetery for German soldiers – seems peculiar alongside a memorial to those who lost their lives fighting these soldiers….

I’ve read that there’s a “cemetery of soviet statues”, which I’m keen to visit but having walked all around the Soviet memorial complex we arrive at the back of the history museum (in Maarmajae castle) and are not able to gain entrance. Other than climbing over the gate we have to follow the path which takes us away from the statues. I don’t get to go in and see them up close but they were all very nasty men so this view is quite enough.

We’ve had enough misery for one day so we get the bus back into the city and visit the market – Balti Jaama. There are lots of options for lunch and we all choose different things. I choose some pelmini which are dumplings filled with salmon and shrimp. They’re really tasty. We also do a bit of food shopping so we can eat in tonight.

We have a drink at the brewery in the market, sitting outside enjoying the nice weather and then we take a walk around the area close by called Telliskivi, which has lots of food stalls and murals on the wall. This may be somewhere we explore further tomorrow as there are lots of old wooden houses and cool things to see.

We head back to the apartment after a busy day and later have a delicious dinner of sausage, cheese salad, herring, beetroot peppers filled with meat cabbage fresh bread all bought from the market today and it is really delicious.

After dinner I take a little walk around to see the town by night. Everywhere you look, there is a tower or castle or church that is lit up beautifully.

It’s our last full day in Tallinn so after a quick brekkie we head out to tick off the last few things on our list. We head to the three sisters building. We see these lovely buildings ….

….and realise, lovely as they are they’re not the 3 sisters…. These are:

Then we walk further to see “Fat Margaret” which is a huge tower flanking another entrance into the city.

We arrive back at Saint Olav‘s which we visited on our first day. Now it’s time to climb the tower. It’s 238 steps to the top and the views are really nice across the whole town. I have to say I preferred the views from Saint Nicholas Tower as you felt like you were in the middle of the city.

There’s a great view looking across to the walled upper town from up here.

I’m the lone tower climber, so once I’m done I head to “Peppersack”, a medieval café, to meet up with the gang and try out some of their popular pastries.

On the way I cut through a lane and come across “The Path of History” where important dates and events are marked on the pavement of Börsi käik (the Stock Exchange Passage) providing a quick overview of the complicated and exciting history of Estonia.

Next we visit “Kiek in da Kok”, (yes it is a funny sounding name 🤣), which is the largest medieval artillery tower in the Baltic states. There is a lot of ground to cover and a lot of stuff to see here.

We see the faceless monks of which there are three spread around the courtyard.

We enjoy more views of the town…

The last part of the museum complex allows us to explore underground tunnels called the bastion passages.

It’s time for a little rest after that huge museum so we decide to stop at Olde Hansa, off town square. This is a famous establishment that you see in most travel programs about Talinnn. The “wenches”, as the host who seats us calls them, dress in traditional clothing and serve our drinks in some very cool old tankards and glasses.

Now it’s time to hit the Banned Books museum. I came across this in my research (it’s an Atlas Obscura recommendation) but it hasn’t been open since we arrived. I’m very keen to check it out.

The Banned Books Museum collects and preserves banned, burned, and censored books from around the world. It is as politically neutral as possible, and they do not condone or condemn the content of the books in the collection. We chat to the museum director whose name is Justin, from Scotland and he tells us that they build the collection mostly from donations. I ask him if he is aware of, or has a copy of Edna O’Briens “Country Girls” and he knows it but doesn’t have a copy. I’m pretty sure I have a copy at home and he said he’d be delighted if I post it to him. How cool is that I may have something in the exhibit.

We find a craft beer bar simply called “Drink” and spend the rest of the afternoon drinking beer and cider with a light lunch of a spratt sandwich and Hungarian lard on rye bread. The lunch is served with a tiny glass of vodka!

This evening we have an easy dinner in a trendy diner type place, with plenty of youngsters! Were happy to rest up with an early night ahead of our big travel day tomorrow.

Next morning we leave Talinn and visit more of Estonia on the way to Riga. An energetic lady called Laura (pronounced Laauu-ra) picks us up in an 8-seater van and we set off for Viljandi which is about a 2 hour drive. We visit the remains of Viljandi Castle of the Teutonic Order. The main castle was actually a convent building which was conquered by the German crusaders in 1223.

It was badly damaged in the Livonian war (between 1558-1583) and the Polish-Swedish wars (from 1600 to 1622/23) and it lost its remains of military importance in the Northern War (from 1700-1710). What a lot of wars!!

We walk around the picturesque grounds.

There is a suspension bridge which was built in 1879, originally on the moat of Tarvastu (a town not too far away). In 1930 the bridge was given as a gift to the town of Viljandi.

Back in the van, we travel another hour to Valga. Here we visit the military museum and see various memorabilia from the time of the Nazi occupation and the Soviet occupation.

Valga is a border town so we have our last Estonian meal before crossing the border into Latvia… that will be in the next instalment of the blog.

So long Estonia, you’ve been fabulous!

I’m flying to Helsinki to meet himself and kick off our Baltics tour. It’s a very early 5:55am flight to Amsterdam and then on to Helsinki. I originally had a direct flight from Dublin but it leaves at 6pm and I’d miss the whole day so I’m delighted to get there early enough to meet Shane as he arrives from Sydney and we get this party started! Alas my bag didn’t make it on the transfer from Amsterdam but while I’m waiting for Shane to arrive I can see the flight that I’ve been told it’s on so fingers crossed it’ll get delivered to the hotel tonight.

We go to Loyly which is a modern seaside sauna with a stylish, glass-walled restaurant & large deck for sweeping views. Luckily they have swimsuits for hire!!

We take a dip into what I’m reliably told is the Gulf of Finland. It’s cold but it’s not freezing and the sauna afterward is crazy hot but ultimately refreshing.

We have dinner booked at 8pm. We have a pineapple lonkero, also called long drink, which is a ready mixed drink made from gin and a flavoured soda. It’s really nice.

There’s reindeer on the menu but I opt for the fish soup paired with a delicious gruner veltliner. The place is busy and the dinner takes quite a while to come out but is very nice.

Next morning after a buffet feast at the hotel (Scandic Helsinki Hub), we take a bus to Porvoo which is about an hour away on the south coast of the country. Porvoo is the second oldest city in Finland. The town is famed for its “Old Town”, a dense medieval street pattern with wooden houses.

From the bridge we take a reflective shot in the river… later in the museum there’s a whole exhibit about silhouettes- I think we were ahead of the game here.

Porvoo is also known as Borgå which is the Swedish name for it and all the signs are in both Finnish and Swedish. It’s a warm sunny day and nice to walk along the river and look across to the town.

We climb up castle hill which has a lovely forest but alas no castle. In the peaceful Iso Linnamäki park above the town of Porvoo, it is difficult to imagine that this was the scene of fierce battles during the Great Northern War in the 1700s. Half a millennium before then, a castle dominating the entire Porvoo river valley stood on this site. It was probably built by the Swedes during their conquest of the east. There are steep-walled moats circling the top of the hill.

Coming back down the hill we come to the Porvoo cathedral. It’s an evangelical Lutheran church, built in the 15th century, although the oldest parts date from the 13th century. It’s closed so we can only admire from the outside.

Next door is the 1759 chapter house.

A lot of the restaurants are closed – possibly a combination of the summer season being over and it’s Sunday so we grab a snack in a little cafe. I try an egg and ham in a soft roll with horseradish and some other mystery meat thing – it’s very tasty.

Next we visit the museum in this very nice building.

We see paintings by Albert Edelfelt who is considered the most famous Finnish painter. He spent a lot of time in Porvoo and painted much of the landscape around.

We check out some of the old wooden houses and do a timer shot!

It’s been a lovely day in Porvoo and we take the bus back to Helsinki

We walk to the harbour to jog my memory of when I was here last but honestly it’s not feeling familiar! I am fairly positive I visited this iconic Russian church though.

Dinner tonight is a handy affair at a Gastropub called Stones. We all have burgers – I order reindeer and swap half with Shane’s moose burger. Both are delish but I think the reindeer has the edge. They also have all the flavours of the “original long drink” so we have the original or what is apparently the most popular which is with grapefruit. It’s very nice.

Next morning we leave Finland and take the ferry to Tallinn.

The 9am ferry departs at 8:50am so it’s lucky we were extra early arriving to the terminal this morning!!

The ferry journey is just over two hours and it’s very comfortable. Nice boat with lots of places to sit and enjoy the journey. We have a buffet breakfast from 10am with all the usual suspects for breakfast including an array of herring and other smoked fish!

Approaching Talinn – read more in the next blog – Baltics part II 😊

I’ve been to Norway before so not a new country to tick off my list but I haven’t visited Oslo so I’m very excited as we fly from the Faroe Islands. It’s an hour and a half flight and we leave early in the morning so have more or less a full day to start exploring.

By the time we get into the city, on another very easy train ride, it’s noon and as our Airbnb host is meeting us at 1pm we decide to start with some lunch. It’s time to switch the special birthday celebration from Renee to Jennifer and we have a great chat with our waitress who is a lovely girl called Suzanne. She tells us she’s a singer songwriter and her mother is also turning 50 this week. Her mum is Sophie and she’s a designer who makes gold and silver jewellery (a little out of our price range having found her on Google!).

We are staying at a really spacious apartment on Platous gate (pretty sure gate means street) within walking distance of the train station and the centre. Fed, watered and settled into our accommodation, we head out for a walk.

I happen to mention that if there was a Norwegian donut on offer I’d happily try one and low and behold a donut shop appears in front of us. The tea is brewed from a machine dropping water into tea leaves, kind of like drip coffee – I’ve never seen this before. It’s really good and the lemon curd donut is delicious. Heading over the bridge, we pass the Deloitte office.

We pass the opera house and Munch museum and see lots of interesting looking buildings.

We also admire the saunas along the inlet. Although the Norwegians pride themselves on their beautiful clean water this part of the bay does not look too clean. I’m hoping we may run out of time and avoid the cold dunk that the girls are threatening we’re gonna do!

There’s rain forecast but alas we decided not to bring our rain jackets so when it starts pouring we get soaked… the only saving grace is that it’s not that cold. We head to The National Museum which holds the iconic painting by Edvard Munch “The Scream”.

There’s a good collection of other European masters including a Van Gogh portrait and a number of the impressionists. There’s even a copy of the Mona Lisa!

As we walk back toward our apartment there are gorgeous flowers and the sunflowers catch my eye in particular as they are really bright yellow.

We get home for a short rest before surprising Jennifer for her birthday. Renee has organised a tour of the city on a motherbike and sidecar!! As we badly disguise that we have nothing planned for the birthday girl, we exit the building to a couple of bikers and all becomes clear…

We start by riding through the city centre passing Stortinget (Parliament Building) and the Royal Palace. As we turn onto a main road, we couldn’t be more than 5 minutes on the road and the bike I’m on splutters to a stop… the battery has gone.

We get her going again with a push from driver no.2 and we’re off…

Every so often we stop and my driver jumps off to give us some info on our surroundings. He has to keep the engine going in case the bike won’t start again!!

It is such great fun driving around waving at random passers-by who in fairness to them, mostly waved back. I am in the front car most of the time so I’m setting them up for the girls behind me!

https://videopress.com/v/Rm4LI9NG?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true

There is a lot of video footage and photos taken.

We continue up the hill to Ekeberg park and sculpture garden. The views from up here are spectacular.

This park is where Munch was allegedly inspired to paint The Scream and it has some interesting sculptures.

Back toward the city after the park….

What a brilliant evening touring around…. Great fun! I think the birthday girl enjoyed it!

Our drivers drop us off at Lorry restaurant which is described as “Bar/restaurant with antiques & stuffed animals, for Norwegian/European dishes & vast beer selection”. The decor really is eclectic and there is so much to see as you walk around (which they encourage you to do).

We enjoy an evening walk back to the apartment to let our meal go down and get some sleep in ahead of another busy day.

Next morning we take a bus to the National folk museum. Quick sidebar: on the way to the bus stop the General (in case you haven’t figured it out by now, that’s Jennifer) trips going up some steps and performs the most impressive save, a multiple save in fact, catching herself with quite a wobble and managing not to fall. After the initial shock of saving herself we are in stitches laughing… it was quite unique. 🤣

The open-air museum includes 160 buildings from rural and urban Norway  – from the Middle Ages to the 20th Century. It’s a really interesting space to walk around.

The Stave Church from Gol is one of the main attractions. It’s from 1200.

Inside there’s a very strange man who we decide to talk to… he has the oddest demeanour for someone who’s supposed to be engaging with tourists!!

Across the way in another old house we meet a very different lady who is dying for a chat (I reckon she’s bored stupid!) and she’s delighted when we ask about the violin she’s got. She’s very happy to play us a tune.

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Of course we tell her it’s Jennifer’s birthday.

We continue through the museum and the sun shines down on us. Plenty of entertainment with traditional music and even some dancing .

Having enjoyed the sunshine and the walk around this impressive open air museum we take a ferry back to the centre.

It’s lunchtime so we have some fish and chips which is local cod served with the most amazing tartare sauce I’ve ever had.

Next on the list is the Nobel Peace museum. It’s an excellent museum and I learn so much about the Nobel peace laureates and the founder himself – Alfred Nobel. I knew he created dynamite but never knew much about how the awards came about. He had accumulated a huge wealth and a few years before he died, he began to think about what would happen to his fortune after his death. He drafted several wills, and described the idea of creating awards. He had discussed a possible peace prize with his friend and peace activist Bertha von Suttner. After he died of a stroke in 1896, at his home in San Remo, Italy at 63 years old his final wishes were revealed. Fascinating!

The most recent NOBEL PEACE PRIZE for 2023 was awarded to Narges Mohammadi for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all women. We join a tour and learn all about this woman who is currently in prison in Iran.

We leave filling inspired and also with the notion of rewatching the movie “Not Without my Daughter”!! Although it’s not sunny it’s not raining so it’s time to climb the opera house…

The white tiles give off quite a glare but it’s an easy and enjoyable climb with some nice views from the top.

We have some drinks in the rooftop bar where there are great views. It’s a bit too windy to sit outside though.

We walk through some different streets and see more interesting statues!

We decide to stay out and roll straight into dinner which sadly is our final dinner together. The drinks and chat is flowing and while GJ goes to the loo I think you know what we tell the waitress … yep, we let her know it’s her birthday “today”!!!

The lovely waitress surprises Jennifer with a desert and birthday wishes from the kitchen. Has to be done!

When we get back to the apartment we’re all a bit worn out so after a few minutes connecting to the smart tv we are ready for a movie night. Sally Fields performance in Not Without My Daughter is such a great movie and very apt considering our recently acquired information about Narges.

Next morning we take a walk to a bakery in a close by neighborood to try a cardamom bun which is supposed to be the best in Oslo. It is really good and we taste a few other bits too.

We walk through the botanic gardens which are really nice and again it’s nice and sunny.

We walk through a couple of cute neighbourhoods and and have two other bakeries on our list but although Google tells us they’re open, unfortunately both are closed. It’s time to get back to the apartment to pick up our bags and head to the train station.

We are taking the train to Bergen. It is considered one of the most scenic train journeys in the world. I’m going all the way which is just over seven hours and the girls are departing 6 hours in, at Voss to do some kayaking. The views from the train are spectacular.

There are lots of trees (unlike in the Faroe Islands where there are practically none) so often it means waiting for a gap to see the beautiful fjords.

After a couple of hours we decide to head to the dining car or to be more precise the drinking car. If you buy alcohol on the train you must drink it in the dining car no taking it back to your seat. We happily comply with the regulation and have a couple of rounds which puts in the bulk of the journey. We enjoy the beautiful scenery as we sip on some cider/beer/wine 🍷

The train stops at Finse which is the highest station in Norway and we see the Finse glacier.

It’s an emotional goodbye when the girls depart…. There’s always a few tears but we always make great memories…. Until next time my Texas girls 😘

I carry on to Bergen with a change of seat up to fancy class where I get free tea… hooray!! The landscape continues to impress and I enjoy looking out the window (with my tea) as it passes by!

Bergen is the second-largest port city in Norway and is located right on the edge of the North Atlantic Ocean. It is allegedly the wettest city in the world. I arrive to the train station and it’s only a short walk to my accommodation which is a small basic (very basic!) studio apartment.

It starts to rain but it doesn’t stop me getting out to see the town. I walk to the historic old town Bryggen.

I walk around the Hanseatic Museum, comprising of historical buildings dating back to 1704 and 1879. The city of Bergen is now almost one thousand years old, with half that period dominated by the presence of the Hanseatic merchants. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage site.

I don’t do much this evening as I’ve a busy day planned for tomorrow but I do enjoy a cup of tea with this nice view out my window.

Next morning I am doing the local Parkrun – Parkrun Lovistien. It is across the river and halfway up the mountain, a 40 minute walk from where I’m staying. I set off early to make sure I’m not late and arrive in good time. There’s plenty of visitors at this Parkrun and they’re very friendly. I take the obligatory photo with the Parkrun sign drop my bag and jacket and we’re ready to go.

There are some nice views from up here ….

….. but after a few minutes the heavens open and it pours rain. Everybody is soaked. Luckily it’s not too cold so it’s actually quite enjoyable. The route itself is one of the hardest I’ve ever done, with steep hills and very little on the flat.

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I’m soaked to the skin and ready to get back to the apartment for a shower so when a German couple from parkrun ask around to see if anyone would like a lift down the mountain I happily agree. They drop me at a pedestrian bridge which knocks about 20 minutes off my walk home. Happy days!

After a bit of a rest I head out to tick off some of the museums.

I visit the gallery which has more Munch paintings called “Rasmus Meyer” and the ticket gets me into three other museums.

I check out the “Stenersen” museum which is showing modern art so it’s a very quick walk through for me (not my bag!). The next museum called “Lysverket” which houses the textiles has all of one exhibit of 3 scarves… even the security guard giggles when I ask him if I’ve missed something – not quite worthy of a visit!! The composer Grieg was from here but I don’t have time to visit his home as it’s a bit of a distance outside the city. I suppose there should always be something to return for.

I walk back towards the harbour and reckon there will be a snack option at one of the food stalls.

I take the Fløibanen funicular and go to the top of Mount Floyen.

The views are fantastic, even if the sky is grey.

I enjoy the views for a bit and then take a walk to a lake which is only about ten minutes away. It’s very picturesque to walk around even though it’s raining again. They say in Norway you should always take a raincoat – it may not be raining when you head out but it will at some point!

The walk back down the mountain takes less than an hour with plenty of photo stops. The forest area and traditional houses make for a very enjoyable walk, and of course the views.

The German couple from parkrun recommended having a drink at Frescohallen which was formerly the stock exchange building and has gorgeous frescos all over the walls. So back in town I head here for an hour relaxing.

I have a Bareksten gin and tonic and enjoy the surroundings.

Then I have another and a few truffle chips!!

It’s been very comfy here but I head over to the fish market for some dinner. I have to have the fish soup which is more or less the national dish here and I’m keen to try the whale, which I can have in a burger or on skewers – I go skewers!

This place is great except for the fact that alcoholic is forbidden because we are essentially eating outside!! Glad I had that 2nd g&t!

Next morning I’m homeward bound. I take a final walk across the square to the tram station and make my way to the airport.

It’s only 2.5 hours on the plane back to Seoul and this time we take the train into the city which is really easy. It’s about 45 minutes and takes us straight to the station close by our hotel. Tonight we’re staying in Hongdae at a funky hotel called L7. Hongdae is a university area so there’s lots of action here and lots of young people milling around … sure we fit right it!! There are lots of bars so we have “one” in what was definitely the most apt for himself!!

For dinner we chose a really cool looking restaurant which specialises in pancakes that are being cooked out front and are definitely a selling point to invite us in. We chose a seafood pancake (we’ve had so much meat in Mongolia it seems the right choice!) and sea snails. The pancake is huge and we are not able to finish it. We actually get chatting to some girls from Hong Kong who have opted for the pancake selection. It is served on a huge platter and they haven’t a hope of finishing it – they try to convince us to have some of theirs and we try to convince them to have some of ours!

Our hotel, although we don’t have much time to enjoy it, is really cool and has a nice rooftop pool. Unfortunately it doesn’t open until 10am so I don’t get a chance to use it as we are off this morning to catch the train to Jeonju.

We take a two hour train journey to Jeonju, the largest Hanok Village in Korea, with about 700 Hanok (traditional Korean house) buildings around Pungnam-dong. It is the only Hanok complex in a downtown area in Korea. It holds important cultural heritage including the Gyeonggijeon shrine, Omokdae, and Confucian School. Other cultural facilities are dispersed in every corner showcasing Korean food, Korean paper, Korean songs, Korean costumes, and oriental medicine. We are staying in a beautiful hanok and it is gorgeous…

Jeonju is also known as the slow city because of its relaxed pace. We head out for a walk and are soon by the river which has a number of picturesque bridges – this one is called 5 rainbows.

We walk through the market area and it’s very quiet. A man walking by says hello to Shane and seems very keen for a chat – we reckon he might be the local crazy! He asks Shane where he’s from (in some very broken English) and shouts “handsome” at him. I’m not getting a look in by the way! He points to Shane’s nose and says “oooh handsome”… we are in stitches. He gives us a wave and a big happy “bye bye” as we get to a crossing and off he goes. Hilarious!

We continue to the East gate of the city – Pungnamdong gate which is the only remaining of the original four.

Jeonju is a UNESCO listed city of gastronomy so when we pass a shop that has a bunch of large round donut looking baked goods, I have to try one! All the writing is in Korean so there’s a risk it could be filled with bean paste (not my favourite thing) but I risk it …. OMG an amazing light sugary, airy old school donut – love it!!

Next up is Jeondong Catholic Church, the site where Blessed Martrys Paul Yun Ji-chung & James Kwon Sang-yeon were beheaded on December 8, 1791, during the Shinhae Persecution. They were the first martyrs of the Catholic Church in Korea. In 1801, during the Shinyu Persecution, three brothers were martyred by dismemberment. Then, later, two more people beheaded. Among these martyrs, three were beatified by Pope Francis in 2014.

In 1908 the new church construction began using stones from the Jeonju fortress wall as cornerstones and it is said that some of the stones would bear the marks of some of the martyrs as their decapitated heads hung along the fortress wall. Many faithful from the town, as well as from surrounding areas helped with the construction which was completed by 1914. Jeondong Catholic Church was the first western-style building in the region.

There’s a lot of potential for snacking in this town and a lot of things on our list that we want to try. When we pass a window filled with pastries I insist on trying the bibimpap one… I thought it was the famous bibimbap bread but its actually a croquette – tasty all the same.

The streets are all beautiful, everywhere we look there are hanoks with the beautiful roofs. It’s like going back in time. After building up a fairly decent step count in the heat we stop for a little rest.

Back to the hanok for a wee rest before dinner, I need it as I’m becoming a beer drinker!!! I love the door into our private courtyard:

We head to a restaurant for the traditional Jeonju bibibap [reminder: this is the bowl with rice and various veg served with an egg on top], which is served with pork patties that are cooked at the table. The spread that comes out when we both just ordered one thing from the menu is quite remarkable.

Time to work off some of this food so we take a walk around the streets and happen upon the gate again. It looks very nice lit up by night.

We head toward home and are stopped by a man with his wife and another couple who ask Shane if he speaks English. He says yes and they start talking to us, asking where we are from and if we are enjoying our trip. He is Korean but lives in California and he introduces us to the other man who is none other than the mayor of the county in which Jeonju resides. We shake hands and there’s lots of “beautiful place…. having a wonderful time” type conversation. The mayor is interested to know where we are staying and if we are happy with our accommodation. They tell us there’s a nice viewing platform around the corner and wish us a good holiday. How nice!!

Next morning we have a leisurely cup of tea in this slow city, enjoying our hanok, before setting off to explore more of this beautiful place.

More rambling around the streets and exploring the different buildings.

Just like at the palaces in Seoul, visitors are very keen to play dress up so there are many many shops where you can hire the beautiful traditional outfits.

We visit Gyeonggijeon shrine, the main shrine in town and manage to be visiting on culture day so it’s free in! The shrine is a huge complex of buildings originally built in 1410 and remodelled in the 17th century after damage from the Imjin war.

We climb the narrow stairs in this small ornate building and see a large book which we learn is the only remaining copy of the Annals (that’s a recorded history) of the Joseon Dynasty. In 1592, when the Japanese invaded Korea, they destroyed many historic buildings, works of art, and important documents. Predicting the destruction some local heroes (as the exhibition calls them), managed to save one of the four annals that were kept in different locations around Korea. Had it not been for them, 200 years of Korean history would have been lost forever.

There is lots to explore on this beautiful sunny day.

It’s time for lunch and this is definitely the prettiest looking food we’ve had. It’s described as resembling a jewel and can only be enjoyed in Jeonju. It has egg white, yoke, red cabbage, carrot, burdock, cucumber pepper, green pepper, meat (raw beef!), ham and pickled radish. A total of nine ingredients that allow you to experience the taste of Jeonju.

Following our gimbap starter we try the famous Jeonju bread – one filled with bibimbap and one bulgogi – I love it. A choco pie and some dodgy tasting peanut/bean tasting drink and we’re on the move again.

Well only as far as the option for dessert!!! I’ve seen these frozen fruit skewers all over and been dying to try them. They’re like toffee apples i.e. the grape and strawberry are covered with a thin glassy layer of toffee.

Time to get some steps in and walk off all that delicious lunch. We climb up to a pavilion where we can look out to the town. These platforms are places where locals gather and hang out in the shade – once you take off your shoes of course!

We continue to climb further to a mural village which, while it’s not the most exciting set of murals we’ve ever seen it’s very pleasant to ramble around.

Very bright and colourful…..

We climb further through some woods and there are nice views from up here looking out over the buildings. You gotta love those hanok roofs.

The things that are done for an insta shot. We just don’t go in for that nonsense!! 🤪

Making our way back down we stop at a beautiful tea garden for some traditional Korean tea. I’ve no idea what flavour we got but it’s fruity and lovely and we are glad to be out of the sun and enjoying some shade.

I’ve been hoping to get a Korean massage so when I see this foot massage sign I jump at the chance. It’s very cheap and I realise when I go in that it’s a “no hands” foot massage! Basically I get to relax with my feet in a foot spa and have an electric neck and shoulder massager placed on me. Not quite what I’d hoped for but relaxing all the same for less than €10.

Later in the evening we head to a Makgeolli restaurant for dinner. We’ve heard about these places that serve makgeolli from a teapot but they’re not easy to find around town. We watch a travel blog on YouTube and are able to figure out where one might be nearby but there is no obvious sign from outside the building that it’s a bar or restaurant. It’s hard to even tell if it’s open, but we walk up to the door and are delighted to be ushered into a room where tables are set for the feast they’re about to serve us, the only downside is it’s shoes off and seats on the floor (and I wore a dress!!). What’s served up is amazing!

Makgeolli is a milky, off-white, lightly sparkling rice wine that has a slight viscosity, slightly sweet, tangy, bitter taste!

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What an amazing experience and we were able to rise from the floor without injury, and fairly gracefully all things considered!! Although I enjoyed it all I wouldn’t be loving the makgeolli so I’m hoping for a “real” drink before the end of the evening. Have no fear, around the corner someone manages to find (guess what!!) a craft beer bar that serves wine – hooray. We sit at the bar surrounded by interesting art work (some of which are portraits of the lady who served us) and get chatting to the local dentist. A great final night in Jeonju.

Next morning it’s time to head back to Seoul which is a pleasant couple of hours watching the scenery go by (and updating this blog) ! This time we’re staying in the Dongdaemun neighbourhood at the Nine Tree hotel which is really nice and I’d recommend. We arrive back at lunchtime so it’s straight to the Gwangjang market. We haven’t had any brekkie and I really want some mandu – that’s dumplings.

Happily fed, we take a walk around this old part of Seoul. Dongdaemun literally means “Great East Gate” and this is the gate in question – it dates back to 1398.

The giant gates were once part of the city walls known as Hanyangdoseong. They were built to safeguard Hanyang (present Seoul), which was the capital of the Joseon Dynasty, and to demark the city’s boundary. They served as the city walls for 514 years (1396-1910), longer than any other city walls in the world.

To the south of Dongdaemun gate there is a huge development project called Dongdaemun design Plaza, which was designed by the famous architect Zaha Hadid. It houses exhibition spaces, shopping and relaxation facilities. It’s a very interesting looking building vastly different to its surroundings.

Earlier as we walked through the market, we scoped out a place for dinner. It’s essentially the fish section of the market and Shane is particularly keen to try. We choose a low-key, very local looking establishment and here’s what is put in front of us before our actual order arrives!!

It’s a 6am start next morning as our tour bus to the DMZ leaves at 7am. We arrive on time (even though others don’t!) and we’re off….

First off, we visit the Mt. Gamaksan suspension bridge. Gamaksan Suspension bridge is where the allied forces fought a fierce battle in the Korean War. We take a half hour hike and enjoy the stunning natural beauty at the top of the bridge.

Enjoying life and feeling extremely lucky before we get into some of the sad history that South Korea has endured since it’s civil War.

We arrive to Imjingak which is a park located on the banks of the Imjin river along the tracks of the former train line that went through the city of Paju connecting north and South Korea. It was built in 1972 as a place to console those from both sides who are unable to return to their hometown. The park, called Memorial park, has many statues and monuments regarding the Korean War and we walk around in the sunshine viewing as much as we can.

In July 1953, the Korean War ended with a cease-fire. Northern and Southern Limit Lines were created and each side moved their troops back 2km from the Military Demarcation Line. The line known as the 38th parallel was drawn by US military and is 248km in length. The area within 2km on both sides is designated as the DMZ. It is considered the most heavily militarized region in the world.

The CCL (Civilian Access Control Line) was designated within a distance of 5-20km from the Southern Limit Line of the DMZ to limit and control the entrance of civilians into the area to protect and maintain the security of military operations and facilities near the DMZ. It has since become a huge tourist attraction.

The Freedom Bridge, as it is called, is the former railroad bridge which used to repatriate POW/soldiers returning from the north. It now ends here and provides a photo opportunity across the DMZ.

We leave the park and drive to the border control point where an officer boards our bus and checks everyone’s passport. There are two soldiers, both extremely young but taking their job very seriously. It’s serious business out here! Barbed wire trenches are mixed with rice paddies as we continue through the DMZ area.

As we drive further through the DMZ there is an unused toll booth which one day could take you straight into North Korea.

Our next stop is the 3rd Infiltration Tunnel which was discovered in 1978 following an underground explosion, apparently caused by the North Korean tunnellers, who had progressed into the south via this mile long tunnel. This is one of four tunnels that were discovered around the border and the South Korean government believe there are many more.

There are no photos allowed, in fact you’re not allowed to bring anything inside. We put our bags in a locker and don a hard hat for the steep mile long journey toward North Korea. The tunnel is low especially for tall people, so the hard hats are essential. I get through the mile there and back unscathed but taller people I know don’t do so well… there is a lot of crouching and banging of helmets against the roof! At the turnaround point we see where the South Koreans blocked the military demarcation line with concrete barricades. Some North Korean greenery is visible through a small window a few metres away.

The one thing we were allowed to bring with us is our water bottle as there is fresh spring water that you can taste… cold and delicious fresh Korean water 😋. We’re glad of it after the long steep incline which we booted up without a rest along the way.. that’s just how we do things!

Outside the building where you can gain entry to this crazy long tunnel is this brightly coloured DMZ sign so everyone can get their insta shot!

At the back of the tunnel building there is a beautiful peaceful garden which seems a little out of place and yet soothing all at the same time.

The final stop on the tour is the Dora Observatory, which is the northernmost observatory of North Korean territory.

At the Dora observatory we see the flag of North Korea and scenic views across the demilitarised zone through binoculars.

The North Korean town below is close enough to see people cycling and on monitor bikes and some walking in the field. It’s hard to capture a photo through the binoculars.

Finally we get some lunch and then it’s back on the bus for the hour plus drive back to Seoul. The sun is shining so we take another walk around Dongdaemun. As it’s sunnier today, the sky is blue and the gate, walls and design plaza, that we saw yesterday, all look better! I even sit on a bench and enjoy some sunshine while Shane takes some photos.

For dinner tonight we return to the Korean bbq, this time in a more upscale restaurant where someone cooks it for us at our table. It is really good and as usual, we enjoy all the side dishes.

It’s our final day in Seoul but we have lots of time as we both have late flights home tonight. We take advantage of the noon checkout and the hotel has lockers where we can store our stuff so we get organised and head out into the sunshine.

We start the day with some soup and mandu. I really do love these dumplings – an awful lot better than we had in Mongolia.

Then it’s off to explore another UNESCO World Heritage site – Jongmyo Shrine. Jongmyo is the supreme shrine of the state where the tablets of royal ancestors are enshrined and memorial services are performed for deceased kings and queens. King Taejo, founder of the Joseon Dynasty, started construction of Jongmyo Shrine when he named Hanyang (today’s Seoul) as capital of the newly founded dynasty. It was completed in 1395, and is therefore even older than Gyeongbokgung, (the main palace we visited on day 1 of this trip).

As more and more kings and queens were enshrined, the facilities were necessarily expanded to the huge complex we see today. When a king or a queen died, mourning at the palace would continue for three years after the death. After the three-year mourning period was over, memorial tablets of the deceased were moved here and enshrined.

Korea alone has preserved its royal shrine and continues to conduct royal ancestral rites, every year. This is the main reason that Jongmyo Shrine was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1995. The grounds are beautiful and I love the walls.

We walk to Changdeokgung palace which is close by and has a beautiful entrance. However, I don’t have the energy for another palace complex visit. I feel a bit bad but I can’t imagine there’ll be anything wildly different to what we’ve already seen. We admire the gate for a while, I take this beautiful picture and we continue on.

For a change of pace we get on the metro and head to the National Museum of Korea. It’s an impressive looking building with many exhibits across three floors. It has some nice views to the rear of the building and is certainly popular among the locals for a weekend excursion.

We see some interesting ancient Buddhist paintings along with colourful Buddhist scrolls.

The undisputed centrepiece of the museum is this gigantic Buddhist pagoda first erected in 1348.

The visit to the museum has taken up most of the afternoon, so it’s time for a final meal before we go to the airport. Of course it’s back to the food market where I want to have one last pancake and hotteok.

The food is absolutely amazing in this country and I am truly going to miss it. I had no tummy issues on this trip which is a huge win for me (I do think being able to drink the tap water was a big factor). The people were lovely, the history is amazing, all our accommodation was excellent. We just loved it. As we head to the airport to say our goodbyes I feel sure that I will come back again some day.

I will leave you with this:

We fly for 3 and a half hours on Asiana Air from Seoul and arrive in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. It’s an easy airport to get through and we are met by our guide as we emerge to the arrivals hall. She mentions it may take over an hour to drive approximately 50kms from the airport into the city – it takes two!!! Starting out is lovely as the airport is in the middle of nowhere!! Lovely fields and open land to enjoy until we hit the outskirts of the city!

The traffic is mental. Loads of cars swapping lanes and it’s also raining which isn’t helping. Mind you the rain is only drizzle so I’m pretty sure it’s a free for all on the roads all the time!

Our guides name is Zaya and she tells us lots of interesting things about Mongolia. It has a population of just 3.2 million which is hard to believe for such a huge country (18th biggest in the world), its population is even less than Ireland! It is made up of 21 provinces and she explains how they lost land to China and Russia. So Inner Mongolia is now part of China.

We cross the trans Siberian railway tracks which is no longer the longest train tracks in the world, although it was for many years. The longest is now in China by the way.

We get dropped to our hotel and have time by ourselves to explore. After finding an ATM and getting some local money called Mongolian tugrik we head to the Genghis Khan museum.

It’s a fairly new building and it’s very impressive. It has 9 floors, 7 of which have exhibits that we need to see… time to get started! Before we head into the first hall we are accosted by a couple who want to have their photo taken with us. They have no English but manage to tell us that they are Inner Mongolians!

Although the museum is the Ghengis Khan museum, it’s not dedicated just to him, it sets the context for the whole Mongol dynasty of which Ghengis was the most famous. His grandson was Kublai Khan who actually did most of the conquering and made the Mongol empire huge.

We get a lot of insight into Ghengis or Chinggis, as the locals call him: Chinggis Khan, the ruler of the Mongol Empire, is credited by researchers and scientists with the following. He was: An intellectual person who founded the Mongol state; A great general who left an indelible mark on the military culture of the world; Triumphant hero of the Mongol people!

Chinggis and his successors reigned over half of the population of the earth at one time as they were able to capture the main centers of major civilizations. The speed of Chinggis Khan then can be compared to the speed of the internet today with the Mongols mastering the most advanced technology of the time and creating and organizing a powerful military

I love seeing the portraits of the queens with their big crazy head gear!! They wore “hair pockets” as it was unseemly for a man other than your husband to see the full locks of your long hair!!

There’s a particular exhibit that is really interesting – the Shoroon Bumbagar burial. Found in 2011 in the Bulgan province, this 7th century burial chamber is reminiscent of a tomb in Egypt as those interred were buried with worldly belongings for use in the afterlife and the walls were decorated with murals. The museum have a number of artefacts taken from the tomb on show.

After the museum visit, we take a walk around but it’s cold and a bit rainy so we find a bar for a wee beverage, sitting outside watching the people of UB (that’s what they call the capital!) go by.

It’s time for dinner and Shane has scoped out a local “hot pot” restaurant which is quite fancy. It’s called The Bull and it’s on the 5th floor of a building just around the corner from our hotel.

We order the set menu with lamb and also add in some horse! Sure you’d have to when it’s on the menu. We chose a soup/broth and it’s placed on an induction hob on the table where we then proceed to cook the food. By the end of the meal the soup is super tasty.

It is all delicious. Shane has a local beer and I take advantage of the fact that there is wine on the menu. A glass of wine is a 100ml measure… now by any standards that’s a small glass but it is only about €2 so I don’t mind having to order more!!! A young girl arrives to the table and uses a shot measure to measure out the wine – 2 of them, hardly reaching the top are poured into a wine glass (after she used the measure to pour a vodka 😱)… well I’m not very impressed. It’s not going to take long to drink this!!

After dinner we take a walk around the main square. Yet again Ghengis is centre stage.

Next morning we are excited to get out and explore with our guide. Promptly at 8:20am we meet Zaya along with a driver and begin our private tour. Our first stop is at the impressive Gandan Monastery,

Zaya lays out the rules of entering the temple – shoes off, be quiet, step over the threshold, walk from left clockwise, don’t turn your back on the Buddha when exiting so essentially do a backward shuffle! There are a lot of rules but we are fairly good at complying. The main temple houses a stunning 26-meter gilded statue of Megjid Janraisag i.e. Buddha!

There are walls of smaller Buddhas around the temple and a decent number of locals who have come to pray and give offerings. Apparently it’s a holiday today, “Buddhas Enlightened day” so it feels like we are among tourists but they’re all Mongolian and we’re pretty much the only Westerners around! [officially the tourist season starts in June and we are here early May so a little early]

Outside the main temple is a large complex of smaller buildings, this one in particular was brought from Tibet.

The Mongolians follow the Tibetan Buddhist teachings and the Dalai Lama is seen regularly through the temples. I hadn’t really thought of Mongolians as Buddhists but indeed that is the state religion of the country, even though the monks were persecuted and some of the temples destroyed during the socialist time (more on that later).

I’m happy to see the prayer wheels as they remind me of my first big trip to Asia back in 2017 when I started this blog. I do a clockwise loop and swing a few.

From here we drive along Peace avenue (which is anything but peaceful with chaotic traffic) to the National Museum of Mongolia. We learn lots of interesting facts about Mongolia from the time of the Khans, through the socialist period to the current democracy. As always, I love a good museum and love to learn the history of the place I’m visiting but it’s hard to take it all in or to remember it all! There are many images of Ghengis regularly shown in the middle with his grandson Kubla Khan on the right and his predecessor on the left.

We see lots of traditional Mongolian clothing which differs as you travel through the provinces.

The second to last hall in the museum tells about the time of socialism. Our guide doesn’t enjoy this part of history so much but we get a very brief lowdown. In essence the first political party founded in Mongolia, called the Mongolian Revolutionary Party, led a national democratic revolution in 1921 to restore independence from Chinese autonomous rule. In 1924, backed by the Soviet army, the Mongolian People’s Republic was founded as a socialist state. This made Mongolian the first Asian and second country in the world (after Russia) to adopt communism. From 1921 to 1990, in the Mongolian People’s Republic, all social sectors including economy, culture and politics were directly dependent on the USSR and the perpetrator of the USSR Communist Party’s guidance.

From the 1980s the power of socialism in Mongolia waned among the population and led to a peaceful democratic revolution of 1990 when the first prime minister of Mongolia was declared deeming Mongolia the first Asian country to successfully transition from communist rule to democracy. The final hall in the museum is a jubilant celebration of democracy with the national anthem playing.

Obvious socialist looking buildings are dotted around the city.

After the museum we are on the road again. Leaving the city we cross the trans Siberian railway tracks again – officially when the train passes through here, it is the trans Mongolian. Trains only run on Wednesday and Friday but I’m still excited to see the tracks of this iconic railroad.

We drive toward Terelj National Park and stop at a new resort for lunch. We can see the domes glistening in the sun from quite a ways away! This new resort which has just recently allowed foreign tourists is very palatial and serves a very nice buffet lunch.

While we’re eating we are treated to some local music which includes a taster of the famous Mongolian throat singing.

On the way to lunch we got our first glimpse of the giant Genghis Khan monument and that’s where we are heading now.

I must admit I’m very excited to see this impressive 46m statue of Genghis on horseback as it’s the largest equestrian statue in the world.

You can climb to the top of the statue and essentially stand on the horse and look back at Genghis!

In the main building we get to try on some traditional clothing. I’m loving the head gear with the hair pockets!

I reckon we’d suit being royal!!

A final selfie with Genghis and our guide.

Now we drive a little further to Terelj national park and to our ger camp. The scenery is beautiful and the sun is shining.

Scattered around the landscape are single Ger camps, some in small groups but generally single gers where families are living. We even have some animals crossing the road, just like Irish country traffic!

A large ger camp for visitors to the National park.

Tonight we are staying in a small ger camp called “Heaven Envoy” which consists of about a dozen gers with a main building housing the restaurant and more importantly bathrooms.

Our surroundings are beautiful and it’s really peaceful and relaxing.

After an hour or so of enjoying this tranquility we are back in the car along some bumpy tracks to visit Ariyabala meditation temple. This temple is on the side of the mountain and almost looks like an elephants trunk!

The walkway is lined with board delivering quotes and sayings to read and meditate upon as you climb.

The temple is no longer used by the monks but a popular place for locals to come to meditate.

There are beautiful views back to the valley.

Some local boys say hello and clearly want to practice their English. One in particular is very chatty and tells me he is 12 and goes to school and says his friends don’t have very good English!

We stop at Turtle rock on the way back and also take a visit into the small supermarket. I may have found some local Khan chips 😀

A beer (and said local crisps) on the steps of our ger ahead of dinner is just what the doctor ordered after a busy day of site seeing.

The temperature has dropped significantly and in case it gets very cold during the night we light the fire… within moments it is roasting!! In fact it’s a little like being in a sauna!! We end up having to leave the door open and don’t even sleep under the blankets!!! Eventually the fire dies down and it’s very comfy!

We head toward Hustai national park in the west of Ulaanbaatar and surprise surprise the traffic is shocking! It takes 4.5 hours just to get to UB which should have taken two, so unfortunately the national park is off the itinerary for today. Instead we stop for a very extravagant lunch and then get back in the car for another 4 hours to another ger camp.

Leaving UB, we see the huge pipes that are bringing central heating to the new apartment blocks being built all over. In winter it can get to -40 degrees – UB is the coldest capital city in the world – I’m glad we’re visiting in Spring!

It is nice to see the countryside as we drive on mostly main roads (which have lots of potholes) with plenty of overtaking from the most popular car in Mongolia – the Prius! We see lots of livestock – cows, pigs, sheep and a goat 😁, some from a very close proximity as they cross the road. These horses gave us a good look.

We see these shamen sites randomly along the road.

We also pass tiny “one horse towns” that honestly look to me like they could be movie sets or at least a pretend village!!

At a particular toilet/coffee break Shane gets a great snap of a farmer herding some cattle onto the bridge….

As we get closer to our destination we take a “turn” from the main road onto what couldn’t even be described as a dirt road – how the driver knows where to turn to get us to the camp is a mystery… it is literally like driving off a road into the fields!

We eventually arrive to Hoyor Zagal lodge, tonight’s ger camp and we are excited that this one is with en-suite bathroom facilities! The camp itself is quite bigger than last nights camp with a large restaurant that can fit large groups.

Here is our fancy ger – the en-suite bathroom is behind the panel on the left – Fantastic!

We take a walk around, take a few snaps and get ready for dinner which is more beef!!! They do love their meat the Mongolians!

We are so remote it’s not possible to walk anywhere so it’s back in the car to visit Khugnu Khan national park.

The park has an old monastery with a number of temples built into the hillside.

A lady manages the area and she opens up the main temple and gives Zaya the keys for the others which we will hike up to.

It’s such a remote place but apparently in the 17th century 500 monks were slaughtered here. We see the remains of the 17th century monastery and enjoy the beautiful views.

Dotted around the valley you see an odd ger…. Nearest neighbour could be a few kilometres away.

After our visit to the monastery we travel a short distance to visit a nomadic family’s home where we spend a few hours chatting (through Zaya as our entrepreneur) and help make lunch. It’s a really lovely, easy going few hours and nice to experience the life of a nomad out here in the vast landscape. [note: toilet situation was what they call “toilet with a view”]

Our lunch started with what we thought was some type of cheese, but was described as the first milking of a cow after giving birth that is steamed until solid (colostrum?). Very tasty.

We were then put to work scrubbing potatoes and half an ‘aged’ carrot, and making dough for bread and noodles.

A leg of mutton was butchered and then cooked with some mystery paste and onions, with a final addition of heated rocks and covered with thinly rolled dough. It was the national dish, khorkhog. A soup was also made with the mutton and dough ‘pasta’.

It was all served on a table to share. Just a knife to hack off pieces of mutton. The local milk tea washed it all down. Overall delicious!

The family breed horses and have a large herd of sheep and goats. They have 4 children, three of which are adults” daughters and have left for the city and one young son. We don’t get to meet the man and son as they are tending to the animals.

We say goodbye to our lovely host and her niece and head for the Bayan Gobi sand dunes (mini-Gobi). It’s time to see some sand and take a camel ride. They call this the mini Gobi although it’s quite a few miles to the Gobi proper. However the sand dunes are beautiful and it is weird to see desert on one side and green countryside on the other.

Camel ride over, we walk around the far side of the dunes and see a vulture. He is absolutely huge and we manage to see him take off in flight – it’s amazing. Back at the Ger camp we have a little downtime to admire the countryside and check out a very nice sunset.

Next morning we get on the road early as it’s a long drive back to Ulaanbaatar and we are going to try to fit in the Hustai National park that we missed on our first day on the long journey to get here. Along the way to the park we see camels on the side of the road and more remote ger homes. It really is vast countryside and so interesting to view. We made it!

We watch a movie which gives a good overview of the park and how it came to be and outside the small exhibit room we see this interesting thing! It’s shuttle debris!! Imagine getting a smack of that out of nowhere!

We take a long bumpy drive (there has been a lot of off road driving on this trip!) through the park and see lots of marmots along the way.

What everyone comes here to see are the Takhi, aka Prewalski horses which are a wild horse native to Mongolia. After socialism the horses had become extinct but luckily a number of years earlier some had been exported to Germany and so Hustai National Park (HNP) was established to reintroduce the Prewalski’s horse. In 1992 15 horses were transported back to Mongolia and they are now at more than 400. We stop and manage to see some with binoculars and also see some red deer.

Buffet lunch at the national park and then we head back to Ulaanbaatar with just enough time to visit the Bogd Khan’s Palace Museum.

The last king of Mongolia and spiritual head of the nation lived in this European style home with his wife (who by the way they never consummated their marriage) and there are some very interesting artefacts to view. He had a large collection of stuffed birds and ones an elephant for many years.

We don’t have time to check into the hotel but we do have some spare time before the concert so we decide it’s cocktail time… well actually we pick up a beverage at the local supermarket and sit outside on a bench!!

Once we’re finished at the palace we are taken to see a traditional folklore concert featuring an amazing ensemble performing dance, Mongolian throat singing, a contortion performance and an amazing orchestra. It’s one of the best cultural shows of all the countries I’ve visited, the venue is beautiful, really professional and I enjoy every bit of the music performed.

Before dropping our bags at the hotel we do a quick stop at the city sign…

And check out a nice close by building showing the hand sign for love, as taught by Zara

It’s time to have our farewell meal which Zaya has organised for us at a lovely Korean beef restaurant. We have a salad to start, then soup, then not only a beautiful piece of beef but with a “side” of marrow bone and as if that’s not enough finished with cake similar to black forest. What a feast!

After dinner we take a walk to try walk off some of the grub and we pass a craft beer bar that Shane had spotted (you’d be surprised what he sees from a car) earlier today. It’s a nice old bar so we have one to say goodbye to the city.

We are flying out at lunchtime and as the traffic can be unreliable we leave at 9am to ensure we’re not late. Zaya drives us and on the way we stop for coffee to meet the lady who we booked the tour with. We are able to tell them how great a time we’ve had on this tour and get to the airport in plenty of time.

One last shot of the countryside and a ger home that is so typical of what we’ve seen in Mongolia.

Back to Seoul for us. Bye bye Mongolia!