Category Archives: Travel

London 2013

Summer vacation 3-10 July.

Easyjet from Kastrup to Gatwick. Hold luggage only, no check in. One hold luggage really means ONE, no camera or “man purse” on the side. I had booked the tickets with Ingo Johansson and that what it said on the boarding pass. It says Ingvar Johansson in the passport, not smart. It cost normally DKK 720 to change it but the assistant was very nice and changed free of charge, thanks a lot for that!

Took the regular train, Southern, from Gatwick to Victoria Station (when we finally found the right platform and train). Takes little longer than the Express but is half price. Buy a train ticket that include day pass on the tube. Approx £15/pers. Continued with the underground from Victoria to Oxford Circus and then it was only a few minutes walk to the flat at Dufours Place (had problems finding that too, tip: get a proper map from the start ;-).

Booked the flat via airbnb.com. It had two bedroom, two toilets, a large living room area incl. kitchen and a balcony. Prime location:

1 min. walk to Carnaby Street
2 min. walk to Oxford Street
5 min. walk to Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square and China Town
10 min. walk to Trafalgar Square and The National Gallery
15 min. walk to Buckingham Palace
20 min. walk to Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye

The sightseeing:
3 July [Map over the route] China Town Piccadilly Circus M & M’s world at Leicester Square, 4 floors with M&M’s accessories and the scent of the candy!!! Trafalgar Square. Watching young and old climbing the lion statues etc. The Mall
4 July [Map over the route] Window shopping along Oxford Street Hyde park with speakers corner and chipmunks Walked along Piccadilly (the street) to find a Burger King. Finally, found one at Leicester Square Covent Garden with shops, restaurants and street artists
5 July [Map over the route] Tottenham Court Road where we visited CEX, a second hand gaming and mobile phone shop Homemade chicken sandwich lunch at the lake in Regents Park Baker Street, look at that line to Sherlock Holmes Museum!!! In the evening we took tube Piccadilly Circus to Waterloo Station to meet Roma Dinner at OXO Tower restaurant. Fantastic place, service, food and view. Walked back on Southbank and Huntingdon Bridge, heading home
6 July [Map over the route] Camden Market (Close encounter with black man, he thought I took many photos of his daughters and should publish them on the internet!!. He called the police etc. Puha…I was innocent, he was weird…) Walked along the river to Primrose Hill where we had homemade chicken sandwich lunch (again) with beautiful view over the London skyline Walk through Regent Park with beautiful gardens and large play fields Portland Street and finally Carnaby Street
7 July [Map over the route] The Mall to Buckingham Palace. Watched the changing of guards, good timing 🙂 Westminister with RINGING BELLS!! kept on and on and on… Big Ben Took a River Thames cruise to Tower Bridge and Tower of London Walked the Murder Mystery Trail. Great fun and came around some interesting places Met Sandra and walked back along north bank to Westminister Finished with dinner at an Italian restaurant of Regent Street. Served by nice Swedish waitress called Linn
8 July [Map over the route] Took the buss from Piccadilly Circus to South Kensington Visited V&A museum to see a David Bowie exhibition but far tooo long line… Went to Harrods and looked at all the glitter and fancy electronics Lunch at Serpentine, Hyde Park, (yes, chicken sandwich 😉 and looked at the BST set up Buss to Tottenham Court to pick up the tickets at Dominion Theater Visited a Carphone shop where Mickey found the Nexus 7 for £179 After refreshing at the flat we went back to Dominion Theater for We will rock you, AWESOME!! 😀 (good idea to have picked up the tickets before, another line…)
9 July [Map over the route] Started by visiting the mega toy store Hemley’s Walked along Regent Street to Piccadilly Circus and then to Leicester square for lunch, Pret a Manger Saw Despicable Me 2, 3D, Empire 1, 1000 seats. Great experience Went for dinner at Five guys, Burgers and fries. Good timing, looong line when we came out Watched Hangover in the flat
10 July Mickey bought the Nexus 7 at the Carphone Shop, Oxford Street. Tried to bargain, 2 for £320, but no 🙁 Packed and waited… Tube Oxford Circus – Victoria Station. Got the refund from Oyster cards at Victoria tube station Train, Southern, to Gatwick Plenty of time and the flight delayed approx. 30 min, dep. 17.55 The End

Tips:

Get an Oyster card. Deposit £5. Fill up the card. You get the deposit and the amount not used on the card refunded when you return the card at a tube station.
lastminute.com, discount tickets or buy them at Piccadilly Circus

Cervinia 2013

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Easter week (23-30 march) we spent skiing in Cervinia, Italy, together with a colleague of mine, Bo, and his family and friends. Bo arranged accommodation and taxi from Milano airport to Cervinia. All we had to do was to buy flight tickets – thanks a lot Bo 🙂

The correct name is Breuil-Cervinia and has together with Valtournenche and Zermatt (Switzerland) over 350 km of slopes. The majestic “Toblerone” mountain Matterhorn (4.478 m), called Il Cervino in Italian, is the focal point from more or less where ever you are. An other focal point is the Plateau Rosa (3.480 m). From here you can start the 22 km slope down to Valtournenche (1.524 m). It should be the longest slope in the world but that include a very short ride in a chair lift.

On the map below it’s only the Italian side of the ski area, “Local” ski pass. We had plenty to do on this side and didn’t try the Swiss side (Zermatt). Get the skirama as PDF

1. The apartments had prime position next to the piste (see it on Google piste view) – really Ski out – Ski in. Fantastic view over the village and Matterhorn.

2. Across the piste was the After ski bar.

3. The first day, Sunday, was very foggy and the visability was at a minimum. First run Mickey turned left at #13 and I didn’t see him and the rest of us turned right at #7. Waited long time at the bottom but no Mickey – NERVOUS!! Guess he didn’t bring the phone since he didn’t answer…
Went up again took #13. – no Mickey – VERY NERVOUS!! Went to the ticket office. They were VERY kind and helpful and tracked Mickey via the ski pass and he checked in at the Plateau Rosa ski lift…I waited… and waited. Mickey had apparently decided to go from the very top station all the way down. WAS I GLAD TO SEE HIM AGAIN !!

4. Cervinia have many very nice slopes. One morning after a night of snowing, #6 was fantastic for carving.

5. Last part of Thursday afternoon was spent on #22. Lots of snow and secluded – FANTASTIC!!

6. Last supper at Hotel Astoria (next to the ticket office and lift station). Our host Angelo served a delicious menu. If you are in the neighbour hood, try the lunch here as well.

Image gallery:

Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, 2012

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		Week #44, 2012, autumn holiday for Swedish schools, Mickey and I went to Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt. The holiday theme was snorkeling in the Red Sea.
		We traveled with Atlantisrejser and stayed at Jolie Ville Maritim Golf Hotel & Resort. A very nice resort located on the edge to the Red Sea and 15 min bus ride from the airport and approx 7 km north of Naama Bay.
		The resort doesn’t have a “normal” beach. It has a couple of jetties sticking out over the coral reef and end at the reef wall. A stair leads down to a fantastic underwater world.
		The “beach” area is built up in levels with beach beds and umbrellas. It’s a rustique, marine like style that I found suited the area well.High heels and other walking obsticales could be a challenge with many stairs, sand and cobble stone.
		I was surprised that even since the hotel was from ’97 the reef was ok “healthy” with lots of colorful fish and coral. A life guard on each jetty was also efficient to whistle when people didn’t behave and went outside marked area etc.
		The actual reef is a approx 8 m deep wall. We saw lots of different fish along the 200 m, incl. Lionfish, Napoleon fish, Bannerfish etc.
		The pool area was big with a “lazy river”, a 300 m long “river” that was “running” in a circle around the pool area.
		We took the hotel shuttle bus to Naama Bay one afternoon and walked around the main street and board walk.Very loud and busy with the different bars competing who could play the worst music as loud as possible. The Egyptian sales men are VERY eager and like glue to you. Learned that you shouldn’t even say “no thank you” insted totally ignore them…Had dinner at restaurant Dannaneer, that was recommended by the guide. Nice and cheap steaks.
		Tuesday was Jeep safari. Offroad through the dessert with an exciting driver that preffered the off offroad.First stop was a Bedouin graveyard where the guide, Rasmus, told some stories. For instance how marriage works: From when the daughter is 13 years old, the father puts a green flag on the door. Interested men visit the home. The daughter make and serve tea to the man. If the tea is sweet he is approved, if the tea is bitter and strong it’s a “no go”…
		Second stop was Dahab where we should pick up snorkeling gear to the ones that didn’t had any.These houses the government built for the Bedouins some 4 years ago. Many of the Bedouins prefer to live their own life in tents and home made sheds like they always had. Half of the houses are empty and the area is not finished and looks like some sort of ghost town.
		Third stop was a camel ride to the Blue Hole.One of the myths about camels is that the camel stores water in its hump. The truth is the hump is a fatty deposit that provides energy when food is scarce.The camel stores water in its blood stream. It’s capable of losing forty percent of its body’s weight before becoming distressed and is able to go five to seven days before having to drink. The amount it drinks can add up to 80 l. in about 10 minutes.The camel’s mouth is tough and rubbery so that thorns and branches won’t damage it. The thirty-four sharp teeth allow it to bite off tough bites of almost anything, and when forage is short a camel can subsist on meats, skin and bones. Camels have three stomachs. They don’t chew their food but eat by swallowing their food whole and allowing it to be partially digested by the stomachs before being chewed as a cud later.
		The Blue Hole is a very special place. I thought it was out in the sea but no, it’s just a couple of meters off the beach. A coral reef formed as a circle with a 120 meter hole in the middle.In the middle there is a rope across where free divers train and try to get as deep as possible. Some succed some doesn’t. On the cliff wall there are signs with the names of the ones that didn’t come up again and is still lying on the bottom of the hole. It’s has the nickname “Diver’s Cemetery”.We passed the signs and walked around the cliff on the image. There we started the snorkel tour. Ended with circle the Blue Hole and on the right side there is a underwater plateau that was beautiful.
		Last stop on this adventures day was The 3 Pools just out side Dahab. also here the reef was just of the beach. One of our favorites was the “tower corals”. Highrise coral reef sticking up from the bottom. Lots of activity and fantastic colors.
		Thursday we went on a snorkel/diving boat trip with Colona Divers. Leaving early in the morning to Sharks Bay were we entered the boat that should take us out to 3 different reefs in the Tiran straight.This image is from Gordon reef where this russian ship collided with the reef some 11 years ago coz the captain had too much vodka.We also visited Jackson reef and Raz Gamilla. At the last one we had a drift snorkel tour that was a fantastic experience. We jumped from the boat at one end of the reef while the boat still was drifting. The current took us floating along the reef for an hour and all we had to do was to “steer” so we didn’t hit the reef. We saw Barracuda, free swimming Moray eel (apparently very unusual), giant Puffer fish and lots of other fish.

View the photo gallery on Picasa Web

Video from the Jeep Safari

Slide show

Great Barrier Reef

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The technicolor Garden of Eden. This seaward barrier which stretches along the northeastern coast of Australia is the largest complex of coral reefs in the world. It has more than 2.900 individual reefs and about 900 ilands, including small, bare sand cays and many continental islands. It covers an area half the size of Texas.
(Visit 1989)

400 types of coral. Photo: IngO

The Reef is home of an astonishing diversity and abundance of life forms. there are about 400 different types of hard and soft corals, about 4.000 molluscs (clams, snails and their kin), and thousands of different sponges, worms, crustaceans (crabs, shrimps and their relatives), echinoderms (starfish, sea urchins, sea cucumbers and their relatives) and other, less familiar, creatures. This immense variety of invertebrate life forms provides a backdrop to some 1.500 species of fish of all descriptions.

Whitetip Reefshark. Photo: IngO

The Reef is also the breeding area for a number of rare and endangered animal species. Humpback whales come from Antarctic to give birth to their young in Reef waters. Six of the world’s seven species of sea turtle breed on the Reef, and dugong (manatees) make thier home among the sheltered seagrass beds.
For some people the Great Barrier Reef is their livelihood. Reef waters, which support an abundance of fish and seafood, sustain an important commercial fishing industry in Queensland.

The Reef region is one of Australia’s major tourist destinations. The advent of high-speed, large-capacity catamarans now provides tourists with access to areas of the Reef which were once only visited by a privileged few. Whether snorkeling, diving or catching a fish for the family table, the Reef is a marvellous place for recreation.

Magnetic Island, one of 900. Photo: Vibe

Golden Plover. Photo: Vibe

For shipping or pleasure craft, the Great Barrier Reef can be a formidable obstacle to navigation. In most places the Reef is many kilometres from the coast, but the waters within the outer barrier are also studded with submerged shoals and reefs. Added to this are strong trade winds and occasional cyclones which are characteristic of the region. Sailing the Barrier Reef is often a test of navigational skill.

To scientists, the Reef is a place of never- ending fascination. They study its weather, its water currents, its geology, its chemistry and its plants and animals, in an attempt to discover how this amazing system works.