Andrew and Cath's Grand Adventures

Category: Northern Lights

  • Two full days in Paris

    —

    by

    Andrew Reilly
    in

    On Saturday we revisited some of our favourite places in Paris. We ate ice creams from Bertillion on Isle St Louis, wandering back and forth across the Seine. Then we struck south a little in the St Germain area to find an oyster bar/restaurant that Cath had read good things about: Le Huitery. They don’t…

  • Arrived safely at the hotel in Stockholm

    —

    by

    Andrew Reilly
    in ,

    I’m afraid we were having too much fun in Amsterdam to do much blogging, although there are some good stories to tell. I’ll post photos and tales ASAP. For now just a quick note that after getting up really early (six!) this morning, it’s now ten to three and I’ve connected to the hotel Wi-Fi.…

  • Remembering Stockholm

    —

    by

    Andrew Reilly
    in ,

    Written on the train from Stockholm, more on which in another post. Stockholm was lovely. No actual snow, although the forecast did threaten a light fall at one stage, it must have happened somewhere else. I made good use of my heavy Norona jacket, but that was about it. Normal shoes and jeans, interchanging between…

  • Abisko, eventually

    —

    by

    Andrew Reilly
    in ,

    In our last installment, we were safely aboard the train to Abisko, and getting ready to bunk down in our sleeper carriage. So far so good… Things started to get a bit weird when we were woken by a previously unnoticed alarm mechanism at about ten to six. Since our change at Kiruna wasn’t due…

  • More Abisko adventures

    —

    by

    Andrew Reilly
    in ,

    Yesterday we went on a guided snow shoe hike that took up almost all of the daylight hours (about four: ten to a bit after two.) Easier going and more enjoyable than either of us expected, although I learned that puffing and panting when going up hill leads to fogging and then icing of glasses.…

  • Remembering Amsterdam from Abisko

    —

    by

    Catherine Reilly
    in ,

    According to google, Abisko is about 2,000km from Amsterdam as the crow flies. For some reason, it seems a lot further. We took the fast train from Paris as planned, arriving in Amsterdam exactly when the timetable said we would – which was a bit of a relief, as the notice board at Gare du…

  • Paris of the North

    —

    by

    Catherine Reilly
    in ,

    We arrived in Tromsø on Tuesday evening, just before 20:00, having changed from the train from Abisko at Narvik – meaning we’d been on or waiting for transport since midday. Luckily, our hotel was 50 metres from the bus stop, so we checked in, had dinner and fell into bed. The hotel – Clarion’s The…

  • Loving Lyngen

    —

    by

    Catherine Reilly
    in ,

    Friday, 19 December from Olderdalen, Norway. Arrived at the Lodge in the dark at about 17:00 yesterday, having caught sight of the first, faint aurora activity from the second ferry leg of the journey from Tromsø at about 16:30. The place is very swish – bedrooms are smallish but comfortable and stylish, there are a…

  • Solstice lights and back to Tromsø

    —

    by

    Catherine Reilly
    in ,

    Yesterday was the shortest day of the year – or, more appropriately in the Arctic Circle, the longest night of the year. We went out with one of the Lodge owners – Graham – on the Spirit of Lyngen, a twin diesel power boat, visiting the historic fishing village of Havness and the fjord. Not…

  • Back in the arms (tentacles?) of the internet

    —

    by

    Andrew Reilly
    in ,

    Bit of a no news day today, but the good part is that after dragging our uselessly wheeled luggage through the snow for five minutes this morning, the hotel in Trondheim (Clarion) had a room ready for us before nine o’clock. So we checked in to our really very nice room, established internet connectivity and…