http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Arwen-a-la-monde/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Arwen a la monde en-us Sat, 25 May 2013 22:51:51 +0000 Sat, 25 May 2013 22:51:51 +0000 Spanish Summit ChallengeThe Challenge Climb to the Peak of MulhacnThe Ascent 2200m The Summit 3482m The Charity Shooting Star Children's' HospiceIn late September I flew to Spain with a group from work to undertake another charity hiking challenge. The previous one was in the highlands of Scotland a year ago. The challenge this time was to trek to the top of Mulhacn the highest mo http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/Sierra-Nevada/blog-438457.html My birthday falls conveniently during the last bank holiday weekend of the summer and as this year was the big 30 a fun weekend away was warranted as if I ever need an excuse to plan a trip with friends.Krakow was a random but as it turns out inspired choice. It was the perfect combination of beautiful historic charming and inexpensive. Nine friends and I spent three days exploring this e http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Poland/Lesser-Poland/Krakow/blog-432800.html The Edinburgh Festival combined with the Fringe Festival which has grown up around it is a world famous performing arts festival which showcases the best in stand up comedy theatre music and more. I caught the last weekend of the festival with a group of friends from London thanks to Simon for organizing such a brilliant weekend and we had a cracking time. The atmosphere in Edinburgh duri http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/Scotland/Midlothian/Edinburgh/blog-431531.html My dear friend Hannah who I've known for the better part of a decade is leaving Europe. She's been living just outside Cologne for the past year and she spent a couple of years in Brussels and was studying in Frankfurt before that with a lot of time spent in Africa in between so moving back to the U.S. is a big change for her. As her departure date neared Hannah planned one last blowout w http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/North-Rhine-Westphalia/Cologne/blog-420129.html The best thing about working on Russian deals is making friends who are willing to show me around their beautiful and fascinating country. Trips to Moscow and St. Petersburg were a great start but last weekend we went further off the beaten path to visit the relatives of a friend in the remote Caucasus Mountains as far west and south as you can go in Russia before reaching Chechnya and the Georgi http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/South/Caucasus/Mt-Elbrus/blog-409527.html Ten years ago during the summer of 1999 I made my first trip to Paris. I have been back many times since then but this trip marked my first return to the most famous of Parisian landmarks the Eiffel Tower. Last Saturday morning Malinda and I made our way over to the 7th arrondissement and half climbed half rode up to the highest viewing platform. We were rewarded with gorgeous views of Par http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-404395.html For the long Easter weekend a friend and I traveled to the least trumpeted of the Balearic Islands off the west coast of Spain Menorca. Menorca is Ibiza and Mallorca's small unassuming neighbor to the north. For a couple of friends looking to destress and unwind it was the perfect island getaway. We rented a car and spent four days crisscrossing the tiny isle familiarizing ourselves with its c http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Balearic-Islands/Minorca/blog-390662.html Beautiful town in the Italian Alps good italian food good friends much improved snowboarding a triumphant snow boarding weekendCourmayeur a quaint and tiny Italian ski town at the foot of Mont Blanc was the site of this year's ski trip. Last year when I went to Switzerland my snowboarding skills were fledgling at best. I had a patient and brilliant coach but still got frustr http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Aosta-Valley/Mont-Blanc/blog-385553.html My friend Garron whom you may remember from our travels together during the summer of 2006 and my visit to Rwanda in December 2007 has been living in Trinidad for the last year and invited a bunch of us to join him there for their biggest celebration of the year Carnival I used to automatically think of Rio de Janeiro and maybe New Orleans in connection with mardi gras celebrations but as http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Trinidad-and-Tobago/Trinidad/blog-378247.html When the cold dark London winter drags on for too long and the city begins to despair that the warmth and sun of spring will never come many people head for the airport and hop a flight to someplace far from the dreary English shores. I on the other hand spent last weekend somewhere even colder darker and snowier than London Moscow Perhaps not the most popular choice for a winter weekend http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Moscow/blog-372726.html In loving memory of my father Alan Joyce a linguist historian and fearless world traveler. The following are exerpts from emails he wrote and photos he took during his fifth and final Camino to Santiago de Compostela in Spain last spring.How to spend Good Friday in Oviedo 22 March 2008Dear Friends and FamilyI promised I'd write something about what these flinty Northerners do for Holy We http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Principality-of-Asturias/Oviedo/blog-358012.html La VilleLumiereWhen I first moved to London I thought I would take the Eurostar to Paris all the time. Two years later I finally made it I was so excited about the weekend that I was worried I was building the city up too much in my mind. I was afraid that the reality of Paris would never live up to the romance and beauty of the city I've been reliving in my memory for the last three years. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-334206.html Ich bin ein BerlinerWell not really but I did live there from 18 months to 5 years old. My family moved away in 1984 soon after my sister was born and then watched on TV with amazement and joy along with the rest of the world as the Wall came down in '89. Last weekend I both returned to this city and saw it for the first time. Berlin has changed so much in the last decade that I might not h http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Berlin/Berlin/blog-328734.html A Hike in the Scottish HighlandsLast weekend I went to the Scottish Highlands to hike across the Five Sisters of Kintail. The trip was organized as a charity fundraiser by one of my coworkers and so on Friday afternoon 22 of us flew up to Inverness and then drove two hours to Kintail. Kintail is not really a town as such but there is a charming bed and breakfast there on the picturesque shore http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/Scotland/The-Highlands/blog-321457.html ContisplageLast weekend I went to the wedding of two friends Congrats Lucy and Peter in Les Landes France. It was my first trip to Les Landes on the south western coast of France between Bordeaux and Biarritz. It is a beautiful area. As we drove south from Bordeaux the vineyards gave way to pine forests and finally we made it to Contisplage and the sea.The wedding itself was in a beautif http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/blog-318364.html Munich Add friends beer and voila A great birthday weekend.Step 1 Invite all your friendsTwo of my friends in London and I all have birthdays within a month of each other so we decided to combine forces and plan a weekend trip to Munich in midAugust to celebrate. We picked the city the hotel and some flights and then were so thrilled when 16 of our friends agreed to join us. We had a http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Bavaria/Munich/blog-315564.html I took two days off work to spend a long weekend in St. Petersburg Russia. It is the northernmost big city in the world and during the weeks around the summer solstice its residents celebrate the White Nights when there is almost perpetual sunlight. We were there a couple of weeks too late and so only had about 20 hours of daylight per day still not too shabby b http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/Northwest/Saint-Petersburg/blog-302470.html For an American kid summer means vacation the beach the 4th of July baseball hot dogs... and this summer I went back to the U.S. for two weeks to enjoy all that a good old fashioned U.S. summer vacation has to offer...Washington D.C.I started in D.C. to see my parents sister cousin Evy dear law school friends Scott Laura and Sharon work friends from my time at the Department of Defense http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/blog-298640.html For the second May bank holiday weekend I went north to beautiful Stockholm during the summer the sun never goes down for long and temperatures are warm and pleasant. I had been to Stockholm once before during the summer of 2006 and had such fond memories of that weekend that I couldn't wait to go back. Luckily the opportunity arose in the form of a football soccer tournament hosted by my la http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Sweden/Stockholm-County/Stockholm/blog-282439.html La Cte d'AzurFor the first bank holiday weekend of the summer four girlfriends and I planned a trip to the French Riviera. I have no idea why it took me so long to get back to France my last visit was to Paris in July 2005 but it was wonderful to be there again. The crepes the wine le fromage the shopping the sunshine and of course the glamour and beauty of the Cote d'Azur....magnifique http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Provence-Alpes-C-te-d-Azur/Antibes/blog-273198.html