Blogs from Europe - page 10058

Dad and I are definitely getting better at this traveling-by-the-seat-of-our-pants thing. We are in the most beautiful place on earth. I won't write much, but let the pictures tell the story of our lovely day. We left St. Dizier and headed for Nancy, breezed through Nancy to what looked like a smaller town, Epinal. It was a bustling town, people everywhere. And it still had the ancient feel of so much of this region, but was obviously a modern city with an extensive shopping district and many museums. On our way out of town, I consulted "Betty" (Our GPS) for places of interest in the area and she pointed us toward a chateau. Outside the city were these remains of some castle that was virtually deserted. It had a park around it but no real explanation ... read more

Between lectures and last minute arrangements for our departure, we were given the option to go back to the Bodleian to see some books that were kept more for their valuable and artistic binding than for the subject matter within. Only a handful of us went to see the beautiful books. Many of the books were decorated with gold leaf pressed into their leather bindings, but there were several methods of creating these intricate designs we were told. Colored pieces of leather could either be inlayed or onlayed into the cover of a book. Inlaying these pieces meant that they were layered under the outside piece which was cut away to reveal the color underneath. An onlayed design was when the piece of leather was cut to the design desired and pressed into the outside piece ... read more

MIROS-MATALA-AGIA GALINI-MONI PREVELI-RETHYMNO... read more

"Come, watch the tones of changing light From starlit days to sun-filled nights. Refreshed from Polar Night's calm sleep, With gentle sunrays, time I keep!" So reads the 24-hour sundial in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, a land of extremes. Located at 79 degrees north, Longyearbyen is well past the Arctic circle and holds claim to several 'northernmost' records. The town of 2000 formerly was dedicated to coal mining and research but tourism is quickly grabbing hold, with several hotels and restaurants opening the past few years. Svalbard is a Norwegian territory and may also be known by the name of Spitsbergen, Svalbard being the name for the archipelago and Spitsbergen the main island. Located only 900 miles from the North Pole, it is used as a staging point for polar expeditions. Although owned by Norway, there is a ... read more

22nd May 2008 - 9th July It’s best if I just start with a summary of our journey so far: Thursday 22nd May - Sunday 25th May Långedrag (Sweden) - Hartlepool Marina (England) Lars and I were going to meet relatives in Hartlepool, Lowestoft and Ramsgate. When we left Sweden we had 3 extra crew members who were going to sail with us over Kattegatt and the North Sea. They were Thomas Ohlsson, Sanna Ohlsson (Thomas’s daughter) and Birger Ericson. It took us 65 hours to cross from Sweden to England and sail into Hartlepool Marina. Nothing very exciting happened on the way. The sea was calm at the start, winds blowing just enough to sail and no one feeling sea-sick. We found out during our journey that we had forgotten to do two things before ... read more