we're in warsaw! and we have just spent about 2 hours booking and unbooking things when we realised that infact countries are quite far apart. Really, i think our lives would be much simpler if places would just move a little bit nearer to each other when we wanted to use the train. However, we have now managed to finalise (i use the term loosely) a hostel in prague, a campsite in vienna and a hostel in salzburg so at least the sound of music excursion is safe! so rant over and back to today... it was sunny today! we found the old town in warsaw (eventually) and wandered around the pretty buildings before eating pierogi (which is not pigeon but a polish thing like ravioli made of pastry or dumplings depending on what you have ... read more

We dont have long so this will be very brief! We are in Helsinki, Finland. We arrived here today by BOAT! We crossed here overnight from Stockholm which was awesome and very exciting! There were pretty cocktails and beds that came out of the walls. We had our own little cabin which was great fun. We also found koppaberg in duty free for silly cheap prices and brought enough to last us till Poland. There were new flavours, peach, sweet apple, and others which were really nice. The hostel we are stopping in has a sauna, yet does not offer breakfast which makes us sad because we have come to enjoy breakfast. Which we also call lunch. We have had some awesome food here. We spent an hour discussing which was our favourite meal. This evening ... read more

Back in Oslo for the night after having camped in a field of clouds opposite a snow covered mountain. It was cold but pretty! Walked into town which we were informed was mere 5km stroll...hmmm maybe not. it was miiiiiiiiiiles! at least 8km i rekon. We caught the bus back which was our first successful bus journey (don't ask...). The showers cost a lot of money so we couldnt indulge whilst on the site so have since had the best shower EVER since getting back. The sun never set in Rjukan either so it was rather difficult to sleep in a tent where our brains reasoned that it was always day time but at least it was quiet...except for the noisy elks (yes, elks...definately not cows as we first thought!) Have just eaten real food for ... read more

Well we made it without any major issues, except for trying to take tent pegs through security. Yeah, in hindsight it was a silly idea which seemed smart at the time. Yeah don't ask. We arrives in lovely Oslo. Its full of fir trees and water and is lovely. Were staying in a place called Stabekk about twenty minutes from Oslo. The staff and locals have been amazing to us ignorant english. It seems to be constantly daytime, its 11pm here and still like daytime. See why its called the land of midnight sun. Tomorrow were moving to a campsite in Rjukan, which is described as 'romantic' and sounds lovely. Shall update this when we can, after camping I suspect. Sarah S xx... read more

So, we leave on Sunday for our huge adventure on which we hope not to get lost and to gain a lot of cultural insight. Or something like that anyway! So far, we have practised camping in Borth, both broken our bungee cords and made a lot of lists of things which we really NEED to do while we're there (which we will no doubt forget to take with us). We have a kettle so we can make tea so Sarah S will manage to survive for a day or two at least. Ummm I think that's all the important stuff so far...As long as we remember to leave we should be ok :) Will keep you upblogged! hehe. Sarah B xxx ... read more