Seeing all the sites

Posted on by helenhmk

Did you know it’s possible to see all popular sites in London in an hour? Yes it’s possible – but you need a bike.  

We cycled back to our hotel from the V&A after seeing the fashion exhibition from Spanish couturier Cristóbal Balenciaga (Vivienne you would of loved it!), and an exhibition on plywood (yes – you read that right).

London

London

I’m not saying any of the following photos are great – but you great a sense of what we saw in short space of time of back to our hotel.  Along the way we cycled the “super highway” and it was totally awesome… cycling at a relatively fast pace with rest of Londoners cycling at end of day, on lanes which are only for bikes. There are so many people using these routes, you really get a sense of the large cycling community in London.

Outside V&A

London

Harrods…

London

London

Harvey Nicholls…

London

Wellington Arch

London

Buckingham Palace 

London

The Mall

London

Trafalgar Square 

London

And afterwards along the Themes (so no photos- going way to fast!)

It was one of the best days on the Brompton ever – and makes me really pleased we’ve brought them with us.so yes… carry down the flight of stairs was worth it!

London

Wet day in Trondheim 

Posted on by helenhmk

Yes… it’s very wet. But thankfully there are good coffee shops.

Trondheim

We cycled up to this-

Trondheim

…and there was a good view of what we could see.

Trondheim

Went in this fabulous world’s most northernmost gothic church

Trondheim

Now it’s on to dinner..  and then London!

It’s summer….

Posted on by helenhmk

Yes folks we’re here in Norway. It’s summer, and it’s due to be 13 degrees today.  There is a huge band moving to the east and.. that explains why we feel instantly back home in winter.  But it’s still beautiful in the rain, and as you can see we are still cycling…

Bakklandet Cafe Soil

Stockholm

Posted on by helenhmk

One of the first on the to do list was to visit the Stockholm Stadsbibliotek.  We ride our bikes there. Despite being a short distance the streets were packed with people and the bike lanes were not as good as Poland (well at least what we saw at the beginning of our time there). 

The library is a very impressive structure for being built in 1928.

Stockholm Public Library

Stockholm Public Library

Although, they do appear to make money from people using the toilets. Can’t say I had thought about that from of income stream myself. However given it’s on the list of places to visit I probably shouldn’t be surprised.  But I will give them credit, as it was very easy to use!

Stockholm Public Library

The collection did have some amazingly old books- found one from 1957… perhaps a good weed is in order.

Stockholm Public Library

Stockholm Public Library

Stockholm Public Library

Stockholm

Posted on by kymdt

I thought is should share some water shots for Stockholm. After all, 30% of Stockholms area is made up of waterways.

Another 30% is made up of green space. Perhaps, like Sydney, that is why the road and bike infrastructure feels squeezed in. Despite its hills and cold weather the bike infrastructure is well used  – especially during peak hour. There is a genuine rush on the way home. It feels like there more bikes than cars. But, as usual cars take up too much space and there is smattering of Swedish bogans with loud cars who think cities are good places to show off.

Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm

These photos were taken from a pleasant boat trip around the archipelago.

Flying Elk..

Posted on by helenhmk

Tonight’s dinner was had at the Flying Elk. First up as a snack was truffled popcorn – oh this was good).

https://flic.kr/p/Xdevf5

Second dish was scallops with scrambled eggs, and truffles.

Stockholm

Kym had the schnitzel (yes you read that right – it is a gastronomic pub) and I had the fish with kohlrabi (which was pickled and cooked) and bacon.

Stockholm

Stockholm

… and dessert I had lemon tart with sorbet and Kym enjoyed eton mess.

Stockholm

Stockholm

A very enjoyable meal!

You could buy the book by the chef – but it’s in Swedish. Thankfully, we cycled here – but I think we should be doing more!

Stockholm

Rent…

Posted on by helenhmk

This is a coffee you have when you are waiting for a train.  The train leaves at 11:44pm…. so sitting in the foyer of the hotel we stayed in requires us to have something, so coffee it was.

Stockholm

Strangely enough their is a track playing which combines the A-ha hit from the 80s ‘take on me’ and ‘happy’ by Pharell Williams… bizarre.  Only a couple of hours to go!