This visit to Cambodia was very different to the last. This time I was on an Intrepid Real Food tour, and I got to visit a bunch of different places around the country.
Vilnius
The sightseeing bus transfer from Riga was amazing. Our guide, Laura, was charismatic and funny, telling us how great Lithuania is and how much we were going to love it! We started off with a couple of stops in Latvia: firstly the Salaspils Memorial which was on the place of a WWII labour camp. Lots of big marble here, and a continuing heartbeat to represent those that were stopped.
Continue readingRiga
The bus ride to Riga was under four hours, so we saw some countryside on the way through, mainly what looked like pine plantations edged by silver birches. As we got closer to Riga, we noticed lots of people foraging for wildflowers, which I didn’t realise at the time was specifically for the Midsummer celebration happening that night, where one of the traditions is to make flower crowns and decorate your house with flowers and foliage.
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Tallinn
The old town of Tallinn is gorgeous – I can see why so many people holiday here. The streets are cobblestoned and there’s not many cars, just people walking the streets and a few bikes/scooters here and there. It’s filled with bars, cafes and souvenir shops all selling amber, Estonia-emblazoned items and the occasional felted woolen hat or linen clothing, plus dotted with Medieval towers to add flavour.
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Helsinki
Helsinki is a beautiful place, and R hadn’t been there before so we decided that it would be a good place to stop into between Stockholm and the Baltic states. The ferry trip from Stockholm was uneventful even with the fog, and we slept well in our cabin. The breakfast that came with the Premium cabin was varied and delicious (and they had a dedicated GF stand at the buffet.)
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Stockholm
Stockholm was a random choice of next destination — we’d wanted to get to Helsinki and the Baltics, and then tried to use FF points for the flights, and the closest we could get was Stockholm, so here we are! I was here only two nights, but we packed a lot in.
Continue readingAthens visit
There was a bunch of stuff I didn’t have time to do last time I was in Athens, and sadly I didn’t tick off everything from my list this time either, but I did squeeze in a few important things. You can only get so much into three days!
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Thessaloniki (plus a day in Istanbul)
This trip I’m bouncing around a bit – starting in Greece and then heading to northern and eastern Europe to see some new places before ending in Istanbul.
Continue readingThe West Coast of NZ and Central Otago
Not having been to the West Coast region, I decided to spend a few days in Franz Josef village and then head back up to Hokitika. It’s pretty tricky to do this by public transport, so I ended up hiring a car from Rad Car Hire who gave me the car at Hokitika airport and I dropped it back there on my way out, four days later. After driving my electric car for a few months it was strange driving a petrol one again, but I managed.
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Christchurch
The train ride down from Blenheim was lovely – beautiful scenery from vineyards to rolling hills to rocky coastline. Luckily it wasn’t too busy either so I had a double seat to myself.
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Two Weeks Away 