Bohemian Rhapsody

Freddie Mercury asked the questions “Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?” and that is exactly how Deb & I feel as we have been living this adventure for the last 4 years. 

Now back on mainland Norway we headed south through some amazing landscapes heading once more for the Fjordlands.

Getting up real close & personal to a black glacier.

No matter how many of these stave churches we saw we couldn’t help taking many pictures while we walked around admiring the different angles.

Arriving back in Oslo it was time to pick up the first of our guests, my cousin Renee, who would join our circus for a ride to Berlin.

Whilst in Sweden we have picked up a taste for Smørrebrød, usually a small slice of rye or black bread with a selection of cold cuts, meat or fish with garnish.  Definitely looking forward to more of this when we setup home next year.

Between the Norwegian border and Gothenburg there is an archipelago with some delightful little villages and sunny waterways which we took a few days to explore.

Once more in Copenhagen we found a few places we had not previously seen as well as revisiting a few favourites to show Renee.

Taking our last ferry to Rostock we were finally back on mainland Europe en-route to Berlin.

As we visited most of the Berlin tourist spots last year this time we spent more time on social activities.  We went with Renee to a show before saying auf wiedersehen as she continued her adventure on her own and then we welcomed Deb’s brother Robert and his wife Vivian.

First of all we caught up with Fokko, our greeter from the last visit, at a pub venue with a good jazz blues band. Then after some art galleries and museums it was back out to a show with Zenaida.  It was called ‘the Grand Show’ and it was certainly that, think Cirque du Soleil meets Moulin Rouge – with costumes by Jean-Paul Gaultier.

With Berlin behind us we entered the Czech Republic anticipating new sights and sounds and we were not disappointed.

So far the countryside had been amongst the nicest we have seen in central Europe so when we reached Prague we were excited to find that even though a capital city it was warm & welcoming with plenty to do.  Our first day involved a food tour which took us to around 6 different locations trying the local delicacies and a wine tasting.

The 2nd day we covered the Vysehrad district with it’s splendid Art Nouveau architecture.

In return for my new 28-70mm lens which the in-laws carried from Oz for me I promised to attend the ballet….finally found a cure for insomnia.

Apart from the marvelous architecture of the Spanish Synagogue we were also able to attend a wonderful evening of classical music and song as well as some Gershwin.

On the 3rd day Mark & Ruth joined us for tours of the Jewish Quarter and strolls around the castle hill and west bank.

As the Manchester cousins could only stay for the weekend we bade them farewell and the party then headed south to explore the rest of Bohemia.

Filled to the brim with fine food and culture, Karlstejn was where Bobo & Viv left for home and we were once again on our own with Normie getting ready for our last advance on a European capital, Vienna.

BTW we are just 6 weeks away from returning to the UK and handing Normie over to his new lucky owner, if you would like that to be you please contact us soon. If you are not quite ready storage until next european summer can be provided.