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It is November 2nd. It is the day after Darryl's birthday and Melbourne Cup. We are starting to think about Christmas at the Treehouse and I have wanted to sit down at the computer and finish the blog so I can have it printed in time for Christmas.
Rarely does a week go by that I don't think about this amazing trip. It has been a conversation starter many times and stories from the trip have been used to cheer us up, slow us down and even boost our moral on the darker days we all have.
This will be the last entry. I have fixed up a few glitches in the blog, but also removed the email notifications so this entry will only been seen in the final book or by people going online to read the blog.
I wanted to finish off the blog with my thoughts and favourite memories of the trip. In no particular order of importance but more chronological
From sitting in my place at Macmasters Beach over a year ago and watching Eurovision with the Coastie Dudes I think then I decided to go to Stockholm after Sweden won. I thought it is possible. At tis stage I had not met Chris and Darryl had only just relocated back to the Central Coast.
Since that decision I have moved house, become engaged to my partner Chris, celebrated my parent's 50th Wedding anniversary, taught Chris to snow ski, indoor rock climb and eat sushi.
Darryl Chris and I share a house in Terrigal and after surprising Darryl with tickets to join us for part of the trip we made RoChDa 2016. A play on the first 2 letters of each of our names. RoChDa started life as a fun title for this blog but grew into strength for the three of us. We use the word as a bond for adventures or us. It will always mean more than a holiday.
Chris and I left first on the trip. The overwhelming joy in Chris's face sitting on the train from Gosford knowing he was about to travel to the other side of the world for the trip of a life time. We had been together now for about 8 month and his had been through the biggest learning curve. Then after the long haul via Doha we arrived in London.
London: For me, riding the tube into Earls Court. There is a smell in England. It is the cold lush countryside combined with stone. This is an old country that I love and feel completely at home and comfortable in. Walking Chris around the city and meeting up with Adele for dinner was the best fun. It was the quickest trip as we only had 24 hours. It was originally a stop over for me and I never thought I would be travelling with anyone else otherwise I would have planned more time there.
Iceland: A country on a huge active volcano has got to be worth a look. It was worth every minute. The Blue Lagoon thermal lakes. Sipping wine and beer and wallowing in the pools. Then a morning riding Viking Horses through the mountains. Yep 14 hands high make them a horse but they felt like a sewing machine. Onto a bus and putting up with the loud mouthed obnoxious British women behind us while we spend a few hours travelling to the Gulfs falls and Geyser and the rift between the continents. It was worth it. The commentary on the way back to Reykjavik was nauseating torture. Hour after hour of Icelandic sagas badly translate into English being read from a book by a guide whose English reading skills were not the best.
Norway: Another quick stop but a great surprise. A mayday parade through Oslo that we followed and found ourselves at the royal palace and having our first wine café drinks in the town square. Oslo was a great surprise and worth more time than the day we had as a jumping off point for mainland Scandinavia.
Sweden Pt 1: The train ride from Oslo to Gothenburg stopping for several hours in ED somewhere in the Swedish Ikea forested back waters. Then a late arrival in Gothenburg, no drama there was very little to do here. Gothenburg looked like a great city to live in but not really attractive for sight seeing. Then the train to Stockholm and 2 night staying on a boat in the harbour. This was one of the nicest accommodations and watching Chris cook dinner in the YHA kitchen while I sat lazily on the window ledge drinking red wine was a great memory. This is where we discovered our original accommodation for the Eurovision days had fallen through and there was a bit of panic. But after some stressful phone calls to the travel agent, alternate accommodation was found.
Finland: This was a great surprise. I love every part of it. The Baltic ferry across the Swedish archipelago to the Aland Islands then into the Turku archipelago and Turku itself. Another night on a boat YHA. My favourite memory was riding yellow bikes around the city. Chris seeing his first medieval castle then the world most dangerous right hand turn and watch Chris pleasantly riding down the wrong side of the road through the middle of Turku. This would not be the last time we got our left and rights confused.
Train to Helsinki for a couple of relaxing days catching up on washing. This was perhaps the worst YHA for cleanliness, but we did start a very nice beer glass collection here for all our hard work cleaning. For the record, we paid for all the other collected glasses. But Helsinki was another great surprise and a great city to ride trams around. Ferried across the harbour to the fortress island and wandered a great harbour side market selling the most delicious custard fill sweet pastries. I love just picking something interesting at a stall with no idea what it will taste like.
Roveniami was one of the highlight of the trip which Chris and I planned together after he decided to come with me. The Santa village and crossing the Artic circle felt like a real accomplishment for people in the southern hemisphere. A great train trip p through Finland. But 17 degrees and no snow. This was both disappointing and entertaining. Seeing an artic hare, cooking waffles for breakfast, meeting Santa and see beers and moose in the Zoo were the highlights. Finland really was one great day after another. Overnight sleeper train back to Helsinki after a great 3 days. The cabin was all green to match the trains.
Estonia: A day trip over the Helsinki straights to Tallinn is the normal way to see Tallinn. What a waste. We took 2 days in the city and wished for so much more. Estonia, like the other Baltic countries had a fairly non violent take over by USSR sp there was not the destruction see in Poland after the war. Tallinn is phenomenally beautiful. The perfect example of everything Eastern Europe has to offer. Stunning building everywhere, cobbled streets, walls, castle, carriages, and the best city centre for relaxing in and eating and drinking and watching the world go by. This is exactly what Chris and I did. It was warm and sunny and picture postcard days.
Sweden Pt 2: Flying from Tallinn back to Stockholm to meet Darryl who was flying from Australia to Sweden via Zurich. This is really the start of Part 2 of the RoChDa adventure as all three of us are together. Darryl was very chatting and very excited and very jet lagged and walked out through customs via the female toilet before he realised it and forgot we were meeting at the baggage claim. Never mind, we found each other easily and began our Adventure II. We had 4 days here in Stockholm for sight seeing and most importantly seeing the Grand Final of Eurovision. We soaked up the entire atmosphere, visited Gamla Stan, the palace, road ferries, ate cheese and drank beer. Highlights were the ABBA museum which was over the top brilliant and the Vasa ship museum next door. Equally interesting in its own way. I would like to maybe visit Stockholm again without all the Eurovision excitment. I actually found it the most disappointing city of the trip, but I expect it would be like seeing London during the Olympics in 2012. It's not the normal experience. It is a beautiful city but almost trapped in it own efficiency.
Denmark: Copenhagen is a mew city with a lot of modern building going up quickly. After we finally found the old Nyhavn area things improved. I will remember Denmark for Helsingor and the Kronborg Castle where Shakespeare set Hamlet. This was worth the trip out to the north of the country and was a stunningly beautiful building. It is well worth its world heritage listing. Copenhagen was a rest day fro RoChDa and we needed it after the travel and excitement of Eurovision. The YHA was great and really clean and well organised.
Germany: The train trip was made special by the boat. The train rolled directly onto a Baltic Ferry to cross from Denmark to Germany. No food in served on the train before the ferry as the German owned ferry wants people to eat during the crossing so don't serve food while on Danish soil. So Darryl was glad he got to experience a Baltic Ferry as the crossing took about an hour. Then back onto the train and off the boat.
Hamburg was the first stop in Germany. Here for one reason and that was Minitur Wunderland. This is Hamburg's 2nd biggest tourist attraction. A massive model railway built into a huge warehouse. It has more staff than the Hamburg's real railway. It is hard to describe the pleasure and fascination this place had, but it was worth every second we spent their and the stopover in Hamburg.
Off to Berlin and time to wander the streets looking at the building and the history of this amazing city. I loved Berlin. The silence at the Wall, the farcical nature of Check Point Charlie, the Christmas shop and the strudel and beers.
Bali: A tropical stop over to clear the jet lag. Sitting by the pool and seeing a few sights.
The trip has meant the world to me. My relationship with Chris has cemented and I look forward to the rest of my life with him. This was the event in my life that lifted me out of depression and the previous years of my failed marriage and coming to terms with my sexuality. I see this as the event that is the catalyst to starting
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