Greenland gave us four days of enormous landscapes, drifting icebergs, wildlife, and one very special celestial event. Our first stop was Hurry Inlet and the Milano Glacier, part of Greenland’s magnificent East Coast fjord system – the largest in the world. We went ashore by Zodiac in the morning and set off across the tundra…
Svalbard: Where the Arctic Gets Wild
Leaving Oslo, we joined our tour group and boarded a charter flight to Longyearbyen, Svalbard, where we would begin our Scenic expedition cruise. Longyearbyen isn’t a big town, but it’s big enough for its roughly 2,500 year-round residents. We visited the town’s excellent little museum, did the obligatory souvenir shopping, and then headed to the…
Oslo: Where Vikings Meet Modern Design
Our journey to Oslo couldn’t have gone much more smoothly. We arrived with all of our luggage intact – always a great way to start a trip! As soon as we reached our hotel, we noticed something lively happening in the park across the street. It turned out to be an African Food Festival. The…
Northern Ireland: Dark Hedges, Giant Rocks and a Not-Quite-Black Cab
After exploring Dublin and the ancient passage tombs of Newgrange and Knowth, we continued north, crossed the border from Ireland into Northern Ireland and began the next chapter of our journey. Our first stop was Murlough National Nature Reserve, where we took a short hike through the dunes to the beach. It was pleasant enough,…
Ireland: Castles, Cliffs, Ancient Tombs – and One Very Long Road Home
We left Mongolia and made a beeline for the Emerald Isle. We had never been to Ireland before, and besides, it was on the way home. Admittedly, almost anywhere is “on the way home” if you are willing to draw a sufficiently creative line across a map. Dublin Our Irish adventure began with several days…
Mongolia: Pallas’s Cats and Life on the Steppe
Thirty hours after leaving home, we finally arrived in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. After checking into our hotel, we made the obligatory stop at an ATM, picked up a few snacks, enjoyed our first Mongolian meal – tsuivan, a delicious stir-fry of beef, cabbage, onions, and carrots – and promptly called it a night. The next morning…