Oslo (Norway) - 10th to 12th of June 2010

The trip from Gudvangen to Oslo was always going to be a highlight. First up, a two hour ferry through the Fjords to Flam.Flam meets the railway line that climbs up to Myrdal, 866m above sea level. It took 20 years to build and includes 20 tunnels, and was an awesome ride.
Its the only train ride we've been on that actually stops for you to take photos. Not surprising with this fall...
Myrdal is on the mainline train route to Oslo. Not that that stopped the camera getting a workout. The route is deemed to be one of the best in the world, and we don't disagree.
We finally made it to Oslo at about 10.30pm, for a walk to our hostel with still plenty of daylight around. Its been getting dark around midnight, and from what we can tell the sun gets up again about 3am - weird!

Friday was a full day in Oslo, a little bit miserable with rain but we braved it, and ticked off the Fortress, the Armed Forces Museum, a ferry across to the Viking Museum, a walk through the sculpture park, the City Museum and past the Royal Palace. All in a days work.

Gudvangen (Norway) - 8th to 10th of June 2010

An hour train inland from Bergen is Voss, a pretty little town situated next to a glassy lake that looked very inviting in the sunshine. Until we felt the water that is. We spent some time enjoying the sun reading our books waiting for our bus to Gudvangen.
Gateway to the Fjords, Gudvangen is so small that it doesn't even warrant a paragraph in our lonely planet. Its 45 minutes downhill from Voss, and arguable the best bus ride we've been on, past waterfalls, rapids and lakes, all with snowcapped mountains in the background.
We stayed in a cute little cabin at the camp ground, the only way to save some money in expensive Norway. Not a bad view though... Starting off our trip taking it a bit easy, we had two nights in Gudvangen, so with nothing really to do in Gudvangen itself, we spent the day in between walking a path along the Fjord to the next village. An absolutely amazing day with superb views, perfect for a picnic.
Looking back towards Gudvangen...

Bergen (Norway) - 7th to 8th of June 2010

First stop on our two month detour to Dubai was Bergen. On the west coast of Norway it is Norway's second largest city, and an amazing place to start our adventure. A nice port town with a few sights, we had time after our morning flight for a wander around the fish markets, the old buildings, and a trip up the funicular for views over the city and harbour.

South Wales - 29th to 31st of May 2010

Someone should really tell the guys in power that two bank holidays in May is a little bit silly. But nevermind, despite all the packing and cleaning still to do in Putney, we were going to make the most of it - and so were up early on Saturday to hire a car and off we went to Wales.

Because it was on the way, and so why not, we stopped in at Bristol. Small fact for you, there are 34 other places on earth named Bristol. Isn't Wikipedia amazing?

But on to Cardiff, where our luxury accommodation awaited us, just in time to see the two attractions. First up Cardiff Castle, on a spot where there has been a castle or fort since 55AD.

Rounding off our sightseeing before a much needed beer, we hit Millennium Stadium for the last tour of the day, built to hold the 1999 rugby world cup. I forget who won that year...

Having had a few beers and a couple of wines experiencing the wildness that is Cardiff on a Saturday night, we were feeling surprisingly chipper on Sunday and so headed further west along the Southern coast of Wales. Stopped in Swansea for a look at their harbour...

...stopped in Kidwelly for a snap of their pretty castle, followed by a stop in Carmarthen for a great Sunday roast. It just happened that they were showing the F1...
But unquestionably the highlight of the day was the half hour spent sunning ourselves on Tenby's excellent (for the UK) beach, overlooked by a very pretty and colourful old harbour. By mid-afternoon the sun was out, and we made the most of it.
But we had more driving to do before we could call it a day, and so we went west until you could go west no more, ending up in a little B&B just outside Fishguard. There were more castles on the way, this one Carew Castle.
Bank holiday Monday and with a long drive back to London in front of us we hit the road back along the coast, stopping for some decent pics of south Wales.

On the way home we stopped in at St David's, with a population of 1797 the smallest "city" in the UK, awarded such lofty title due to its Cathedral. And a pretty decent cathedral it is too..

Trying to find some scenery to match the stunning views were had seen in Scotland earlier in the month, we made our way back to London via the Brecon Beacons, a national park just north of Cardiff. Very nice, but Scotland is going to take some beating.

Southwest Ireland - 6th to 9th of May 2010

Only a one hour delay on route from Edinburgh to Galway on the west coast of Ireland, lucky in that the previous day all flights had been cancelled due to ash. So we had time for a pint and a yummy dinner in Galway town.

Friday morning walking through Galway, a nice enough town, nothing too spectacular.
Back on the road again and into castle spotting Irish style...
Around the coast to the cliffs of Moher, one of Ireland's key tourist attractions. Quote of the day from Ange - "So what is so special about these cliffs?". Exactly.
We spent an hour or so walking through Limerick before holing up in a little B&B for the night.
Saturday was driving the Ring of Kerry, one of Ireland's great coastal roads. Certainly a nice road although far from the spectacular sights in Scotland.
Ange with our sexy Scoda - our free "upgrade".
Things picked up though as we got close to Killarney and entered the national park.
Muckross House in the middle of the national park - donated to the people of Ireland in the '20s.
Keen for some more fresh-air time after nearly a week in the car, we wandered along the banks of the Lough to the Muckross Abbey.
Our final night on tour was in Killarney, easily the best town we'd come across on our little visit to Ireland. Even managed to find a good pub to have a Guinness or two. But back into castle spotting Sunday morning, this one in an awesome location, Ross Castle
Ticking off another of Ireland's key tourist destinations, Blarney Castle. Aside from kissing a scungy looking stone which we politely declined, Blarney is actually a great castle set in some beautiful grounds.Blarney is just outside the city of Cork, another town that didn't warrant a heap of photos. We did stop in at the old City Gaol for a quick insight into prison life in the 19th century.
We were flying out of Cork Airport, but we had a few hours to kill beforehand, so we drove down to Kinsale on the south coast of Ireland for a few hours in the sun at the nearby fort and some awesome fish and chips on the beach.