Skip to content

I Am A Polar Bear

Travel, adventure & wellness with plenty of snow

  • Home
  • About Me
  • Travel
    • By country
      • Nordic & Scandinavian
        • Denmark
        • Finland
        • Iceland
        • Norway
          • Svalbard
        • Sweden
      • Western Europe
        • Belgium
        • France
        • Ireland
        • Italy
        • Netherlands
        • UK
          • Scotland
          • Wales
      • Central Europe
        • Austria
        • Germany
        • Hungary
        • Poland
        • Switzerland
      • Eastern Europe
        • Estonia
        • Georgia
        • Latvia
        • Lithuania
        • Romania
        • Russia
        • Ukraine
      • Mediterranean
        • Croatia
        • Cyprus
        • Malta
    • By type
      • Daycations
      • Weekends away
        • Cheese & Chocolate (2026)
        • Parc Asterix (2025)
        • Christmas in London (2025)
      • Road Trips
        • A Birthday On the Ring Road (2025)
        • Accidental Ring Road (2023)
        • The Quest for a Volcano (2022)
      • Train Adventures
        • The Original Spa (2025)
        • Great German Spa Towns (2025)
        • The Eras Train Tour (2024)
      • Short Breaks
        • The Romanian Do-Over (2025)
        • A Short Trip to Pula (2025)
        • Reykjavik in Black & White (2024)
      • Longer Trips
        • Traversing Cyprus & Georgia (2024)
        • The Russian Odyssey (2019)
        • The Laugavegur Diaries (2018)
      • Year Abroad
      • School Trips
    • Unique Places to Stay
  • Adventures
    • Water
    • Snow
    • Land
    • Height
    • Indoors
      • Girlguiding
  • Wellness
  • YouTube

Category: Weekends away

A weekend in Edinburgh

A weekend in Edinburgh

August 13, 2018

As you’ll know if you read What I saw at EdFringe 2018, I went to Edinburgh last weekend. I saw thirteen shows in three days, which is probably more than I saw in six days last year, and this is the post about the weekend in general. I flew up on the 8.35am flight from … More A weekend in Edinburgh

Leave a comment A weekend in Edinburgh
What I saw at the Edinburgh Fringe 2018

What I saw at the Edinburgh Fringe

August 9, 2018

I went to the Edinburgh Fringe last weekend and here’s a quick rundown of what I saw. Friday The Amazing Bubble Man Yes, I started my Fringe with a kids’ show. Of course there were adults there but all the others had come with small children. However, the Amazing Bubble Man had been highly and … More What I saw at the Edinburgh Fringe

Leave a comment What I saw at the Edinburgh Fringe
EdFringe 2017 part 2 title pic

EdFringe 2017 part 2

August 29, 2017

I pick up the story of my trip to Edinburgh on Sunday morning. Tom and I were going to see Ashley Storrie on Sunday afternoon. He had plans to meet someone around Sunday lunchtime; I had plans to try to catch up on a little sleep. However, the hostel was so noisy and I can’t … More EdFringe 2017 part 2

Leave a comment EdFringe 2017 part 2
Packing for Edinburgh title pic

Packing for Edinburgh

August 26, 2017

I wasn’t going to write this post because I was ashamed of how much stuff I took with me. I’m terrible at packing and I’ve never mastered the art of packing light. But come with me and see how atrocious it was. This is the bag I took with me. It’s my favourite Mountain Equipment … More Packing for Edinburgh

Leave a comment Packing for Edinburgh
EdFringe 2017 part 1 title pic

EdFringe 2017 part 1

August 22, 2017

2017 is my third Fringe, although I did make two trips up there in 2013 – one scheduled and one spontaneous when FOMA got the better of me. Actually, I’d only been half-thinking about going this year (I was only working two days a week after two months of unemployment) but then in the pub … More EdFringe 2017 part 1

Leave a comment EdFringe 2017 part 1

One bear becomes two bears

August 19, 2017

For the last decade or so, I’ve been a solo traveller. It’s not a lifestyle choice, it’s just the way things worked out and I’ve got so used to it that I can’t imagine travelling with someone else. This year I’ve done just that. In May I went caravanning in France with my sister. That’s … More One bear becomes two bears

2 Comments One bear becomes two bears

Posts navigation

Newer posts

Who am I?
I'm Julie, a travel, adventure and wellness blogger. I love Iceland, I love jumping into hot water and I do love a bit of snow.

  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Bluesky

Most popular posts

  • Zedwell Capsule Hotel review: what's it like to sleep in a coffin?
  • Netflix's Katla review and local guide
  • Chocolate Wars: British vs Finnish chocolate
  • Which is the best public swimming pool in Reykjavik?
  • Which is the best geothermal lagoon to visit in Iceland while the Blue Lagoon is closed?
While I’m doing Iceland’s spectacular blue water, I’m also going to do Iceland’s orange majesty - the time I hiked out to Meradalir to see the second Reykjanes eruption back in 2022. It’s still one of my favourite things I’ve ever done. Seeing a real life volcano is incredible - I think the highly intelligent thing I said on my first glimpse was “it’s so red and hot!” and I’d love to see another but it hasn’t worked out since (and if it never does, at least I saw this one!) ♨️ Which is the best geothermal lagoon / pool / tourist-oriented experience in Iceland? As a student I visited Chateau de Chillon and somehow managed to believe that Lord Byron wrote a famous poem about his time as a prisoner - well, he was “mad, bad and dangerous to know”. Of course he’d spent time in a Swiss dungeon. But of course, he hadn’t. He’d visited a castle while on holiday, written a poem about an actual prisoner and turned the place into one of Switzerland’s biggest tourist attractions. And I do mean big - there are 48 rooms detailing its history from Savoy to today via Bern and Lausanne, as a defensive structure, a luxury lakeside residence and yes, a tourist attraction. I was at the station in Lausanne, thinking about the old days when I lived here with my “triplets” 20 years ago and then five minutes later, one of them messaged me. This selfie, by the way, is one I took to send to her down by the lake, hence the awkward wave. Because it’s 2026, I’m calling this Switzerland in analogue instead of on film. This is the result of taking my film camera with me and actually getting through a full roll (last year, I managed 24 photos between May and December and carried that thing around far more often than I actually used it). It’s a mixed bag in which you only get to see the better ones. The blog from Thursday also features the film photos, plus a few of the nearly-terrible ones, in case there aren’t enough brown grainy pictures right here. #analogue #analog #35mmfilm This one was on the blog almost before I got back to Switzerland but it’s time it went on Instagram too. I went snowshoeing! It was in the dark, following a trail of lanterns through a snowstorm and finished up in a mountain restaurant with traditional fondue or rösti before taking the cogwheel train back down to the lake. I love cathedrals and I especially love Gothic cathedrals, so Lausanne’s was the first thing to do when I arrived. I went there as a student and didn’t appreciate it. I thought the couple of photos I took then were a bit dark but it turns out Lausanne’s 13th century cathedral really is a bit dark. It’s very beautiful and has some amazing stained glass (including some hiding right up high in the crossing!) and my only complaint is that it’s far too hot. Cathedrals tend to be cool, cold places, especially when there's a snowstorm raging outside but this one has big heating vents keeping the place at approximately sauna temperature. It took a while to decide where in Switzerland I was going to go but it was really the Hotel Swiss Chocolate in Lausanne that swayed me to Lac Leman. 🍫 This was on the blog yesterday but it gets an Instagram post too - I went to a Swiss chocolate factory and did a chocolate workshop! The actual chocolate work was very easy but I really enjoyed the little lesson on tempering chocolate while our creations set enough to take them home.

About Julie

I’m a blogger, adventurer, lover of hot water, amateur paddler and polar bear who wilts in hot weather.

Time (by day, I’m a researcher) and funds keep me within Europe and I make regular trips up to the north, especially to Iceland. I like the occasional adventure across Europe by train and I’m starting to make use of my weekends for 48-hour adventures.

This isn’t my only creative outlet – I’ve written two travelogues with a third and fourth being (not to much) written simultaneously right now.

Blog at WordPress.com.
  • Subscribe Subscribed
    • I Am A Polar Bear
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • I Am A Polar Bear
    • Subscribe Subscribed
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...