When I first said that I planned a day trip by train out of Amsterdam, my sister was astonished. We were only going to be there five days, we wouldn’t have the time or the inclination to leave the city. I was adamant – I almost always take a day to see at least a … More A day out in Haarlem
In November I went to Amsterdam. I went with my sister and because – and only because – of her, we went to Anne Frank’s house. I wasn’t at all sure about that. For one thing, I’m not a museum sort of person. I’m just not. For another, I wasn’t at all convinced about the … More The Many Diaries of Anne Frank
Welcome to a new series for 2019, The A-Z of Iceland. These will be out every two weeks and will cover subjects from the truth of the Icelandic banana to abolished letters to sagas. We’re going to start with A for Álftavatn. Álftavatn is the second campsite on the Laugavegur Trail if you do the … More The A-Z of Iceland: A for Álftavatn
I went to Amsterdam in November. From the fact that it’s taken until January to start writing about it, you might not be surprised that Amsterdam and I didn’t get on all that well. If you’re into getting drunk and stoned and sampling the delights of the Red Light District, then this city is for … More The problem with Amsterdam…
Welcome to 2019 and welcome to the latest edition of my annual Two Bears Adventure series. This is Tom (also known as Tom Bear and, well, I am a polar bear, hence two bears). You may remember him from Two Bears in Swanage, Two Bears in Charmouth or Two Bears in Edinburgh. This year we … More A day at Lyme Regis: Tom & Julie’s Annual Adventure
It’s the last day of 2018 so I think it’s the perfect time to take a look back at the last year. This is 2018 In Review. 2018 in numbers I kept a spreadsheet absolutely religiously this year and I can now tell you a lot of numbers. 7 countries visited 3 new countries visited … More 2018 in review
2018 has been pretty good. I’ll tell you all about it on Monday because what better day to review the year than the last day of it? But today we look to the future. First and foremost, in 2019 I’m going to be an outdoors activity instructor. Training and assessment starts in April; working will … More Plans for 2019
Germany does Christmas so well and Austria has pretty much all Germany’s good points. Four years ago Family Polar Bear went to the markets at Frankfurt and Mummy Bear decided quite early this year that she wanted to go to Innsbruck Christmas market. Innsbruck is a lot smaller than Frankfurt – I mean the market … More Innsbruck Christmas market
To misquote my guidebook, in the beginning there was Kyiv. Before Ukraine or Russia or Moscow came into being, there was Kyiv. Kyiv’s had an interesting history, most of which I’ll gloss over. A lot of it was bombed in the late 30/early 40s and a lot of ancient monuments and churches are actually reproductions … More Kyiv: the city of golden domes
All visitors to Iceland go to the Blue Lagoon. It’s amazing, entirely worth the hype and it’s now so, so expensive. I’ve been several times and I now bring you a short “how to…” blog because apparently I know the answer to a great and mythical secret: How do the lockers at the Blue Lagoon … More How do the lockers work at the Blue Lagoon?
I Am A Polar Bear 