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I Am A Polar Bear

Travel, adventure & wellness with plenty of snow

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Tag: Finland

My first solo trip: Helsinki | iamapolarbear.com

My first solo trip: Helsinki 2008

November 3, 2022

Fourteen years ago this week I was on my first ever solo trip. Well – that kind of depends on your definition. I’d done the trip to Italy a good few years ago; it wasn’t solo but my only companion was another fourteen-year-old, and I’d spent a year living in Switzerland and travelling around in … More My first solo trip: Helsinki 2008

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Finland 2008: Suomenlinna, the Fortress of Finland

Suomenlinna: a day on Finland’s Fortress

September 23, 2019

More than ten years on, let’s have a look at my first ever solo travel trip. I was 23, which actually wasn’t as young as I felt at the time. I’d done quite a lot of travelling at university because I spent a year studying French in Switzerland and so I used all my free … More Suomenlinna: a day on Finland’s Fortress

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Fortune telling in Finland title pic

Fortune telling in Finland

October 29, 2018

Wednesday is Halloween so let’s go back to Halloween four years ago. I was in Rovaniemi, in northern Finland. I’d spent the day in town, wandering along the river because everything was blue and white and silver and frozen and yes, I nearly died of hypothermia. Although in hindsight, having survived a white-out blizzard in … More Fortune telling in Finland

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10 Things to Take to the Arctic header pic

10 Things to Take to the Arctic

December 2, 2017

It’s December now so it’s past time to be thinking about winter trips – to Lapland, to the Arctic, to the cold and the snow and the Northern Lights. I like cold places and cold trips and I’ve made a little list of things you might want to take with you. 1) A hat with … More 10 Things to Take to the Arctic

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The Great Train Adventure

February 21, 2017

I’m sorry if you’ve seen this post before but I know no one reads the older posts, which is why I’m taking the opportunity to re-write one per month. This is my favourite travel story ever and I really want to tell it to everyone. This is my Great Train Adventure. It was late October … More The Great Train Adventure

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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.

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I didn’t have the library on my to-do list for Birmingham but it turns out it has a great terrace for views over the square below, the research/academic library is pretty spectacular and while the normal-person fiction library downstairs is nothing very interesting to look at, it has comfortable seats in the dry and the warm and has wifi. #birmingham #libraries While my purpose in Birmingham was Rock Choir Live and my second purpose was the famous Frankfurt Christmas Market, I also had plenty of time to get to know Birmingham a bit. A particular highlight was the work of local boy Edward Burnes-Jones and William Morris in the spectacular windows of the cathedral, the Birmingham Bifröst which helped me find my way home in the evenings and a glimpse of one of the “more than Venice” canals that you don’t see in the area between New Street Station and the cathedral. #birmingham In yet another “you should be doing more with your weekend”, I spent the weekend in Birmingham two weeks ago. The main purpose was to see Rock Choir Live’s big Christmas party (featuring special guests Emili Sandé, Sam Ryder & Russell Watson, plus the legend Pat Sharp’s DJ set to get things started). The journey home from Spa was slowed down by engineering work, requiring a rail replacement bus to Pepinster where I had to wait for half an hour, a local train to Liège, long distance train ultimately to Ostende but to Brussels Midi for me, Eurostar to London and finally a South Western Railways train overdue some important maintenance back to Southampton. When in Belgium, eat waffles! Just in case there was any doubt about mineral waters in Spa… Thermes de Spa is lovely inside - although it’s much smaller, I think I prefer it to Therme Bucureşti - but the outside leaves a bit to be desired. The back is lovely, what with that huge glass wall overlooking the town. It’s just a shame about the barbed wire that keeps walkers out of the water. I know I’ve been to other pools with views and they haven’t had to resort to barbed wire. On the other hand, the front has something of a red brick 60s comprehensive about it rather than the welcoming facade of somewhere that’s about to transport you to a world of relaxation. Honestly, the difference between the outside and inside is astounding. Do go (when the funicular is running) but maybe don’t linger for selfies outside. #thermesdespa #belgium The spa at Spa is perched on top of a hill, accessed by foot via a funicular railway from the town centre, a 2-minute ride up 84m of ascent. Except when I was there, the funicular was broken and I started my lovely relaxing spa day with a very non-relaxing 1.3km hike up those 84m through the woods, which were unlit and very uneven under foot, although I only really realised that on the way back down. Because back in the summer I thought I wasn’t doing enough with my weekends, I thought I’d do a little train adventure to Spa in Belgium to try out the spa that named (or at least shares its name) with all spas. However, I built in so much time for late trains that it took about fourteen hours to get to Spa from Southampton Airport via delightfully Gothic St Pancras, genuinely chocolate-scented Brussels-Midi, a double-decker packed in with Cub Scouts to Verviers before finally arriving at Spa at 8.30pm. It was an adventure but as I realised by Sunday evening, it was the wrong proportion of travel to time in destination.

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.
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