Tampere – Manse, Manchester of the North

With my first full day in Helsinki having started quite early to allow me to make the 0720 VR service from Helsinki to Tampere, it was just before 0900 when I arrived into Finland’s second city. Just as the city was starting to open up and come alive, I was able to enjoy a short walk (less than 10 minutes) along one of the main streets to the river Tammerkoski and main square.

Glasgow and Corrour

Back in April we had a few days relaxing north of the border, once again visiting one of our favourite places, Corrour, but also having the opportunity to spend a night in Glasgow and explore Scotland’s second city once again.

Dublin – A Third Visit to the Irish Capital

Back in March Beth and I had a random Wednesday off work together and so rather than pottering around wasting the day, we decided to head to Dublin for a day trip adventure! We arrived in the Irish capital on an Aer Lingus flight from Birmingham and if you have read that blog, you’ll know that I hinted we had issues getting into the city.

Lisbon – 3 Things to…

During our trip to Lisbon, there was plenty we were able to visit and explore, but there were also a number of places that we’d have liked to visit but just didn’t have the time to. I thought that I’d try out this style of blog as something a bit different, to share both the highlights of the trip, some things to avoid and some of the places we want to return to visit.

Lisbon – The City of Seven Hills – Part 2

This post covers the second part of our visit to Lisbon back in February, so if you haven’t read part 1 you can check that out here. Part 1 ended with us heading for lunch with some people we had met on a walking tour, and we were hoping to try somewhere recommended by our tour guide João. Unfortunately, when we found the restaurant, it was closed, with a notice on the shutter advising the owners were on holiday.

Lisbon – The City of Seven Hills – Part 1

Arriving in Lisbon onboard the A321 ‘retrojet’ of TAP Airlines Portugal (read about that here), we had made our way through the airport, onto the Metro and to our hotel in the Saldanha area of the city. With bags dropped off, we made our way back out into the city to begin exploring and decided to start our visit as many do, with a bus tour.