MARI'S TRAVELS WITH HER CAMERA

Category: Europe – Northern Europe & Scandinavia

Austria, Belgium, Germany, Scandinavia, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzogovina

  • A Battle with BATTLE

    KODAK Digital Still Camera

    Our battle was with the weather, and we were in Battle, Sussex, scene of the Battle of Hastings. If the wind and rain had been as bad in 1066 as it was during part of our stay, I think the Normans might have turned tail and gone back home.

    As it was, we did what we Brits always do, grumbled a bit and then got on with it, struggling against the elements and elbowing our way into cafes to drink mugs of hot chocolate, in between sampling the Award winning local beer, Abbey Pale Ipa brewed by Battle Brewery. A shout out here to the very welcoming Abbey Pub just opposite the Abbey where the fire in the cosy nook added to the welcome.

    English Heritage Accommodation

    We had five days in the area so we managed to see and do a lot. We had a car, lots of reading matter and fabulous accommodation at The Lodge at Battle Abbey, an English Heritage rental which provided us with some of the best self-catering I’ve ever had. It was warm, the heating was superb, the bedrooms were luxurious and comfortable, the kitchen had everything one could wish for, from Jasper Conran china to Joseph utensils and state-of-the-art means of cooking. Oh, and a lovely hamper of local produce to start us off.

    The living room with dining table
    The living room with dining table
    The kitchen
    Breakfast al fresco
    Double bedroom

    Photographs of The Lodge at Battle provided by English Heritage

    We looked out on green fields where the sheep safely grazed and a flowering crab apple lit up the garden, our rental included VIP tickets to English Heritage sites in the area, discount in the shops and cafes, and access to the Abbey through the grounds in which our Lodge was situated. What more could travellers, history buffs and walkers want?

    One of the houses in Battle High Street

    Location of Battle?

    Lying just 50 miles from London and 27 miles from Brighton, Battle is well placed for visitors to the UK to include a day trip to see the attractive town and its Abbey. It gets its name from the Battle of Hastings, fought between Harold the Saxon king and William the Conqueror in 1066, a battle that changed the course of English history.

    Battle Abbey & St. Mary’s Church

    After he won the battle, William built the Abbey of St. Martin, something he’d vowed to do if he won. Built between 1070 and 1094, the high altar is believed to have been placed on the spot where Harold fell, although this fact is disputed today.

    Looking up Battle’s High Street with cottages and houses dated form the 1700’s on the left.

    The Abbey ruins and the battlefield are a magnificent sight as you look down the length of Battle’s High Street, past the Georgian buildings that line the street. At the northern end can be found the Almonry, built in 1090, which now houses the Town Council and the Battle Museum of Local History.

    At the other end of the street, the cottages and houses near the Abbey date from around 1700. The nearby parish church of St. Mary is for the most part 12th century in construction. This lovely old church is worth a visit for its rare 14th century wall paintings and its Norman font, but it also houses a modern tapestry in the style of the Bayeux tapestry, a community project conceived and designed by local inhabitant, Tina Greene. The contemporary tapestry is a three-metre long depiction of how the town of Battle might have grown between the years following the Battle of Hastings in 1066 to the founding of St Mary’s Parish Church in 1115. Started in 2016 and with contributions from 741 registered stitchers, not only from Battle but from the rest of the UK and abroad, the tapestry was finally completed in January 2017.

    Dissolution of the Monastery in 1538

    Battle’s influence grew over the years until the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry Vlll and the closure of the Abbey in 1538. In later centuries however, the town achieved fame through its charcoal-making technique and Battle became famous in the 17th and 18th centuries for its gunpowder, rated by Daniel Defoe as the finest in Europe.

    Battle Today

    Now today, this quiet market town concentrates on the finer things in life and, apart from its great historical appeal, it offers the visitor great food experiences from the comfort of tiny cafés and tea rooms that spill out onto the pavements (and a special mention here to Bluebells Tea Rooms) to fine dining at chef Paul Webbe’s The Wild Mushroom, in nearby Westfield, right up to tastings at Oastbrook Estate Vineyard.

    Shopping is a delight too, as Battle’s historic high street features many of the type of shops you don’t often see elsewhere, independent clothes shops, craft shops, wool shops and book shops, and my favourite, the delightful British Design British Made, showing the best of British design. For beer lovers, Battle Brewery and Bottle Shop is a don’t-miss, offering beer from their own microbrewery as well as other locally produced ciders, wines and snacks.

    Battle High Street

    There are mapped walks ranging from 4.5 miles to 37 miles and the helpful tourist office can offer guidance on these.

    In fact, the weather doesn’t really matter in Battle as there is just so much to do. I know this for a fact, five days in Battle flew by and we even made time to visit Hastings (more about that another day).

    Facts:

    For a selection of English Heritage accommodation: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/holiday-cottages/ I have previously stayed at Walmar Castle in Deal and Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, both of which I highly recommend.

  • CFFC – Fun Photo

    CFFC – Fun Photo

    Tree Surgeons Working.

    Heard a lot of noise, leaned out my window, and there it was. A traffic jam!

    Not just any old traffic jam, this one was caused by the local tree surgeons who were removing some dangerous branches from a tree not far from me. We’d all been steering clear of this tree as we walked past it on our way to the local park, as the over-hanging branches had looked as though they were about the pull the tree down for the past two years.

    I couldn’t watch for two long, that young man roped to the branches, looked very vulnerable.

    Not a job I’d want
    Job Done, Tree still Leaning but shouldn’t fall now!

  • Silent Sunday: London

  • SIX WORD SATURDAY:

    END OF SPRING, BEGINNING OF SUMMER

    Linked to Debbie’s Six Word Saturday

    Last days of Spring, First days of Summer.

  • Silent Sunday – Isle of Wight

    Borthwood, Isle of Wight

  • Silent Sunday – Austria

    Silent Sunday – Austria

  • Me, and President Joe Biden in Carlingford

    Me, and President Joe Biden in Carlingford

    Carlingford, Co. Louth, Ireland

    After too long an absence from WP due to health problems, I was struggling to find a subject to write about, or more exactly, a place to write about.  Travel’ to me has always been about places away from home, so local sights didn’t inspire me.

    Then along came US President, Joe Biden, who, last week visited Carlingford in Co. Louth, Ireland, and my memory flew back to my day spent there on a Leprechaun hunt way back in the late nineties.    My photographs are quite old and the place may have changed in the intervening years but I have been told that the changes are minor.

    Carlingford and the Cooley Mountains

    My story started in the border town of Newry, where I’d been watching television in a pub with some friends, about 1996-7 I reckon. A local farmer appeared on the screen, maybe on the local news, with an extraordinary tale.  I can’t remember exactly what was said from this point in time, but I’ll try and paraphrase what I can recall.

    He held up a finger and thumb about 2 inches apart, “It was about this height” he said, “the usual colours, green top and red trousers”.

    The interviewer nodded, “I see” he said, “so, you were bringing the cattle home, there was a sudden blinding flash and then ….”?

    “Well, I rushed up to where the lights had been but there was nothing there, nothing at all – but, “he continued, “the ground round about was all charred and in the centre was the wee suit.  And this”.  And he produced some charred paper from his pocket.  “Fairy money”.

    The pub had been quiet while he’d been talking: now all eyes were on the TV as we leaned forward the easier to see this remarkable money.  A communal expiration of breath broke the tension and nods were exchanged among those who knew the habits of the leprechauns. 

    House in Carlingford

    “Well,” said the old man in the corner “there’s proof enough.  That’s fairy money to be sure.   You’ve seen it with your own eyes on the TV.  That leprechaun dissolved himself but the clothes didn’t burn, so, he’ll be back for them”.

    “Wouldn’t you know they’d do something devilish” said my host Finbar.  “Your wee man came in over the border and the price of a jar there is twice what it is here.  But sure, we’ll go and have a look for him. 

    There are fairies at the bottom of virtually every garden in Ireland, especially in the area of the Mourne and the Cooley Mountains.  Their habitats are easy to see – trees standing in isolation in the middle of fields, there because the farmer will not cut a fairy tree down because of the resultant bad luck that would come from such destruction. They seem forlorn but are held in warm affection even by the farmers whose planting they interrupt and around which he has to manoeuvre the harvesting machinery.

    It’s not generally known that as well as their positive image of keepers of the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, the negative side of leprechauns is their malevolent nature.  They have been known to bring terrible misfortune to those who have injured their trees, dealing out punishments that range from breaking legs and tipping people down wells to causing the death of farm animals and (for minor offences) ensuring the bread doesn’t rise.  They can be merely mischievous at times, and can cause the loss of a bicycle, or a shoe, or even make someone lose their way home from the pub.  It all depends on the perceived offence. 

    The expedition to look for the leprechaun had to be postponed until Sunday to enable as many people as possible to take part.  Time was also needed for individual families to get their supplies together, for there’s no point having a leprechaun hunt that’s not convivial.    Picnic baskets had to be prepared, the refreshments purchased and carefully packed – soft drinks for the children, something stronger for the adults.

    Mountains right behind the houses and the sea in front – Carlingford

    It was a happening in the best sense of the word.  No one organized it, no one directed it.  It just seemed that on Sunday afternoon a mass exodus took place from the town.  Some travelled by car, some by bicycle, some on foot, crossing the border that divides Ulster from the rest of the island of Ireland at different points, to the confusion of the British Army surveillance helicopters overhead (this was before the Peace Agreement of 1998), as we all made our way towards the small coastal town of Carlingford, the area of the leprechaun sighting.

    We joined the walking party which was in spirited mood well before we set off.  Ballads and folk songs were sung as we ambled along.  One or two had brought the flutes and pipes with them and there were a couple of fiddlers in the crowd who would provide the music for a ceili when we got there.   Those who had already broached the Bushmills and the Guinness were in a rare mood to sing and occasionally had to be persuaded to rejoin the walk, as they were inclined to fall out and give solo renditions of “Sweet Sixteen” or “Danny Boy” as the spirits took them.

    And then we were there.  The spot where the wee man himself had disappeared in a puff of smoke.  But we weren’t the first to arrive.  The travelling people had got there earlier along with stall-holders, ice-cream sellers and hot-dog salesmen.  The white heather that grows wild and which we had been walking on as we trekked across the mountain was now ‘Lucky White Heather’ and on offer at only 50p a sprig.  Ice-cream was only twice what it normally cost and for an undisclosed sum, one of the gypsy fortune-tellers would divulge the true path to the leprechaun’s hideout.

    But the most popular stall was that selling butterfly nets.  Large ones, small ones, some that looked as though they’d already spent a summer shrimping, they were all grabbed up quickly.  How else would you catch a leprechaun but with a butterfly net?  Then in groups, for who would be alone on a day like this, we set off to snare the elusive one.

    Narrowater, just outside Carlingford, Northern Ireland on the left and he Republic of Ireland on the right, separated by the Lough.

    I gave up after about half an hour as the tantalising sounds of the ceili taking place at the bottom of the hill was calling me.  I’d leave the wee man to the local people I decided, after all, he mightn’t like a foreigner being the one to snare him and I didn’t want a broken leg!

    At ‘base camp’ more people had arrived and a grand party was a progress.  The fiddlers had been joined by an accordionist and the dancing was in full swing.  Groups of people had laid out their food and drink and the picnic was well under way.  Now and then a shout from above would create a bit of excitement but as the afternoon wore on, the consensus was that the leprechauns had fooled us all again.

    “He’s around, never you fear” said Finbar as we packed up to go home.  “They can hide under a blade of grass when they like and as he hasn’t got a suit, he’ll be well hidden the day.   Anyway, wasn’t it the grand time we had”?

    “But we didn’t catch the leprechaun” I said.

    He looked at me with a smile.  “But, we got a brave bit of craic, and we had the singin’ and dancin’.  Sure, the fairies gave us a grand day altogether”.

    An Irish pub in Carlingford

    I’ve still got my butterfly net.  It lives in my garden shed, a treasure from that day spent in the mountains that surround the little town of Carlingford in Ireland.   I wonder if Joe Biden’s memories will be as vivid as mine as he looks back on his day in the village nestled in the Cooley mountains on the banks of Carlingford Lough.  Somehow, I don’t think so, but I’m sure he had a wonderful time, because I remember Carlingford as being one of the most welcoming towns in Ireland, the country of a hundred thousand welcomes.

  • NARVIK – City in the Arctic Circle

    NARVIK – City in the Arctic Circle

    National Museum of Narvik

    I didn’t know what to expect of this Norwegian town that saw so much horror during the Second World War, a horror made worse I suspect, by it being inflicted on a neutral country. I found that the war had left a deep scar on Narvik, at its most evident in the Museum devoted to the conflict and in the many statues dotted around the town.

    Lying just 137 miles inside the Arctic Circle, and like Andalsnes encircled by mountains, Narvik is one of the world’s most northerly towns, but warm North Atlantic Currents and the mountains that shelter the town ensure relatively stable and high water temperatures even in winter. Unlike the Arctic Sea, the Norwegian Sea is ice-free throughout the year which means that Narvik’s naturally large port is always negotiable; this allows boats of virtually any size to anchor.

    This was The Old Post Office, originally a farm workshed in Narvik.  Built in the late 19th century after the coming of the Ofenten railway it was used as a Post Office for about ten years from around 1888.  This grass-roofed building is all that remains of the old farm which was pulled down in the mid-50s to make way for offices.   The old Post Office, owned by the Ofenten Museum, was restored in 1991-92 by the Narvik Adult Education Centre.

    Although known to be inhabited since the bronze age little was known about the inhabitants of Narvik until the port was developed to receive the ore from Sweden’s Kiruna and Gallivare iron mines in 1883.

    Today this town, grown rich on its iron-ore industry, is a quiet place, but it was the iron-ore plus the advantages of its deep sea port that were the cause of its being invaded and subjected to a blitzkrieg that flattened the city in 1940.

    Torvfontene by Finn Eriksen and is dated 1940-1945. Known as Mother and Child it is another peace sysbol

    A brief history of Narvik’s role in the war.

    Poorly armed, neutral Norway became the first victim of the war in western Europe in April 1940. Neither the Allies nor Germany respected Norwegian neutrality and both sides wanted to get their hands on the iron ore mined in northern Sweden and transported to Narvik. Both Britain and Germany were a also aware of the importance of the town’s deep port and both had been pressuring Norway’s strict neutrality since early 1940 when they realized how important this ore was to the war effort. By April, both sides were hastily preparing forces to land in Norway (Britain had earlier sought to interrupt the flow of iron ore by mining the sea lanes) but Germany got there first.

    A full scale invasion was launched on 9 April 1940 and in a series of attacks, the Germans seized Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim and Narvik. Despite initial gains and losses on both sides, the poorly equipped Norwegian and Allied troops were outnumbered and outgunned and by 2nd May most had been withdrawn. Fighting continued at Narvik until Germany invaded France and Belgium, after which the remaining 24,000 Allied troops were evacuated for use elsewhere. Before they left, the troops destroyed the port and the railway and blanket bombing by Germany followed. The town was re-built after the war, which accounts for its somewhat bland appearance today, notwithstanding one or two outstanding buildings.

    The above image is Narvik’s National Freedom Monument, a mirrored triangle by Espen Gangvik, a gift from the Norwegian government  to mark the 50th anniversary of the liberation in 1945. The inscription reads “For peace and freedom. Thanks to our allies 1940-45. Thanks to those who fought.” Made of high polished steel it is 59 feet tall and is located in the town center near the War Museum. Two more views of the Monument are below.

    Narvik would appear not to have a lot of English-speaking tourists – although all the people in the town with whom I had contact, spoke the language perfectly – because there was little information in English about the statues and monuments, and the inscriptions on the statues were only in Norwegian. In fact, the tourist office assistant apologised charmingly about this fact, saying with a smile, “We have a long way to go yet, but we are trying”!

    In 2005, the mayor of Hiroshima, Tadatoshi Akiba, took initiative for the worldwide organisation ‘Mayors For Peace’, and Narvik was one of the municipalities that joined. Akiba donated a stone from the zero-point field Hiroshima as a gift to Narvik. The stone from Hiroshima was unveiled on august 6th 2006 in conjunction with the new monument “Peace is a Promise of the Future”. Both monuments are placed in the town square of Narvik.
    This is the monument ‘Peace is a Promise of the Future’,
    a sculpture by Håkon Anton Fagerås.

    I bought an guide book in English from the Tourist Office, and as it was raining outside I put it straight into my bag. Not until much later did I find that it wasn’t in English, but in Norwegian! So, I got most of my information by stopping young people in the street and asking them: they were fine with the translations but not so good with the history!

    This is Lille Petter by Jozef Marek. I couldn’t find any information about this sculpture, but his face is haunting and I’d love to know the story.

    And here are a couple of very modern pieces, make of them what you will. The white one really has me puzzled.

    I wouldn’t like you to think that Narvik is only about past war history, there is a lot more to do there if one has time. The great disadvantage of a cruise is the lack of time allowed to explore the places one stops in, en route. Narvik is teeming with things to do and places to go – apart from the War Museum where you can spend half a day at least.

    Bandstand in centre of town

    What To Do in Narvik

    There are City Bike Rides on electric bikes with a guide, city walks with or without a guide, climbing and trekking in the mountains which surround the town, and of course, the world’s most northernmost animal park, the famous Polar Park, opened in 1994. Home to Norway’s large predators such as bears, wolves, and lynx, as well as deer, moose, reindeer and muskox, all in their natural surroundings, you can easily spend a whole day there seeing and interacting with the animals in their near-natural habitat. Add to this, dog-sledding, husky wagonning, snowmobiling in the winter light and you can see that Narvik offers the visitor a tremendous amount of things to do.

    View over the harbour and snow-capped mountain.

    The very brave may fancy some ice-fishing, and best of all perhaps, the fantastic cable-car ride to the Narvikfjellet Restaurant at 656 m, which is the perfect starting point for hiking, skiing, northern lights hunting, snowshoeing and tobogganing. From the upper cable car station you get a panoramic view of the deep fjords, the historic iron ore harbour and Narvik city, which makes the cable car ride an experience in itself, much like the one I did in Andalsnes.

    Sjømannskirka, a Catholic church by the harbour

    But I didn’t get to do any of these! I spent too long in the fascinating Museum of the War and then got so engrossed in chasing up the names of the artists who did the carvings that I missed my chance to visit the Polar Park. The weather turned nasty, it began to rain so the cable-car was out as the mountain top was covered in black clouds, so there was nothing for it but to adjourn to a warm coffee house and find some inner sustenance in the form of venison sausage and mash served with a local beer.

    The Fall colours are magnificent

    So, I’ll go back to Narvik one day, maybe in summer time, to do that cable-car ride, to get up close and friendly with a wolf, cuddle a husky and come face to face with a growling brown bear. And to get some better photographs on a day on which the sky won’t be black!

    Windswept and cold, I may look lost but I don’t think I’ll have much bother finding my way home from here.

    All photographs by Mari apart from the header one with the white deer, which is courtesy of Narvik Tourism.

  • Sculpture Saturday

    Sleeping Child by By Håkon Anton Fagerås.

    This sculpture of a sleeping child is said to symbolize Norwegian optimism, survivability, and future life.

    The design incorporates a separate pedestal, a rock from Hiroshima’s ground zero given earlier to Narvik by the mayor of Hiroshima. One of three peace sculptures in Narvik it was dedicated in 1956, 1995 and 2006 to remember the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima.

  • ÅNDALSNES – Land of the Trolls

    ÅNDALSNES – Land of the Trolls

    I should have blogged ages ago about my June trip to Portugal but eye problems meant that computer work was frustrating.   Then a couple of weeks ago I went on a Fjord cruise with a friend, despite not being a lover of cruising, mainly because it left from my local port of Southampton.  The cruise was similar to a summer one I’d done a few years ago, but this autumn/winter one promised different views of Norway’s fjords.

    The tranquillity of the fjords

    To mark my return to blogging, I thought I’d start, not with Portugal, but with Norway, and not with the cruise, but with my time on land and one of the delightful towns we visited.

    Andalsnes Harbour with Mountaineering Centre in foreground
    Small marina in Andalsnes

    First up was the beautiful Romsdalsfjord and the town of Åndalsnes, located beneath towering snow-topped mountains at the mouth of the Rauma River.  Its privileged position has made this Norway’s mountaineering capital, a centre for hiking, trekking and all season climbing in the impressive mountains that surround it, Romsdalshornet, Trolltinden and Vengetindan.

    Early morning entry into Andslesnes

    Entering the town in the early morning I was struck by its small size, it looked more like a village than a town, neat little white houses clustered around a small harbour (but a deep one that can accommodate large cruise ships which bring tourists all year round) hemmed in by snow-capped mountains. 

    Town view with Mountaineering Centre

    Looming up from the middle of the town was a building of such modernity that one immediately knew that this was no ordinary town: anywhere that had such an outstanding piece of architecture just had to have a lot going for it.

    As the sky gradually lightened, I became aware of movement above the town and noticed gondolas travelling to a nearby mountain from a dark garage-like building beside the modern one.  Things were looking better and better.

    Gondola House (Black building)
    Mountaineering Centre

    The very modern building turned out to be the Museum and Mountaineering Centre, something of which the town is very proud, understandably so, as not only is it a design of total modernity but it has Norway’s tallest indoor climbing wall, it offers various activities, and the full mountaineering history of the region is on display .  If you want to get fit, or just to ensure you are adequately prepared for the hike ahead, you could try the 210-metre challenge, or any one of a number of the challenging climbs that are available there.  People come from all over Scandinavia come here just to use this climbing wall. 

    But if you’re not into climbing, or like me, not into that type of physical activity, there’s the Romsdalen Gondola right next door which will take you all the way up to the top of Nesaksla’s summit where you can walk around the top and look with delight at the magnificent scenery all around you: or climb further up to gaze on even more fantastic views of rivers, lakes, snowy mountains and tiny figures climbing up the mountain below.  On the summit, the Eggon restaurant awaits with great coffee and freshly cooked Norwegian food sourced locally.

    I choose the latter and spent a wonderful day just pottering on top of the mountain and watching the hikers struggle up and down the rocky face of the ridge opposite.  Below were lakes, rivers and the town of Andalsnes itself, and what seemed little pockets of cultivated ground.  The weather changed hourly it seemed, and went from dark and stormy to incredibly bright and sunny – but it was always cold.  

    That’s where the wonderful mountaintop restaurant came into its own with nourishing food, great coffee and a selection of cakes to die for.  I’m talking saucer-sized pancakes with hot sour cherries topped with whipped cream and chocolaty things that I just had to refuse or I wouldn’t have made it down the mountain again.

    I could have headed for the Romsdakstraooa steps and climbed all the way to the top of Mount Nesaksla, 708 metres above Romsdalsfjord, for the same scenic views but although I love snowy mountain tops and awesome views, I gave this one a miss as I’m well past my mountain-climbing days! 

     Andalsnes is buzzing both summer and winter.  It’s a perfect base camp for anything from mountain hiking to summit hikes, long treks with stunning vistas of the Romsdalsfjlla mountain ridge, or leisurely car, coach or train journeys through some of the most wonderful scenery you will ever see. 

    Trollstigen by ©Ivans Utinsns, Photographer (Visit Norway)

    The town is a transport hub, being the final stop on the Rauma Railway which offers a scenic two-hour journey considered to be one of Europe’s most beautiful train journeys (Lonely Planet, 2022).  It follows the course of the Rauma River as it descends into Lake Lesjaskog along which it forms many magnificent waterfalls, travels through lush valleys and mountains and crossing over the famous, natural stone Kylling Bridge with a dramatic view of the foaming river below.

    Rauma Train Station (with Gondola) ©Leif Johnny Olestad, Photographer (Visit Norway)

    That’s enough to tempt me back: that and the sour cherries on pancakes with cream!

    All photographs used in this blog are mine, apart from the two which I have credited to the respective photographers, and Visit Norway which gave me permission to use these images.

    Next stop NARVIK, occupied by the Germans during WWll where there is a Museum devoted entirely to its place in that war.