Fortunately, this time I arrived to one city of Italy without car. My experience driving in this country isn’t good. Roma isn’t a place for the private transport, but it’s a fantastic city for to walk…and see the best of the history during The Roman Empire or Renaissance.
San Angelo Castle
The most important remains of Romans Empire are theForum and Colosseum. In the Forum you can see the ruins of the old Roman city, with several buildings, temples, arcs, … and the Imperial residences and the stadium in the Palatine Hill, near to the Forum. And everybody knows the Colosseum, the enormous Roman amphitheatre with capacity for about 50000 persons.
Colosseum
Near to the Forum and Colosseum are the remains of the Imperial Forum and the Trajan’s Market, and the beautiful Trajan’s Column , and if you walk a little, you can see the Baths of Caracalla, the Temple of Vesta and the impressive Pantheon, in the centre of the city. In this places, It’s very easy to return 2000 years with our imagination.
Trajan’s MarketTrajan’s Column
Other important period in Rome was the Renaissance. You can enjoy their best monuments in the Vatican City and in the centre of Rome.
Saint Peter’s Square
Vatican City has 0.45 km² and it’s located in the west side of Rome, near to the River Tiber. There, you must visit the Vatican Museums (with the impressive Sistine Chapel), The Basilicaand the Saint Peter’s Square. Besides, I recommend you to ascent to the Dome and contemplate the views of Rome.
Views from the Dome of Saint Peter’s Basilica
And after seeing ruins and museums, you must walk around the city centre and discover the famous squares like Nabona, Spagna, Popolo,… and the Fontana di Trevi.
Nabona SquareFontana di Trevi
And this is the essential of Rome: The Romans ruins, Vatican city, squares and fountains, but if you want to see more history, you can find other places like Borghese Museum, the Catacumbas, The Trastevere, etc…or you can visit the ruins of Ostia Antica, the old Roman harbour near to Rome.
Ostia Antica
Finally, I always recommend that if you want to know a place you must be more time with the local people in their bars, restaurants, etc… you can recognize this places because there aren’t many tourists inside. Besides, they are cheaper and the possibility of you could be cheated decrease a lot (unfortunately, it’s quite common in Italy).
Popolo Square
If you want more information, say anything or you see a mistake in my translation, you can write a comment or send an e-mail to cabonorte2009@hotmail.es
When the satnav of my car marked over twenty kilometers to the center of Berlin, I entered into the surroundings of the city. But although Berlin is an enormeus place, I was surprised because there wasn’t too much traffic and a lot of place to park.
A Trabant in Berlin
But I don’t recomend you visit the city by car. Berlin has an excellent public transport, although I think that the best option is to take or rent a bicycle.
Spee River
There are many cities in Europe most beautiful than Berlin, but I like this town because it has very interesating contemporany history. There isn’t another place where you can see the differences between west and east (DDR) side in the same city.
The Wall
The East Side Gallery, Check Point Charlie or the DDR Museum are an interesting examples where you can return several years, when the city was divided by the wall. Besides, you will find other remains for the ancient comunist period in the east side like the Fernsehturm, his wide avenues, many enormeus buildings of concrete and the curious traffic lights Ampelmännchen.
Here was The WallDDR traffic lightsDDR traffic lightsIn The WallThe East Side Gallery
But Berlin has more things than DDR remains. Everybody knows the Brandenburg Gate, the Bundestag or the very modern Postdamer Platz. Besides you can walk around the central street Under der Linden, the places near the Spee River or the Island of Museums.
Karl Marx AvenueMemorial who died crossing the river
But I always recomend that if you want to know a place you musn’t be too much time in museums and you must be more time in bars. Therefore, if you want to enjoy Berlin, Imagine the contemporany history in his steets, walk by the city centre and have a delicious German beer in their bars (and choose bars with local people!)
Berlin and the River Spee
If you want more information, say anything or you see a mistake in my translation, you can write a comment or send an e-mail to cabonorte2009@hotmail.es
In this new post, I want to share my trip to the North Cape (Norway) by car from Galiza (Spain) that I did in 2009. You can see the itinerary in this map:
The itinerary
I always wanted to see the midnight sun, and I knew the North Cape was the best place for it. It’s located at 71º 10′ 21» latitude, in a high cliff in the Artic Ocean. The North Cape is a famous place for many travellers too. Many people arrive to the North Cape every year from a lot of places, by car, by motorbike, by motorhome, …
The North Cape
I went to the North Cape with another person, by car (my Toyota Avensis Wagon), and we spent 22 days. We decided to travel in July, because the midnight sun can see in North Cape in June and July.
We crossed several countries like France, Germany, Sweden or Finland. In this post, you can see many curiosities and pictures about the trip, but if you want more information you can read the post in Spanish in this link.
FRANCE
France is one of my favorites countries, and I was there many times. But in this trip, we were in two places that we never visited before: The Médoc (near to Bourdeaux) and the Normandy. In Médoc, many people fish with these specials huts.
Saint Christoly Médoc, France
Normandy was very famous in The Second World War. We visited same places like the beaches, cannons and the artificial harbour in Arromanches-les-Bains
Arromanches les Bains, FranceIn Normandy, France
BELGIUM
We spent only one night in Belgium, but we were in one of the most beautiful cities of Europe: Brugge. We enjoyed the canals and the wonderful Market Square
Brugge, BelgiumBrugge, Belgium
GERMANY
We entered to Germany from Holand, and we didn’t spend much time here, because we prefered to be more days in the Scandinavian countries. The best of Germany are their motorways (there isn’t speed limit), but I think they are quite dangereous.
SWEDEN
We entered in Sweden crossing the Öresund Bridge (16 km inclued a bridge, a tunnel and an artificial island). In this country, we visited places like Båstad, Gothemburg or Stockholm. Båstad is located in the south seaside, and we slept here in a perfect B&B.
Båstad, Sweden
In Gothemburg (with more than 500.000 inhabitants, it’s the second largest city in Sweden), we met with our friends Lito, Kersti and Sofía. We enjoyed a lot Gothemburg with them!
Feskekörka, Gothemburg, Sweden
We visited the capital of Sweden too: Stockholm. It has very interesants places like the Gamla Stam (old town) or the Parliament. Stockholm is a nice city, situated on 14 islands.
Stockholm, Sweden
We continued the trip, crossing Sweden to the north of the country. The road cross typicals Scandinavian landscapes like conifers forest and lakes. I drove carefully, because there are many signs warning mooses
Warning, mooses
Sleeping in cabins (with kitchen) is very habitual in the Scandinavian countries. We always slept in cabins in this places, because they are cheaper than a hotel, and we save money cooking our dinner in the kitchen.
Cabin in Sweden
FINLAND
In Finland, the Scandinavian landscape is amazing: Enormous conifers forests and thousands lakes. In summer, the night doesn’t exist, and the color of the sky is special. There are a lot of reindeers, they are smaller than the mooses, but they are everywhere: This is land of the Sami.
A lake in FinlandA road and airport. Finland
Reindeers in Ivalo, Finland
In Rovaniemi (here lives Santa Claus), we crossed the Arctic Circle. The Arctic Circle marks the southern extremity of the midnight sun.
Arctic Circle in Rovaniemi, FinlandHere lives Santa Claus. Rovaniemi, Finland
NORWAY: THE NORTH CAPE AND THE LOFOTEN ISLANDS
We did the first stop in Norway in Karasjok, near the Finland border. Here is the Sami Parliament.
Sami Parliament in Karasjok, Norway
In Lakselv, we arrived to the Porsangen Fjord, in The Arctic Ocean. Then, we did 200 km approximaly, and we entered in the Magerøya Island, crossing a tunnel under the sea (toll:192 NOK).
Sami tents in Porsangen Fjord, NorwayPorsangen Fjord, Norway
A few kilometres later, we were very exciting because we arrived to our objective: The North Cape. Besides, the weather was perfect (sunny, 20 degrees, without wind…). The North Cape is where the Atlantic Ocean meets The Arctic Ocean, and many people say that it’s the nothernmost point of Europe, however the point Knivskjellodden (near the North Cape) is actually the nothernmost point.
Here, you can see The Globe, The Children of the Earth Monument or a comercial tourist centre, but I prefer to contemplate the landscape. The only bad thing of this is you need to pay another toll: 280 NOK in 2009
The Globe in The North Cape, NorwayThe North Cape, Norway
Knivskjellodden, NorwayThe Children of the Earth Monument in North Cape, Norway
We wanted to see the midnight sun in a quiet place near the North Cape, therefore we chose a place near to Skarsvåg, 45 minutes walking from this village.
Midnight sun in North Cape, Norway
Next day, we began our way to the south by the road E6, near the Atlantic Ocean, crossing amazing landscapes.
Near to E6 road, Norway
Skibotn, NorwaySkibotn, Norway
One day later, we arrived to the Lofoten Islands. Here, we went to Å, a nice village where the road ends. I’m sure that Lofoten Islands are one of the most beautiful landscapes that I’ve never seen.
We decided to return by Sweden again, because we prefered to visit the fiords of the South of Norway in another trip (we did that trip in 2011, you can see the post in this link, in Spanish). We spent tree days crossing Sweden
Lake in Jukkasjärvi, SwedenCrossing The Arctic Cicle in SwedenReindeers on the road, Sweden
We were tree days in Germany. The first day, we visited an awful place: the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Here died Anne Frank.
Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, GermanyHere died Anne Frank, Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, Germany
Then, we rested two nights in Titisee, in The Black Forest (Southwest of Germany). We dediced to come here because we enjoyed a lot when we were in 2006.
Lake Titisee, GermanyLake Titisee, Germany
We spent tree days from Titisee to our home, and we knew another interesting but awful place: Oradour-sur-Glane (France), one village that it was burned, with 642 inhabitants inside, by a German Waffen SS company in 1944. Currently the ruins of this village is a memorial.
Oradour sur Glane, France (July 2010)
Near to Oradour, we rested in the B&B le moulin de la fauvette, a beautiful place with a nice owners: Mike and Amanda. The next night, we slept in San Vicente de la Barquera, in the North coast of Spain.
On July 23th we arrived at home. We were travelling 22 days and we did a lot of kilometres but we would start the same trip again.
The end
If you want more information, say anything or you see a mistake (this is my first post in English), you can write a comment or send an e-mail to cabonorte2009@hotmail.es
