After leaving Vienna we arrived in Zurich where we met up with our friends Max and Tash. They had been travelling around the UK and Ireland and met us in Switzerland to go snowboarding and spend Christmas together. We had just one night in Zurich, where we spent the evening at the Christmas market in the concourse of the main train station. It is one of the largest indoor Christmas markets in Europe. »
I’m finishing this blog post while on a train from Vienna to Zurich. It is an incredibly picturesque train ride — we emerged from a long dark tunnel into a valley surrounded on either side by towering snow-covered mountains spread with white spruce, their branches drooping under the weight of the snow. The sky is cloudless and bright blue but everything else is white, bright white, and glistens where the sun falls. »
Lying 200km north of the Arctic Circle on the edge of the Torne river in Sweden is the little town of Jukkasjärvi. At the end of each winter, when the frozen river ice is at its thickest, it is harvested in preparation for construction of the annual Ice Hotel. Large blocks of ice are cut from the river in April and stored in a cool room until it is time to begin construction in October. »
Lisbon (Lisboa in Portuguese) is Europe’s second oldest capital after Athens and is a city built upon seven hills. While steep hills and stair climbs are inevitable, even on a short walk, the city rewards those who are willing to venture up and down the hills and climb the dizzyingly steep staircases. The highest places throughout the city provide vast views of the city below: showing off the effortless blend of old and new and the pastel-coloured buildings dotted around the city in pretty shades of pink, yellow, orange and blue. »
The national animal of Scotland is a unicorn. While most countries would choose a real animal as their emblem, it seems befitting for Scotland to be represented by a mythical creature. This is, after all, a land so steeped in myth, legend, folklore and superstition. And in more recent years, the magical wizarding world of Harry Potter. I love Harry Potter. I generally don’t read fiction that much, but it’s a story that has had me enchanted since I first read it nearly 20 years ago. »