Patrick was talking to a Russian friend of his about the holidays and we got to talking about Winter Holidays outside the norm. The norm of course depends on where you’re from. It goes without saying, Paris is not exotic to Parisians, nor is New York to New Yorkers.
One of the many exotic places I have been to is Iceland. I have gone to Iceland several times, but only once during the wintertime. They have these incredible lava fields, waterfalls, geyers, and hot springs; but what has stayed with me about my trip, however, is that the people were so friendly. Okay, so maybe they don’t get that many tourists coming during the wintertime, but I loved the whole uniqueness of the experience!
I had recently left a comment on Richard’s blog called I Prefer Paris. He was in Copenhagen a few weeks ago and I commented about the year I had spent in Scandinavia living in Copenhagen and of course visiting Sweden and Norway. It brought back these wonderful memories of my life in Christiania (Fristaden) back in the 1970’s when the hippies took over the old military base there, and the carefree lifestyle of community and sharing that we had. It was a laid back coffee house ambiance that all of us led at the time.
One of my fondest memories is when some of the bakeries in town would unload their old pastries in large bagfuls and hand them over to us! A Swedish friend and I would walk down the streets dragging the bags in one hand and stuffing our mouths full of delicious day old Danish pastries in the other, while trying to tell all the other young kids living there to come and get some!
Traveling is not only exhilirating to me, I think it’s the best way to gain knowledge and to broaden the mind as well as the soul. There’s a site I found called Baltic Travel that has some really different ways of celebrating the holidays and plenty of winter and summer vacation trips! They have an Arctic New Year’s Eve Adventure at a popular ski resort in Kuusamo, Finland if you’re looking for an end of the year escape!
If skiing isn’t your thing, or you’re already snowed under and the last thing you want to do is to go to someplace that has even more snow and freezing temperatures (!) then you can wait until summertime for some great tours. Visiting the Four Scandinavian Capitals, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo, and Helsinki in the midst of winter or as a summer holiday is a must!
The one trip I told Patrick about is the Arctic Circle by Luxury Steam Train! (Doesn’t it remind you of an Orient Express type of adventure?!) Patrick has been to Russia and he loves St Petersburg, so I thought he would find this trip interesting. The journey includes visiting Moscow, St. Petersburg, and other Russian cities. The tour covers 4,200 miles (6,760 kms) in a luxury style setting with some of the largest railway cabins in the world. Actually, my brother, Bob, is the person I should tell since he’s such a train fanatic! You can check out their site for other interesting destinations.
Maya Muses: Anyone who knows me, knows I’m always ready to travel anywhere at anytime! Just tell me when; I don’t even need to know where! (Well, maybe I do, but just so I know what to pack!)
Photo Credits: Flickr and Baltic Travel
6 responses so far ↓
1 Mia // Dec 23, 2008 at 11:45 pm
Okay…Sounds good to me!
So,when are we going and where?
Or shall we just meet and talk about all the interesting places we already have been to, and all fantastic meetings and situations we have had?Over a glass of wine or two?
Just looked at “In The Name of God”on TV….
It was very interesting…Have you seen it?
Strange,because it reminded me of the dream I had a long time ago..
I have already written about that dream somewhere here on your blog,I think..
Too tired to write more about it now…
I wish that we will one day realize that we all living on this earth together and that we all have the same needs;to love and be loved…
The diversity in our world is what makes our life on earth so fantastic…
And as you say,we learn so much by traveling..
Today I met a man from Brazil,he was a street musician,He played guitar,he was fantastic…
I got lost in the music,time suddenly stopped…
I stood about 10 meters on the other side of the street,he somehow sensed my present,looked up from his guitar and glanced at me….
He saw that I was really listening,with all my being….There was a sort of connection,a recognition,of each others presence…
Ulf came and he stood and listened too.
We both liked what we heard.
Then I went to him and gave him some money..
Thanked him and told him I could have stood there longer,if it had not been so cold.
I bought a CD of him..
I had never seen him before,but it was like finally meeting a friend I known for years again..
We said hello,by kissing each other on the cheeks,it felt so natural to do that…
(Not a thing we usually do here in Sweden,we shake hands,if we don’t know each other well,
then we can hug each other,but no kissing on the cheeks…)
He needed to go and pee and get something to eat,so we looked after his guitars while he did this…When he came back,I said to him that he felt like a soul friend…He was living a free life…Playing his guitar…
We may never meet again,but this meeting I will always remember..
It was a meeting with open hearts…this is the only way I can describe it…
When we were about to go Ulf and I, we all of hugged each other…I love these kind of meetings…Strangers and yet not….You have to be really present to experience such meetings!Now a days not many are…everyone are so busy….they miss a lot by living in the land of “Runaround”…
We said that music unites…it is an universal language that every one understand wherever you are…
He had traveled a lot with his guitar…
This he had written on his CD:
“I believe music can bring people together,cross cultural borders,deliver messages,visions,ideas and ideologies,solely because people feel it.
Feelings,emotions,as subjective as they are,here is where the magic of music resides.That is what makes music universal and uncontrollable.”
This only confirmed what I “saw” in this man was true…..I hope we will meet again….
I have had meetings like this in so many places…
You never know when and where and how they will happen,you just have to be present and open when they do!
I collect them,inside…
2 Lynn // Dec 24, 2008 at 1:42 am
That’s beautiful Mia! I have also met so many people like that through my travels. The funny thing is, just this morning I was thinking about some of the people that I met on the streets in Montréal, Amsterdam, Pisa, Mexico City and other places where you just click with the person like you did today with the guy from Brazil. In Paris I have encounters like that all the time!
I thought, Hmm, were these people, someone that I knew in another lifetime because they seemed so familiar like an old friend or lover?
I met a girl who was selling things today and we started talking. She asked me if I knew where the Dead Sea was and I told her, “Yes, I’ve been there.” She was excited and said, “You know my country?” and I told her that I had spent a month in Israel….from the north to Lebanon, to the east to Jordan, down south to Egypt and since it’s the holidays, I told her I had been to Bethlehem! Lol.
I, too, think it would be interesting to one day talk about our travels around the world over a glass or two of wine!!!
3 Mia // Dec 24, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Great!We have to do this soon!
By the way,have you heard about The Ice Hotel in Jukkas Järvi, here in the north of Sweden?
I have never been there myself,but it is fantastic!
Every year they build up this Hotel made of Ice..
Write about it!I don’t know how to do it!
You do!
4 Lynn // Dec 24, 2008 at 10:20 pm
Yes, actually I wrote a post about The Ice Hotel either on my old blog, The Paris Traveler or The View From My Window! I can’t remember which!
5 Mia // Dec 27, 2008 at 11:58 am
I thought so…
It is fantastic what we humans can do….
I wish we used our abilities to create wonder instead of chaos and destruction…I hope we learn some day that we do create our own reality…
6 Lynn // Dec 27, 2008 at 11:49 pm
I remember thinking that the last thing I want to do is have a drink sitting on a block of ice or lying down on one!!! No thanks, with age I prefer mild temperatures all year round! Lol.
If people realized that we create our own reality, think of how people would change their way of thinking, or at least I hope they would!!! I have to admit that I too need to adjust my thinking every so often….
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