In May 2001 I travelled to Sweden for my first European adventure. My good friends and flatmates Emily and Stephan had returned home to Stockholm and invited me to stay with them. The design and architecture, and the friendly rationality of the Swedish people, came as a breath of fresh air. We wandered the streets of the old town [Gamla Stan], saw the National Palace and the Vasa museum, ate ice cream cones at the Skansen open air museum, and discussed the horrific story of the Estonia ferry at the monument to its dead. Gothenburg, with its trams, parks and thriving port represented a yin-yang balance between relaxation and the Swedish commitment to hard work. On Marstrand, island of pleasure, I stayed in a hostel on the water that had all the qualities of a five-star hotel. Venturing north almost to the border of Norway, I trekked to Tanum, UNESCO world heritage site for its Bronze Age rock carvings and Vitlycke Museum.
We went to a wild graduation party in Stockholm's Gamla Stan
Disembarking from the ferry on Marstrand, I was met by a local playing a didgeridoo
The rock carvings at Tanum offer us a window onto Bronze Age life and beliefs
uk & ireland
In October 2001 I travelled through the UK and Ireland. I saw Stonehenge, Tintern Abbey, and ventured down a coal mine in South Wales. I journeyed through Wales to Caernarvon, and then across the Irish sea to explore Dublin, Killarney National Park, Blarney Castle, Galway, Connemara and Belfast. I returned to Anglesey before travelling through Liverpool and Chester to Edinburgh, Inverness, Loch Ness and Fort William. Ceilidh dancing in Inverness and swimming in Loch Ness were highlights of my Scottish foray. I returned to London via the Cheviot Hills and York. Travelling on a bus down the M1 I noticed a sign to Sadberge, the village where my great-grandmother lived. To this day, I have not been there.
Liverpool, 2001
Liverpool, dominated by the Mersey River, has an ambience that I love
The Highlands of Scotland, 2001
Somewhere near here is a fairy glen, where my imagination ran free
Culloden, 2001
The scene of horrific killing on 16 April 1746 [more]
denmark
My dear friend Rikke, with whom I shared a cosy flat in Orsett Terrace, Paddington, invited me and our friend Emma to spend New Year's Eve 2001 at her home near Århus, Denmark. What a party we had on 31 December: a three-course meal with oysters to start, vodka, cowboy hats, Danish flags, the Queen's speech and fireworks in the snow. Rikke and her father drove me around the beautiful countryside near their home, showing me Kalø castle, where Gustav Vasa [later king of Sweden] was kept prisoner in 1518, and Ebeltoft, a beautifully preserved old village of cottages and cobbled streets. I then travelled to Copenhagen where I saw the statue of the little mermaid, the Round Tower and the hippy commune Kristiana.
Århus, December 2001
Only my second sighting of snow, the first being at Mount Donna Buang as a child
Ebeltoft, December 2001
The Olde Worlde charm of Ebeltoft warmed the chilly stillness
