Just back from two weeks travelling around the Fjord region of Norway, including a session on Jostedalsbreen, with a spot of ice climbing. All good :-)

Can you guess where we went today?

This is a Roland statue, in Rīga. Before arranging this trip, I hadn’t realized that both Tallinn and Rīga were Hansestädte – and the influence is clear throughout both of them.

There’s a relatively limited amount of junkfood chains in Tallinn and Rīga – the token McDonalds, and the local (and unappealing) equivalent called Hessburger.

Part of the reason for this is the availability of tasty local junkfood, such as the Estonian pancakes served up in Kompressor. This is a studenty place in the old town, where £2 will get you a plate full of stuffed pancake.

So. Tallinn. We went the week after the native Russians had been rioting about the government moving a Soviet-era war memorial from the city centre to a military cemetary – the full story is here

I hadn’t really appreciated just how these countries had suffered under Stalin, and the latter Soviet regime. Is it any wonder that they are not mad-keen on having reminders of their occupation and repression prominantly displayed?

I’m left with little sympathy for the “oppressed” Russian minority in Estonia, who were migrant workers sent there by the USSR, with the intent of dissipating the national identity of the native population, and were previously favoured in all aspects of life. Sucks to have the boot on the other foot, huh?

I’ve just returned from a week in Tallinn and Rīga – really excellent. More posts will follow, with some photos. But in the mean time, I saw a grafitto of this image in Rīga, and was curious if it was widespread. I find it amusing that an image commenting on the use of images is now a widely-propagated image in its own right.

Haweswater. We were walking up to High Street, from The Rigg, and back down via Small Water. Very nice walk. We were planning to walk on up Harter Fell, but decided to get back down to Ambleside for a spot of shopping.

These are Printen – chocolately sweets which are regional to Aachen. The original ones are very hard (caramelized), but we had some soft ones which are rather more chewable.

Aachen is a destination for pilgrimage, which is undertaken every seven years, and it is traditional to give the pilgrims some Printen.

I spent new year in Germany again this year, stayed in Aachen with Andrea’s brother for a week, and then went down to Saarbrücken for a few days. Had a chance to see some of the sights around the Rhineland, which was pretty interesting.

This photo is the Rhein, in Köln. We spent a day there, doing touristy things. If you want to go shopping, Köln is the place, with an enormous pedestrian area and a massive range of shops.

Writing about: Memorandum to Self

I think I’ll write another memorandum for my postgraduate times tomorrow,

Well. Not quite the day after – more like a year later. What do I want to remember from the last few years?

• Stu: You’re not on the list, you’re not coming in
• F80
• Huddersfield
• The Tower
• The Mikeopath returns
• beard-stroking Tina
• bibenzyl
• Tal and Martin visit Warwick – alone?
• Hillwalking. Minibuses
• Wales. Andrea, Monica, Sas
• Gear Explosion
• Beers of the World
• Hot chocolate
• Long Distance
• Manchester
• Plans. Scanrail. Talking by the cone.
• “A historical legacy”
• Reflections and reassessments.
• Late taxi, early flight. The Mule.
• Perspectives one and two
• Once more with feeling. Go team
• Back to Sweden.

• James. Willes Road. Arranged from a field.

  ——

• A New Start (PhOX)
• Sheffield
• Breaking up
• Longer Distance
• Waldhaus
• Baltrum. SB New Year
• GRAD (A New Hope). Self-understanding.
• Lille. Airbed. La Citadelle. Notting Hill. Eurostar.
• Mobile. “Mostly red”
• Poly Rig, Poly Meister
• The birth of a blog. WB.
• Stalktastic discussions.
• Mobile. Specialized.
• The Gimp
• Go Outdoors
• Argos tour. Lost in London, “helpful” staff on the railways. Ferry from Harwich
• Cycletour

• Digital Revolution

  ——

• D70
• FSAC
• Inventor
• Bright Red Shoes
• Brussels. Endeavor
• Wien again

• Jobs jobs jobs

  ——

• Kenilworth. SA Merchant Navy. Dinosaur cat.
• Back to Earlsdon; Shalimar, Gabriel’s
• Snowdrifts on Baltrum
• Split sites
• Deep decisions: Security, Identity, Bureaucracy, Renunciation
• Waiting for data
• Submission
• Relocation

• Examination

  And that’s about it. Last year looks a little thin, it was all rather a haze of experiments and data.