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Steven Coe

Steven Coe

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    • Steven CoeReisendeLiving In the UK Part 1

      Abisko, Swedish Lapland

      5.–7. mar., Sverige ⋅ ☁️ -7 °C

      📌 Our next stop on our chase for the northern lights was Abisko, in Sweden. In order to get there we had to bus down to the border and meet the artic train through the fjords. We caught the bus down to Narvik, a Norwegian town on the border surrounded by fjords. We enjoyed a beautiful seafood lunch whilst awaiting the train. Once on board the train we had 90 mins of one of the most beautiful train journeys I have ever been on. The train winded along the cliff side of stunning mountains alongside the fjords before passing through small villages blanketed in snow. Just before getting into Abisko, we spotted some moose and it's calf in the snow!

      📌 We were welcomed to abisko with a beautiful small quiet town with only several accommodations, one supermarket and a huge frozen lake. Our accommodation was warm, it had a beautiful view, a Swedish couple and also a older Swedish woman staying there named Sanya, who was extremely nice and over the next 2 days would have long conversations with us. This eventually ended in her giving me a list of her favourite movies and her email in case we were ever in Sweden again.

      📌 Whilst in Abisko we went down to the lake for the sunset, we enjoyed some cooking at the guesthouse and we caught the northern lights from the carpark on night 1. The next day was our big day, dog sledding started early where we drove to Kiruna. We put on our thermal suits as it was approximately -11 degrees and we were greeted by some very excited dogs who were very vocal about getting out to run. There were approximately 4 sleds and thus 40 or so very loud howling doggies. Chloe was at the front and sledding through the woods and open icy lakes was beautiful. We were able to then have Fika and cuddle the dogs halfway when we stopped at the lake. It was an amazing experience to see how the dogs worked together with the driver and how much stimulation they got from the exercise.

      📌 That evening we headed out for a northern lights chase with the same company, as soon as we started the lights were showing so we made a short drive to the darker area outside of town. This is where we were treated to some absolutely amazing auroras, the whole sky was going, the corona was showing and even some red colouring. It was our last and best viewing yet! Abisko was definitely worth it, the nature, the remoteness and the beautiful lights!      Les mer

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    • Steven CoeReisendeLiving In the UK Part 1

      Tromso

      2.–5. mar., Norge ⋅ ☁️ -1 °C

      📌 We were blessed with an incredible view as we flew into Tromso! The fjords and rugged snow capped peaks in the afternoon sun may be the most amazing plane landing view we have ever seen!

      📌 We checked into our small but cosy accommodation hungry and ready to explore. We grabbed a cheap frozen pizza as eating out in Norway was not on the agenda. We then headed out of the city on a bus to try and catch the lights ourselves. There was a park a few KMs out of town with less lights but despite a clear sky, unfortunately our efforts of standing in the cold wind had no success. Day 2 involved a wander around town, the cloud cover was very thick so our enthusiasm for the night minibus chase was low! Despite this, we enjoyed a wander around the beautiful harbour, a few Norwegian hotdogs and a relaxing day.

      📌 That evening we set out on our first guided aurora chase, this involved thermal suits and boots that keep people warm in negative 30, so we were super cosy. We left at 6pm and drove throughout Norway and headed into Finland in chase of clear sky. We had some small success in Finland but mostly the clouds seemed too thick or the aurora too faint. Despite this, we enjoyed a fire, some camp food and some quiet in the middle of finish Lapland. We ended up getting back at 4am!

      📌 Our final full day involved a fjord minivan tour, the weather was a little clearer and it ended up being a fabulous tour. We drove towards some of the islands a few hours away, enjoying the views of the fjords, waterfalls and the small villages on the islands around the coast. That evening after dinner we went looking for the lights again but the chances were low and we didn't have much luck, so we headed for bed with hopes for Sweden.

      📌Just before heading to bed Chloe had a look out the window in hope and saw some faint green. We rushed out with not much warm clothes on and suddenly the aurora dancing started! It lasted for about 2-3 minutes and included streaks and waves, it was beautiful and we were so fortunate to look out the window at just the right time! Tromso gave us one last show before leaving!      Les mer

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    • Steven CoeReisendeLiving In the UK Part 1

      Bristol for the night

      1. mars, England ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

      📌 A good flight option to Norway from Bristol meant a good excuse to see another city for a day. The weather turned out to be on point so it was a nice day to have a look around and enjoy a few drinks outside.

      📌 We were staying a cheap shared Airbnb outside the city so we checked in and got ready to come back late that evening. We headed to the popular central market which was packed for lunch, it had a great variety of stalls where we ended up with a delicious Turkish wrap and Chinese milk buns. We then headed to Gloucester road, a strip of independent shops and pubs that had similar vibes to Fitzroy or Collingwood. Bristol was giving off a very trendy city which had a great vibe. Bristol is also the home of cider in the UK, so we headed to a cidery by the river doing so many ciders! It was great.

      📌 Dinner involved another trendy bustling place at an authentic Cuban restaurant that was loud, cosy and delicious. They served beautiful rice, meats and great cocktails! Enjoying ourselves, we decided to kick on at a brewery along the river for another drink, another vibrant place with delicious beers. Bristol was definitely worth a visit before the airport and it would be a great city to get some work later in the year.      Les mer

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    • Steven CoeReisendeLiving In the UK Part 1

      Weekend in Bath

      22.–23. feb., England ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

      📌 We both had the weekend off so we booked a night to meet up and explore Bath. It was so nice to see Chloe again after 2 weeks, it felt like we were dating again, living separately and meeting up for dinner and drinks ☺️

      📌 We were blessed with a clear day so we made the most of it, wandered around Bath admiring the old gothic and Georgian architecture. We found some tasty sandwiches and headed for a park for a long lunch with lots to talk about. We then headed to the iconic Roman baths, and despite their costly entry, it was worth a visit as it was something we haven't seen a great deal of despite seeing lots of Roman ruins on this trip. After lots of reading, it was about time to go and wet the whistle, so we searched for a pub which was a little challenging as they were super busy watching the Wales vs Ireland rugby. We eventually found a cider house and enjoyed a drink before heading to the accommodation to get ready for an evening out.

      📌 We started at a little wine bar that was cosy and warm, catching up on the weekly trivia we had missed whilst enjoying some cheese. We had a late booking so we enjoyed a few more drinks and then headed onwards to a napalese restaurant highly regarded in the area. We were seated on floor seats and cushions, and we were served a delicious aromatic lamb and chicken curry with daal, however, the highlight was the dessert, a delicious semi Freddo and chiya Icecream (similar flavours to chai).

      📌 It was a lovely trip to bath, capped off by a nice brunch in the morning, a wander around some shops and a beer in another cosy pub. We parted ways at the station as Chloe headed to Oxford and me back to Neath, keen for a week's time where we are headed to Norway and Sweden!      Les mer

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    • Steven CoeReisendeLiving In the UK Part 1

      Wales: Working in Neath

      8. feb.–31. mar., Wales ⋅ ☁️ 4 °C

      📌 The next working chapter, we arrived back from Jordan, gathered our things over the next few days and Chloe headed to Oxford whilst I headed to Neath in Wales. We will be about 2 hours apart for the next 3 weeks, however working lots to keep us busy before heading to Norway. The best thing about Neath is the old but quiet and comfortable accommodation it comes with, saving us extra money for travels.

      📌 I had a brief wonder around Neath on arrival, the Welsh language is very foreign but intriguing, the river alongside the town is lovely and the old castle from 1200 is a nice addition. The town is compact, has good access to supermarkets and a gym, and it will be nice to make day trips when Chloe comes to visit.

      📌 Whilst working in Neath I picked up a few extra shifts around Swansea and also up in the hills which was a nice way to see a few more towns and experience the Welsh culture a little bit out of the city.

      📌 My time in Neath and at Afon Vets came to an end quite quickly, time flew by and it was actually probably my favourite practice I have worked so far. The team were great to work with, the practice was busy and challenging and it was nice to feel social and have some fun at work. It was a sad departure, and I found myself hoping I'd get the opportunity to go back for another block of work.      Les mer

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    • Steven CoeReisendeLiving In the UK Part 1

      Jordan: Aqaba to Amman

      2.–6. feb., Jordan ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

      📌 After a fairly chilly night in the dessert we were off to the resort town of Aqaba, a town in the south of Jordan on the red sea where you could see Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. We had another great hotel and the city had a really nice vibe about it, coffee shops and nice restaurants. We headed out on a bougie yacht to do some snorkeling, it was a nice 25 degrees and the water was super clear. It was quite interesting to be so close to so many borders, particularly as we were not allowed to film or photograph when near the Israeli border.

      📌 The snorkeling was a little rough, it was also quite close to some man made structures which felt less picturesque, however it was surprisingly nice in the water. There were many colourful fish, including clown fish, some colourful corals and also many many purple harmless jellyfish which were majestic to watch floating around. We headed back and everyone was keen for a sunset drink on the rooftop before heading to a local seafood restaurant. After a pretty good feed we ended up at an English pub of all places for a few Jordanian beers.

      📌 We had a long drive back to Amman where we stopped over in a small village for one of the best lunches we had on the trip. It was a local farming village where money was going into the education and development of the community. Once we arrived in Amman, we headed out for a farewell dinner, this was delicious, we had a huge sharing spread of dips, meats, rice, veges. It was another great meal, even though Chloe had to help with a mild anaphylaxis ☺️

      📌 The last 2 days we chilled out in Amman on our own, we visited the citadel, had a great insight into the history of the middle east at the Jordan museum, enjoyed some coffee and some more delicious Jordanian food including a flaming Mansaf. It was kind of sad to be leaving Jordan as it was a great trip coming to an end. It was nice to have met people and seen a part of the world that we had always dreamed of, definitely somewhere everyone should visit.      Les mer

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    • Steven CoeReisendeLiving In the UK Part 1

      Jordan: Petra to Wadi Rum

      31. jan.–2. feb., Jordan ⋅ 🌙 5 °C

      📌 We arrived in Wadi Musa, where Petra is located, a small city with a nice hotel. The agenda on night one was to visit Petra by night, a candle lit display of the iconic treasury. We enjoyed a maqluba, a delicious dish of chicken, rice and vegetables all cooked together and then flipped upside down. We then headed off to Petra by night which was a beautiful experience, walking approximately 2km along a candle lit path through the canyon was amazing, particularly as it opens up into the candle lit treasury. We sat here for an hour or so listening to music and looking at the stars, it was a beautiful perspective of one of the wonders of the world.

      📌 The next day we had another early start, which was tough, however, it meant that we were the first people into Petra in the morning. We learned about the Nabateans who inhabited the area, had the treasury and monastery to ourselves and we explore the colourful rock tombs. It was an amazing place and definitely a wonder, the size of the city and how they carved everything into rock in the middle of the dessert mountains was incredible to imagine. By the end of the day we had walked about 15km and we were glad that we had started early as we avoided the crowds and the peak sun.

      📌 After a long day in Petra, we had decided to go ahead with the Turkish bath, something we skipped in Turkey but is popular throughout the former ottoman empire. It was a hilarious experience, I had never been exfoliated so roughly, and the massage was intense, he put all his effort in, unfortunately for Chloe and the girls (who are seperated), their experience seemed less authentic and a bit lackluster. It was worth doing to know what the traditional experience is like ☺️

      📌 Our time in Petra came to an end after a well earned sleep in, we were heading to the nearby dessert of Wadi Rum for a night in dessert accommodation. We checked in and headed off for a sunset/desert 4wd exploration. The dessert was beautiful, the rock formations and colours were mars like and it only got prettier as the afternoon turned into sunset. It was obvious why films such as Dune, Star Wars and The Martian were filmed here. In the evening we had a traditional dessert meal, Zarb, where meat, rice and vegetables is cooked in the sand in a large barrel for hours. It was delicious and we were glad to have a fire in the cold dessert night, where it was made the most of by toasting marshmallows.      Les mer

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    • Steven CoeReisendeLiving In the UK Part 1

      Jordan: Amman to Petra

      28.–31. jan., Jordan ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

      📌 We departed Luxor into Cairo where we seperated from the rest of the group as about 6 of us were going onto Jordan. We had a long wait at the airport but eventually made it into Jordan. A fun side note, 2 people were questioned by police as they had binoculars and they're banned in Jordan. Our first impressions of Amman were that it was a lot cleaner, more organised and upmarket compared to Egypt.

      📌 Our first full day started with a visit to Jerash, an old Roman city, one of the best preserved outside of Europe. It was lovely to walk around and admire the columns and streets. Our next stop was the resort area on the dead sea, it was a very unique experience as it sits 300m below sea level and hence you could feel the air pressure and increase in temperature. It was a fun afternoon, it's impossible to sink in the dead sea as it's 32% salinity creates great buoyancy, you can float so easily. The salty water burned if it got in your eyes or nose, and it felt oily, our skin felt very nice afterwards, particularly as we did mud bathing in conjunction. Additionally, it was also eerie being in this region as you could physically see the west bank and Israel from our side of the dead sea, a no go war zone. We finished the day with some cocktails and even a brewery, some rare finds in an Islamic country.

      📌 Day 2 started early and we headed to some old religious sites of the Byzantine Empire to check out some mosiacs and apparently where Moses had died, mount Nebo. We then headed to an old fort that was mainly occupied by the crusaders around 1100 AD, as they attempted to convert the region from Islam to Christianity. We then drove further south into the desert where we headed to little Petra, this was a beautiful time of the day and the rock formations were lovely in the afternoon light.      Les mer

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    • Steven CoeReisendeLiving In the UK Part 1

      Luxor

      25.–28. jan., Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

      📌 Our final stop in Egypt was Luxor, apparently a city with 1/3 of the world's ancient monuments and antiquities, it is the largest open air museum in the world. We went and got a dessert from a nice rooftop looking over the Luxor temple which was a grand view as the valley of the king's and temples were lit up.

      📌 The main event was visiting the valley of the king's, 64 tombs of Kings are here and they suspect there may be a few more. The tombs were all robbed (except Tutankhamun's) but the colours and hieroglyphics were incredible, some of the tombs were 20m long whilst others were 100s of metres deep into the valley walls. The most incredible tomb was an under the radar recommendation from Mo, Ramses 5&6 which was very well preserved. We then headed to the temple of Hatshepsut which was a woman's tomb, potentially the first feminist in the world, she posed as a male pharaoh. This tomb was the most grand from the outside due to its large facade and it once had statues on every pillar. The afternoon was then concluded with a local lunch at the bus drivers house where the food was some of the best we had on the trip, orzo soup was the highlight.

      📌 The last half of our time in Luxor included a visit to the Luxor temple in the evening, the large columns lit up at night was beautiful. Additionally, a visit to Karnak temple was another highlight as the sheer size of this location would have been amazing in its time, the pillars were huge and the hieroglyphic detail was great! Ultimately Luxor was a great stop and with amazing sites where it cannot be comprehended what they would have been like in their prime.      Les mer

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    • Steven CoeReisendeLiving In the UK Part 1

      Aswan

      23.–25. jan., Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

      📌 We caught the overnight train to Aswan from Cairo, 12 hours in an old slow train that was fun and surprisingly comfortable. We did some trivia in the social carriage, basically just a smokers room which wasn't good for the lungs. The morning sunrise was gorgeous as we followed the Nile winding through the dessert, slowing watching local life starting up.

      📌 We hung out on our own on day 1 and enjoyed a coffee on the river, watching the fellucas sail by. We then decided to suss out the quarry, where a lot of the pyramid blocks and obelisks were quarried. They actually found an unfinished obelisk here which would have been the largest of all, however the mining was abandoned due to fissures in the obelisk and thus wouldn't have been a complete single stone. It was incredible to see the remnants of the mining techniques and how they would have transported these huge blocks. We ended the day with a short Nile River cruise to a Nubian house for dinner. The Nubians were indigenous to northern Sudan and south Egypt and speak their own language.

      📌 Day 2 we woke up early as we had a long day ahead, we were headed to Abu Simbel, the sunrise over the Sahara was beautiful as we drove along the dusty roads. Walking into and around the temples was incredible, the sheer size and detail of the preserved hieroglyphics was mesmerising to look at. It was definitely a must do for visiting Egypt. We enjoyed the drive back as the true vastness and dryness of the Sahara was evident in the hot midday. It was also fascinating to see and hear how irrigation from the Nile was being undertaken, with Ethiopia and Egypts supply dictated by dams further upstresm and also the drip irrigation of crops, turning the dessert green. We finished the day with some good Nubian food, a camel tagine for me, and then a few drinks at the hotel.

      📌 Our final day in Aswan was a short 2 hour felluca sail boat ride along the Nile which was quite peaceful and warm in the morning sun. The drivers were hilarious and everyone had a go at driving the boat which goes in a zig zag pattern with the wind. We then headed to the Kom Ombo Temple, the temple dedicated to the crocodile God, it was a nice stop off as we were the only ones there basically. The hieroglyphics again were fabulous and included some script on how to mummify bodies.      Les mer

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