Northern Europe

June 2018 - April 2024

The McNicols are heading to Europe. Angus will be joining us as we explore London, Stockholm, Helsinki, Berlin and Hamburg (the birthplace of my father Hans). I will then spend some additional time with my cousins and their families in Brussels. Read more

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Traveler Northern Europe
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- Jun 25, 2018, 7:07am
- ⛅ 7 °C
- Altitude: 99 m
- Australia Victoria Monash Glen Waverley -37.886333, 145.15554837°53’11” S 145°9’20” E
Day 1
London Calling
June 25, 2018 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C
Finally it is nearly time to head off on our European adventure. We leave for the airport at the very respectable time of midday, so nice to not have to get up at sparrows fart. First destination Perth and then the 17 hour direct flight to London on the new Dreamliner. The boys are all packed (they were packed yesterday) and I will finish my packing this morning. I think I need to remove a few things from my pile of clothes, possibly reduce the number of shoes I take!Read more
Traveler Safe travels - hope the flights are smooth, the wine flows freely, and you have no screaming children within earshot.
6/24/18Reply
Traveler You read my mind😂
6/24/18Reply
Traveler Enjoy the warm weather and hope you had a good flight over.
6/26/18Reply
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Traveler Northern Europe
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- Jun 26, 2018, 9:00am
- ⛅ 21 °C
- Altitude: 27 m
- England Greater London Victoria London Victoria 51.495567, -0.14418451°29’44” N 0°8’39” W
Day 2
Exploring London
June 26, 2018 in England ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
We arrived at Heathrow this morning ahead of schedule and caught the Heathrow Express to Paddington Station where we caught a cab to our hotel. Thanks to Malcolm for the tip as the trip was easy and quick. We are planning to explore the main sites today. So, after showers we headed out to see the sights and that we did. First stop Buck Palace, then a walk along Birdcage Walk which runs along St James Park. London has really turned on the weather for us. We ended up at the Churchill War Rooms and decided to join the queue, and it was about an hours wait (and it was worth the wait). The Churchill War Rooms are a vast underground complex beneath the Government Treasury Chambers, and construction and renovation commenced in 1937. It was fascinating to see first hand the Rooms - everything from the Map Rooms, accommodation for Prime Minister and Cabinet, Chiefs of Staff meeting room, Typists pool, kitchen and many more. Once we finished at the War Rooms which included the excellent Churchill Museum, we headed for Trafalgar Square, We then walked along Pall Mall down to the Embankment area, through Whitehall Gardens. We also saw the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, New Scotland Yard and Elizabeth Tower (aka Big Ben).

This afternoon we went on the London Eye to get a birds eye view of London and its surrounds. We also walked through Southbank which is a bit of an arts precinct and crossed the Golden Gate Jubilee Bridge for views up the Thames. We also took a boat cruise along the Thames - taking in such sites as Westmiinister, Tower Bridge, Tower of London, The Cutty Sark (Sir Francis Drakes ship)), Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, The Millennium Bridge, an Waterloo Bridge which was constructed predominantly by woman during War.

After the cruise, we headed back to our hotel via Victoria Street. We stopped for dinner at Jamie’s Italian for pizza and salads. This is one of Jamie Olliver’s stable of restaurants. The food was very good and reasonably priced. It was then back to the hotel for a bit of a wind down and an earlier night, after what had been a very long day.Read more
Traveler Amazing - you packed in a lot in your first day! Well done.
6/27/18Reply
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Traveler Northern Europe
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- Jun 26, 2018, 10:00am
- ⛅ 22 °C
- Altitude: 25 m
- England Greater London Victoria London Victoria 51.495792, -0.14445751°29’45” N 0°8’40” W
Day 2
More exploring London
June 26, 2018 in England ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C
Some more photos from our first day in London we clocked up over 20,000 steps!
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Traveler Northern Europe
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- Jun 26, 2018, 11:00am
- ⛅ 23 °C
- Altitude: 25 m
- England Greater London Victoria London Victoria 51.495796, -0.14445451°29’45” N 0°8’40” W
Day 2
Churchill War Rooms
June 26, 2018 in England ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
Did a most interesting tour through the War Rooms and the Churchill Museum. Very interesting with so much to take in. With WW2 approaching a decision was taken to find accommodation underground to house the Cabinet and Chiefs of Staff in case of a sudden attack. General Hastings Ismay, Deputy Secretary of Britain’s Committee of Imperial Defence settled on the basement area of the New Public Offices near Whitehall, it was also close to 10 Downing Street and was connected via tunnels. The Map Room became operational after news that Hitler had invaded Poland on 27 August 1939. In addition to senior leaders a number of support staff also stayed there, in men’s and women’s dormitories. There was the Central War Room, a Map Room, the Cabinet Room, The Typist Pool Room, and a range of accommodations for the Cabinet members, the Chiefs of Staff and of course the Prime Minister. There was also a kitchen.Read more
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Traveler Northern Europe
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- Jun 26, 2018, 7:00pm
- ⛅ 24 °C
- Altitude: 25 m
- England Greater London Victoria London Victoria 51.495796, -0.14445451°29’45” N 0°8’40” W
Day 2
Dinner at Jamie Olliver's Italian
June 26, 2018 in England ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C
Delicious early dinner to complete a very big day. We had some delicious food in a lovely and comfortable space.
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Traveler Northern Europe
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- Jun 27, 2018, 12:42pm
- ☀️ 21 °C
- Altitude: 25 m
- England Greater London Victoria London Victoria 51.495762, -0.14449551°29’45” N 0°8’40” W
Day 3
A touch of History
June 27, 2018 in England ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
Made our way to the British Museum this morning. Spent a couple of hours checking out the ancient Egyptian, Ancient Greek, Assyrian and Aztec exhibitions. It is a beautiful building that is well set out and full of light. Some of the ancient treasures on display were in great condition and the scale and size quite unexpected.Read more
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- Jun 27, 2018, 2:00pm
- ⛅ 23 °C
- Altitude: 21 m
- England Greater London Victoria London Victoria 51.495991, -0.14444651°29’46” N 0°8’40” W
Day 3
River Cafe Hammersmith
June 27, 2018 in England ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
We had a wonderful lunch today at the River Cafe. We decided to use the tube today as our main means of transport and it was quite straightforward to use. The trains are so clean and the services were so quick- so much better than Melbourne’s public transport system!

We caught the tube to Hammersmith and then had about a 20 minute walk to the restaurant, some of it along the Thames. Hammersmith is a lovely suburb with a great mixture of housing and architecture.

For lunch we decided on a main and a dessert, and we were all very happy with our selections. Ian had seared keg of lamb with salsa verde and roast capsicums for main and Panna Cotta with Grappa and Raspberries for dessert, Angus had Dover Sole for main and for sweets the Chocolate Nemesis, and I had the Pidgeon for main and Almond Tart with strawberries, which was the standout.Read more
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Traveler Northern Europe
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- Jun 27, 2018, 4:00pm
- ☀️ 25 °C
- Altitude: 25 m
- England Greater London Victoria London Victoria 51.495762, -0.14449351°29’45” N 0°8’40” W
Day 3
An Afternoon of Meandering
June 27, 2018 in England ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C
After lunch concluded we decided we needed to do some walking (help burn off calories). We caught the tube to Notting Hill Gate, and walked through Notting Hill, including Portobello road. We then headed south and strolled through the Kensington Gardens, Knightsbridge and ended up at Harrods. We have become very adept with the Underground and utilised it to take us between areas or Burroughs.

There were sales on in Harrods but we were able to resist!Read more
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Traveler Northern Europe
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- Jun 27, 2018, 8:30pm
- ☀️ 21 °C
- Altitude: 25 m
- England Greater London Victoria London Victoria 51.495754, -0.14452951°29’45” N 0°8’40” W
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Day 3
Dinner at Iberica
June 27, 2018 in England ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
We had a fabulous dinner at Iberica, a lovely Spanish restaurant not far from our hotel. We decided to share some tapas plates. We had croquettes with serano ham, calamari, tortilla, patatas bravas, meatballs, chorizo lollipops, and crispy chicken with roasted artichokes. It was all so good.Read more
Traveler Yum
6/28/18Reply
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Traveler Northern Europe
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- Jun 28, 2018, 11:30am
- ⛅ 19 °C
- Altitude: 25 m
- England Greater London Victoria London Victoria 51.495878, -0.14448651°29’45” N 0°8’40” W
Day 4
London to Stockholm
June 28, 2018 in England ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
Today will be a transit day, although with the sun being up till about ten and sun rise about 3.30am in Sweden we will have time to explore when we arrive late afternoon. From the plane Sweden looks very green and neat with lots of water. Our flight was smooth and once we got through immigration and customs we caught a taxi to our apartment. It is still very warm in Stockholm with a top of 29C. Our apartment is on the 6th floor but luckily there is a lift - a quaint old fashioned one but suits the building which is about 400 years old. After unpacking we headed out for dinner at No.53 the restaurant under our apartment building. We had a delicious dinner - Ian had sausage pizza with a glass of Swedish beer, Angus had a flatbread pizza with chicken and rocket and I had a carpaccio of beetroot with goats cheese, walnuts and grapes, some calamari and some sweet potato fries. Everyone enjoyed their meals. We then went for a bit of a walk to explore the surrounding area before stopping at a local supermarket for some supplies. The people here in Stockholm seem very friendly and helpful - so a good start to our stay here. The weather has turned stormy tonight with some cool but sunny days ahead. Tomorrow we will collect our Stockholm card and Travel card and start exploring the city.Read more
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