When we went to Berlin in March/April 2010 we decided to try out a Trabi Safari – that means that you get to drive your very own Trabant (read more about the car on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trabant ) around in Berlin while the guides in the lead car talk about Berlin and the sights via radio as you drive. The special thing about the Trabant is the gear system and in the beginning of the video Nikki explains how to shift gears We did our tour with Trabi Safari (see http://www.trabi-safari.de/ )

The Norwegian travel magazine Reiser & Ferie (Travel & Vacation) has posted an article about the best coffee shops in Rome and that brought back memories to my trips to Rome (see my Rome trip report from 2005 on gardkarlsen.com). It seems like Italians like their coffee strong and sweet – each morning we would see people come into coffee shops to buy their “breakfast”: a cup of espresso with lots of sugar in it. Anyway, we got to try out some of the coffee shops in Rome and they do make a very good espresso. And on Tazza d’Oro we got a great combination of espresso, crushed ice and whipped cream (granita di caffé con panna). Anyway, here is the list of the best coffee shops according to Reiser & Ferie:

1. Sant ‘Eustachio
2. Museo Atelier Canova Tadolini
3. Caffe Greco
4. Caffé-Bar di Marzio
5. Canova Restaurant
6. Ciampini
7. Ciuri Ciuri
8. La Caffetteria
9. Universale Caffé
10. Tazza d’Oro

Which coffee shops have you visited in Rome and which is your favourite?

A few weeks back I had a stop in Bangkok. I like my Thai food but we decided to check out Arabic food that evening. So we headed for Sukhumvit Soi 3 or better known as Soi Arab (close to Nana). As we walked in from Sukhumvit road the scenery changed – all of a sudden I got the impression that we were not in Thailand anymore but had gone to the Middle East. We decided to stop by an Egyptian restaurant and while we were waiting for the food we had a shisha (the traditional waterpipe) with apple taste. The food was hommos, fried meat of various kinds etc and it was a nice meal. The only thing that we were missing was an ice cold beer in the Bangkok heat but that was not possible at this place at least. Check out this article from New York Times about Soi Arab The photo on the right hand side shows me getting into the apple taste of my shisha

I had a short stop in Sydney a couple of weeks back and what do you do there if you only have 1 day for sightseeing? Well, as most Norwegians I like to get on top of things so I decided to go for the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb. After I had gotten over the initial shock when hearing the price (198 Australian dollar for the 3 hour climb – about 180 USD) I decided to go for it as the weather was nice and I would get a lovely view of the city harbor. I have to say I’m impressed by the way the climb was organized as we got suits, we were checked to see if we were influenced by alcohol etc. The only thing I didn’t like was the fact that I had to hand in my camera but it is understandable as we would be moving high above the 8 lane highway on the bridge. The climb itself was great and our guide explained the view, took photos of us and made sure that we all stayed safe. Here is the one photo we got together with the certificate and you can see me all the way in the back If you do get a chance and the weather is nice I do recommend the climb – it is not really a climb it is more of a walk with a view….and you get a wonderful view that’s for sure. So if you can get past the initial shock when you hear the price, I’m sure you will enjoy this walk. Check out more information on http://www.bridgeclimb.com/

We have now booked tickets to and hotel in Berlin and we look forward to it We have never been to Berlin before so we look forward to checking out a new city. As we only have 5 days we need to plan carefully what we want to see and do there but there seems to be quite a lot to choose from. So maybe we will do a Trabant safari, maybe we will do a Berlin walk, maybe Sachsenhausen etc. But if you have been to Berlin I would love to hear from you if you have any recommendation. What to see, what to avoid and where/what to eat. Get in touch or post it as comments to this article

I’m a big fan of the Google maps but the main problem when it comes to my hometown Stavanger has been that the downtown area has been very blurry when checking out the satelite image. But a few weeks back this was fixed and now you can finally check out how Stavanger looks from above. This combines with Google Streetview will now give you an idea of what to expect when you visit Stavanger

In Bergen you can take the cable railway known as Fløibanen to the top of the 320 meter high Fløyen mountain. From there you get an amazing view of the city of Bergen and the surrounding area. Check out http://www.floibanen.no/ for more information. If you are coming to Bergen it is well worth the 70 kroner (about 12 USD) for the round trip ticket to enjoy the view.

It is not long ago since Burj Khalifa (also know as Burj Dubai) opened officially and the viewing platform called “At the top” opened up for the first guest on the 124th floor. But now there are news saying that the viewing platform has been closed indefinitely. The reason for this closing seems to be vague but things like “unexpected high traffic” and “electrical problems” has been mentioned. Nikki and I went to Dubai last year (as you can see in this Dubai trip report) and at the time the building was not open – but what an impressive building! But now it remains to be seen how long it will take before guests once again can enjoy the view from the 124th floor.

A few years back Google introduced the service known as Street View. They basically take  car and drive through the city strrets and they take photos. This is linked up to Google Maps and this means that you can take virtual walks in cities like London, New York, Paris etc. But now the turn has finally come to my beloved hometown Stavanger It seems like the photos have been taken on a pretty nice autumn day last year and you can walk around a lot of the streets in downtown Stavanger. So the only thing missing now Google is a good satellite image of the city center itself!! So start by a walk from the Norwegian Petroleum museum, Or maybe walk past the iron age farm, check out the beach at Sola, check out the view of the city from the bridge leading over to Hundvåg etc.  Welcome to Stavanger…both virtually and in real life

My wife and I went to Tromsø in the end of Janauary 2010 and I have made a trip report with some photos and you can find it on this page.  We had a great dinner at Emma’s Drømmekjøkken, we did some snowmobile driving with Lyngsfjord Adventure to see northern lights, we took the cable car Fjellheisen up to the mountain top Storsteinen, visited Polaria and Polar museum etc. I hope that the trip report can be of some use to others that are going there. Get in touch on gardkarlsen@hotmail.com if you have any questions or comments.

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com – trip reports and pictures