Tromso
Tromso has been inhabited for 11,000 years but the population has
grown with the increase in scientific research in the arctic and the number of
people wanting to hunt the Northern Lights.
If you’re lucky enough, the Lights will grace your city break with
their green and purple dance whilst you’re wandering between bars. If not, there are also loads of things to
increase your chances as well, like 4WD excursions and boat tours which will
‘chase’ the lights to the locations with the highest chances. Alternatively,
staying out of the city at Malangen
Resort with its fire-lit shelter over a frozen lake is a warmer
alternative.
There’s a strange mix of Scandinavian-style log buildings in green
and maroon and old, wooden ships set against the toberlone-y Arctic Cathedral,
and the fallen-domino Polaria,
which
is the world’s most northernly aquarium.
The seals, including two harbour seals Lyra and Loffen, play in a
cleverly-designed enclosure that disorients you whilst you walk over, under and
through their pool. They’re fed in front
of visitors daily, and it’s not a ‘show,’ it’s a set of carefully chosen
activities to entertain the seals and feed them responsibly.
In the evening, try Steakers for their
great steak choices and view of the mountains behind the harbour. Walk around the restaurant to see their wine
selection on display in medieval-style shelving and in temperature-controlled
cupboards.
Agenturet
Bar has a great atmosphere for relaxing and chatting, and they have
over 120 beers and 250 wines to choose from, so there is certainly enough to
keep you going for a while.
Basel
Switzerland is the 7th largest consumer of wine per
capita in the world, which means there isn’t much Swiss wine left to export to
other countries. They have some unique
grapes, like petite arvine and amigne, which aren’t planted anywhere else in
the world. For a friendly and welcoming
(as well as very informative!) tasting session see the Wine Guru on Wheels.
If that isn’t enough, the Les Trois Rois’ is
formal inside but has a relaxed terrace overlooking the river; perfect for
wine, cocktails and cigars. Downstairs in
the basement are dusty boxes to nod at as you pretend to understand why the
contents are valuable.
It’s hard not to be taken in by the class of this city. There are two old parts to Basel and
timber-framed buildings have hand-painted dates above the doors, some dating
all the way back to the 1300s. In other
areas, stone buildings impose themselves with a certain dignity, like they have
wisdom to pass on if only we would stop and listen.
Basel is one of the easiest cities to explore because of its
extensive tram network. Your hotel will give you a Basel Card, giving you free
access to public transport and the city’s Wi-Fi network whilst you’re on the
move. This is great because it isn’t part of the EU’s free data roaming
network.
Summer temperatures can be in the high, when I was there it was
38˚! To cool off, borrow a dry bag from
your hotel and join the constant stream of people floating down the Rhine. Then get out, walk back upstream and repeat
until you can stand the heat again.
The current is strong and it looks scary at first because people
are floating downstream much faster than you could walk the same distance, but
if you follow the crowd, it’s quite easy to swim to the side and grab onto the
chains before climbing out up the steps.
Basel’s biggest festival is after Ash Wednesday and lasts exactly
72 hours (starting at 4am on the Monday).
Residents are generally granted 3 days off work to celebrate and there
are parades where people where extravagant masks. The imagery of the harlequins can be spotted
through the city all year, on lamps, street art and doorways.
Norwich
Legend has it that Norwich’s city walls protected a church for
every Sunday of the year and pub for each day.
Largely untouched by the industrial revolution, a walk through the city
will take you past picturesque flint buildings, two cathedrals and wonky medieval
windows.
If getting involved with locals is your thing, stand
elbow-to-elbow with them in the annual beer festival each October in St Andrews
Hall, surrounded by paintings of grand Lord Mayors in their red robes.
Local and smaller national breweries are represented, and the beer
and ciders are available in ⅓, ½ or pints (for the brave). There’s also an international tent for lagers
by the bottle. The glasses make great souvenirs because they have a different
design each year, normally containing a dragon.
In 2014, Norwich won the Great British High Street award because
of its huge selection of independent shops, restaurants and bars. Here’s a map here to help you navigate. To eat, I’d recommend the market for lunch
because there’s a huge range of food stalls from hog roast to noodles.
There are so many great independent restaurants here. If you like Italian, try Trattoria Rustica
which is owned and run by a family from Sardinia, so the quality of food and
variety of dishes is a lot better than standard chain restaurants.
Alternatively, Delia’s (by Delia Smith) is open
each Friday and Saturday nights and has a slightly formal but relaxed
atmosphere and a great menu which changes every 6 weeks.
Bilbao
Although Bilbao is a huge, industrial city, you can sit in a
pintxos bar and watch as local people tour from bar to bar to greet friends and
relatives as if you’re in a village somewhere in the provinces.
Some of these pinxtos bars are very traditional, with a glass
display area on the bar showing the different dishes on offer. Others, like the oyster and wine bar, El Puertito, are more modern. This bar displays oysters on ice from
different regions across Europe for you to choose from. These can be paired with their extensive
choice of wines.
The Artxanda Funicular railway heaves itself up the mountain from
downtown Bilbao. At the top, the city
spans out before you. Rooftops merge
from old to new, with the Guggenheim front and centre against the river.
The Guggenheim itself is great to see up close. I loved standing on the river side and
waiting for Fujiko Nakaya’s fog sculpture to shroud both tourist and building
in mystery. Unless you’re really into
modern art, I’d recommend being satisfied by the sculptures outside and then
moving on.
The museum is walking distance from the old town of Bilbao, Casco
Viejo, connected by bridges over the river.
It’s curling, confusing streets are easy to get lost in (“I think we
need to turn right at this ice cream parlour?”). I loved the Pampling T-shirt shop, which is
floor-to-ceiling pop culture on shirts.
If you’re a cocktail fan, the Sir Winston Churchill Pub is back
over on the modern side of the city and has more than 400 spirits and liqueurs
to choose from and an expert bar team to provide any cocktail combination you
can think of.
