The next horizon...: September 2006

From Russia, with Love.

One of the greatest joys is seeing friends overseas! Having just spent a grand time in Denmark with Rikke and Bo, we have just sent a splendid couple of days in Stockholm with good friends Adrian and Carina and their two boys Daag and Malte. Just wandered around enjoyed being in a home, not a hotel and all the normal things of life. Shame we didn't have time to get any sailing in this time...

In St Petersburg now and catching the midnight train to Moscow. Russia is amazing, we have just spent the afternoon looking at Rembrandts, Monets, Van Goghs and more than I can mention in The Hermitage, the personal collection of Catherine the Great. After a couple of days in Moscow we then have 4 days non-stop through to Irkutsk in Siberia on the border of Mongolia....that is the bit I cant wait for...just watching the world slide by - I love train travel so very much. Mind you, we just met the first pickpocket on the underground but he was pretty obvious and we're pretty secure...my safety pinned pocket is pretty cunning after all! The cyrillic alphabet here makes life hard, the women are stunning and the men horrendous. There's bound to be Yetis in Siberia. PAS.

Buenos Aires, a Danish retreat and on to Sweden

After the rest of South America Buenos Aires felt like Disneyland ... relatively clean streets, well-dressed people, hygenic conditions and new cars on the road (complete with seatbelts). Despite its European feel it did have a distinctly South American twist, which made it one of our favourite large cities. We explored it with Simone (girlfriend from home), who made an excellent guide given she had already been there a couple of days and speaks Spanish. We went to the colourful dockside area of La Boca with houses that were traditionally painted with whatever paint was leftover from the ships. Here, in the home of the tango, we posed with some locals who were pretty easy on the eye before heading to the fancy suburb of Recoletta. We wandered through the beautiful (if not just a bit spooky) necropolis where the Buenos Airies elite are laid to rest (coffins of entire families are stacked for all to see in elaborate little buildings) ... they say it is cheaper to live your entire life extravagantly than to be put to rest here. Explored the shops and cafes of trendy Palermo and ended up finding a traditional Parrilla restaurant (think meat fest) here as well.

20 hours or so after leaving Argentina we landed in Copenhagen, where we have enjoyed superb weather. It has proven to be an absolutely enchanting city, made even more memorable as we have been hosted by our dear friends Rikke and Bo. We have riden bicycles around the city (there seem to be more bikes than cars), cruised the canals, visited the historic and quaint Tivoli amusement park, walked and picnicked in the forest (complete with deer) and generally enjoyed being on our own schedule. The danes are amongst the most attractive, stylish, happy and wholesome people we have ever come across.

Off to beautiful Stockholm tomorrow...