Our trip to the Baltic

Now for some more photos from our recent travels - Denmark, Sweden, Estonia and Germany...

DENMARK

 Canal waterfront - Copenhagen

 The Little Mermaid ... decidedly unimpressive to be honest

 One of the castles in downtown Copenhagen

 Downtown

SWEDEN

 Cruising along the fjords

 Stockholm - outside the palace

 The Nobel Prize museum - Stockholm is the home of this international award.

 Stockholm waterfront

ESTONIA

 View of the old city of Tallin - beautiful

 One of the old city gates into the old city of Tallin

 Tallin

 Quaint old streets

GERMANY

 The ancient/modern center of Rostock

 In the cathedral square in Rostock

 One of the original medieval towers

 At the coastal town of Warnemunde

 Warnemunde is a tourist resort on the Black Sea with a long and beautiful beach

DENMARK

 Real 1100 year old Viking ships in the town of Roskilde - the ancient capital of Denmark

Cathedral square in Roskilde

Now we are wrapping things up in the UK and getting ready to head to Florida for the next stage of this adventure!

Malta

Had a great couple of weeks in Malta. Here are some pics.

The town we stayed in - Mellieha

Malta has significant history from World War 2 - one famous story is the bomb that fell through the roof of a church in Mosta during a service and didn't explode - it rolled across the floor to this spot

Malta also has Biblical history - we visited St. Paul's catacombs - an underground Christian burial site from the 4th Century. According to The Bible, St. Paul landed on Malta on the way to his execution in Rome.

In the ancient walled city of Mdina - beautiful and atmospheric. A great place to wander.

Here we are in the capital city of Valetta

The Grand Harbor in Valetta - built by the Knights of St John and the scene of the Great Siege of Valetta when the Knights fought the Turks in a long and bloody battle.

There are many prehistoric temple ruins in Malta, including these at Mnajdra and Hagar Qim - built between 3600 and 2500 BC they are older than the Pyramids and Stonehenge and are the oldest free standing buildings in the world!

Malta has a beautiful and dramatic coastline - this is one famous view called the Blue Grotto

We also went to Gozo, another of the Maltese islands. Here, we visited the old prison - used from the 16th century and saw 16th century wall carvings inside the prison cells

This is the harbor at Gozo - a town called Mgarr

Another stunning area of coastline - on Gozo - the Azure Window

Back on Malta, we visited a picturesque fishing village called Marsaxlokk, with a harbor full of colorful, traditional fishing boats

In another city called Vittoriosa, which is on the opposite side of the Grand Harbor, there is the Inquisitor's Palace (according to the guide book, it is the only one of its type in the world which is open to the public). This was the tribunal and prison of the Inquisition from the 1570s. This is the tribunal room, where those suspected of 'heresy' against the Church were tried and sentenced.

A street in Vittoriosa

We did many fantastic hikes on Malta - here we are on cliffs around the north of Malta

We were in Malta when the spring wildflowers were at their peak

Another interesting place to visit in Malta is this area of prehistoric 'cart ruts' - caused by Stone Age settlers dragging carts across softer rock

 Cooling off during another hike

We also visited Ghar Dalam - an Ice Age cave, complete with Ice Age animal bones and remains of 7,000 year old settlers

Now we are back in the UK - and working on plans for what is next ...

Some more photos - Huangshan and Hangzhou

Here are some photos of our recent trip to Huangshan (Yellow Mountain) and Hangzhou - a great way to finish up our time in China.

 Our favorite view in Hangzhou

 Ming Dynasty era rock carvings

 At the top of Huangshan - famous mountain area in China which has provided inspiration to many centuries of artists - we are a little nervous on the edge of a precipice here

 A misty day in Hangzhou

 Trying a delicous Chinese treat - Chinese hawthorn fruits covered in melted sugar - lovely!

 Inside a Daoist temple

 China loves its lights - and Hangzhou is no exception!