Trip summary report:
London:
- Much busier than last time with wall-to-wall tourists. Girls felt like it was too crowded.
- 2 days only left time to quickly see some of the main sights, but would have been better to pick at least one place to have a tour.
- Bikes are agressive and all over.
- Local transit app super helpful and now able to use the tube and buses with just a tap to pay credit card which makes it easier than getting their transit card.
- Borough food market impressive and worth planning arriving hungry and grabbing some food to just munch on while people watching. Even better if you're staying somewhere with a kitchen and can bring back dinner.
Cherbourg, France:
- Super cute little town that unfortunately for us was mostly closed on Sunday.
- Toured 2 little fishing towns there were also cute.
- Learned about "cat traps" built into roofs of buildings that allowed cats to chase the rodents out of the eaves.
- Not indicative of France of course, but I liked it better than Paris by far.
Iceland:
- Very cool geology. Most of the country is lava rock with very poor soil. Dramatic sharp edged jutting and broken lava rock due to slow lava flows. There was a currently active flow while we were there.
- Saw an area of mud pots and steam vents. The smell was awful, but again interesting geology. The hills around the area had no vegetation because some were warm and some get the venting of sulfur.
- Saw the meeting of the American and Eurasian tectonic plates. Those plates are separating in Iceland so their earthquakes are mild as opposed to other places were plates are smashing into each other.
- I think Iceland is certainly worth a visit because of its uniqueness. Likely not enough to pull us back specifically again unless it's to see the Northern lights.
Norway:
- Sailing into the fjords was beautiful and worth the visit itself.
- The small islands and connecting tunnels was very interesting and the tiny towns very peaceful.
- It was fun walking around the small story-book like city we were in, but I'm sure this didn't give a sense of most of Norway. Would be interesting in going back to see some of the major cities.
Denmark:
- Copenhagen was cool, but it was like being in London for a day. Not really the chance to see much.
- The shopping area puts any other high-end shopping to shame. Blocks and blocks and blocks of every designer you can think of.
- Bikes all over, but respectful and part of every day life. The traffic patterns and bike racks built into the city was impressive.
- Next time will research use of their transit system before going.
Overall:
- Teslas all over every country even in small towns and Tesla taxis in every country
- Tap to pay is a way of life everywhere we went. Even small stalls took credit cards so we did the whole trip without getting any foreign currency.
- Fun way to see a little snapshot of many countries. I wouldn't have wanted to pack and repack to travel to several places. But likely will go back to Denmark for a longer stay.
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