We’re on the toll road heading west. It rains, as promised. There are tolls to pay. I do my best to make sure the toll-station tickets don’t turn to soggy pulp in my pocket. I’ve had that problem before. Seven hours later we’re in Poznan.....

Over the next few days I’ll be following the route of the ‘Freedom Chain’, an astonishing event that took place in 1989 when two million Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians linked hands all the way from Tallinn to Riga to Vilnius – over 400 miles - to protest against the Soviet occupation of their countries....

Finns are notoriously shy and introverted people. They usually don’t like to talk to each other much and they keep out of each other’s way as much as possible (is this part of their secret of happiness….?) Yet they’re not shy about taking their clothes off and bunching up together naked in a sauna.....

Norway, Lofoten, Nordkapp and into Finland (I'm the troll in the middle in case you were wondering...).

Dave McC took a long run over the pass to AppleCross for a spot of lunch. A spectacularly hot day for this part of the world, with a...

The Geiranger road is even more amazing than the 51. It rises and falls, twists and turns. There’s snow in the verges. There’s not a breath of wind to ripple the mirror-glass surfaces of the fjords. And as if that wasn’t enough we’re soon approaching Geiranger fjord itself. It’s one of Norway’s most spectacular of the spectacular. Slartibartfast at his absolute best! A worthy award winner….

The long way round

Some things in Oslo defy explanation....

Coffee & cake