Hello from Norway!  I think I'm somewhere near the city Trondheim which is also referred to as the Paris of Northern Europe.  I decided to take a 12 day cruise beginning and ending in Bergen Norway with Hurtigruten Cruise lines. 

One of the tours I decided to do was halfway through the cruise at one of our northern most stops in Kirkenes which is only a few miles from the Russian border.  Many people on my ship took a tour bus to see the Russian border.  There was only time to do one chore and I chose this one I'm so glad that I did and spite of being colder then I think I've ever been in my life.  I grew up in the state of Vermont but have lived in Florida for nearly a decade and it just isn't as easy to travel to cold-weather places. 

I took a lot of photos at the Snowhotel because it was so interesting and I haven't ever seen anything like it.  People pay as much as $600 and more of a night to stay there.  There is a bar and a restaurant.  There are also reindeer on the property and dog sledding is available. 

I have mixed feelings about dog sledding. This was my second such excursion. When I was in Alaska I wanted to try it and especially see if the dogs were treated well. You can read my account here:

Dog Sledding in June on the Mendenhall Glacier, Alaska

One of the things I like most about going dog sledding is playing with the dogs.  They just love attention and are so well behaved! 

I was so happy in the above photo because during our week in Phuket we dealt with a lot of weather like the below photo.  Those spots of water are not on the lens of my camera - the rain drops for really that big!  The good thing is it did not rain at night there and we were able to take a trip into the city of Phuket which I will write about later and I thought was extremely beautiful and interesting!

Visiting Montserrat was one of the highlights of my trip to Barcelona Spain.  Although the skies were gray that day unlike most of the days I was in Barcelona, it was so nice to take a ride out of the city into the mountains and fresh air.  It was very interesting learning about the monastery, its history and the Black Madonna.  I asked a stranger to take the above photo of me above standing next to the Black Madonna which you can't see.  I never look at my camera after asking someone I don't know to take a picture.  I don't want to bother them for a second one.

 Please remember that you can use my photos from all over the world for free and not worry about getting in trouble.  There are various sizes available here

 Here is a photo of the Black Madonna which only stands 38 inches tall. 


The cathedral was very beautiful and so well maintained.  It was so nice to visit this touristic area on a day when so few people were there.  That was a definite advantage to visiting Barcelona in January versus the more popular times in the spring and summer.  It got a little cool at times and there wasn't as much daylight, but it definitely was not as crowded and easier to take photos.  I did get lucky as it did not rain any of the 10 days I was there.  I think this was the only day where the skies were not bright blue.

I enjoyed this trip as it was nice to leave the city and see the beautiful landscape of mountains in nature.  The fresh air was definitely welcome as I am allergic to dust and being in the city can be difficult for me.  I would definitely recommend this tour to anyone visiting the Barcelona area!

I appreciate you stopping by my blog as always.  Please feel free to leave your thoughts and/or comments.  I hope you all have a wonderful week. 

~Michelle

 My only regret about my trip to French Polynesia is not spending more than one day on the island of Moorea.  I boarded a cruise ship in Tahiti after returning from Bora-Bora.  I loved the lush, green, well kept landscape and the fact that you can reach Tahiti by ferry.  The following is a garden, but there were green mountains and flowers everywhere I looked.

As always you can visit my profile at Pixabay and download and use my photos for free and not worry about getting in trouble here:

Our entertainment when we exited the cruise ship :)


I loved this beautiful stone home I ran across:
This abandoned building caught my eye too!

Thank you so much for stopping by.  Please have any questions or comments below.  Take care my friends!

~ Michelle