Welcome to the Girlstravelclub.co.uk blog, an online scrapbook where you can share your holiday ideas, book reviews, travel tips, photos or even recipes; we'll even award prizes for our favorites! Send your emails to info@girlstravelclub.co.uk.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Wild Swimming, and the urge to throw yourself into icy cold water...

Well, those lovely chaps who published Cool Camping have done themselves proud and brought out a lovely book called Wild Swimming.

Yup, it does exactly what it says on the tin. Written by Daniel Start, it's packed full of glossy pictures and evocative text detailing 150 rivers, lakes and swimming holes that just, well, make you want to jump in a river.



Now here at GTC we'd hate to recommend anything we hadn't tried ourselves, so that's exactly what Becci did, with her two month old son Wilf and her poor dear mother watching on aghast from the river bank at Figheldean, "sort of near Stonehenge".

The icy pool was filled by the crystal clear chalk stream of the Avon, and was punctuated with tiny fish and the odd weed, waving in the current. Apparently, according to the book, it was always packed in the war with airmen from the local bases, and also Land Girls whose naked bathing was said by some to "distract the village from the war effort."



I imagine that if it had been a nice day it would have been quite a pleasant experience, but "brass monkeys" were the only words that Bex could choke out as she clambered back out, dripping wet and shaking slightly. Nor was she clad in a lovely polka-dotted two-piece with her locks neatly tied back, but a slightly tatty Citroen Saxo sweatshirt and a pair of her husband's shorts found in the boot of the car (that bogwitch from that Legend film with Tom Cruise springs to mind). "Marvellous fun," she choked through chattering teeth, drying herself off on a handy nappy, "the highlight of my summer."

Actually, weather apart, it was a wonderful location, as recommended on page 65 of the book. It's very well laid out, with map references, easy instructions and even a guide to water clarity for each site; the UK is divided into regions with maps showing all the swimming places for each area, and particular highlights. Next on Bex's list is the Silent Pool near Albury, having done Frensham Ponds (nice and warm, slightly squishy bottom.... actually, not unlike Bex herself.......).

Cool Camping France, a review by Tamsin Xerxes


A comprehensive guide complete with its enticing glossy pictures depicting the exceptional, great, french outdoors. Written with humour and honesty with objective views on each campsite, this book is ideal for the more adventurous happy campers and those looking to get that extra bit more from camping.

Handy extras include options and details on travelling to France and useful tips, advice and french phrases to get you started. The 'Top 5' listed special campsites is particularly convenient for the impatient and indecisive travellers and the inclusion of an 'at a glance' section enables you to focus on the campsites relevant to your holiday requirements.

Each description also looks outside the immediate campsite to note the surrounding facilities and focal points. The campsite locator page acts as a good overview and visual identification however the reference numbers on the map do not refer to each campsite page which makes using the book as a quick reference rather more tricky. The photographs are artistic, quirky and informative; a reference to the images would be useful to provide some authenticity relating to the description. The 'useful info' section at the back is definitely worth a read and the emergency numbers are appreciated, although the lack of camping and general travel safety advice is disappointing and at least some tips on country customs and how to avoid incidents would have been appreciated.

A good size book with plenty of options to choose from. The inspiring pictures alone is enough to get you packing the tent up once again and heading across the pond.

GTC says "This is a lovely book to read while sitting in your chair with a cup of tea. Beautiful pictures really give you a feel for the sites and make you want to wander off the beaten track, away from all those big Eurocamp-type sites in search of something a little more special! Have a look at the Cool Camping website, it has a campsite of the month, as well as brilliant recipes for the outdoors and handy checklists. "

Life on the open wave in a modern-day Viking Ship





The Sea Stallion......



Imagine a curved, snaking prow, slicing through the waves. Imagine a wooden ship, painstakingly built by craftsmen, open to the elements and at the mercy of the seas. Imagine a huge striped sail, and a bank of oars manned by strong, fit Scandinavians. Denmark, 987 AD?

Nope, Portsmouth harbour actually. Here at GTC we were absolutely delighted to be able to visit the Sea Stallion, or Havhingsten, an amazing recreation of a longship that was built in Dublin the 1040's, before eventually being scuttled in Roskilde, Denmark. The ship originally sailed from Roskilde, via Norway and the Orkneys to Ireland, and now is on its return journey with a crew drawn from ten nations, both male and female.

It is just amazing to be able to watch, day by day, the progress of the ship and crew on one of the best websites we've seen in a long time, so we thought it might be interesting to compare the rigours of travel from a millenia ago with the experiences we tend to have these days!



Louise Kaempe Henriksen, a 28 year old crew member from Denmark, has been kind enough to answer a few questions for us.

Where does your interest in the Vikings and sailing come from?

I was hired as a student help at the Viking Ship Museum in 2003. I had been sailing a little around Denmark as crew on moderns boats - but being able to sail traditional Norwegian, Farao and Danish boats at the museum, made me fall in love with wooden boats and single square sails. I already had an interest in Viking Age culture through my studies at University of Copenhagen and my thesis was about the use of Viking Age symbols in 1800 Danish Nationalism.
How hard was it to become a member of the crew?

For me no - at the time where I joined the crew there was big changes happening. The skipper on board had been replaced at the new one was trying to put together a crew for the Dublin voyage. To begin with I was a volunteer crew member like everyone else, but when becoming a curator i was given more responsiblity - especially in the midship, which is my section. I am now a part of the core group making decissions on how to organize sailing, crew and life on board.

The question you probably get asked the most, and what most people want to know is how do you use the toilet!?? And is it hard being such close proximity to so many men without any privacy?

The toilet is a simple installation - a bucket with a toiletseat behind a canvas. When finished you empty the bucket over the side. The canvas is there to create an illusion of privacy - but is is not there. Everyone can see who's at the toilet and conversations continues. But it is no problem - you quickly get use to not having any privacy and no other alternative. Having all the men around is no problem at all - we do not really think in terms of men/women. We all have to go and it is something quite natural. Therefore there's no comments or stares.

What is your most useful item you have with you? And are you allowed much personal gear?

We are allowed to bring two drybags - approx 60 - 80 litres. In there is all you need; sleeping bag, sleeping mat, waterproof gear, sea boots, sandals, woollen underwear, socks and hat, books, suntan lotion, music, mobile phone, etc. It is all about bringing enough warm clothes and pack that so it doesn't take up to much space. My favorite thing which has also proved to be most useful is a special pair of trousers. They are what the travelling carpenters from Germany called 'naver' use. Black cotton so thick, it looks like leather. They keep me warm, they are water resistent and you simply can't ruin them. Another great thing to bring is wet napkins - we cannot shower every day, so they come in handy and are used in the face and under the arms.

What has been the lowest point of your trip?

I haven't really had a lowest point - I don't become seasick and are ok with travelling under these conditions. I quickly adjust and find ways of washing clothes, getting a shower and sleep. When needed I try to get some alone time - being with at crew of 60 all the time can be though mentally, so when on land I sometimes find a quit little corner to read a book.I think the hardest thing on board is to keep varm at night, at after a few days of sailing and being cold you are out of energy. Sleeping and relaxing when on land therefore becomes really important.

What is the food like, and how is it cooked?

We have galley which consist of two wooden boxes - one with gas rings - and there's two cooks on board. We get hot porridge every morning and a hot meal - stew or soup - at night. Luch is typical Danish Rye bread with smoked sausages, canned fish and pate.I like to cook and somtimes volunteer to take over the pots for one night - so far I have cook and Thai curry, a Marrocan lamb stew and a Indian Dhal. The food is rich and with a lot of meat - hardy some would say, but we need that when sailing and being cold, wet and tired.We have boxes of goodies in each of the four sections containing the, coffee, peanuts, chocolate and bisquits - these are so the crew can always get a hot drink and some sugar. Do many of the crew suffer from seasickness, and do you have any tips to avoid it?? A few do - but not that offen. It has to do with it being an open boat where you can see the horizon and follow what is causing the movement. But when sailing from Wicklow, Ireland to Torquay, England more than half the crew was down with seasickness due to an opposite wind and current direction. That created massive swells and a very undsteady sailing.
We have nurse on board who takes care of the seasick. They get little patches to stick behind their ear with medicine, pills - but we also use ginger in the and acupuncture. How do you keep your spirits up when you are cold and wet and tired? We are great at looking after each other and taking care of people who are down. We tell jokes, sings - the humour on board can be quite bad.is is always good to make cold and wet crew members work - bilging the boat for example, so to get varm again. Do you play any games onboard (and if so, can we have the instructions!) We play a board game called Nefatavl - a viking version of chess. I do not have the instructions with me, but can send them once being back at the museum in august.

What is the memory you'll treasure most from the trip??

I think that this is once in a lifetime and the experiences with the crew on board and the sailing will always be a fond memory. You learn something about yourself - your tolerance, stamina, social skills and courage. What the 60 of us have to together few understand and that kind way of being together is very rewarding. Some of us are friends for life now, because we have been together in the extreme situations.


Photos courtesy of the Sea Stallion and Werner Karrasch, with thanks to Lars Normann and the Viking Ship Museum.

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Friday, August 15, 2008

Christmas Markets in Budapest


Ah, Budapest.......... city of culture, architecture, bloodshed, history and er, dentistry??? It's something of a tradition that we always take a romantic winter city break, exploring a European Christmas market, doing a little shopping, and most importantly, drinking mulled wine and eating some form of unidentifiable fried snack.



This year I decided on Budapest, having found a very good deal on the internet which included flights and bed and breakfast at the four-star Hotel Gellert, perched right on the banks of the Danube. Built in 1918, it is known as the grand-dame of the city, a triumph of Art Nouveau with beautiful stonework, stained glass, glittering lights, and most importantly, a coffee shop that does the most amazing sachertorte.

The other great draw of the Gellert is its famous spa. The city is sited over more than one hundred thermal springs, and waters from these are pumped up from below ground to a number of spas on both sides of the river. Their healing properties have been known and utilised for the last 2000 years; the Romans founded their settlement Aquincum here, referring to the waters, and some of the spas built by the Turkish occupiers of the city in the 16th and 17th centuries are still in use. The Gellert is one of the grandest, with fabulous mosaics, treatment rooms and thirteen pools and baths.

We didn't have to leave the front door of the hotel to enter the Gellert spa, however; bathrobes were provided in our room, so we clambered into our swimstuff and robes and padded along the corridor to the ancient spa lift.






This is provided solely for the use of the hotel guests, its sliding metal grilles manipulated by smiling old ladies who seem to have been employed on the basis of the shorter their stature, the less room they take up in the tiny lift.

We nodded and smiled a lot, they nodded and smiled a lot, we both exhausted our four words of Hungarian then looked politely at the ceiling. The lift ground down into the bowels of the spa, depositing us at a turnstile for guests; another was provided for vistors, as apparently doctors prescribe treatments for their patients here, who can have everything from the relaxing (a mud wrap) to the frankly terrifying-sounding (electrotherapy treatment) or even a gum jet massage in the calcified waters, whatever that is.

Thought I'd rather have a hot chocolate in the atrium instead. Whilst wandering the various floors and investigating the different treatments on offer, we spotted a sign depicting a giant tooth. How intriguing, we thought, especially as even as we walked around lumps of enamel were dropping off my beloved's poorly maintained fangs.

Back in the UK he'd been quoted about four grand to fix his teeth (think of that head orc from The Lord of the Rings and you'd be fairly close to the mark...), so without even making an appointment he was shown into the dentist's chair, given a reassuring Magyar smile by a very pretty dentist and told to open wide....

Poor girl went white with fear and called in the practice manager. Who also went white and got out a pencil and notebook and started making a long and involved list of urgent work, (the dental equivalent of resurfacing junctions 8-14 of the M1). Three days and fifteen hours of dental work later he now has a smile of average beauty; no Tippexed Hollywood rictus here, just nice, clean and much more, ahem, solid teeth.

And of course, the real beauty is in the price and the charming service. The hotel and flights cost around £450 for the two of us, then for the dental work, (consisting of one root canal, two crowns, three standard fillings and four cosmetic ones), about £750. It wasn't quite the romantic break I'd been expecting, but while I was waiting I did read three novels, have some wonderful walks around the city and loll about in the mineral water of the spa like a small pregnant whale.

And the Christmas market? Lovely, one of the better ones I reckon, the quality of the crafts was far superior to many of the others, and the mulled wine was delicious. Sadly my husband was unable to partake of any of the sausages, pastries or other delicacies on offer as he was on a ration of soup for a couple of days..........