by writer | Dec 19, 2023 | Blog, Terry
South Korea was a crazy place. I’d love to go back some day. Despite Katrine getting sick we had a good time and will miss the efficiency and friendliness of the place, especially the metro system. I promised myself whilst shuffling towards the airport to give... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 18, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
Our last day in Korea and it’s still freezing cold and I still barely have a voice and a sore throat and cough. But we braved the weather and went to Insadong and Ssamzigil market. This market has a lot more traditional products than other markets. You can get a... 
by writer | Dec 18, 2023 | Blog, Terry
The highlight of the day was the bizarre poop cafe. Apparently South Koreans aer obsessed with poop. Who knew? The cafe was located on the top floor of a funky little market complex which was host to all manner of weird and wonderful bits and bobs. We resisted the... 
by Terry Thorpe | Dec 17, 2023 | Blog, Terry
A very exciting day today, we’re heading North… all the way to the Demilitarised Zone.The no mans land between two worlds, that of South and North Korea. We got to our tour bus nice and early and met our lovely, informative guide. After a quick passport... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 17, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
We got up early and braved the cold with four, yes, four layers of wool and a hot pocket in each shoe. Maybe a little too much since our bus was only two minutes away and we had an hour drive to go to the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea. This was an... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 16, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
Fighting through my sore throat and missing voice, I went to the Namdaemun day market with Terry. It was freezing cold today. So much so that the Korean government sent out warnings to all phones about the decrease in temperature and high gusts. We alternated between... by writer | Dec 16, 2023 | Blog, Terry
Katrine, who was fighting a flu put on a brave face and braved the cold weather. We made for Namdaemun market, where we browsed a myriad of shopping options, eventually picking up some Ginseng while trying all manner of lovely street food. After a rather cold day of... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 15, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
Our second attempt at local Korean food wasn’t as successful, but still an experience. I was slightly surprised at Terry’s choice, but followed on in. The one choice menu was sea snails with leek in broth, omelette, and a side of dried white bait fish and some kind of... by writer | Dec 15, 2023 | Blog, Terry
The day was jam-packed with activity. Braving the inclement weather we headed out for brunch at a local cafe, which I selected mainly because I saw half a dozen bodies sitting by the window and because it looked like one of those unassuming gems we’d been lucky... by Terry Thorpe | Dec 14, 2023 | Blog, Terry
We were rudely awakened at 8am by the sound of construction outside our window… Actually technically we’d been up half the night already with Katrine’s bad throat… still, undisduaded, and after a quick rant at reception we were off exploring Seoul.... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 14, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
Our first day in Seoul, and the first thing we do is stumble upon a small restaurant with an all-Korean menu where we were the only foreigners. It was wonderful! The lady boss sat us down and pointed at the menu and showed us two fingers. We nodded, and the food and... 
by Terry Thorpe | Dec 13, 2023 | Blog, Terry
With heavy heart we trundled our suitcases to the ferry and onwards to the airport to our next destination. Sydney, and particularly manly beach were hard to leave behind, but I was excited to be heading to Korea, although knowing that the weather woukd be about 30... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 13, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
It was time to say goodbye to Australia, the southern hemisphere, and summertime with temperatures up to 40 degC, and saying hello to South Korea, winter and a temperature change of fifty fewer degrees… 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 12, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
Even more beautiful weather today, so Shelly beach was the obvious choice. This time we got in the water and saw a fish or two. Our lunch was a different take on street food. We got a dozen oysters and hake fish and chips (and salad for good measure) to enjoy by Manly... 
by Terry Thorpe | Dec 12, 2023 | Blog, Terry
We started the day with a relaxing few hours at the beach, cooling down with a dip in the lovely waters, even spotting the occasional grouper and other aquatic life. We ambled onwards you a delicious lunch of oysters (The oysters native to Sydney this time as opposed... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 11, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
We dragged ourselves away from the beaches today and went to a different kind of escape room where we donned VR headsets before being let into a large empty room. The first game was Engineerium, a crazy disorienting puzzle game that made you feel like you were on your... 
by Terry Thorpe | Dec 11, 2023 | Blog, Terry
We heard there was an undead outbreak just outside Sydney, so we geared up, locked and loaded and bugged out to kick some zombie ass! Which was great fun, if slightly terrifying…Katrine was particularly frightened… Luckily I had her ‘6’ during... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 10, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
A late start to the day, and we strolled over to Shelly beach right next to Manly. A good snorkeling spot and a couple of cute cafes with a band playing. But what I liked the most were the turkeys roaming the beach just like seagulls. They are Australian Brush-turkeys... 
by Terry Thorpe | Dec 10, 2023 | Blog, Terry
Manly beach was a fantastic concellation prize for having to leave our propeller-driven hotel. What a gorgeous place. The main beach was lovely but we also ventured further afield to Shelly beach. Gorgeous. Otherwise we did some shopping, sampled the local beer and... 
by Terry Thorpe | Dec 9, 2023 | Blog, Terry
I made the conscious decision to not blog the cruise. Like a beautiful sunset I wanted to enjoy it in the moment and without distraction. I figured I’d remember what stuck and hence what mattered. As we boarded the impressive vessel ‘The Edge’, it... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 9, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
We got up really early, before sunset, to watch the arrival into Sydney. The captain had promised he’d do donuts, as in a 360 turn, but it didn’t happen… bummer. But the view was spectacular: The opera house, the harbor bridge, and the sunrise. And the entire ship was... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 8, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
They pulled out all the stops at the buffet for the final sea day: shrimp tower, chocolate tower, cake display, and a separate chocolate buffet! Yum! 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 7, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
Two more wonderful sea days before arriving at our final destination, Sydney. The day consisted of a free massage taster, some cake, a fabulous show and chilling in Eden watching Charlie, the guitarist. All the while dressed in our evening best: kilt with all the... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 6, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
The boat was tendered today, just like yesterday so it took quite a while to get off the ship. We even considered just staying by the pool. But I’m the end we took the tender boat to shore and went to the Airlie Beach lagoon for an hour. Quaint place with lots of... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 5, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
Considering we’d both been to the Great Barrier Reef before, we spent today strolling around cairns and taking a dip in the lagoon in town. The stinger season makes it undesirable to swim in the ocean. The lagoon was beautiful and warm! 34 degrees in the air and the... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 4, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
Another sea day before hitting Cairns and the most eventful evening of the cruise. Terry, aka Mr. James, entered the karaoke contest (they were actually waiting for him before they closed the signup!). He did quite the performance! The cruise director, activity... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 3, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
Two lovely sea days before Cairns and we slept in until noon missing the dance classes, the forensic lectures and the Sunday service. After a visit to the buffet, it was the pool and then dinner and watching the blackjack tournament between the captain and the cruise... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 2, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
The Celebrity Edge arrived in Australia for the first time ever. And what a welcome… We were woken up minutes before sunrise after 4,5 hours of sleep by what sounded like an entire welcome parade. It turned out to be a lone drummer and didgeridoo duo with a massive... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Dec 1, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
Another gorgeous sea day spent by the pool. It was nearly too hot to be out there, feet were burning on the deck and even the regular pool felt like a hot tub. But hey, I’m not complaining! We joined the cruise director Guiseppe’s noon stretch class for the... 
by Katrine Sivertsen | Nov 30, 2023 | Blog, Katrine
A long lie-in started the day, and then chill, eat, sleep… late night show in the club “undercover” was amazing, again (third time watching it), with dancers and acrobats (doing human flags like it’s no big deal) 