It took me a long time to get around to writing about Tel Aviv because I just couldn't quite pinpoint my feelings on the city.

It has taken me even longer to do so with Jerusalem, as my flash forward to Sweden may have led you on.

Our time in Jerusalem was short - about 24 hours - and right before Shabbat. I don't think I knew what to expect other than a history to rival my beloved Turkey.

What did I find when I went in with no expectations?

First of all, an understanding of the turmoil around this packed city. Within the city walls, you've got some of the most important religious sites for Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Some sites are even the same! You've got the Dome of the Rock built on top of the Western Walls. Because of this, the tensions run high all the time, but even more so on Fridays, the holy days for Judaism and Islam. As we walked the streets, there were barriers and police out to keep the peace. I thought it may have had something to do with Merkel's visit to the city which corresponded with our own visit, but haven been told that it's not unusual there. On our first night there, we wandered the city in the evening as it was lit up, providing a much more tranquil look at the city, even affording us the opportunity to walk right up to the Western Wall (as long as you didn't interrupt others prayers).


Secondly, it's truly a place of pilgrimage for people. I went because of the history, but so many people go for religion and to follow in the steps of the key religious figures. Many Christians follow Via Dolorosa (Way of Suffering) that is supposed to be the steps Jesus took with the cross, with the final ending point in the Church of the Holy Sepulchure where you can wait in line to kiss the area his body was washed or enter the building around his tomb. The holes in the walls are stuffed with tiny little notes and prayers, the floors worn soft from millions of people's treads to walk where Jesus walked, touch the ground he walked or even died on, and often times these relics are streaked with the tears of those making the pilgrimage.





















Every corner you turn there is something important, from a marker of the Dolorosa to a church where the last supper was held. And for some, it's probably awe-inspiring and emotional and reaffirming. For others, overwhelming and a bit distancing.


I wandered away from the religious sites to other places in the city walls - the markets with vendors pedaling nativity scenes or t-shirts, street stalls selling fresh fish, men enjoying a chat on the steps of a shop. These were familiar - these felt like home to me, taking me back to my days of Istanbul. I wandered the winding streets, losing myself, even in the calm of a quiet Friday morning , only to stumble out upon some important monument yet again. While Friday isn't the best day to visit because of the tensions and because the shops close, it also gives the city an eerie abandoned quality that you'll miss during the hustle and bustle of other days.


So as the calls to prayer beckoned and people rushed towards the mosques and synagogues, I slunk back out of Jerusalem to finish my time in Tel Aviv. Months later and I still can't quite figure out what I feel about it. People ask and my answer is vague - I guess the only thing to say is, you'll have to discover the city and your feelings on it for yourself.

When we booked our trip to Abisko, Sweden, the focus was on the Northern Lights, so we didn't book anything. Who needs a guide when you can walk out to the great outdoors and find it on your own?

About a week before the trip, I started to think about the fact that we'd want something to do during the day. I looked at the website for our hotel and found all kinds of interesting things: dog sledding, ice climbing, Nordic skiing, snowshoe hikes, photography classes. Perfect outdoor activities!

Then, my hopes were dashed as I went to book  - each and every one was booked solid, many of them booked up through the end of the winter season. Panic ensued - what the heck were we going to do for 2.5 days? There was nothing around, no sights to see, only outdoor stuff.

Of course, I shouldn't have panicked - you can rent your own gear, find your own trails, even just look out at the beautiful scenery while enjoying a cup of hot chocolate inside. But, in my anxious state, we went searching high and low for things to fill our time in Abisko.

Dog sledding was one of the things I KNEW I wanted to try so we focused on it. In Abisko, there was absolutely nothing. Not a single dog sled available to mush us around. Luckily, I happen to have a very sweet, and persistent, husband. After a day of emailing and calling sledding companies, Paul found someone in Kiruna with availability. They picked us up at the airport and whisked us off to the anticipated dog sledding.

I was expecting the stereotypical husky - blue eyes, big puffy fur, just like my parents dog at home. When I arrived, our sled was hooked up to 12 dogs, none of which were what I had pictured. But perhaps, it was better. Each dog had it's own look and personality. Our driver told us that while the Siberian or Alaskan huskies are what some companies use since that's what people think of, these breeds were better - smaller, therefore, more agile and quicker! I took a few minutes to introduce myself to each of my runners, then settled myself on the sled for the ride.

We went across snowy terrain, basking in the sun, taking in the sunlight glinting off the snow. Our guide told us about the dogs and the area. It had been a warm winter even for them, not as much snow (although they were about to get more), meaning what was there was hard and packed down. We had a stop to warm up in a cabin with a log fireplace, coffee and tea, then got back on our merry way to finish up the ride, before getting back to more conventional transit on our train ride to Abisko.

For our time in Abisko, we found a company to take us ice fishing. I was hesitant on this since I don't fish, but fears of boredom won out, so I agreed to give it a try.  I am so glad I did, it was an incredible experience. Because of the snow storms, we were some of the few people out on the lake. This combined with the wind swirling the snow across the expanse of ice made you really feel as if you were all alone on the Arctic tundra, fishing to survive. We drilled a few different holes, taking the metal device and cranking it until it made it all the way through the meter thick ice and freezing cold water came erupting out. After sitting with the poles for 10 minutes, we decided it was much better to leave them there out in the open, then go get ourselves somewhere a bit less windy (and therefore hopefully less cold! and come back to check on our luck later.

This meant we got to explore the ice caves nearby, as a good spot to get out of the wind. They were magic, with icicles dripping down from the ceiling, some forming columns within the cave. As we scooted into the cave on our stomachs, you could look down through the ice to the bottom of the lake, giving you an intense sensation of floating on water.

Next, we braved the winds again to trek out to view where the ice had pushed together to form a giant crack in the middle of the lake. We did have a guide this time, who confirmed it was safe to walk, so once we got close, we simply stood there, enjoying the view and the magic of mother nature.  When we returned back to our poles, we found we were as unlucky with fish as we were with the Northern Lights, so we went home empty handed.

For the rest of our time in Abisko, we explored on our own. We rented some snow shoes to explore the paths around the hotel and river. The first day was cut short by high winds, snow and my fear that we had taken ourselves off the path and would end up making ourselves an igloo to spend our night lost in the forest. Luckily, I was wrong and Paul's sense of direction took us right back to the trail.  The next day, the winds had subsided some, so we enjoyed the fresh powder on the trails as we looked for ice falls and simply soaked up the beauty of being the first ones out in the snow that day.

After that, I had to say that I had my fill of winter wonderland for the winter. Now, hopefully London's summer will be filled with sunshine and warm weather (here's to wishful thinking!)

Last year, we were lucky enough to catch the Northern Lights during our weekend trip to Iceland.

This year, with friends going to Iceland to try to see the lights, I realised once was not enough. I needed more! There's something about the whole experience - the gambling of it all, the feeling of waiting out in the cold with hope abounding, the moment of let down or excitement. Plus, our experience in Iceland, while amazing, I felt could have been more if we would have been further from the lights of the city and especially from the tour bus of others chasing the same lights.

So, I set out to plan a trip to take us away from the city and up into the Arctic Circle to chase the lights yet again.

After some research online, I found out about Abisko National Park in Sweden. It was described as having it's own microclimate where it's usually clearer than the surrounding areas. It also said that if you stay 3 nights, there's an 80% chance to see the lights, and you can visit the sky station there which specialises in tracking the lights and providing an idea platform for seeing them.

Since it's a national park, it's not exactly the easiest to get to though and it's certainly lacking the usual hotel options that you would find somewhere like Reykjavik.  We left work on Thursday to start our trek - first into Stockholm, with a night at the airport hotel, then up and at them first thing next morning to Kiruna in the north. We had a short stopover in Kiruna for shopping and "sightseeing" (more to come on this!) then hopped on the 90 minute train ride north to Abisko.

We stayed at the Abisko Touristation, a mixture of "hotel" rooms and hostel rooms and conveniently located a 2 minute walk from the train station and a 15 minute walk down to the lake.  Around us is nothing but the outdoors and a few roads where cars occasionally passed by which double as roads for snowshoers and skiiers at other times.

We arrived in the afternoon and started to think about trying to see the Northern Lights that evening. We couldn't get tickets to the sky station, so we decided we would walk down on the paths towards the lake to try and glimpse them.  We took a nap and set our alarms for 10 pm to suit up and head out.

When we were awoken by the alarm, we looked out the window to find not clear skies, but a snow flurry. After several weeks without snow, a big storm hit the northern part of the country meaning no visibility and no Northern Lights. We got up a few times throughout the night to see if our luck had changed, but each time we were sorely disappointed.

The next day, we woke up to a veritable winter wonderland. It was beautiful, especially after our exceedingly warm winter in the UK, I realised how lovely a winter landscape can be.  We enjoyed a day outdoors, despite the winds and continuing snow.

That evening, we decided to give the Northern Lights another go. Again, we took a nap, set our alarm for 10 when it was scheduled to clear up, and set our minds to the fact that we'd stay outside to catch them until 1 am.

It was hard to force ourselves out of the warm bed into the cold when the alarm went off, but we piled on all our layers and treked down to the lake to get a prime watching spot. We walked along the paths lit only by the moonlight and it was deserted out. When we finally came to the lake, after a few trips and stumbles on icy patches, we found a few other small groups with the same mindset as us. We set up our tripod and camera, got out the blanket and thermos of hot chocolate, then hunkered down to wait for the show.

Slowly but surely, the others who were waiting left to head back to the warmth until it was us and one other small group of 3 people. Around 11:45, we saw some traces of the Northern Lights, but they didn't put on an act for us and disappeared behind the clouds again. As the time went on, the sky continued to get more cloudy and at 1 am, our bodies were craving warmth and sleep, so we gave up and realised we were going to be in the 20% to miss the lights.

While I'm disappointed we didn't see them, we still enjoyed our time in Sweden and filled it with days outdoors and activities I had never tried, and will likely never get the opportunity to do again. I knew we were lucky last year in Iceland, but this just highlighted how lucky we were on our first trip and the unpredictable nature of weather. I know my chase of the Northern Lights isn't over yet, so looking forward to figuring out where I may see them next!

When we looked at travel for 2014, Paul and I each chose a place that was top of our list to visit in 2014, along with some second and third options. My first trip selection was Jordan (and it's coming up soon!), Paul's was Israel. So, when a trip for work came up, we jumped at the opportunity to make a long weekend out of it.

I spent a few days in Tel Aviv before Paul doing work during the day, and some sight seeing by night. My first full day there, we ventured down to Old Jaffa to watch the sunset, then wandering along to the markets one evening before grabbing a bite to eat.

The next, we went a bit further out to Caesarea - a port town north of Tel Aviv that dates back to BCE. Originally established by Herod the Great, it's been ruled by Romans, Byzantines and Muslims, although it fell into disuse after attacks by the Mamluks, as the extensive fortifications from the sea were destroyed. While it seemed interesting, we got there about 30 minutes before closing so just had enough time to wander the ampitheathre and checkout the information video before being herded back out! Further down, you could see the hippodrome and ruins of some of the structures with a seaside view.

When Paul arrived for the weekend, I was excited to go exploring even more with him - checking out restaurants, marketplaces and sites.

The problem? Everything closes down on the weekend for Shabbat, which starts Friday afternoon and goes all through Saturday. So, Saturday, we did a quick (free) tour of the Bauhaus' outlining unique architecture in Tel Aviv, then joined in with the rest of the city and their Saturday pastime - the beach!

I was happy to soak up a few rays, read a book and relax, but Paul wanted to be like a local, which meant playing matkot. This is a bit like beach tennis with a ball and paddle. Since I'm not much of a tennis player, I wasn't much of a matkot player either making it boring for Paul and probably hilarious for watchers. We finally got into a groove with a few good volleys and decided to end on a high note.

Sunday, with the city back into the swing of a work week (as they work Sunday - Thursday), we headed out to catch a few market places and go to Old Jaffa again. It was much quieter at 10 am on a weekday, so we enjoyed some gelato as we did lots of people watching. The weather wasn't in our favour and it was overcast and grey. Instead of hitting the beach again, we decided to bike along the beach back to our hotel for one last view of the city. Just like in London, there was a great bike rental system and even better bike trails. Unlike London where you share the road with drivers, in Tel Aviv, you get a lane all to yourselves, with stoplights and all to make sure you yield to the walkers.


And then, we were off, back to London and, honestly a bit disappointed. I wanted to like Tel Aviv, but it just seemed like something was missing. Usually, I'm happy to find myself on a beach or near the water, anywhere in the world, but I had high expectations for Israel, expecting a quirky culture mixed in with history and beauty. Perhaps, I expceted too much and will always be disappointed, or perhaps, it was poor timing to come for only the slow weekend and another trip will reveal a side to Tel Aviv that is more in line with my first thoughts of the city. Who knows - I guess the only way I'll find out is through another visit, but this time, just not a Friday and Saturday.
 

I grew up on Harry Potter. With a mother who was a elementary school librarian and younger siblings, Harry Potter was woven into my childhood.  It was the soundtrack to family car rides to Colorado as we passed so many hours in the car. I was the one at midnight showings (or at least one) and pre-ordering the books so I didn't have to wait a day to dive into the story. When the books finished, I was already in college, but I still spent almost 36 hours straight curled up in the hammock on the front porch of my house at school, seeing how the wizarding world of Harry Potter came to a close.

Yet, despite my love of Harry Potter, I had not yet ventured over to see where the magic happened - literally.

Just outside of London, near Watford Junction, lies a studio where they created the Harry Potter we know and love. After the films were finished, they turned this into a place for people to come back and learn about the films, or in my case reminisce.

In order to go, you have to book online in advance (and most times WAY in advance) and pick a time for your tour. After being herded into a little room to start, you get to watch a film about the films and then onto the good stuff.  The first stop - the famous Great Hall. It is nearly all a true set, with the exception of the roof which opens up to beams and exposed lights. Here they have some costumes from each of the houses and wax figures from all the teachers (Madame Toussaud's anyone?).

From here, you're on your own to explore the rest of the studio, which is broken out into 3 parts.

First up - the sets. You can see Dumbledore's office, the potions class, Leaky Cauldron and the dormitory. Some of them are so incredibly detailed - in Dumbledore's office, it's complete with pictures and all kinds of magical trinkets. You don't picture yourself in a movie set, but rather someone's personal space filled with their trinkets.

Not only do you see the sets themselves, but get the skinny behind their creation. Like some of the buildings in the Ministry of Magic scene were filled with props made from cardboard as the sets wouldn't hold the weight of real desks & file cabinets.

Next up is the outdoor portion - here you can see 3 Privet Drive and the Knight Bus among other things. Plus, the biggest draw - butter beer! Despite the cold, we made a stop here to have a "pint" - it was a bit like cream soda with butterscotch cream/icing on top. One glass is enough to completely satisfy your sweet tooth for the remainder of the tour.

The tour wraps up with info on the costumes and CGI. Even some of the fictional characters, like the basilisk were party done through props, then later filled in with CGI. This area also has the model of Hogwarts which was used for aerial shots of the building in many of the films. It was incredible - so detailed from the bridges to trees and hills around it.

Finally, 2 and a half hours later, we found ourselves in the gift shop where we could fill up on chocolate frogs, Bertie Botts, wands and robes. We perused but ended up leaving empty handed this time. A short bus ride later, we were on the train and back towards St Pancras and platform 9 3/4.