Do you ever say to yourself when contemplating future trips – “well, I’ve been there and done that – what else can I do?” OK, let me share with you (briefly) five offbeat things I have seen and done. I loved ’em, and I’m reasonably sure you will too (although one is no longer available – which makes sense to travel now while it’s still possible).
Snowmobile Ride in Kirkenes
One of the best “travel thrills” for me, was relishing the ultimate excitement (!) of a Snowmobile ride in Kirkenes, Norway. Just the name of the company was intriguing – “Arctic Adventures” – and they offered up a gleaming, glistening, brand new (it costs well over two thousand dollars) sleek looking piece of machinery called a Snowmobile. Once seated, and fitted out in suitable gear, and yes, a crash helmet too, I pressed the little lever on the handle and was amazed that I zoomed away faster than a jet at takeoff. When our group of travel media got back to Base, we were treated to Ice fishing! Our host donned a wet suit, cut a hole in the thick ice over which we’d all just been snowmobiling, and jumped into the freezing, blackness of water below. 10 minutes later he surfaced with some gorgeous looking crabs. After cooking, we all knew how delicious fresh caught crabs could be. THIS is a unique travel experience, in a special location, that I know you’ll love.
Germany on a Trabant car
When you’re in Germany, give yourself a taste of what life was like under the Communists, and take a ride – or, if you have the courage, drive it yourself! – in a Trabant. What, you might ask is that? Well, as hard as this is to believe, that’s what East Germans’ (back in the day) paid thousands and thousands of their hard earned money, for a so called car that had a lawn mower type engine. Buyers waited up to – are you ready for this – 15 years to get one, and in E. Germany over a 30 year period, some 3 million plastic bodied automobiles, were somehow stuck together with a two cycle, air cooled engine that generated more smoke than acceleration. I was too chicken when I was in Dresden and Munich to rent and drive one myself, but I wanted to see what it was like. So I had the rental car folks take me. It was total fun. Google German Trabants. If you do ride in one – and when you return Stateside – send me an email with your comments. jd******@*ox.net
If you fly into London Heathrow Airport, and want to get into London Central real fast, do what I do every time I fly to London. Take the Heathrow Express. It goes from Heathrow Central, and gives you a fast 15 minute train trip to Paddington Station in the heart of London. It’s far better than a taxi, bus or even the Underground, and gets you there more comfortably – and faster – than you can say “I can’t wait to see the new Royal baby.” Here’s a money saving tip. Get your tickets online, as they cost LESS, and buy a RT. Your questions answered at www.heathrowexpress.com
If you were traveling around Europe by night, you could have done what I did a before 2016, and sleep in the lap of luxury. Here’s how. Take the Swiss based City Night Line. They specialize in providing sleeping cars for many of Europe’s best trains, and the accommodations are superlative – I thoroughly enjoyed taking a shower!!! The carriages, food, beds and all that includes, are so good you’ll want to stay in your cabin long after you’ve arrived at your destination. Sadly, at the end of 2016, CityNightLine stopped operating and carriages were sold to the Austrian Railways which extended their night train network under the brand Nightjet. Nightjet trains still connect Munich, Vienna, Zurich, Hamburg, Cologne, Berlin, Milan, Rome and other cities.
For breathtaking mountain scenery that DOES take your breath away, try this. A trip to the Swiss mountains of the Jungfrau and Eiger. Best bet is to stay in the charming postcard town (it’s more like a village) of Grindlewald. The cog wheel drive train takes about an hour to get to the top of the Jungfrau, and the views are absolutely awesome. Just over half a million tourists take this unique trip every year, and I’d do it again right now if I could.
TRIVIA that might surprise you – especially as it concerns the journalist for this travel column:
When Edgar Rice Burroughs’s originally described Tarzan as a British aristocrat, what do YOU think he called him?
ANSWER: He gave him the name of — (ahem!) John Clayton. (see below)
Tarzan is his ape name; his real English name is John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke (according to Burroughs in Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle; Earl of Greystoke in… Tarzan (1999 film) – Tarzan (disambiguation) – Jane Porter – Tarzan of the Apes.
