h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I didn't know about it, Pierce. I barely scratched the surface as far as getting to know London is concerned. Hyde Park and the area around Trafalgar Square were the limits of my travels, though I was exposed to more of the Underground than any sane foreigner would want.

Ding Dong; I found walking London is a load of crap. When I got there, actually expecting to see people, I found that just sitting on a boat for an hour sufficed.

You have got to have lots of dosh for the rest of it, unless you find a pub in Greenwich it is expensive for the rich only place.

Expensive? Ha! You should try Oslo or Copenhagen (voted most and second most expensive capitals on ) even if we have oil and gas from the North Sea)

New York is more expensive to live in than Boston, and San Francisco is more expensive than New York. Short visits to places like that are as much as I can afford. A weekend in London in May cost me about $900.00, even though my rooms were at the lower end of the price scale. I ate frugally, and didn't take any expensive side trips. I walked a lot. Still, I'm happy I went. A lot of great memories, and I met some great people.

London is a lot cheaper than it used to be; strange place where in 2000 I ate pizza for £1 in a cafe in the West End but was charged £1 for an apple and £5 for coffee.

Now the is a lot cheaper than at home, and is new and clean. But I belong to clubb 55 and if I go north on a Trent Barton I get onto new buses with air conditioning for £3.50 go anywhere such as Chesterfield or Nottingham.

London is quite good considering, and I'm glad I went.

and I am sad I couldn't go this year

This was the only time I got to go, and that was because I didn't know if the chance would ever ocme again. Now, as we all know, the chances are good that there will be future get-togethers.

In 1997 I grabbed the opportunity to fly to LA and NY because I thought it might be my only chance ever. I will never regret that I did and I still hope for another chance

I've only been to L.A. once, but I've seen San Francisco three times. New York is close enough that I could jump on a train or bus and go there. I met some Hootoo friends in new York in 2001.

A very beautifully put together photo album of amazing pictures of Iceland.

Thank you, but these are from Tromsø/Norway, much further north than Iceland

Not that it matters much, I just saw a friend's pictures from Iceland. They aren't that different except they have lots of volcanos there

My late father used to work in Norway, refurbishing bars and hotels in the 70's and the 80's in the winter when it was very cold and the air was full of static. I can't remember how low he told me the temperatures went but I think they were -12C or even lower.

They can be but due to The Gulf Stream the weather is fairly mild even if Tromsø is hundreds of kilometres north of the polar cirkel. Temperature varies between -5C in winter and +15C in summer

We get temperatures that low or lower every winter in Boston, and we're a lot milder than the really cold parts of the U.S. Needless to say, our summer temps are much higher....

Venus; it is different on Venus.

I'll take your word for it.

My Dad was in Northern Norway and may have stayed in Finnmarksvidda or Røroswhich. Watched a t.v programme about Scotland and they said that Highlands and Islands of Scotland are very similar to Norway.

http://www.stevecarter.com/highlandpics/highlandpics.htm

Grieg had some relatives who migrated to Scotland. Later, some them went to Canada. This explains how it was that Canadian pianist Glenn Gould was related to Grieg.

I did not know that, paulh

I just checked again. Tromsø is about 335 km north of the polar circle as the crow flies - even if I didn't see any crows in Tromsø

The average temps there are -4C in January and +12C in July

The highest and lowest temps ever measured there are +30C and -18.4C

Only very small parts of the northern shores of Iceland are north of the polar circle

Iceland may be mostly below the Arctic Circle, but the winter climate there is too rough for honey bees. The beekeepers there use Norwegian Queen bees, which is fine during the summer, but there's high mortality suring the winter.