We are on our way to Copenhagen. It is about a 150 km drive from Odense across the Great Belt Bridge or Storebæltsforbindelsen in Danish (say that fast 3 times). Looks like it will be a great day, not too hot, 18C with a bit of sunshine.
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Hans Christian Andersen
Even if you have never been or heard of Odense you know someone from here. Hans Christian Andersen was born and lived here until he was 14 years old. His mother used to work at the royal palace and on occasion Hans Christian would be invited to play with the young prince at the palace. […]
St. Canute’s Cathedral
No self respecting European city goes without its own cathedral. Odense is no different, St. Canute’s Cathedral is dedicated to the last Viking king of Denmark and his bones as well as those of his brother are displayed in the cathedral crypt. Unlike some of the more ostentatious and extravagant baroque cathedrals this one is […]
Odense – Demark
We are in Odense visiting our good friends Mozejkos. It’s a beautiful autumn day, perfect for exploring the old city. Odense has one of the oldest Saturday markets in Europe, where people have been buying and selling fresh produce for over 500 years. There are a number of churches and monasteries, a Benedictine abbey, the Odense Palace, […]
Coffee Time
We are taking a relaxing stroll through the old town in Odense. Lots to see here but for now we are recharging at Baresso Coffee.
Under the Danish Sky
We have finally arrived in Odense. What was supposed to be a quick 8.5h drive turned out to be 11.5 hours. What a nightmare. Construction, traffic, accident, accident in a construction zone where 3 lanes merged into one, rain, fog – you name it we drove through it!
Dinner
Traffic is going no where fast, we are at about 6 hours of driving and about 550 km. We are about 60 km from Hamburg. Hopefully by the time we finish eating the traffic will thin out.
Emergency Stop
We can’t seem to get going today. It took us almost an hour to get out of the city, an hour later we traveled 120 km, then something started squealing. Rear right wheel breaks seemed to seize. The wheel was so hot I thought it would met the tire right off the rim. I took […]
Going North
We are setting off for a week of holidays. The children are getting their first fall school break, which is well deserved and earned as they have been working very hard both in school and with Saskia their private tutor. We are going to be heading up to Denmark and Sweden driving mostly through Germany. […]
Courtyard
Courtyard, or our back yard has two trees, both maples, one is 6 and the other one is about 7 stories high. They are just starting to turn yellow and drop their leaves.
Sunset
All of the sudden and out of nowhere the sky turned red. We jumped to the window to see what was on fire! The sky was. It turned bright red and back to normal in a matter of about 5 minutes. I managed to only snap a few shots before the spectacle went away. […]
Morning Stroll
It’s 11:30 am, it’s 20C and it is absolutely beautiful outside. We are off to the Old Town to run some errants. We added another 5.2km of leisurely walk by the moats and the old town, bought some fresh pretzels and headed home to meet the kids at 1:15 for lunch when they are back […]
Nuremberg – Sunny
It’s 20C and we are out for another walk wearing a t -shirt. The old town is full of people, everyone has something to do and everywhere you look, every coffee shop and restaurant is full. We got out to return some books to the library and decided to circle a bit of old town. […]
Meanwhile in Nuremberg
I simply don’t know what this is, but it’s right outside our house. If we had to hazard a guess – photos for Christmas cards?
Nuremberg – Walk
We did not make it to the bank today as planned. We decided to walk the other way to discover less travelled part of our neighbourhood. We found a great bakery with really good pretzels. Pretzel sandwiches are all the rage and finding a perfect pretzel in a bakery close by is always good. So […]
Autumn Spotting
Autumn is slowly creeping in. Pretty much everywhere you look there is a hint of it. This, being a beautiful day that it was, we went out for a morning walk along the castle walls to get out of the house and get some fresh air. We had so much fun we are going to make […]
Seasons
Looks like fall is arriving early this year.
Finally
We finally got our silly internet sorted out after what seems like an eternity. We are connected and ready for FaceTime any time.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone and all the best to you. We are done our Thanksgiving sans butternut squash but we know what you will feel like 5 hours from now. We had way too much food that’s for sure. We finally got to see Kasia and Volker and Volker’s mom and the 7 of us sat […]
Breaking with Tradition
It is a beautiful Thanksgiving day in Nuremberg. To keep up with Canadian tradition we got up early to start on the Thanksgiving dinner in particular our usual double baked butternut squash. We have been making this for the last 15 years and no Thanksgiving was ever without this dish. In fact is it the […]
Chariot
This then is a perfect family chariot! It’s beautiful, its spacious, and its not coming to Canada any time soon if ever. We see these on the Autobahn every once in a while, never for more than a split second as they fly by, gliding effortlessly, with a mighty roar. Available in Germany in, wait […]
Quarries of Light – Video
I finally had the time to upload this video and here it is – from our last trip to France, just outside Avignon dug into the stone under the village of Les Baux de Provence is this magnificent quarry where the show takes place.
The Theatine Church of St. Cajetan
The Theatine Church of St. Cajetan in Munich is one of those places that looks very unassuming from the outside and makes your jaw drop when you walk inside. If you want to see boundless opulence on a small scale in white marble done in Italian high-Baroque – this place is a good start. When a king, gets […]
Double 00 Status
After months of relentless pursuit we have triumphed over the Polish beaurocracy and have obtained our double OO status. Between the two of us there are 6 passports – we are now now accepting missions wink wink..
When in Munich
We are in Munich picking up the passports. Unlike, our previous trips to the Embassy this one took about 10 min, required no appointment and no payments – just a couple of signatures and finger swipes. It was the most pleasant of all visits we had here. Before we could pick up our passports however, […]
Munich
We are setting off to Munich once again. This time to pick up both passports – finally.
Unity Day
Today is the national holiday of German Unity Day. It is as we learned neither re-unification nor unification day – its a day of unity. Needless to say, everything is closed except restaurants and coffee shops – unless of course they are on the route of the marathon. The marathon went right by our house […]
We Are Connected
Finally we are connected. Our internet has arrived in a small box today. For now we are running off of a HSDPA USB stick for the next few days until the line is activated. Once that happens our connection speed should increase at least 10 fold!
Pretty Little Squares
Cobblestones – miles and miles of pretty cobblestone sidewalks is what lines Prague up and down whichever way you look. It is what you need good and comfortable shoes for to survive all the walking.
Prague – up close
These are some of the things we walked past by, almost like thousands of other tourists, too busy to stop by for a moment and look up and admire. Lots of wonderful things.
Red Roofs
Fried cheese, coffee flavoured beer, lots of great churches and castles and a whole lot of red roofs – just a few great things that Prague is famous for.
Chestnuts
Chestnuts are everywhere at the Vyšehrad Castle grounds. Like a lot of people in Prague we too spent some time collecting them in the park, perhaps a bit more than others. We each took our turn throwing a stick at the trees to shake some down. Then it got a bit windy and we went […]
Basilica of St Peter and St Paul
Part of the Vyšehrad castle is the Basilica of St Peter and St Paul, the old cemetery, and the rotunda of St. Martin which is the oldest surviving building in Prague. Originally founded in 1070-1080 by the Czech King Vratislav II, the Romanesque basilica suffered a fire in the year 1249 and has been rebuilt in gothic and later in neo-Gothic […]
Meanwhile in Edmonton
While we are sitting in Prague waiting for our fried cheese and salmon tartar to be served for lunch, 3 blocks from our house an apartment complex is burning in the middle of the night, propane tanks are exploding, and people are getting evacuated. A view from our front door!
Vyšehrad Castle
Vyšehrad is a historical fort located in Prague. It was probably built in the 10th century, on a hill over the Vltava River. Situated within the castle is the Basilica of St Peter and St Paul, as well as theVyšehrad Cemetery, containing the remains of many famous people from Czech history, among them Antonín Dvořák, Bedřich Smetana, Karel Čapek, and Alphonse Mucha. It also contains Prague’s […]
At Paul’s
We are out and about. We stopped at Paul’s – a little French bakery for a little breakfast.
Golden Lane
Golden Lane (Zlatá ulička) is an ancient street within the Prague Castle complex with small houses built between two defence walls. Golden Lane dates from the 15th Century and has a beautiful, olden world quaintness about it. It comprises 11 historic houses, inside which period scenes have been created to show the life of the artisans who […]
St. George’s Basilica
St. George’s Basilica is the oldest church building within the Prague Castle complex. It is also the best-preserved Romanesque church in Prague. St. George’s Basilica was founded by Prince Vratislav (915-921) in 920. The basilica was then enlarged in 973 with the construction of St. George’s Benedictine Convent. While visiting the basilica, we happened upon what appeared […]
St. Vitus Cathedral
To many people St. Vitus Cathedral is Prague Castle. While the Prague Castle complex houses many buildings, St. Vitus is the one that dominates the skyline wherever you are in city. This Gothic masterpiece was commissioned by Charles IV and it took almost 6 centuries to complete. As well as being the largest and most important temple […]
Prague Castle
Prague Castle, founded in 870 AD, is the largest medieval castle in Europe. It was the seat of the Kings of Bohemia for centuries, and today the President of the Czech Republic rules from here. It is also the premier tourist attraction in Prague. Prague Castle (Pražský Hrad) is located in the Castle District (Hradčany), […]
Charles Bridge
Charles Bridge (Karlův most) is a 14th century stone bridge linking the two sides of Prague. This magnificent structure is one of the city’s finest attractions, and is the main pedestrian route connecting the Old Town with the Lesser Town (Malá Strana) and Prague Castle. This is also a great place to watch unsuspecting tourists go for a swim when […]
Fried Cheese
There is no better place than Prague to have fried cheese. We had it for lunch, all 300g of it. That was a single portion. Fried potatoes, salmon tartar, espressos and a bit of bread completed this wonderful lunch.
St. Nicholas Church
For when money is no object. The beautiful St. Nicholas Church at the Old Town Square was completed in 1735, and replaced a parish church mentioned in records dating back to 1273. St. Nicholas is a Baroque church, the interior of which was inspired by the chapel of St. Louis-des-invalides in Paris.
Old Town Sqare
Our tour of Prague today is starting with another look at the Old Town Square and its many architectural wonders – ranging from Gothic to Baroque there is something for everyone here. From the 600 year old astronomical clock to massive statues, plenty of churches and museums and a lot of tourists just like us.. […]
Around Prague
We got out for a walk around Prague this morning to see the sights. This turned out to be a nice 10 hour walk with a lot of breaks, some street food, lots of fried cheese and coffee and pastries. It seems that everywhere you go there is something better and nicer and more beautiful […]
Food Olympics
Traveling means three things really – looking at great buildings and overeating and taking pictures of good food we eat. We got a suggestion to go to the Beer House for a good traditional Czech dinner and that is what we did. The beer is brewed in houses in a dizzying array of crazy […]
Prague at Night
We are wasting no time sitting around in the hotel. About 15 min walk from the hotel is the Prague Castle, the Charles Bridge, Old Town Square, the Jewish Quarter, and Petřín hill. At almost 1100 years old this city is full of treasures which we are eager to find, explore and experience. It promises to be a great weekend. […]
Prague
After a short 2.5 hour drive, and a couple of traffic jams we arrived in the centre of Prague at out hotel. We have a little apartment in a small boutique hotel, which will serve as our home base for this weekend. We are looking forward to going and exploring this lovely city.
Off for the Weekend
We are heading out for the weekend as part of Europe exploration tour.
Ineptitude
German efficiency and precision are legendary – that much is true. How Kabel Deutschland, our provider of imaginary internet, ever became a German company is beyond my comprehension. We are still waiting for them to find a conduit in the building, to find out why our cable does not connect and why we still don’t have […]
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