The Uphagen house is one of only a few 18th century merchant town houses in Europe that is open to visitors. The Uphagen house was purchased in 1775 by Johann Uphagen, a merchant, historian, art collector and city councillor. He remodelled it to suit the needs of a wealthy 18th century merchant. After Uphagen’s death […]
Krakow – first time for me but not for the rest of the family. We are massively jet lagged but we keep pressing on. Kraków is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. The city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 and has […]
This museum is located in the old late-Gothic Franciscan monastery, which has been used to house exhibits since the end of the 19th century. The museum used to hold a sizeable collection of historical works of art. In 1884. The core of the Museum’s collection constitutes the collection of Jacob Kabrun, which includes several thousand […]
Today we are doing something more productive. Right after we finished the morning coffee and other drinks we set off to Oliwa, a small suburb of Gdansk that’s famous for its parks, gardens and the large cathedral with a huge organ. Did I mention cakes, lots of amazing cakes to eat too.
Some things just don’t get old. The weather is absolutely fantastic, the city is buzzing with activity and we are soaking it all in.
National Independence Day is a national day in Poland celebrated on 11 November to commemorate the anniversary of the restoration of Poland’s sovereignty as the Second Polish Republic in 1918 from the German, Austro-Hungarian and Russian Empires. Following the partitions in the late 18th century, Poland ceased to exist for 123 years until the end […]
Today is officially Volker’s 60 birthday. We have been celebrating for the last two days but today it cumulated with a proper 6 hour German Lunch. Five courses, plus two extra desserts, plenty of wine and some great company. This charming little place is in Boxdorf – a tiny town between Nuremberg and Großgründlach.
Way back when, if you wanted to brew beer in Nuremberg you need to have a cellar, both for fermentation and storage. The cellars consist of a system of narrow tunnels and caverns that run under Nuremberg’s old town. Dating back to 14th century there were about 40 breweries in the small city all of […]
Still love this place, still feels like home, and it almost feels like we never left. The streets are the same, the places feel familiar – and most importantly we don’t get lost and walk around in circles looking for things.
This tours is definitely lacking in visits to the holy places but little church certainly makes up for it. You walk in here and find some amazing crypts of who is who of Renaissance and beyond. St. Francis of Assisi left his frok here. Buried in this church are Galileo, Michelangelo, Dante, Machiavelli, Marconi, Rossini […]
This was really a last minute idea for doing something different – aka something that involved less walking and more sitting. We booked it the night before and had to get up early to be there by 8:30 am. This turned out to be a half day tour through the hills around Florence with an […]
Trastevere – goes as far back as the days of emperor Augustus. It has been part of the city’s 14 districts, and it was quite popular with important Romans who built villas in this neighbourhood, including Julius Caesar. It is many colourful building and narrow streets. In the old days it was primarily occupied by fisherman […]
This is a small church among some 900 other churches in Rome, and is dedicated to Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, located in Rome. Built in Baroque style between 1626 and 1650, the church functioned originally as the chapel of the adjacent Roman College, which moved in 1584 to a new larger […]
We have done bits and pieces of the Roman Forum and the Palatine but this time we took our time. I think we spent good 4 or 5 hours meandering through the ancient ruins of a city built upon an older city built upon and older city still, stories below where the current city is. […]
I think this is the last museum we are going to visit on this trip. There is an exposition of a famous polish artist which we were very excited to see. The museum is not huge but it has some amazing collection of silver, art and old Gdansk furniture.
The European Solidarity Centre is a museum and library in Gdańsk, Poland, devoted to the history of Solidarity, the Polish trade union and civil resistance movement, and other opposition movements of Communist Eastern Europe. It resembles a hull of the ship both inside and outside. It is done exceptionally well with lot of amazing exhibits. […]
A place that is near and dear to every Polish soul. A place where the WWII started, a place where the first resistance started and a place that gave every person a bit of hope. We got off the boat that took us there and decided to go for a nice walk through the park […]
Last night it snowed, big heavy flakes falling so slow it all seemed like it was in slow motion. The morning we woke up to a beautiful and sunny day, a bit windy but no trace of snow and blue sky. Here it is then, the best part of Gdansk seen from the islands in […]
Christmas Market goes until December 24th on Targ Węglowy. There are a lot of neat little shops and, as you guessed it, a lot more places to try more food and a lot of mulled wine and thick hot chocolate.
There is no shortage of things to do and see in this city. Even though the old town is not massively huge there seems to be a million different ways to get home and just as many restaurants and bars to try on the way there. We really are spoiled for choice.
According to the weather forecast it was supposed to be cloudy with a chance of light snow so we abandoned the idea of going to Sopot and going to the beach! Instead we decided to do some tourist things around Gdansk and a bit of shopping as well.
This really is a last minute trip – a quick getaway to relax before the holidays. November in Gdansk is cool and grey but the atmosphere is amazing, the food, so far, has been phenomenal and every time we take a turn onto a new street there is a new restaurant or a bar or […]
Matter – known as the underground city and its historical centre “Sassi” contains ancient cave dwellings which were occupied until 1950s. The area of what is now Matera has been settled since the Palaeolithic (10th millennium BC). This makes it potentially one of the oldest continually inhabited settlements in the world. It has also been […]
To work off some of the gelato we have consumed over the last few days and excessive amount of food and wine today we are going cultural. We are going to visit a couple of museums, some art galleries and climb the tallest tower in the city for the most spectacular view of the city […]
There is always something new at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence that is worth seeing. The priceless other works of art aren’t too shabby either. I think the best thing about the Uffizi is the fact that it can be done in a reasonable amount of time – even in 3 hours. The rest of […]
We are, for the first time, not just visiting San Gimignano but staying in the city for a few days. We parked the car at the bottom of the hill and will spent a few days just walking around and exploring all the great gelato places this city has to offer, but really just concentrating […]
Since our flight on Sunday was cancelled due to inclement weather we were happy and thrilled to re-book it for this morning. Six in the morning, generally speaking, is not our idea of fun hour but there are exceptions and this certainly was it. There is really not much more to say other than – what […]
Sant’Anna in Campera from every which angle you can imagine. After a massive storm last night the air is so clear you can easily see the mountains far in the distance. The power is still on and off but they are working on it.
Internet out, WiFi down, power out and biblical thunder, lighting and rain. That is the kind of evening and night we had. At least the temperature dropped below 40C which was a relief.
It is so unbearably hot that realistically speaking the best time to go and explore is sometime after 6 pm. It also helps that most of the stores are open so it is easy to duck in and out for a bit of reprieve if a store happens to be air-conditioned and very few of […]
We are back in Italy – where else. It feels like our second home. First order of business in terms of priority are: after getting everyone connected, get much-needed sleep and eat some decent food. After all that we all need a bit of rest and relaxation at a local mineral pool. It’s quiet, […]
The High Line is a 1.45-mile-long elevated linear park, greenway and rail trail. It was created on a former New York Central Railroad spur on the west side of Manhattan. The High Line is a public park maintained and operated by the Friends of the High Line, in partnership with the New York City Department of […]
Bryant Park is a beloved, year-round New York City destination. Known as Manhattan’s Town Square, the park is famous for its lush seasonal gardens, free activities and al fresco dining. Located adjacent to the New York Public Library and surrounded by iconic skyscrapers, Bryant Park is visited by more than 12 million people each year and […]
While there might have been better places on the ground to watch the fireworks for the 4th of July we decided to stay on the top of the Rockefeller building. After enjoying the views we stuck out for the fireworks. Macy’s fireworks this year were the biggest since year 2000. They were fired from 5 […]
The distinctive triangular shape of the Flatiron Building, designed by Chicago architect Daniel Burnham and built in 1902, allowed it to fill the wedge-shaped property located at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway. The building was intended to serve as offices for the George A. Fuller Company, a major Chicago contracting firm. At 22 […]
I think we are all very excited about this one. We have seen some great museums and some amazing artifacts on our travels so it is hard to imagine what The MET can offer that the French or the British have not gotten to ‘acquiring’ first. [br] [br]
As bad as this sounds – it had to get checked off the to do list. It turns out – everyone other tourist in New York was also there with the same idea as us. This must be the equivalent of the Spanish Steps in Rome, it even looks similar. [br] [br]
This is our first family trip to the Big Apple. It’s blistering hot – 37C and humid. We are going to take it easy today and ease ourselves into this holiday. Lot’s of walking, lot’s of shopping and even more people. [br] [br]
Packing done, breakfast done, car ordered – nothing more to do but to spent the last hour aimlessly walking around the little island we stayed on in the centre of Paris. What a treat this place was and our gracious host Carol always had a story to tell. Great time. These photos are from the […]
All hellish travel has its rewards. Today – we forgot about the airplanes, lineups and sleepless nights, and were rewarded with a spectacularly gorgeous day – we couldn’t ask for more. [br] [br]
What a gong show this journey was. Long story short British Airways cancelled the flight after an issue with the engine – so we got stuck in Seattle. We were booked to go through Houston, then London but by the time the reservation was confirmed, printing issues, we were too late to go through security. […]
Finally we got to see some fog in the morning, covering the Tuscan hills. We did not get up at the crack of dawn to see the sunrise because – we ate and drunk far too much last night. Still, though, this was a great view, right here from Sant’Anna. SaveSave
Take your pick the sunset was imply glorious. Sitting in the orangery with a glass of wine with fine company – what could be better?
Today we are travelling to Sant’ Anna in Camprena. We stayed here last year in the spring and loved it so much we thought we would come back and bring some friends with us to enjoy. However, because the drive from Rome to Camprena is not long we are taking some detours. First on the […]
We are back in Rome. This is the start of our 12 day mini holiday. We will be here until Sunday and then head out to Sant’ Anna in Camprena. This trip was a long time coming and this time we are joined by Susan and later on by Chris and Tamara in Tuscany. The […]
This morning we are setting off for Nairobi with our trusted driver Joseph. However, because we are in such a remote part of the park Manfred will drive us down the mountain in the Land Cruiser, we will cross the river and meet up with Joseph on a much more accessible road where his off […]
This is our final game drive – and once again it exceeds our expectations. You always hope or wish but certainly never expect that city slickers like us would happen upon some hyenas and vultures feeding on a small giraffe that a pride of lions has taken down a night before. This is some National […]
These are our two tents. Kids on the right and we are on the left. Same rules apply here as did at the Basecamp – no one is allowed outside on their own after dark which here is at 6:30pm. You get escorted by two Maasai guards, armed with spears and knives against lions, elephant and hippos. We have […]
After about a 90 min drive we arrived at the Eagle View Camp – literally in the middle of nowhere. Perched on the top of the hill is a little slice of paradise. From the lodge and the rooms you can sit back and enjoy amazing vistas below where animals come and go in all shapes […]
Eagle View Camp, where we are going to be spending the next two nights, is nicer than the Basecamp, or so the locals tell us because there are more animals there. We can’t possibly imagine there being more of what we have seen already, but it does not take long for us again to be sitting […]
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