Today marks the first day of a real snow fall. We heard stories about this event from the locals so we were ready. Naturally, we got our camera out to take some photos of this momentous occasion before the snow melts and there is no trace of it.
Nuremberg Christmas Market
Today is the opening of the Nürnberger Christkindlesmarkt. This is one of the largest Christmas Markets in Germany and one of the most known in the world. We went to see the opening at 5:30, us and about a million other people. There was absolutely no room anywhere on the main square. The market opens with The Christkind […]
Around Salzburg
We are going hard core today. We are trying to take in as much as we can of Salzburg before we head out home. I think we will need to come back here for a closer look when it is not as wet. We are a total wet weather amateurs, but we are managing. We […]
Fortress Museum
Within the walls of the Salzburg Fortress are a number of exhibits and museums. The €25 family pass takes you up to the Fortress on the funicular, and gives you access to the whole place plus an audio guide which is great. This place was time spent well – dry, warm and very interesting.
Salzburg Cathedral
Salzburg Cathedral is a17th century Baroque Cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Salzburg and is dedicated to Saint Rupert and Saint Vergilius. Founded by Saint Rupert in 774 on the remnants of a Roman town, the cathedral was rebuilt in 1181 after a fire. In the 17th century, the cathedral was completely rebuilt in the Baroque style to its present appearance. Salzburg Cathedral still contains the baptismal […]
Bust-a-hip Inn
We arrived at our destination which is an ordinary looking Bavarian hotel called Rupertihof in a small village of Ainring just outside of Salzburg. We settled into the guest house on the 3rd floor and once everyone had a chance to catch up with the world on WiFi we decided to head out to the […]
Off to Austria
We are heading out to Austria. We are hoping to get to Salzburg to visit the old stomping ground of the one and only Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The weather should be around 7C and as long as it does not rain too much then we should have fun.
Depeche Mode!
As always they are absolutely brilliant. Almost two hours with encore! There was an interesting take on But Not Tonight which Martin sang just with a piano. I think we should go and see this show again, anyone interested in joining us? Prague comes to mind in February. I will drive. We wish you could […]
Lanxess Arena
We are in waiting for Depeche Mode to come out!
Defence Walls
We have been trying to get out of the house and actually walk around the entire Nuremberg Imperial Castle on the outside of the defence walls. This will not be a quick walk, I think it will take at least 2 hours. The idea behind this exercise is to take a photo of every know […]
Something Modern
We have walked past this street about one hundred times, literally. It’s on the way to the Lego among other things. Not only did we find these very modern looking buildings right within the castle walls but we also found one of the best Sushi restaurants in the city called Sushi Glas. In Alberta there […]
Celebration
It appears that each special occasion cumulates with a visit to our favorite pizza joint. L’Osteria is then our place of occasion here in Nuremberg.
Creative Spirit
Evelina keeps making these little gems – this one she made for me today.
Midnight Run
To Munich and back, door to door – that being our house to Zenith Cultural Hall and back. One quick stop for gas a 3 sets of constructions. 326km in total in just under 2 hours. Driving at night on autobahn is just one of those things that one has to try. The only side […]
Kicking it up
Arctic Monkeys are on stage – it’s going to be a great night.
Home Sweet Home
We are home! 953km with a 40km bonus round for missing an exit ramp not once but twice. We are relaxing with a bit of Denmark we brought with us, actually 8 pieces of Denmark.
Swedish Treats
We are taking a little break from all the walking we did today. When in Malmo, Sweden – Ambrosia is your place to go for a nice coffee and some spectacular desserts!
The Western Harbour
The Western Harbour is the new part of Malmo being built at an incredible pace. Among the new buildings in the Western Harbour is the Turning Torso, a skyscraper with a twisting design, 190 metres (620 ft) tall is the tallest building in Scandinavia.
Malmo – Old Town
Malmo has two distinct districts, the old town which is not very traditional or conventional in the sense of old European towns. The other part is The Western Harbour which is being built on the peninsula and is ultra modern. Since the construction of the Öresund bridge, linking Sweden to Denmark, Malmö has undergone a major transformation with […]
Viking Museum Ladby
Kerteminde is Denmark’s only ship grave from the Viking period. Around 925 AD, the king of Ladby was buried in his ship, which was 21.5 meters long and 3 meters wide. A burial mound was raised above the ship. His grave was furnished with all his fine possessions, including 11 horses and 3 or 4 […]
H. C. Andersen Museum
Since we are changing our travel plans a bit, today we are doing the tourist things such as museums. First on the agenda is the H. C. Andersen museum. The museum is attached to his yellow house where he was born and it is on the outskirts of the old town in Odense. The museum […]
Kerteminde
Kerteminde, is a small town about 10 km from Odense and is located on the island of Funen and has a population of 5,880. This place is famous for its fish restaurants but to us it is famous for meringue. Danes like meringue in three forms, cookies, ice cream with meringue topping or fresh meringue covered in […]
Valdemars Castle
Valdemars Castle is a small palace on the island of Tåsinge near Svendborg in southern Denmark. It was commissioned by King Christian IV for his son Valdemar Christian who never moved in. He was killed in battle in Poland in 1656. Today the castle is owned by Baroness Caroline Luel-Brockdorff who was at one time married to Ian Flemming’s nephew. Small world.
Ulriksholm Castle
This small castle is located approx. 6 km. SW of Kerteminde. It was built for one of Christian IV’s many sons, in a typical Renaissance style. The castle was completed in 1645. The young Count Ulrik Christian GYLDENLOVE only managed to enjoy his new home for a few years. He died in 1658 , at the age of 28. Today, the castle is a private residence which […]
Modern Copenhagen
Originally a Viking fishing village founded in the 10th century, Copenhagen became the capital of Denmark in the beginning of the 15th century. Copenhagen metropolitan area is home to almost 2 million people out of 5 million that live in Denmark. It’s a beautiful city, its home to the Danish royalty and a whole set of stunning […]
Old Town Copenhagen
Part of our 15km walk around Copenhagen included the old town. We went by the Round Tower which was an astoronomical observatory built by King Christian IV. Instead of stairs, a 7.5-turn spiral ramp forms the only access way to the tower top observatory as well as the Library Hall and the Bell-Ringer’s Loft, both located above the church. […]
The Marble Church
Frederik’s Church, popularly known as The Marble Church (Marmorkirken) for its architecture, is an Evangelical Lutheran church located just west of Amalienborg Palace. Intended to commemorate the 300 years jubilee of the first coronation of a member of the House of Oldenburg. Frederick’s Church has the largest church dome in Scandinavia with a span of 31m. The construction of the church was delayed for 150 years due […]
The Royal Palace
Amalienborg is the winter residence of the Danish Royal Family. We made it here just before 12:00 to see the change of the guard. The Royal Palace consists of four identical classic palace façades with rococo interiors around an octagonal courtyard. In the centre of the square is a monumental equestrian statue of Amalienborg’s founder, King Frederick V. The first time […]
The Opera House
Located, across the Royal Palace, on the island of Holmen in central Copenhagen is the Copenhagen Opera House. The Opera House is the national opera house of Denmark, and is among the most modern opera houses in the world. It is also one of the most expensive opera houses ever built with construction costs well over 500 million U.S. dollars.
New Harbour
Nyhavn or New Harbour is a 17th-century waterfront, canal and entertainment district in Copenhagen, Denmark originally constructed by King Christian V from 1670 to 1673, dug by Swedish war prisoners. It is a gateway from the sea to the old inner city at (King’s Square), where ships handled cargo and fishermens’ catch. It was home to Hans Christian Andersen for some 18 years. […]
The Great Belt Bridge
On the way to Copenhagen we get to drive on the Storebæltsforbindelsen, or the Great Belt Bridge. It is 18km long bridge that goes over a part of the Baltic Sea! It is not cheap to take it but it is very fast and convenient. The construction of the fixed link became the biggest building project […]
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. […]
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?
Finally
We finally got our silly internet sorted out after what seems like an eternity. We are connected and ready for FaceTime any time.
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.
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
Off for the Weekend
We are heading out for the weekend as part of Europe exploration tour.
About School
The children have been in school now for almost 3 weeks. So far the school experience is very much different than in Canada. Here are some of our observations: Only one glue stick is needed for the entire school year – finally! Our supply list was about €40.00. No copy paper, no Kleenex and no […]
Walk in the park
Somehow after almost a 2 hour walk we did not get a picture of all the stuff we collected.
Ducks
On house is surrounded by two parks, one large and one small. The larger park has water canals, with beavers, ducks and other fowl. Being sunny and dry we set out to take out some of the stale bread from the house and feed the ducks on our walk to the park to collect some […]
Tights
Never underestimate the power of creativity, imagination, determination and a pair of worn tights with a hole on the big toe. Evelina is in a creative mood today and with a pair of scissors she made a ‘creation’ which she proudly modelled for us. Evidentially proving that there is a way to put on tights […]
Library
Close to the underground movie theatres is the public library. Today, on the way back from the Altstadtfest, we circled around the library to get signed up. The service is free, you are allowed to keep stuff for 4 weeks and if you are late the penalty is € 0.10/week for each late item. There is […]
City Museum Fembohaus
Nuremberg’s only remaining large late Renaissance merchant’s house shows a brief history of Nuremberg. It’s modern and sleek and newly opened. The building is still undergoing a major renovation on the outside but the inside is ready to explore. One of the best exhibits here and the starting point of the tour is a […]
Going Home
The drive is very slow. It seems everyone in Italy is sticking to using two lanes at the same time. Austria is all under construction so most of the drive through Austria was at 100 km/h – shame. We stopped for a quick dinner in Austria in Tyrol then set off on our way. Finally, […]
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