While we spent more time last year looking at the paintings and the Egyptian exhibits, this year we looked at more sculptures. This is but a fraction of what the Louvre has to offer, from rooms full of tapestries large enough to cover a small house, to unimaginable amount of ornate gold trinkets large and […]
Eastern Antiquities
The beauty of the Louvre, or at least one of them, is that you can see a lot of stuff from any particular part of the world all in one place. The Louvre, does not have just one of something, it has 10s if not 100’s of these things. Be it old Roman vases or […]
Treasures
Even though The Louvre is filled with a number of countless and priceless works of art, there are a few that draw more people than others. Those are Venus de Milo, Mona Lisa, The Wedding Feast, the Sphinx, Liberty leading the People, Napoleon and of course the Victory which is my favourite piece but once that […]
Louis XVIII
While not a huge exposition – it certainly is a decadent one. Monarchs like nice things and these nice things are beautiful, exqusite and extravagant.
Napoleon’s Apartment
Part of The Louvre is dedicated to Napoleon, a man who collected a lot of the art that is currently on display here. I am not sure if opulent and ostentatious are words that do justice to his pad, but it is a start.
Cour Marly & Cour Puget
This was our favourite place at the Louvre this time around. We did not get to see this last year, this year then this was a double treat because there were almost no people here which was a nice change from the rest of the museum and the place is absolutely beautiful. This was also […]
Greek Gods
One of the exhibits we saw today was a room dedicated to Greek Gods. The usual suspects, Athena, Apollo, Mars, Mercury etc. Larger than life in myth and in marble.
The Louvre
Today was a long day, we spent almost 12 hours out in the city. We had two objectives for today The Louvre for art and Le Marais for dinner. The Louvre is a place that is extraordinary in and of itself. Priceless works of art aside, The Louvre is magnificent on its own merit. […]
We are here
We have settled in, unpacked and relaxed a bit. Then, once the restaurants opened we went out for a nice dinner to a local bistro down the street called Le Cercle. Great food, great service and a typical Parisian ambiance.
Countryside
German and French countryside as seen from a train moving at about 340km/h on the French side and about 230 km/h on the German side. Green and sunny and most importantly no snow in sight.
Amateur Travellers
We are so un-familiar with train travel in Europe. We set an alarm to make sure we don’t miss our stop this time, which would have been hard to do since it was the end of the line for the first train. We had a nice lunch in Stuttgart, and 10 min into our trip […]
TGV
This is our first time on a French train on this trip. We are all very excited, we are traveling in comfort and style.
Off to Paris
We have boarded ICE. We are on our way to Stuttgart where we are going to have a little lunch and change trains. TGV, the French train will take us to Paris.
ICE to TGV
We are setting off to Paris. Being here, we can’t think of a better city to be in for New Year’s Eve. We are going by train just to mix things up, and because having a car in Paris is absolutely useless, this just makes sense.
St. Alexander’s Church
Getting out of the house for a walk is the only remedy for not just sitting and eating and eating and eating. We got out for another afternoon walk to work up an appetite and to explore more of Warsaw. On the Three Crosses Square surrounded by Hugo Boss, Burberry, Church’s, Ermenegildo Zegna, Max Mara, Coccinelle, W. Kruk, JM Weston, […]
Churches in Warsaw
On our short walk through the Old Town in Warsaw we walked by no less than 9 or 10 churches. Each nicer then the last. Some were empty, some were full of visitors, while others were at worship, some still were full of well wishers for the newly weds. Each different and unique with its […]
Warsaw – Old Town
After a very late lunch we got out of the house for a walk – destination Warsaw Old Town. It was still +10C when we parked but the sun was already setting. It appears that at least half of the city of Warsaw had the same idea, Christmas walk around the Old Town. Warsaw puts […]
Merry Christmas!
Feeling Gratitude and Not expressing it is like wrapping a present and Not giving it. A very Merry Christmas to you all, from all us here in Warsaw.
Stary Dom
We will file this under – what were we thinking eating this much? Stary Dom is an old charming restaurant in Warsaw, Mokotów. The service is good, the food is amazing and the desserts are to die for. On the menu, steak tartar, zurek, wild boar roast, roasted duck and baked salmon. Next time we […]
On Wisła
After a bit of sight seeing we got out to the Wisła river for a bit of a walk. It is sunny, it is 9C outside a nice walk by the river is well in order after all the food we had.
Church of Transfiguration
This little church was built between 1805-1806 right next to the Czersk Castle. The bricks used in the construction of the church came from the ruins of the Czersk Castle.
Czersk Castle Ruins
What used to be the second largest city in central Poland after Plock, is now a small medieval village of about 600 people just outside of Warsaw. The Gothic castle had great military importance, and was built like a fortress. The ruins of this castle, which was originally built in the early 11th century, are all […]
Warsaw Uprising Museum
The Warsaw Uprising Museum is located in the Wola district of Warsaw dedicated to the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. The museum opened on July 31, 2004, marking the 60th anniversary of the Uprising. The museum exhibits are very modern but the layout of the museum is reminiscent of an old city streets which were boomed and destroyed during the war. This is […]
We have arrived
Despite our prefuse protests, we are 7 months in and in Poland for the 3rd time. However, having said that, this is the first time we are here for holidays. No passports, no paper work, no government offices to visit. We did an afternoon run leaving Nuremberg at 1:30pm and arrived in Warsaw at 8:40pm […]
Road Trip
Our first road trip this holiday season will be to see our family in Warsaw and to spent a few days with them and celebrate Christmas. We are hoping to get there later on tonight and start the holiday relaxation first thing Thursday morning.
Happy Holidays
We are going to be starting our holidays a bit early this year and doing a bit of travel. As such today when the school ends at 1pm we are picking up the kids and driving off. Our Nuremberg residence will be closed for the holiday season.
Christmas Store Salzburg
There is a Christmas store in Salzburg that is open year round. Not only does it have some of the most beautiful Christmas decoctions but it has hundreds upon hundreds of painted egg shells. There is eggs in every theme imaginable from Halloween, to Easter to Christmas from flowers, birds and city scenes, to just […]
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 […]
Churches
Undaunted by the constant drizzle we continue to explore the nooks and crannies of Salzburg. From the top of the Salzburg Fortress you can see at least 4 churches. We stopped by St. Peter’s Abbey, which is one of the oldest if not the oldest Germany speaking Benedictine monasteries. It houses a massive amount of original written […]
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 Fortress
Hohensalzburg Castle is a fortress on top of the Festungsberg mountain overlooking Salzburg. It is easily accessible by funicular which is easier than the 15 min walk up the hill. The first funicular to the fortress was built in the 1900s. The fortress was never taken in war, it was however given up once when Napoleon and his army came knocking. Salzburg Fortress […]
Mozart’s Residence
Mozart’s old house is now a museum. The Mozart family lived on the third floor of the “Hagenauer House” at Getreidegasse 9 for twenty-six years, from 1747 to 1773. The celebrated composer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, was born here on January 27, 1756. The building is named after the merchant and toy dealer, Johann Lorenz Hagenauer […]
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 […]
Salzburg
Salzburg’s “Old Town” has internationally renowned baroque architecture and one of the best-preserved city centres north of the Alps. In 1997 it was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Host to three universities and a large population of students, Salzburg is noted for its attractive setting and scenic Alpine backdrop. None of which we could see today because it’s middle of […]
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!
Around Cologne
Here is the rest of Cologne that we managed to see before heading out to the arena for the concert.
Merzenich
The drive to Cologne was rather uneventful and slowish. We are exploring the city and found this good looking place. We are back to taking pictures of food.
Cologne Cathedral
High Cathedral of St.Peter is a Roman Catholic church in Cologne, Germany. It is a renowned monument of German Catholicism and Gothic architecture and a World Heritage Site. It is Germany’s most visited landmark, attracting an average of 20,000 people a day. There are number of very old relics in the Cathedral including the Shrine of the Three Kings, bones of the wife of on of […]
Cologne
We are setting off for Cologne now. Today is the long awaited and highly anticipated Depeche Mode concert. We can’t wait.
Treats
I don’t think you can walk more than 50 m through the Copenhagen train station without running into a 10m x 15 m advertisement for one of these. At first we ignored it and remain strong and sceptical. I mean who drinks Baileys these days anymore? Finally we gave in and got a bottle they […]
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.
On stage
The Strypes are on the stage and they are loud. We had a pretty good run here. Just a touch over 1 hour including a stop for some gas!
Arctic Monkeys
November is going to be a musical month. We are setting off to Munich for the second concert this month. This venue is a bit larger holding up to 6000 people. Should be fun.
On Europe
This is a list of the places we have visited so far. We certainly hope to add to this in the not so distant future. Google Maps
The Concert
When London Grammar came out onto the stage our first reaction was, but they are just kids! They are so young. Indeed they are young, but they sound not only mature and unique but also simply amazing. Small venue packed to capacity, no one getting drunk, no one smoking and no one pushing or shoving […]
We Are Here
I think this club has a capacity for maybe 100 or 150 people. It’s going to be great.
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