Omonville is literally in the middle of nowhere in Normandy, yet it is close to everything. It is just the way we like it, quiet and serene and peaceful – this is one of the roads we take out of the cottage.
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Summer in Normandy
It would appear that summer in Normandy consists of three different weather forecasts: looks like it will definitely rain, it’s raining or it’s pouring. Actually, that statement is not entirely true. It should be two forecasts – looks like rain and it is a biblical proportion deluge. It usually pours for anywhere between 2 to […]
The Abbey
Mont Saint-Michel was used in the sixth and seventh centuries as an Armorican stronghold of Gallo-Roman culture and power until it was ransacked by the Franks, thus ending the trans-channel culture that had stood since the departure of the Romans in CE 460. Before the construction of the first monastic establishment in the 8th century, […]
Mont St. Michel
Mont Saint-Michel is an island commune in Normandy. It is located approximately one kilometre off the country’s northwestern coast, at the mouth of the Couesnon River near Avranches. 100 hectares (247 acres) in size, the island has a population of 44. The island has held strategic fortifications since ancient times, and since the eighth century […]
The Bridges
You have to admire the architects and civil engineers here. Someone apparently decided to take a whimsical approach to road works and built these two bridges to look like the road is a part of a roller coaster ride. One is twisted and the other steep like a mountain. I am sure there is a reason […]
Road Trip Normandy
This morning we are setting off on a 3 hour drive to the other end of France it seems. Mont St. Michel is perhaps as well know in France as is the Eiffel Tower or the Louvre. This will officially be as far west as we have travelled by car from Nuremberg which is almost 1200km. […]
Chateau de Miromesnil
Our last visit for the day is Chateau de Miromensil. The only way to see the chateau inside is either by booking a night or by booking a guided tour. We booked a guided tour of the chateau, the gardens and the chapel. The tour was in French but we were given information in […]
Saint-Jacques
The Saint-Jacques Church was built between the 12th and 16th centuries, the Saint-Jacques church bears evidence to various epochs. The 1st church was constructed on the remains of the small chapel of Sainte-Catherine, which itself was destroyed in 1195. The church that we see today, dedicated to Saint-Jacques was built around 1283. The church on the sea route […]
Saint Rémy
The Saint Rémy Church: the first Saint-Rémy church, of which only the tower remains today, was built in the 13th century. It was built at the foot of the hill on which today stands Château-musée. The church gradually fell to ruins and the new Saint Rémy church was built in the heart of the town. It […]
Canadian War Memorial
The Dieppe Canadian War Memorial is dedicated to the Canadian and British soldiers who were killed during the Dieppe Raid in 1942. 944 members of the Allied Armed Forces are interred at Dieppe, of which 707 are Canadian. Other dead from the raid are buried in Rouen, where the Germans took captured raiders, some of whom died […]
Dieppe
Today we set off for Dieppe. A small costal city of 32,000 people about 20km from where we are staying. First recorded as a small fishing settlement in 1030, Dieppe was an important prize fought over during the Hundred Years’ War. Dieppe housed the most advanced French school of cartography in the 16th century. Two of […]
Delft
On our way to France, we stopped in Delft. It is a small city of 100,000 people located about 35km from Amsterdam. Delft is primarily known for its historic town centre with canals, for Delft Blue pottery (Delftware), for the Delft University of Technology, for the painter Vermeer and the scientist Antony van Leeuwenhoek, and […]
Back to France
This morning we are leaving The Netherlands and are heading for France. This is going to be our first time to northern France. Off to Normandy we go, but because we are not in a huge rush we are taking it easy with a stop for some sight seeing and breakfast. If we are not […]
A Long Day
We were out in Amsterdam for about 11 hours plus the drive there and back. This has been a long day but I think we are all quite happy with what we saw. In a city of this size you need to spent at least 5 to 7 days to get a good feel for […]
Anne Frank
Everyone I think knows the story of Anne Frank. Part of our plan for Amsterdam was to see the Anne Frank Museum. While we all wanted to see it, no one really was keen on standing in line for 2.5 hours to get in. Lines here stretch to 4 hours at times so 2.5 hours […]
Boat Cruise
Since we only have one day in Amsterdam we thought it would be prudent to maximized the exploration time by minimizing the walking. We bought a hop on, hop off boat tour, which allows us to take all three cruise lines, all day long around the entire old city. We usually try to take a boat […]
Like a Boss
This is a one shot deal – you either parallel park like a boss in the Red Light District as everyone is looking on, or you go swimming! Well done.
Amsterdam Morning
There are a lot of interesting things to see in Amsterdam. Amsterdam is perhaps not the city best know for its landmarks like Paris or London but Amsterdam has its own jewels and charm. Amsterdam is the capital city of the most populous city within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Its status as the Dutch capital […]
Breakfast at Baton
In Amsterdam, short boat ride from the parking garage we are enjoying a lovely breakfast outside watching the world sail by.
I AMsterdam
We got off to an early start. By 10:10 am we were already in Amsterdam, parked and looking for something to do. First thing on the agenda was to orient ourselves, find a good boat to get to places fast and to find a place to have a breakfast. We are quite impressed because the forecast […]
Van Der Valk
We are staying just outside Amsterdam. We had a choice of staying in a nicer hotel and driving to Amsterdam or staying in a worse hotel and not driving. We decided to stay in a nicer hotel that is quiet and close to the city rather than staying in Amsterdam. I think this will be […]
On the Road
The drive down to The Netherlands was not bad. The drive through Denmark was easy, and uneventful. The drive in the initial part of Germany was good too. The drive on the west side of Germany was excruciatingly painful. We got stuck in a 5km traffic which by the time we cleared it grew to […]
Lunch Break
We are about one third of the way there. A quick stop for a bit of home made lunch.
The Netherlands
The adventure continues. Today we are saying good bye to our great hosts the Mozejkos and setting off for The Netherlands.
Goodbye Friends
Today we said our goodbyes to our dear friends Mozejkos, whom we had a pleasure of seeing 4 times on this trip. Twice we were guests at their home and twice they came to visit us in Nuremberg. We always have a great time with Mozejkos and we are already missing them. Thank you again […]
Summer in Denmark
The weather forecast has changed from sunny with a chance of showers to pouring rain with a chance of deluge. It was essentially raining sideways for most of the afternoon. Despite our rain gear, by the time we walked from the Little Mermaid to the shops, we were absolutely soaked to the bone. The only saving grace was […]
Cafe Petersborg
Well, it started to rain, so instead of going to see the Little Mermaid statue we decided to take an early lunch. Henrik suggested a great place that serves traditional open face Danish sandwiches, with just about anything you can imagine on them. There is 40 thousand types of herring, from pickled to curried, eel, meatballs, chicken […]
Tall Ships
After the Changing of the Guard at the Royal Palace we decided to walk towards the Little Mermaid. We decided to walk along the wharf to see the display of tall ships which were anchored there. The wind had picked up at this point and it looked like the weather might be taking a turn for the worse. Undaunted, we […]
Changing of the Guard
After visiting Ørestad we drove to Fields, which is a massive shopping mall, to park the car and take the metro to the old town. The driverless metro decided to have some issues today so we were running late, and risked missing the show at the Royal Palace. We rushed from the metro station to […]
Playground
A place like Ørestad could not possibly have an ordinary playground. Located in the grassy field across the canal is a massive park. In the park, there is a massive ship which is about 80m long with steps, benches and a playhouse and a bunch of rocks to climb on. Not far from the ship is a […]
Ørestad
Ørestad is an ultra modern and ultra sleek part of Copenhagen – think of it as Architectural Digest award-winning designs built all in one place. Ørestad is a developing city area in Copenhagen, on the island of Amager. It is expected that 20,000 people will live in Ørestad, 20,000 will study, and 80,000 people will be employed […]
Shakisha
We are in Copenhagen. We are trying new names at Starbucks – just because. This is a first attempt at Sharkeisha.
Off to Copenhagen
We are off to Copenhagen. It is about 1.5 hour drive across the famous Great Belt Bridge. It is a beautiful and sunny day but there is a chance of rain in the afternoon for Copenhagen so we have a Plan B just in case.
Storming Odense
Our second part of the day was filled with a trip to the old town Odense. Even though we just had lunch we made a quick stop for a Danish hot dog and of course more Danish soft serve ice cream. We wondered around for the afternoon and got home just in time to make […]
Viking Museum
This is our third visit to the Viking Museum in Ladby, and every time we come here we have a new experience and there is always something different to see. Today was no different. Because this is our last visit here for a while, we spent a lot of time in the gift shop […]
Relaxing with Ice Cream
Today we are taking a day off to relax. In a typical Danish style, when we visit here, it’s raining. Great day to relax, catch up and do nothing. After dinner we decided to check out a different ice cream place to see how it compares. There is a 7 scoop special on the go […]
Diabetes Special
This post should really come with its Health Warning – this treat, which is about the size of a small polar bear, is a lot easier to order than it is to finish. Vaffelhuset is the famous ice cream shop in Kerteminde. During summer it is open until 11 pm. Day or night, rain or […]
Kerteminde Beach
After a light dinner, we set off to Kerteminde, which is a sea town about 12 min drive from Odense. Kerteminde has about six thousand inhabitants and one very famous ice cream shop. It also has a newly renovated seawall where people come to hang out if they don’t feel like walking to the beach which […]
Nuremberg to Odense
The morning drive, for the most part in Germany, was quite foggy. The roads were not too busy so the drive was nice. The afternoon was very sunny which made the latter part of Germany and Denmark a pleasant driver as well.
Hello Odense
We have arrived! It was a nice drive and relatively uneventful one as well. 900 km, 18 construction zones, 3 accidents, luckily on the other side of the road, 3 stalled vehicles and one road side fire, also on the other side of the road and one OMG slam the brakes emergency stop.
Pit Stop
Gas, bathroom, coffee, tea and delicious ice cream. Our car is so overloaded we have to drive relatively slowly which is fine as we are doing great.
Vacation Time
Right then, we are setting off on our last holiday on this trip so we will make it a proper one this time around. This is the only holiday which we actually planned months ago, booked hotels months ago and got it all planned out – all months ago. We are all looking forward to it. […]
Happy Arrivals
So the plane was 9 minutes late. This does not seems like a huge amount of time but at an airport like Frankfurt that makes a lot of difference. At the same time arriving at Gate E were four other planes, two from Russia and one from Middle East plus one more. All four of these planes […]
Lauren has landed
The plane came in 9 min late. Now it needs to taxi, then it is passport control, customs, luggage and then the walk to the arrivals lounge. Here we all are!
Frankfurt Run
Lauren, the last of the guests, is coming today. Not knowing what the drive will be like we left early to get here early. Now all we have to do is simply wait, everyone is anxious, especially Boris and Evelina.
Music Festival
Our city is playing host to World Music Festival. The entire old town is filled with stages, musicians, buskers, visitors, people and in true German fashion a lot of beer and sausage stands. There appears to be more people here than there was for the Christmas market. It is warm, the atmosphere is great and […]
Eltz Castle
Eltz Castle is a medieval castle nestled in the hills above the Moselle River between Koblenz and Trier. It is still owned by a branch of the same family that lived there in the 12th century, 33 generations ago. The Rübenach and Rodendorf families’ homes in the castle are open to the public, while the […]
Cochem Imperial Castle
The Reichsburg Cochem had its first documentary mention in 1130. In 1151, it was occupied by King Konrad III, who declared it an Imperial castle. In 1688, the castle was overrun by French King Louis XIV’s troops in the course of the Nine Years’ War and the following year was destroyed. The castle complex lay in […]
Cochem
Cochem is a small town of 5000 people which dates back to early Celtic and Roman times. In 886, it had its first documentary mention as Villa Cuchema. Cochem is famous for its wines and vineyards as well as its history. It was ruled by bishops, and dukes and princess, it was under Roman and French […]
Breakfast
For some breakfast is the first meal of the day, that does not mean that immediately after it you can’t have some delicious gelato to really kick start the day – properly.
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