Ballenberg is an open museum with a 100 original, century-old buildings from all over Switzerland, original gardens and fields. It is a working museum where people are in period, bake break, make sausages, make cheese and pretend they live in the centuries past. There are also 250 domestic animals on display as well. This is […]
Thun is a small city of about 45,000 residents. The area of what is now Thun was inhabited since the Neolithic age mid 300 BC. Like most Europe and Switzerland it was conquered by Rome in 58BC. In 1819 a Military School was founded in the city, which later developed into the main military school in […]
When the sun is setting and we are lucky to be back home, the sky lights up with a thousand colours like it is on fire which is contrasted by the insanely green hills and reflected over the village homes – all 6 of them.
The construction of the Cathedral of Notre Dame of Lausanne began as early as 1170 by an original unknown master mason. Twenty years later another master mason restarted construction until 1215. Finally a third engineer, Jean Cotereel, completed the majority of the existing cathedral including a porch, and two towers, one of which is the current […]
The city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, 62 kilometres northeast of Geneva. Lausanne has a population of 146,372, making it the fourth largest city in Switzerland. Lausanne is a focus of international sport, hosting the International Olympic Committee, which recognizes the city as the “Olympic Capital”. Since 1994 the Court of Arbitration for Sport and some 55 international sport associations […]
Directly overlooking the Lake Schiffenen is a carved out cave measuring 120 meters which was chiseled out in the rock by two hermits around 1700. The floor, as it was recently discovered, is actually a fossilized sandstone dune from prehistoric times. The dwelling in the cliff was later expanded to its current size by the hermit Johann Dupré and his […]
The Gothic Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Fribourg dominates the centre of the medieval town. The main church was started in 1283 and completed by 1430. The tower was completed in 1490. It is 76 metres tall and houses 11 bells. Originally a parish church, in 1945 it became the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lausanne, Geneva […]
Fribourg is located on both sides of the river Saane, and is an important economic, administrative and educational centre on the cultural border between German and French Switzerland. Fribourg also has one of the most prestigious universities in Switzerland. Its Old City, is one of the best maintained in Switzerland. There is a very old funicular […]
We have arrived in Switzerland. Once you pass the tunnels and the trains the views open up – no matter where you look the vistas are spectacular. Interesting note, in Italy, the fastest drivers on the highway are either from Germany or Switzerland. The posted highway speed is 130km/h the Swiss will do 150 to 160km/h. The moment […]
Milan dates back to 400BC. Today Milan is the 2nd largest metropolitan city in Italy. The population of the city proper is 1.3 million, while its urban area with a population estimated to be about 5.5 million is the 5th-largest in the EU. Milan is the main industrial and financial centre of Italy, it has the 3rd-largest […]
The only thing on the agenda for today was to take it easy and relax and eat less. Failed on all three accounts. We stopped at Eataly, an old train station that has been converted to a 5 story Italian Shop with 18 or so restaurants. The store has pretty much everything you can imagine […]
Our schedule for today is very relaxed. A nice stroll through the Borghese gardens towards the Spanish Steps and a bit of shopping. The Borgheses were a wool merchant family from Sienna. The head of the family, Marcantonio, moved to Rome in 1541 and this Sienese family rapidly gained access to the upper echelons of Roman […]
Imagine owning the entire mountain top of a peninsula on the Amalfi coast. Small villa, pool and massive gardens. Originally built in the 11th century the villa was rebuilt and reconstructed over the years passing from one family to the next. The most extensive rebuilding and renovation was done at the start of the 20th […]
Today we ventured out on a drive from Agerola, where we are staying, to Ravello. Sine there is only one road that clings to the side of the mountain we had to drive through Amalfi. However, the drive is not as bad as everyone has said it would be. Would I drive it in my […]
Pompeii was an ancient Roman town-city near modern Naples. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area, was mostly destroyed and buried under 4 to 6 of volcanic ash and pumice in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. The city was lost and forgotten for about 1500 years. It was […]
We visited both Positano and Amalfi as part of our boat trip today. Both of these small villages are perched on the cliff similar to Cinque Terre towns. We took a boat from Amalfi to Positano, hang around there for a bit then a boat back to Amalfi. From Amalfi we took, what can only […]
The Principality of Monaco is a sovereign city-state, located on the French Riviera. France borders the country on three sides while the other side borders the Mediterranean Sea. Monaco has an area of 2.02 km2 and a population of about 37,800; it is the second smallest and the most densely populated country in the world. […]
Notre-Dame de la Garde (literally Our Lady of the Guard), is a Catholic basilica in Marseille, France. The basilica was build on the foundations of an ancient fort. The fort was located at the highest natural elevation in Marseille, a 149 m (490 ft) limestone outcrop on the south side of the Old Port of Marseille. The basilica […]
After the city folk found their way of the forest, we immediately stopped in the first available town to have some well earned gelato. Lourmarin is a small village of 1000 people which has been settled for at least a thousand years, and was probably a Neolithic campsite before that. A dominating fortress was first […]
On the outskirts of Bonnieux village is a massive cedar forest that began with trees imported from North Africa during the Napoleonic era. It sits opposite Mont Ventoux, know as the windy mountain where winds in the summer reach 320km/h but on average over 240 days out of the year go at 90+ km/h. We decided to […]
Roussillon is a tiny but a picturesque village of about 1300 residents. It is famous for the rich deposits of ochre pigments, mostly red, yellow and orange, found in the clay near the village. The large quarries of Roussillon were mined from the end of the 18th century until 1930. Roussillon is located within the […]
Chances are that if you have ever seen a picture of a lavender field in France with a large building in the back ground it most likely was Senanque Abbey. The abbey was funded in 1148 and rose to an enormous prominence and wealth in the 13 to 14th century then lost it all when […]
Today is an easy and relaxing day. First, we sleep in, so we were off to a great start. Once we got organized and managed to get to the centre we decided to go shopping. First stop at the Louvre then to one of favourite stores BHV then a stroll through Marais for some sweets […]
Old Antalya called Kaleiçi: the historical center of the city is the equivalent of the old town in a European city. There is a number of very old and famous landmarks that we got to see other than the Mosques. Some of the old monuments include the ancient City Walls, Hıdırlık Tower, Hadrian’s Gate (also […]
We spent a day exploring a bit of our beautiful city – from the Imperial Castle to the old town and a section of newly renovated St. Sebaldus Church. After a bit of pre-dinner gelato and a lovely dinner, we set out for another walk around the large park by our house. Lovely day… […]
I have to say that after Paris, Prague is our second favourite city so far. Copenhagen is a close third. We mainly came back here to relax and of course to eat more fried cheese, and oh boy was it ever good. I think we are going to be back here at least one more […]
This is a city of Kafka as seen from the top of the City Hall Tower. Absolutely no one there, and unlike most towers we visited so far, this one has an evaluator! Naturally we elected to take the stairs – on the way down, to save a bit of time as we had to […]
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 […]
There are now 11 people in this house! It seems like that is a lot but we still have sleeping and sitting room available.
Today we are signing a rent deal on our new home. We can’t wait to have a place of our own – I think it will be spectacular, and we are all ecstatic.
Today we are heading to Bransk, a small town of about 4000 people in the eastern part of Poland. We are picking up some more documents and visiting family. On 18 January 1493, Brańsk received a city charter based on Magdeburg rights from the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Alexander Jagiellon. It was the first city in Podlaskie to receive such a […]
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