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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Our last tourist stop on this trip is the ancient village of Bagno Vignoni located in the heart of Tuscany, in the Val d’Orcia Natural Park. At the heart of the village instead of the usual piazza is the “Square of sources” – a huge hot springs pool dating back to the sixteenth-century. This spot was […]
This is our third visit to Siena. We always find something new to see and to do. After two hectic days of driving around and looking at towns and villages today we are taking it easy. This time around in Siena, we decided to climb the Torre del Mangia which is 88m in height – same […]
Sant’Anna in Camprena is in the heart of Tuscany – about 6km from Pienza. It is a monastery from the 15th century perched on the top of hill with spectacular views of the rolling Tuscan hills. The buildings are beautiful, the garden is huge and the food is simply amazing. Having said that this place would be nothing if it […]
Monte San Savino is a small town of about 8000 people and it is famous for two things. First, it was one of the first urban settlements in Tuscany, Italy, which originated around 1100. Second Giulio Salvadori a poet and a literary critic was born there. An interesting thing about Salvadori is that he covered to Christianity in 1885. […]
Last on the list today was a town of Radicofani. About 1100 people live in this village with has been restored in the 1990. The village is dominated by a massive fortress on the top of the hill with a 37m tower. There are two sets of defence walls at the fortress one pentagonal and […]
After some noisy Porsches trashing around the track it was time for F1 qualifying. The crowd cheers, for Ferrari of course, and to improve the odds and feel better, for any previous Ferrari driver, in which case Masa got a lot of cheers. On the way back to the car Red Bull is giving away […]
I do not think I had more than 10km of road in Switzerland that was not: 1. under construction 2. blocked by someone very important hogging the left lane going below the speed limit 3. passport control 4. traffic
I only made one quick stop in Switzerland to admire the sunset over Alps. It was also the only place when it was not working so it kind of worked out.
Well the wheels are on. Now for a test drive and a bill and hopefully I can get on with it.
This is how you get 12 suitcases and 2 bows into a car with room to spare. That is one very loaded car!! The drive should be fun..
After a busy and eventful day we are finally home, a bit later than we thought and tired but home at last!
The building is based upon the Chapel of St. John the Baptist, a primarily wooden construction; it was consecrated in 942 by Transmarus, Bishop of Tournai and Noyon. Traces of this original structure are evident in the cathedral’s crypt. The chapel was subsequently expanded in the Romanesque style in 1038. Some traces of this phase […]
Ghent started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Leie and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of northern Europe with some 60,000 people in 1300 AD, 70,000 in 1400 growing to 175,000 Shortly after 1500 AD. Today it is a busy city with a port […]
We stumbled upon this place literally by accident. While staying in Bruges at the B&B on one of the maps I saw a little logo of this place. It seemed very odd and rather surprising that there would be a museum dedicated specifically to both Canadian and Polish Soldiers for WWII efforts. This is a […]
Today we are setting off from Bruges to Nuremberg. On the way home there are a couple of stops we want to make to see some interesting things. We are going to be getting home late but with nothing to do tomorrow, no one really cares.
Our stay at the B&B has ended, we are going to be stopping in two cities for a quick visit on the way to Nuremberg. After packing the car which took about 25 min we settled in and off we went to see a WWII museum and then to Ghent.
The Markt (“Market Square”) of Bruges is located in the heart of the city and covers an area of about 1 hectare. Some historical highlights around the square include the 12th-century belfry and the Provincial Court (originally the Waterhall, which in 1787 was demolished and replaced by a classicist building that from 1850 served as […]
Instad of taking a boat tour today, we decided for something more elegant and private – a horse drawn carriage. We have not done this yet on this trip so we though it would be a great opportunity to see a bit of the city from a different perspective. The tour is about 35 min […]
Often Bruges and Amsterdam and Bamberg and Colmar are referred to as the Venice of the North. In fact I think that any city in Europe that has canals can and tries to make this claim. Bruges I think is the cleanest and the nicest of them all. There are a lot of shops and […]
The first known settlement is Samarobriva (“Somme bridge”), the central settlement of the Ambiani, one of the principal tribes of Gaul. The town was given the name Ambianum by the Romans, meaning settlement of the Ambiani people. The town has been much fought over, being attacked by barbarian tribes, and later by the Normans. In […]
Amiens Cathedral is situated on a ridge overlooking the River Somme in Amiens and it is the 19th largest church in the world. Medieval cathedral builders were trying to maximize the internal dimensions in order to reach for the heavens and bring in more light. In that regard, the Amiens cathedral is the tallest complete […]
While I am trying to catch up on all the updates, we are off to Bruges for two nights. It is not a long drive and we are going to be stoping in Amiens on the way there.
In the middle of Normandy, in the middle of farmland with cows and sheep everywhere a rather displaced act of civil disobedience and protest. If , like us, you support PETA ( People Eating Tasty Animals) then this is just a bit of whimsical fun!
The Church of St. Ouen is a large Gothic Roman Catholic church in Rouen, northern France, famous for both its architecture and its large, unaltered Cavaillé-Coll organ, which Charles-Marie Widor described as “a Michelangelo of an organ”. Built on a similar scale to nearby Rouen Cathedral, it is, along with church of Saint Maclou, one […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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.
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.
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.
We are setting off on a little road trip north west of Nuremberg for a little trip through the German countryside. We are going to meet up with a couple we met in Italy at Agriturismo Villanova. They invited us here to show us one of their favourite spots in Europe.
The church St. Johannis (St. John) in Ansbach in Middle Franconia is a Lutheran parish church and a concert venue of the Bachwoche Ansbach. The parish was first mentioned in documents in 1139. It was given by the Bishop of Würzburg to St. Gumbertus. Construction began in the second decade of the 15th century. The church […]
Tonight we set out to see the Old Antalya at night. At night Antalya comes alive. It seems that as the temperature drops down to a more manageable and cool 28C at 10:00 pm everyone comes out to enjoy the city. The shops in the old town are open until 11;30 pm, all cafes and restaurants […]
We have boarded and waiting to take off and get there. Flying out in the middle if the night maximizes vacation time.
We are back at the Wurzburg Residence for a stroll around the gardens. When we were here last time a lot of flowers were being planed or just coming out of the ground. Today all flowers are in full bloom as are trees and shrubs and just about everything else that grows. There were a […]
Today is our last day at Ai Casoni and in Italy on this trip. We started off with a lovely breakfast at the agriturismo and on the way out we got a case of Prosecco to enjoy at home then off we went to a shopping outlet just outside Treviso. After a bit of shopping a nice […]
We are going to Ai Casoni which is the same Agriturismo we stayed at when Anna’s parents were here. It is a lovely little place with amazing food, hosts and atmosphere. Last time we were here we came from Ljubljana- today we drove right from Nuremberg. As we planned our way down, part of the […]
After an exhausting weekend we are going home. It is a beautiful Sunday with some sun and a lot of big fluffy clouds in the sky which makes this a perfect drive. This was a busy weekend and we are glad to have come out here to see Metz. This is a great city to […]
We have arrived – in fabulous Metz. Metz has a rich 3,000-year-history, having variously been a Celtic oppidum, an important Gallo-Roman city, the Merovingian capital of the Austrasia kingdom, the birthplace of the Carolingian dynasty, a cradle of the Gregorian chant, and one of the oldest republics of the common era in Europe. The city has […]
It is hard to capture the beauty of this road from a moving car. The views are simply breathtaking and spectacular, and I think for this reason alone we prefer to drive to these destinations. Tuscany is gorgeous, with its golden hills and winding roads, cypresses and vineyards and villas and towns perched on the top of […]
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