What a gong show this journey was. Long story short British Airways cancelled the flight after an issue with the engine – so we got stuck in Seattle. We were booked to go through Houston, then London but by the time the reservation was confirmed, printing issues, we were too late to go through security. […]
Villa Cimbrone
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 […]
Path of the Gods
We set out for a short walk, from the village of Agerola to Priano – it turned out to be about 8.5km. Path of the Gods is one of the most famous and most spectacular trails in Italy with stunning view of the Amalfi coast and its towns, mainly Positano, Priano and Amalfi. There are […]
Deep Cove Park
Today we set off for a nice walk at Deep Cove Park with some old friends from Anna’s university years – Damian and Allisa and their children. The one hour leisurely hike up offers spectacular views of the bay and a great vista of downtown Vancouver. On the way down we stopped for some coffee and crêpes […]
Homeless
Today, as of 11:34 am we are officially homeless in Nuremberg. The apartment keys have been returned, furniture moved out, cleaned and locked up. Goodbye Emilientstrasse 7 – we loved it there!
And Then
When it is all said and done, this is what nostalgia will look like. An evening out in Nuremberg on a beautiful summer’s day.
Imperial Invasion
At the Imperial Castle, in the lower gardens – I have no ideal what this is…. Red Bull is doing something in town this weekend, perhaps this Cos play has something to do with it.
Breakfast
I am officially on the threshold of packing vs clean up. This mining the last bit of shopping with a s quick stop for breakfast at our favourite cafe La Violetta.
Best Views
Today, I think is the last shopping trip I will be making. Just a few small things we still need to bring home. I say small because there simply aren’t too many things we need and there is no room in the suitcases. I am already starting to miss this town. It is had to […]
11th Hour
We are at T – 15 hours before we pack the car and the family takes the train for the trip to Frankfurt. Family from Poland stops by for a quick visit to say hello! We send the kids off to town in the early afternoon to visit at least one museum, and to have as much […]
Insanity Continues
This again will be filled under “Christ what were we thinking” category which is the predominant theme of ours when we go out to eat. After a wonderful dinner at the Golden Horn we rolled out of the restaurant, and rolled down the hill from the castle side, across the main square and to 4D our favourite […]
Farewell Dinner
Tonight we are seeing Volker and Kasia for the last time on this trip. It is largely because of them that we are here, it is because of them that this trip has been such an amazing journey and it if was not for their help with everything we would most likely speak a bit […]
Around Nuremberg
It is Saturday today which means it is our last chance to go to the shops and buy anything we still might need. Our goal for today was to get some suitcases and a poster tube. We did not find a suitcase we liked, we forgot about the poster tube but we bought a few […]
St. Bavo’s Cathedral
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
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 […]
Canadian Polish WWII Museum
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 […]
Off To Ghent
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.
Main Square
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 […]
Bruges Canals
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 […]
Timber Houses
Another one of predominant landmarks in Rouen are the timber houses. The entire old town it seems is dotted with them. Some in better shape than others, some looking like they were just built and some so skewed they look like they are falling over. All of them however, absolutely charming and beautiful. Most of these […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
St. Johannis
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 […]
Meanwhile in Wurzburg
It is summer! No matter where we go there is a bachelor or bachelorette party. Evelina got to participate in one when we were in Wurzburg today. The premise of these parties is as follows. The bride or groom to be is the object of constant ridicule in public as his entourage is getting drunk. He […]
Marienberg Fortress Wurzburg
We are back to Wurzburg. There are a few things we did not get to see on our first visit here and since the city is so beautiful, the weather is great and we have time before our holidays we drove out for a second look. Marienberg Fortress is a prominent landmark on the Main […]
The Sun is Out
Finally after two days of rain the sun is out and it is instantly humid and hot. We are out for a lazy stroll around the city, a bit of shopping, a bit of sitting around and doing nothing and a bit of beer to cool off. We are going to miss this city, in […]
Museum of Industrial Culture
It is still raining a bit which is not a big deal because there are still a number of museums which we are planning to visit. Today we are setting off to visit the Museum of Industrial Culture. The museum is not very huge and it has a bit of everything in it, none of which is in […]
It’s Raining It’s Pouring
I think today is the coldest day of the summer. It is about 14C and it has been raining steadily for the last 9 hours. Our family from Warsaw is here visiting us again. Because of the rain and the cold we are keeping our entertainment to the indoors. On the agenda, once again, is […]
Metz is Wonderful
It is now 7:30 pm and this concludes our exploration of Metz for today. We have seen most of the historic city, we have been shopping twice, we have been to the hotel to relax twice and we sat down for a small coffee break, some crapes and a drink. Metz is very small, about […]
Templar’s Chapel
It is believed the Temple Chapel in Metz, rare in Lorraine for it octagonal design, was built about 1180 with additional reconstruction work in 1220, and the surrounding Templar structures destroyed following the dissolution of the order following the Friday 13th arrest of Templars by the agents of King Phillip IV in 1307. The small […]
The Esplanade
The Esplanade is a giant park in the heart of Metz. It is bordered by the courthouse, the Arsenal, the Templar chapel and the Basilica of Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonnains and it overlooks the valley of the Mosellle. This garden mainly consists of linden and chestnut trees with a large fountain in the centre and a lot of flowers. The World […]
Back in Town
We are back in town from our trip across Italy. Today we are getting out to see Kasia and Volker. Kasia is so involved in the metro project in Warsaw that we almost never get to see her. We have a bit more luck with Volker who works only a short walk away from us. […]
Church of San Lorenzo
Like all the other villages this one too has its own little church. The church, which was built in 1338, has a Gothic facade with a nice rose window, and a Baroque-style interior. On the facade, there is a bas-relief representing the martyrdom of San Lorenzo. On the XIVth-century triptych, you can see San Lorenzo […]
Corniglia
Unlike the other localities of the Cinque Terre, Corniglia is not directly adjacent to the sea. Instead, it is on the top of a peninsula about 100 metres high, surrounded on three sides by vineyards and terraces and the fourth side descends steeply to the sea. To reach Corniglia, it is necessary to climb the Lardarina, a long brick flight of […]
The Colosseum
The Colosseum is probably the most impressive building of the Roman Empire. Originally known as the Flavian Amphitheater, it was the largest building of the era. While the Colosseum is largely in ruins it is still an amazing site to see. The elliptical building is immense, measuring 188m by 156m and reaching a height of […]
Piazza Venezia
Anyone visiting Rome will sooner or later end up at Piazza Venezia. This square is located in the heart of Rome, at the end of the Via del Corso. From here it’s only a short walk to some of Rome’s most famous sights like the Capitoline Hill, the Roman Forum and the Pantheon. Many historic […]
Victor Emmanuel Monument
After the morning visit to the market we are heading in the general direction of the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Spanish Steps. First thing we see on the way there is Altar of the Nation. Officially known as the Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II, the enormous white marble monument, 80 m hight by […]
Arezzo
Today we are spending the afternoon in the beautiful Arezzo. Arezzo is very very old, it dates back, or portions of the city do, to 5th century BC. It is a small city but the old town is quite large with at least 20 churches, some medieval, some Tuscan Ghotic and some even dating back […]
Heat Wave
It is hot! Depending which application you look at on the phone it is somewhere between 32C-36C. Even in the shade by the water it is hot, hot, hot. Even after 3 scoops of great gelato, it is still hot, so we are off to the city beach. The city beach is in the […]
Back to Pottenstein
Girls’s day out today is in Pottenstein. Evelina’s best friends Lisa is at our house for a sleepover. These two girls really hit it off at school and have been great friends. Today is Lisa’s turn to stay at our house. As a little treat and for a bit of a break we drove to a […]
St Martha’s On Fire
Not far from where we live, right across Dunkin’ Donuts and St. Klara church used to be St Martha’s church that was undergoing extensive renovations. We never got to see this church inside and now it looks like we won’t. It appears that durning the renovations, the roof being the only flammable thing on the church caught […]
Calm
After less than a stellar day behind the wheel yesterday today we are back to travelling on foot – true and tested. It looks like there might be a thunderstorm later on today so we are getting out for gelato early. These are some of the beautiful homes on the same street where we live, […]
Tiergarten
Today we had 3 entertainment options on the table. City Park which we still have not been to, inside tour of the Imperial Castle or the Nuremberg Zoo, overwhelmingly the kids decided on the Zoo. The Zoo is located in Nuremberg Reichswald, which is an old imperial oak forest, southeast of the old town. With an area […]
Hard Core
Fearless exploration comes at a price. This is a simple account of the last 7 days of our trips starting with Wurzburg. Seven days of aimless wondering around different cities and Nuremberg of course – fueled largely by gelato twice a day and a few sausages here and there!
Nuremberg Late Night
A bit of a different perspective on the city. Out in the evening for some gelato to enjoy a slower pace of the city.
Bamberg Old Town
Know as the little Venice, Bamberg has its share of bridges and canals. There are quite a number of cities in Europe that try to make that claim but we all know there is only one Venice and everything else is just a town with a bunch of canals and bridges. Bamberg is a nice and […]
Cafe Imperial
We are back in Prague – starting with breakfast at Cafe Imperial. This place is on the list of top 10 Cafés in the world you should to visit.
Sunrise to Sunset
Today we did a tour of Nuremberg starting in the morning with a visit to the Imperial Castle and the lookout tower, then we worked our way down through the Old Town and in the evening we took off to see the sunset over the Colosseum and the Zeppelin Field.
Walhalla
And now for something completely different. The Walhalla is a hall of fame that honors laudable and distinguished people, famous personalities in German history – politicians, sovereigns, scientists and artists of the German tongue. The hall is housed in a neo-classical building above the Danube River, east of Regensburg and is based on the Pantheon […]
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