Barcelona is a city of churches, of basilicas and a cathedral. My better half & I decided to make a trip to the cathedral. Don’t mix it up: the cathedral is called La Catedral de la Santa Creu i Santa Eulàlia. The famous modern church of Antoni Gaudí, La Sagrada Família (in short) or La Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família, is only a basilica – as well as Santa Maria del Mar,…
Before Xmas in 2019 my better half & I went for our annual eoy trip – this time to Madrid. We looked forward to some days in Southern Europe w/ blue skies, sunshine … The photo shows exactly this heavenly sky together w/ one of Madrid’s iconic buildings, however, we only experienced this fine weather for quite a short period. Most of the time it was cloudy, drizzling, rainy, hard raining, stormy. Nevertheless we had…
A colorful row of buildings sprawls along the river (Riu Onyar) in Girona and designates part of the border of Old Town Girona. At least as far as my better half & I noticed, Old Town is on the left bank while on the right bank there are modern buildings, also impressive town houses, maybe more than 100 years old, shopping areas … just the modern life we all know. There are many bridges for…
Tallinn is the capital of Estonia. Estonia is the most northern of the Baltic states.(I think I should mention this at the very beginning because I noticed – more than once – that one or another of our bunch of family, friends, colleagues, neighbours … started frowning & mulling over like Where the hell is Tallinn?). The most known facts about Tallinn are that it has one of the biggest & best preserved Old Town…
Usually when talking about the Mediterranean Sea in Northern Spain you at once associate the beautiful coast and its beach bays with this region. You start dreaming of sunny days on sandy beaches and a blue sea inviting you for a swim or just splashing around. In the background is one of the iconic beach bars offering espressos, beers and wine as well as Tapas, these famous Spanish snacks for any time of the day.…
Finally my better half & I returned from Košice in Slovakia. Our last weekend … well, we had decided to spend it in the mountains (aka High Tatras). We had sunshine & fog as well during the same weekend! So here’s our trip adventure in 6 phases … Phase #1:During September in Košike we had fine weather w/ temperatures about 25-30° C for almost 3 weeks. For our last weekend colleagues at work recommended to…
My better half & I were in Košice (aka Kaschau). It’s the 2nd largest town in Slovakia (about 300 k inhabitants – so it’s somewhat like Greater Bonn, however, there’s no megalopolis like Cologne nearby). What are we doing here? My better half is busy w/ a job visit in the international group … & I … I accompanied her – working on my blogs now, do shopping & sightseeing in Košice, walking the city…
We made a day trip to Perpignan, in the Département Pyrénées-Orientales, near the Spanish border. It was a rather hot day with a brilliant blue sky and a radiant sun. When I think back – that’s what I remember … and of course a Mediterranean style city and their palms. All the streets, except in Old Town, are line with palms – at least it seems so for me. Nowhere before in Southern France I…
Among all historic sites Rome’s most iconic landmark is the Trevi Fountain – at least for me! Do you remember Anita Ekberg wading across the fountain’s pool at night in her long black strapless evening dress? Remember a very handsome Marcello Mastroianni watching her?
On a sunny day about midweek we made a trip to Sète. It’s about 30 min by train from Béziers. The sky was blue, the sun was brilliant: it was hot – we stumbled direct into the farmer’s market which sprawled along the streets and alleyways … and the market hall. My better half & I were enthralled by the abundance of fruits & vegetables, the cheeses, the fish & seafood, the meat … and…
Es Vedrà – isn’t it a great view?It’s even more spectacular when standing on Ibiza’s rock coast in the sun in a light breeze admiring the towering islet face to face – seems really huge then … One of the iconic spots in Ibiza: pure, serene, wild, lonely, mystic … a natural landmark. You may get a hint why Ibiza in the 70s & 80s became a hotspot for all the hippies & dropouts. However, if…
I like beaches and the sea. When in Southern France my 1st encounter with beaches was at Valras-Plage. The small town in the department Hérault has a Long Beach, wide & fine sandy, accompanied by a fine seafront (w/o any skyscrapers filled w/ hotel rooms & holiday flats). If you like to sit in a café enjoying some coffee or whatever & watching the beach and waves and the blue sky … it’s perfect! It…
We had a brilliant short break in Milan during December 2017 – just before our New Year’s trip to Paris. Let’s share some impressions of Milan in winter! Let’s start with Il Duomo” & this really big Xmas tree! … & yeahhhh: there was this wonderful clear blue sky each day, this caring & warming sun (about 7/8° C at noon & in the afternoon!) … What an enchanting time (compared to our grey &…
Contemplating the classic columns you might think … No – it’s not Athens – it’s the church La Madeleine in Paris! We made a spontaneous trip to Paris to greet the New Year 2018. New Year’s Day morning on Place de la Concorde: Well, now it’s mid of summer … but I just noticed some photos on Instagram of a rainy Paris! (Although it’s summer at more than 30° C in Southern France & Northern…
When we started our trip to Southern France, end of 2022, we made a stop-over in Montpellier. If you like details: we arrived in the afternoon of 30th of December, stayed in Montpellier for New Year’s Eve and restarted to Carcassone on 1st of January. I remember that it was rather cold and rainy … except of New Year’s Day when suddenly the sun appeared on a blue sky. We then enjoyed a lazy coffee…