Copenhagen: Jazz, Amusement Parks & Free-Town

We arrived in Copenhagen September 11. We went for an evening stroll and found a live jazz band on a floating stage. We had planned on walking further but they were too good, so we sat on a bench across the canal and enjoyed the music for quite a while.

September 12 we went to see the city. We found a small canal lined with colourful buildings, which Andrew fell in love with.

Next we walked to the palace of the royal family and then to a popular city park. In the park there was a small church beside a famous fountain. It was beautiful.

September 13 was a big day for us because we went to the amusement park called Tivoli Gardens (the second oldest amusement park in the world; the oldest one is nearby in a suburb of Copenhagen). Not only does this park have beautiful grounds,

but it has crazy rides. There is a roller coaster, a 'drop of doom' type ride,

and something we hadn't seen before, an airplane ride.

The plane rotates around backwards or forwards,  spins you in 3 different directions, and speeds up to 100km an hour (subjecting us to 5Gs we're told).

Unfortunately Andrew and I are babies because we weren't feeling good after multiple back-to-back rides. We decided it was best to take it easy, so we went on a kid ride, the boats.

We went back at night to go on the rides again and because the park was lit up, and our nausea had subsided.

We went for another boat ride too.

September 14 we went to Free-Town Christiania, which is a self-proclaimed autonomous neighbourhood/commune in which the cannabis trade is tolerated. There were signs up everywhere that asked for no pictures to be taken, which is unfortunate because it was a very interesting area, to say the least. There were small carts selling varieties of hash, picnic tables with many people playing backgammon, and many run down houses.

After, we went back to the canal that Andrew liked for a few more pictures.

On to Gothenburg Sweden.

Madrid

We didn't originally plan on going to Spain, but because of the problems in Greece, we changed our minds.

August 25 we walked around the neighborhood surrounding our hotel. We saw kids skateboarding and biking, a soccer game and the royal palace.

August 26 we saw a temple that Egypt gifted to Spain, and was moved block by block.

Next, we went wandering around the city center. It was strange though, because the streets were empty. It must have been because of the heat... it was over 40 degrees. 

August 27 we went to Seville for a day trip. It was gorgeous! We started off wandering around in the city center. 

We escaped to a city garden for some much needed shade.

Then we went to see the bull ring (bull fighting arena).

August 27 we went to Madrid's biggest city parks. It was beautiful.

It was very difficult leaving our air conditioned room because it has been so hot. But, we are now off to Barcelona and looking forward to beach hopping.

A Quick Stop in Milan

August 20 we stopped in Milan for the night to break up our trip from Rome to Zurich. We arrived late in the afternoon and we were leaving early August 21 so we only spent a couple of hours downtown.

We saw their cathedral. Very nice.

Then we saw the indoor/outdoor shopping mall. It was really beautiful and had very high-end stores, and like everywhere else in the world, a McDonald's.

All Roads Lead to Rome

We got into Rome August 16 and although it was really hot we decided to wander around. Minutes from our hotel was the Circo Massimo (where they had chariot racing) and Palatine Hill behind it (where all the rich Romans lived). We were a little in awe to say the least.

Then we made our way to a view of the Forum.

This is my favourite building. It is the 'Victorio Emanuele II Monument', I still don't know what it is but it really was beautiful. Unfortunately we didn't get to enjoy it for as long as I would have liked because 'O.D.B.' (Old Dirty Bastard) was trying to strike up a conversation with us... but ended up just talking at us in broken English. We were pretty determined to ignore him. 'O.D.B.' was a really old, dirty, stinky guy, with maybe 5 teeth left, carrying all of his belongings in a plastic bag. He was sitting beside Andrew telling him where we should visit in Rome (the Colosseum and the Vatican were a couple of suggestions...). Andrew was doing his best not to engage in conversation. After a few minutes of annoyance we decided to leave to get away from 'O.D.B.'. Before we made a run for it 'O.D.B' asked if we would send him a postcard when we got home, Andrew had to inform him that there were no postcards in Red Deer so it would be impossible (plus I doubt he had an address). As we walked away we couldn't help but turn around to watch 'O.D.B' start to work his next victims.

We went to the Trevi fountain next, where Andrew WASTED 2 cents by throwing it into the fountain. I was appalled and refused to throw any money in. I guess Andrew will be coming back to Rome by himself.

August 17 we decided to go to the Vatican. On our way there an old guy pulled his vehicle over to the side of the road to ask for directions. He had his map out and he was asking us if we spoke English. I felt bad, so I said we did, and he asked how to get to the Vatican. Andrew told him to take a left on the 4th bridge. He was so nice that he offered to give us a shirt and a jacket for helping him. Wouldn't you know it, he was in Rome from Paris (YUCK) for a fashion show. I thought it was strange that he said he was from Paris because he clearly had an Italian accent and it was really strange that he was in Rome for fashion because the clothes he was giving us were disgusting. As we went to take the clothes so that we could continue on our way, he held onto them and proceeded to tell us about how he had gambled away his gas money the night before. He clearly had no intention of 'giving' us the clothes in return for the directions until he had been paid. It is too bad that we didn't care about his imaginary 'gambling problem' or about his lack of gas money, because he remains stuck with those ugly clothes.

Here is the square outside the Vatican. Andrew informed me that this is where Ewan McGregor saved Rome by flying a helicopter with a bomb in it into the sky (Angels & Demons).

Inside the Sistine Chapel... before the security guard said 'NO PICTURES'.

Inside St. Peter's Basilica.

August 18 we decided to spend the day looking at Rome's ruins. Here is part of Palatine Hill.

The Roman Forum, with the Colosseum in the back.

The Colosseum, where Andrew informed me that Russell Crowe killed Joaquin Phoenix and turned Rome back into a republic (Gladiator). He knows a lot about Roman history!

The Pantheon.

We went back to the Colosseum at night to see it all lit up.

Today, August 19... we were lazy. We were going to go to the old Roman port, but it was a long way away. Then we were going to go to the catacombs, but it was far away too. So we decided to just walk around the city again.

The Spanish steps.

Back at the Trevi fountain.

Rome is a beautiful city, especially if you can avoid the touristy areas where there are creepers like 'O.D.B.' and other weirdos who try to give you flowers by resting them on your arm and then demanding to be paid.

Off to Milan next.

Naked Statues & Crooked Towers

Andrew and I got into Florence August 13. After dropping off our luggage at the hotel we went for an evening walk. It seems that no matter where you go in Europe you are no more than 5 minutes from a huge cathedral. Here is the Duomo, one of the biggest in Europe and our favorite so far.

August 14 we went to go and see some sites around the city. We saw the real fake statue of Michelangelo's David. The real one is in a museum on the other side of a 4 hour line-up (summer in Italy...), so we were more than happy with this one, which stands where the real one used to.

We walked across the only bridge in Florence that wasn't destroyed in WWII. It was a really cool bridge because it had numerous little jewelery shops hanging off of it and lining both sides.

Next we went to the castle, where the famous Medici family lived during the Renaissance.

By this time it was pouring rain, so we decided to take a quick walk by the river and return to the hotel.

We were on a mission in Florence to find me a bag because I was tired of carrying this disgusting grocery bag every day (it is way too hot to carry a backpack). We started looking at all the little stands on the sides of the streets and after probably the 4th one, I was tired of shopping and actually found a bag I liked. Before the vendor came and talked to us Andrew turned to me and said 'Ok, now he is going to ask some ridiculous price for this bag and you have to barter with him. Start low, really low so that you don't end up paying too much.' I told Andrew that I hate bartering and that I can't do it. Then I tried to convince him that he should barter for the bag, but he refused, as he did not feel the need to barter for a purse... When the vendor came over to talk to me he said the bag was 65 euros, and that the lowest he could go was 55. I looked at him and started feeling really bad about asking for a lower price and said 'Is 50 okay?' As soon as it came out of my mouth Andrew burst out laughing and said 'No Amy you aren't going to pay 50 euros for that bag. It won't even last til the end of our trip.' So we left, without the bag. For the next few minutes Andrew tried (once again) to teach me the skill of bartering. I think I am hopeless. I will never learn to barter. This means that either Andrew will have to barter from now on, or we will be paying WAY too much for items we buy from street vendors. I did find a bag later in the day, but in a real store, not on the side of the street where you have to barter.

Last night we finally got around to watching the Sound Of Music. I think Andrew has gained a greater appreciation for the movie now that he has seen Salzburg, although he doesn't agree with me that it should still be winning Academy Awards.

August 15 we went to Pisa to see the leaning tower and man is it leaning! It was hilarious.

Tomorrow we are off to Rome.

Prague & Nuremberg

Prague lived up to its hype. It is a beautiful city. The majority of the buildings are really well maintained, which is very different from Poland.

Our first day of sightseeing in Prague was dedicated to visiting the Old Town and New Town, which are really just two different sections of downtown. First we saw Old Town Square, which included a stop at the astronomical clock (somewhat similar to our experience with the changing of the guards in Monaco: "Was that it?"). The square is enormous and gorgeous. Here is a picture of one corner.

Next we walked to Letna Park for a view of the river and bridges.

At the park we found my favourite type of swing (a two person wooden swing, like the one by Oak Bay Marina in Victoria). We went for a swing, until Andrew got sick (3 or 4 minutes), and then left the park to see New Town. Poor Andrew didn't quite recover from the swinging until well into the evening.

New Town Square was really cool too. Although it was more recently built, the buildings look very similar to the buildings in Old Town.

We returned to Old Town Square at night.

We also walked along the famous Charles Bridge for a view of Prague Castle.

July 20 we started out the day walking to the famous 'Dancing House' (which a Canadian architect apparently worked on').

Here is a picture of us crossing a bridge.

We hiked up Petrin Park (it's a very large hill). Poor Andrew had to put up with me, as I complained that I didn't know about our 'hike' beforehand, and had therefore worn the wrong footwear (flipflops).

After descending Petrin Park/hill, we 'hiked' up to Prague Castle.

We walked around the grounds and found a great view of the City.

July 21 we left Prague to go back to Germany. Once we got into Nuremberg, we did what we always do on the first day: check into our hotel and then find the nearest grocery store to find some food.

July 22 we left the hotel to see the city. Nuremberg is a very interesting city because it has a bunch of pedestrian walkways and a few squares where there are markets set up every day of the week.

We walked around Kaiserburg Imperial Castle.

We spent most of the day wandering around the pedestrian streets and found a little pedestrian island in the middle of city center with a bunch of small artsy shops.

July 23 we went to visit the Documentation Center (a museum dedicated to educating people about the rise and fall of the Nazi party), the Nazi rally grounds (which were in Nuremberg and are huge: the term "megalomaniacal proportions" was used to describe it), and the Nuremberg trials. We went for a walk around part of the rally grounds (many of which were never completed or were demolished after the war). Here is a picture of a field where parts of large rallies were held. It is now used for open-air concerts.

Then we went to the Museum, held within a building designed by Hitler to house another part of the rallies.

Once again, we learned a lot. We spent several hours in the museum (until it closed at 6pm). We were going to tour around the old rally grounds some more after the museum closed, but it was raining really hard.

The heat wave seems to be over as the weather forecast is called for a week of rain and for once we are actually looking forward to rainy days.

We are now in Munich for 5 days of exploring.