Archive | Around Town RSS feed for this section
IMG_9738

Uphagen’s House

The Uphagen house is one of only a few 18th century merchant town houses in Europe that is open to visitors. The Uphagen house was purchased in 1775 by Johann Uphagen, a merchant, historian, art collector and city councillor. He remodelled it to suit the needs of a wealthy 18th century merchant. After Uphagen’s death […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
IMG_9158

Krakow

Krakow – first time for me but not for the rest of the family.  We are massively jet lagged but we keep pressing on. Kraków is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. The city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596  and has […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
IMG_7108

National Museum in Gdansk

This museum is located in the old late-Gothic Franciscan monastery, which has been used to house exhibits since the end of the 19th century. The museum used to hold  a sizeable collection of historical works of art. In 1884. The core of the Museum’s collection constitutes the collection of Jacob Kabrun, which includes several thousand […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
IMG_6729

Park in Oliwa

Today we are doing something more productive.  Right after we finished the morning coffee and other drinks we set off to Oliwa, a small suburb of Gdansk that’s  famous for its parks, gardens and the large cathedral with a huge organ.  Did I mention cakes, lots of amazing cakes to eat too.  

2 Comments Continue Reading →
IMG_6624

National Independence Day

National Independence Day  is a national day in Poland celebrated on 11 November to commemorate the anniversary of the restoration of Poland’s sovereignty as the Second Polish Republic in 1918 from the German, Austro-Hungarian and Russian Empires. Following the partitions in the late 18th century, Poland ceased to exist for 123 years until the end […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
IMG_6423

Nuremberg Cellars

Way back when, if you wanted to brew beer in Nuremberg you need to have a cellar, both for fermentation and storage.   The cellars consist of a system of narrow tunnels and caverns that run under Nuremberg’s old town. Dating back to 14th century there were about 40 breweries in the small city all of […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
IMG_5859

Santa Croce

This tours is definitely lacking in visits to the holy places but little church certainly makes up for it.  You walk in here and find some amazing crypts of who is who of Renaissance and beyond.  St. Francis of Assisi left his frok here.  Buried in this church are Galileo, Michelangelo, Dante, Machiavelli, Marconi, Rossini […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
IMG_1682

Fiat Fun in Florence

This was really a last minute idea for doing something different – aka something that involved less walking and more sitting.  We booked it the night before and had to get up early to be there by 8:30 am.  This turned out to be a half day tour through the hills around Florence with an […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
IMG_4980

Trastevere

Trastevere – goes as far back as the days of emperor Augustus. It has been part of the city’s 14 districts, and it was quite popular with important Romans who built villas in this neighbourhood, including Julius Caesar.  It is many colourful building and narrow streets.  In the old days it was primarily occupied by fisherman […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
IMG_4896

Sant’Ignazio

This is a small church among some 900 other churches in Rome, and is dedicated to Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, located in Rome. Built in Baroque style between 1626 and 1650, the church functioned originally as the chapel of the adjacent Roman College, which moved in 1584 to a new larger […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
IMG_4880

Roman Forum and Palatine

We have done bits and pieces of the Roman Forum and the Palatine but this time we took our time.  I think we spent good 4 or 5 hours meandering through the ancient ruins of a city built upon an older city built upon and older city still, stories below where the current city is. […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
IMG_1693

European Solidarity Centre

The European Solidarity Centre is a museum and library in Gdańsk, Poland, devoted to the history of Solidarity, the Polish trade union and civil resistance movement, and other opposition movements of Communist Eastern Europe.  It resembles a hull of the ship both inside and outside.  It is done exceptionally well with lot of amazing exhibits. […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
IMG_1646

Westerplatte

A place that is near and dear to every Polish soul.  A place where the WWII started, a place where the first resistance started and a place that gave every person a bit of hope.  We got off the boat that took us there and decided to go for a nice walk through the park […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
IMG_1528

Sunny Winter Day

Last night it snowed, big heavy flakes falling so slow it all seemed like it was in slow motion.  The morning we woke up to a beautiful and sunny day, a bit windy but no trace of snow and blue sky.  Here it is then, the best part of Gdansk seen from the islands in […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
DSC00196

Gdańsk By Night

There is no shortage of things to do and see in this city.  Even though the old town is not massively  huge there seems to be a million different ways to get home and just as many restaurants and bars to try on the way there. We really are spoiled for choice.  

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
DSC00005

It’s Sunny!

According to the weather forecast it was supposed to be cloudy with a chance of light snow so we abandoned the idea of going to Sopot and going to the beach!  Instead we decided to do some tourist things around Gdansk and a bit of shopping as well.

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
IMG_1033

Back in Gdansk

This really is a last minute trip – a quick getaway to relax before the holidays.  November in Gdansk is cool and grey but the atmosphere is amazing, the food, so far, has been phenomenal and every time we take a turn onto a new street there is a new restaurant or a bar or […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
DSC00046

Matera

Matter – known as the underground city and its historical centre “Sassi” contains ancient cave dwellings which were occupied until 1950s.  The area of what is now Matera has been settled since the Palaeolithic (10th millennium BC). This makes it potentially one of the oldest continually inhabited settlements in the world. It has also been […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
IMG_1976

The High Tower

To work off some of the gelato we have consumed over the last few days and excessive amount of food and wine today we are going cultural.  We are going to visit a couple of museums, some art galleries and climb the tallest tower in the city for the most spectacular view of the city […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
DSC02803_4_5

Florence and Uffizi

There is always something new at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence that is worth seeing.  The priceless other works of art aren’t too shabby either.  I think the best thing about the Uffizi is the fact that it can be done in a reasonable amount of time – even in 3 hours.  The rest of […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
DSC02478

San Gimignano by Night

We are, for the first time, not just visiting San Gimignano but staying in the city for a few days.  We parked the car at the bottom of the hill and will spent a few days just walking around and exploring all the great gelato places this city has to offer, but really just concentrating […]

1 Comment Continue Reading →
DSC01018_19_20

San Quirico d’Orcia

It is so unbearably hot that realistically speaking the best time to go and explore is sometime after 6 pm. It also helps that most of the stores are open so it is easy to duck in and out for a bit of reprieve if a store happens to be air-conditioned and very few of […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
DSC00991_2_3

Bagno Vignoni

We are back in Italy – where else. It feels like our second home.   First order of business in terms of priority are:  after getting everyone connected, get much-needed sleep and eat some decent food.  After all that we all need a bit of rest and relaxation at a local mineral pool.  It’s quiet, […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
DSC00656_7_8

High Line

The High Line is a 1.45-mile-long elevated linear park, greenway and rail trail. It was created on a former New York Central Railroad spur on the west side of Manhattan. The High Line is a public park maintained and operated by the Friends of the High Line, in partnership with the New York City Department of […]

1 Comment Continue Reading →
DSC00547_8_9

Bryant Park

Bryant Park is a beloved, year-round New York City destination. Known as Manhattan’s Town Square, the park is famous for its lush seasonal gardens, free activities and al fresco dining. Located adjacent to the New York Public Library and surrounded by iconic skyscrapers, Bryant Park is visited by more than 12 million people each year and […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
DSC00493_4_5

Flatiron Building

The distinctive triangular shape of the Flatiron Building, designed by Chicago architect Daniel Burnham and built in 1902, allowed it to fill the wedge-shaped property located at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway. The building was intended to serve as offices for the George A. Fuller Company, a major Chicago contracting firm. At 22 […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
IMG_7990

Paris in the Morning

Packing done, breakfast done, car ordered – nothing more to do but to spent the last hour aimlessly walking around the little island we stayed on in the centre of Paris.  What a treat this place was and our gracious host Carol always had a story to tell.  Great time.  These photos are from the […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
DSC09993

Finally in Paris

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. […]

2 Comments Continue Reading →
DSC08917_8_9

Orvieto

Today we are travelling to Sant’ Anna in Camprena. We stayed here last year in the spring and loved it so much we thought we would come back and bring some friends with us to enjoy.  However, because the drive from Rome to Camprena is not long we are taking some detours.  First on the […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
DSC08228

Hyenas

This is our final game drive – and once again it exceeds our expectations.  You always hope or wish but certainly never expect that city slickers like us would happen upon some hyenas and vultures feeding on a small giraffe that a pride of lions has taken down a night before.  This is some National […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →
DSC07893

Eagle View Camp

After about a 90 min drive we arrived at the Eagle View Camp – literally in the middle of nowhere.  Perched on the top of the hill is a little slice of paradise.  From the lodge and the rooms you can sit back and enjoy amazing vistas below where animals come and go in all shapes […]

Leave a comment Continue Reading →