Hello! We are leaving soon on a trip to South America. If you would like to follow us, please visit our new blog at lindaandruss.wordpress.com.
Adios,
Linda
Wednesday, January 29, 2020
Friday, September 08, 2017
Iceland
We have been in Iceland for almost a week. It has been awe inspiring to drive around in this country! We started by spending two nights in the western area, north of Reykjavik then made our way to the south coast, going as far east as Hofn. We are now back in Reykjavik, and leave tomorrow afternoon for home. The weather has been really changeable and we have had lots of rain. The scenery is so spectacular, and we've been amazed at how varied it is, sometimes changing from black lava plains to bright green pastures as you go around a bend in the road. The mountains are rugged and impressive in size, and we've seen so many beautiful waterfalls. With the weather being a bit uncooperative, it has been great to have our rental car and be flexible with our sightseeing to take advantage of photo opportunities.
The food is just as expensive as we expected, but is very nicely prepared and really delicious. This is still high season for tourists, and all of the restaurants are very busy. We've seen many people travelling in rented motor homes or small vans, and there are lots of campgrounds around.
This morning we are heading to the Blue Lagoon to have a soak. We have clear skies at the moment, so should be a great experience!
Will share a few photos (I have MANY!)....
The food is just as expensive as we expected, but is very nicely prepared and really delicious. This is still high season for tourists, and all of the restaurants are very busy. We've seen many people travelling in rented motor homes or small vans, and there are lots of campgrounds around.
This morning we are heading to the Blue Lagoon to have a soak. We have clear skies at the moment, so should be a great experience!
Will share a few photos (I have MANY!)....
Wednesday, August 30, 2017
Prague
We spent several days in the "city of a hundred spires", and despite the high summer temperatures and throngs of tourists, we think we did it justice! Highlights for us included St. Vitus Cathedral (in the Castle complex) and a one hour cruise on the river, but since we were getting around mostly on foot, we were constantly in awe of the architecture we were seeing everywhere! The buildings are so ornate - I was amazed that whenever I looked up, there were usually statues and/or gargoyles looking down at me!
We thoroughly enjoyed our meals, and the prices were reasonable (especially after Denmark). Beer was plentiful and really tasty. Since every establishment serves a particular brand of beer, the only decision you have to make is light or dark, small or large! I had an app on my phone that indicated if we were in a tourist zone or if we were "local" - I think that helped steer us to some good restaurants. I think our favorite meal was duck, but we also had an obscenely big pig knee one night that was good, and rabbit on our last night. Oh, and I can't forget to mention the lovely strudel which we sampled twice.
We are now back in Denmark for one last night with our friends, then tomorrow we fly to Iceland.
Here are some photos of Prague.....
We thoroughly enjoyed our meals, and the prices were reasonable (especially after Denmark). Beer was plentiful and really tasty. Since every establishment serves a particular brand of beer, the only decision you have to make is light or dark, small or large! I had an app on my phone that indicated if we were in a tourist zone or if we were "local" - I think that helped steer us to some good restaurants. I think our favorite meal was duck, but we also had an obscenely big pig knee one night that was good, and rabbit on our last night. Oh, and I can't forget to mention the lovely strudel which we sampled twice.
We are now back in Denmark for one last night with our friends, then tomorrow we fly to Iceland.
Here are some photos of Prague.....
Saturday, August 26, 2017
Jutland
We have seen some amazing sights in the last week, so this post may be lengthy!
Last Monday we drove to Jutland from the island of Funen, arriving at Billund (home of Legoland) around 11am. Our friends dropped us off there, as admission is $80 CA and they have been many times. We arranged to be picked up in a few hours, and off we went to see as much as we could! Miniland was a highlight, with miniature Lego displays of familiar buildings, cities and landmarks. They all had moving parts and sound effects as well. Each display had information on who constructed it and how many blocks it took!
We managed to see quite a bit during our time, and it was great fun. They encourage people to take their own food into the park, and provide picnic areas, which makes sense for the families with little ones.
After getting picked up by our friends, we drove to the west coast to see some of the scenery before checking into our bed and breakfast which was in the middle of nowhere! Although the Danish children are back at school now, there are many Germans who come to Jutland for a beach holiday, so it is still quite booked up in the popular towns. This B&B was ok for one night, and at least we had access to the kitchen so could eat our own food for supper. Breakfast turned out to be decent too.
The next morning we headed north, stopping several times along the way to have breaks and see the villages. We had coffee in a place called Klitmoller, nicknamed "Cold Hawaii"!!! Pretty little seaside village full of surf shops and kids walking around in wetsuits. I think I prefer the "Warm Hawaii"....In Northern Jutland it is common to see the old houses with thatched roofs, and some of them were lovely. After stopping briefly at Denmark's largest moving sand dune, the Rabjerg Mile, we headed to our destination of Skagen (pronounced Skane), where we would stay for two nights in a very small two bedroom apartment. Skagen is famous for its picture perfect yellow houses with white trim, complete with white picket fences! It also has great shops and restaurants, galleries etc, so it was full of tourists. The cruise ships stop there as well. One of the must do's is to go to the beach at Grenen, just norh of Skagen, where you can walk to the northermost tip of Jutland. There are two seas that come together at that location, and you can wade out into the water and have one foot in each sea. According to our friends, it is always very windy there, but we were incredibly lucky, and it was a warm day with absolutely no wind. It was fun looking for amber on the beach, but we were not successful.
Skagen also has a wonderful art gallery, with famous works from 1870-1930 produced by local artists. One of them, P.S. Kroyer, was particularly good at capturing the light during the "blue hour", the transition from day to night.
Our last destination in Jutland was Aarhus, Denmark's second largest city. We spent several hours at the Old Town, which is an open air museum of 75 half-timbered houses which were brought there from all corners of Denmark and reconstructed as a market town from the era of Hans Christian Andersen. It was fun to come across little shops amongst the houses on display, such as a bakeries, soap shop, bookstore, kitchen supplies etc. The proprietors were dressed in authentic costumes and were selling the merchandise. We sampled some cookies from the bakery.
Downtown Aarhus is a vibrant place, and we spent some time just enjoying the people watching while we had coffee. Again, there was a cruise ship in town, so there were lots of tourists.
Friday was the day we had a long drive back to our friends' home in Hillroed, but first we wanted to see the Moesgard Museum, 10 km south of the city. This prehistory and anthropological museum reopened in 2014 in a spectacularly designed modern space, and the main attraction is the Graubelle Man, the 2000 year old man whose well preserved body was found in 1952 in the village of Graubelle, 25 km west of Aarhus. His body is remarkably preserved due to the chemical and biological properties of the peat bog in which he was found.
Aside from the Graubelle Man, the museum does a wonderful job of bringing various eras to life, from the Stone Age to the Viking, and we were wishing we had a whole day to spend there! The interactive displays contain so much information, and it is presented in a way that appeals to all ages.
Tomorrow we head to Prague for a few days, so we're looking forward to that.
Photos to follow....
Last Monday we drove to Jutland from the island of Funen, arriving at Billund (home of Legoland) around 11am. Our friends dropped us off there, as admission is $80 CA and they have been many times. We arranged to be picked up in a few hours, and off we went to see as much as we could! Miniland was a highlight, with miniature Lego displays of familiar buildings, cities and landmarks. They all had moving parts and sound effects as well. Each display had information on who constructed it and how many blocks it took!
We managed to see quite a bit during our time, and it was great fun. They encourage people to take their own food into the park, and provide picnic areas, which makes sense for the families with little ones.
After getting picked up by our friends, we drove to the west coast to see some of the scenery before checking into our bed and breakfast which was in the middle of nowhere! Although the Danish children are back at school now, there are many Germans who come to Jutland for a beach holiday, so it is still quite booked up in the popular towns. This B&B was ok for one night, and at least we had access to the kitchen so could eat our own food for supper. Breakfast turned out to be decent too.
The next morning we headed north, stopping several times along the way to have breaks and see the villages. We had coffee in a place called Klitmoller, nicknamed "Cold Hawaii"!!! Pretty little seaside village full of surf shops and kids walking around in wetsuits. I think I prefer the "Warm Hawaii"....In Northern Jutland it is common to see the old houses with thatched roofs, and some of them were lovely. After stopping briefly at Denmark's largest moving sand dune, the Rabjerg Mile, we headed to our destination of Skagen (pronounced Skane), where we would stay for two nights in a very small two bedroom apartment. Skagen is famous for its picture perfect yellow houses with white trim, complete with white picket fences! It also has great shops and restaurants, galleries etc, so it was full of tourists. The cruise ships stop there as well. One of the must do's is to go to the beach at Grenen, just norh of Skagen, where you can walk to the northermost tip of Jutland. There are two seas that come together at that location, and you can wade out into the water and have one foot in each sea. According to our friends, it is always very windy there, but we were incredibly lucky, and it was a warm day with absolutely no wind. It was fun looking for amber on the beach, but we were not successful.
Skagen also has a wonderful art gallery, with famous works from 1870-1930 produced by local artists. One of them, P.S. Kroyer, was particularly good at capturing the light during the "blue hour", the transition from day to night.
Our last destination in Jutland was Aarhus, Denmark's second largest city. We spent several hours at the Old Town, which is an open air museum of 75 half-timbered houses which were brought there from all corners of Denmark and reconstructed as a market town from the era of Hans Christian Andersen. It was fun to come across little shops amongst the houses on display, such as a bakeries, soap shop, bookstore, kitchen supplies etc. The proprietors were dressed in authentic costumes and were selling the merchandise. We sampled some cookies from the bakery.
Downtown Aarhus is a vibrant place, and we spent some time just enjoying the people watching while we had coffee. Again, there was a cruise ship in town, so there were lots of tourists.
Friday was the day we had a long drive back to our friends' home in Hillroed, but first we wanted to see the Moesgard Museum, 10 km south of the city. This prehistory and anthropological museum reopened in 2014 in a spectacularly designed modern space, and the main attraction is the Graubelle Man, the 2000 year old man whose well preserved body was found in 1952 in the village of Graubelle, 25 km west of Aarhus. His body is remarkably preserved due to the chemical and biological properties of the peat bog in which he was found.
Aside from the Graubelle Man, the museum does a wonderful job of bringing various eras to life, from the Stone Age to the Viking, and we were wishing we had a whole day to spend there! The interactive displays contain so much information, and it is presented in a way that appeals to all ages.
Tomorrow we head to Prague for a few days, so we're looking forward to that.
Photos to follow....
Sunday, August 20, 2017
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