Pat, Rich AND Diana's Excellent Christmas Market Adventure!

Europe is known for their Christmas Markets, so of course, we had to go!  The three of us, Diana, Rich and I, spent 10 wonderful days exploring Brussels, Belgium, Berlin Germany and Prague, Czech Republic.  With only 2 full days in each, we focused on the markets and a few sights.  We were amazed at how much Europe decorates for Christmas- every street, every building- was decked in lights, trees  were decorated, and Christmas trees were placed everywhere!  Addiitnally, with great luck, we were able to meet up with a few friends!  Here are a few photos:-).  But no photo does justice to the beauty!
Here is a short video with a quick synopsis of our trip:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuxxB9EOvxE

Here are some highlights of our trip:

Brussels, Belgium- land of chocolate and beer, Brussels has the Grand Place square- a public square surrounded by awesomely beautiful buildings!!!  The square had an unnaturally awesome light show every night on the hour starting at 5 PM when it was dark.  I have to tell you, it was hard getting used to dark so early!  By 4:15 it was dark- it lets us know how far north we were.  Oh, and cold!   

We were also lucky to meet up with Linda, Ida and Wim from Netherlands!  They were kind enough to come to Brussels and spend a day and half with us.

We all heard of the horror in Paris, and the subsequent closure of Brussels.  When we got there, lots of soldiers protected the city, and there were few tourists.  But we never felt unsafe.

Atomium- a giant replica of a molecule, the Atomia was featured at the 1958 World's Fair.  It must hav been awe-inspiring back then, because it still is!  (http://atomium.be/).  The Atomium is HUGE!  We have all seen photos, but until you are there, you cannot imagine. Each of the spheres is large enough to hold a museum, plus an observation deck at the top.  When in Brussels, check it out!  Oh, and there is a cute little European Village right next door- souveniers and beer:-)

Diana and Rich with a soldier who was nice enough to pose.

Diagram of Atomium

1958 headlines

Inside one of the spheres

approahing Atomium

lined up just right!

View from the observation deck

sleeping capsule in one of the spheres- children's tours spend the night!

climbing the "legs"

night view

night view with no ambient light!!!!!

Grand Place- The Grand Place is an incredible public square with an awesome light show.  The Christmas Markets were beautiful!  Much different than I expected- each hut specialized in a type of good- ornaments, beer, angels, beer, chocolates, beer, and cookies- lots of cookies!

Royal Palace- the Belgians have a royal family, so of course we went to visit.  Sadly, the queen was away, so we couldn't lunch with her, but the park and palace were beautiful.

Other intersting Brussels things:-)

Beer

more beer

and even more beer!

 Brussels is home to these cute little statues:-)  Long a historic treasure, Mannekin Pis (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manneken_Pis) a statue of a young boy peeing.  Not to be outdone, women created the Jeanneke Pis:-).  These statue are amazingly small!

Jeannika Pis

Mannekin Pis

 And of course, candy is made for a souvenier!

Starbucks in the old town square!

Cookies!

 Window dressings for Christmas:

Berlin, Germany!!!!- Berlin had markets all over the place!!!!  We visited several of them!  Gendarmenmarkt, Zoolischergarten, Alexanderplatz, and Potsdammerplatz.  We also met up with Dirk, who gave us a quick historical tour of Berlin.  And, as a surprise, Yvonne and Ingo were in town from Dobeln!  We had the joy of spending an afternoon with them!  We drank our fill of Gluhwein (warm, spiced wine) that was delicious- especially with an extra shot of rum, as taught us by Yvonne and Ingo:-)

Ku'dam (Kurfurstendamm) the main shopping street

Our first Gluhwein in Germany!!!

Brandenburg Tor- the old Imperial German gate into the city, with the worlds largest minorah

Us hamming it up:-)

Dirk with Rich and Diana at Zoolischer Garten market

Zoolischer Garten market and the Gedacknichkirche- the bombed remains of the city Cathedral,
 left to remind us of the horror of war

Diana and I at the entry to the Gendarmenmarkt Market

Potsdammer Platz market

Alexander Platz market- very cool ferris wheel!

Yvonne and Ingo met us for the afternoon!  Being German, they introduced us to "a shot of rum" in our Gluhwein- stepping it up a notch:-)

Me at one of the Christmas trees

Always go to the mall, I say:-).  Here are the 2 of us in a sleigh!

Prague, Czech Republic!  Prague is an incredible city any time of the year, but at Christmas, it is magnificent!  Known as the city of spires, the city is a medieval paradise.  Oh- and COLD!!!!!  The food is the best- hearty and filling, the choice of meat is beef and pork, wach with a tasty gravy, good dark bread, and of course beer!  Oh, and Grog!  Who knew it was real?!  Hot water, lemon, rum, and a bit of sugar, it is the best Christmas drink- so we had Grog in Prague!


Main Square- the main square of Prague is known for the churches, ornate custom houses, and clock tower!  The square was adorned in lights, and filled with Christmas Market shops!

Main Square from the castle!

The Christmas Tree stayed lit all night long!

Charles Bridge- (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Bridge)  A 14th century wonder, the bridge joins the lower town (home of the main square) with the upper town, home of the castle.  It has "gates" on each side, which are monuments in their own right, and is adorned with statuary on both sides.  The bridge- and the city itself, is magnificently beautiful day or night! It is just a magnificent city!

Bridge gate headed to the upper town

Charles Bridge very early in the morning

Charles Bridge from the castle

View of the castle from the bridge

Prague Castle- (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prague_Castle) Is more of a walled city! Also there is St. Vitus Cathedral- magnificent in its own right!  It also holds the Baslica to St. George, and his final resting place!!!!  As you know, St. George is my favorite saint!  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._George%27s_Basilica,_Prague).  The castle is not a castle as we, as Americans, think of it- it is much more modern.  but St. Vitus cathedral is located there, giving the castle a true sense of ancientness.

View of the castle and St. Vitus Cathedral from the main square clock tower

View of the castle from Clock Tower- It truly is a huge castle-

There are guards at the gate, and there is a beautiful procession for the changing of the guard

St. Vitus Cathedral

Inside the cathedral- it is ENORMOUS!

Each window is covered in stained glass- this window is God receiving Jesus

Rich and Diana at the castle gates

The castle has tons of interesting museums- including one dedicated to torture, fighting implements
such as spears and guns, and suits of armor!

St. George Basilica- sadly, I could not find a photo of the Basilica itself- but it is located in the castle grounds.

St. George's final resting place

The Clock Tower- The main square is home to the clock tower- which, as its name suggests, has a medieval clock!

The clock

The clock tower

The clock is decorated with many stone carvings- I love this skeleton!  Each hour, he rings the bell!

Carving of Archangel Michael

View of the clock tower from the lighted grove of trees below it

View of the clock tower from one of the gates

Christmas Markets!!! Burssels, Belgium

So we are here in Brussels Belgium- our first night, we go to the Grand Place, the main square, of Brussels.  This is the light show off the medieval buildings.  A bit long- 8 minutes- but it was so beautiful, we had to post it!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Isw9eXwL47w

Seattle!

I spent a great week in Seattle with my friends Claire and Ellen in October.  We saw and did so much that I think we covered the city:-).  We did buy the Seattle CityPass to help out since we all like to do a lot of things.  While it is a bit expensive- $69.00- it got us into almost everything we did, with no extra costs.  It covered the Space Needle, museums, harbor cruise, aquarium, and coupons for dessert at a pretty good restaurant we ate at twice!  One thing that we really liked was the new light rail they built!  It brings you from the airport into the city, and took us to different tourist areas for very low prices. Seattle has a reputation for clouds and rain.  It only rained one day for us, plus a few sprinkles now and then, but we did have lots of clouds; but that added to the fall-like atmosphere we like about October.  

One thing I really wanted to do was take the Duck tour, an aquatic bus that tours the city and then takes you into the lakes.  Sadly, it was closed due to their tragic accident just a week before our trip. RIP for the victims, and may the survivors heal.

Me at the closed Duck Tour office (note my Duck quacker in my mouth)  

The main tourist area is the Seattle Center, where you can find the Space Needle, EMP and Chihuly Museum, restaurants, the monorail, and very nice gardens.  Everything can be seen in a day, but I recommend a couple days to see everything.  There is a restaurant there- Collections- that is very good!  The CityPass booklet has a coupon for dessert for each entre.  We had the beignets and the chocolate mousse- both outstanding!  They have a chopped salad that is excellent, and two of us liked their clam chowder; the third person thought it had too much onion and celery.

Space Needle!  The Space Needle is iconic Americana!  Built for the 1962 World's Fair, everyone should have it on their bucket list.  We went twice- once during the day, and again to watch the sunset.  The views are really incredible!  And they have an outside walk area to get 360 degree views.  The evening we went, President Obama was in Seattle, so we watched his motorcade from the top!  You get really good city views, and vistas of the surrounding mountains, lakes, and Puget Sound.  On a good day, you can see Mt. Rainier; sadly, we did not see anything but a faint outline of it due to the clouds.  The walkway is fenced and netted, and clearly posts notices of “no climbing allowed”. One plus- free photos:-)

Ellen, Claire and I- this is a free green-screen photo

Ellen, Claire and I.  This is a free, actual photo.

Space Needle from ground level

Space Needle

Space Needle at night!

EMP Museum (http://www.empmuseum.org).  This pop culture museum has something for everyone!  If you love music, this is the place for you, with the history of music, listening stations, exhibits of memorabilia (better than Hard Rock!), and video interviews of musicians and composers.  It does have a really good exhibit of Kurt Cobain and Nirvana.  But what I loved are the exhibits of Horror and Science Fiction!  Not only do they have props from my favorite tv shows and movies, but also movie excerpts, video interviews, planetary science stations, model starships, and a creepy walkway with changing pictures!

Alien face-hugger egg

Alien!

Alien: Corporal Hicks uniform (Michael Beene)

T-8000 Terminator

Dalek!

Jason Voorhees mask and machete.  You may remember him from Friday the 13th parts 1-13.

Dale Chihuly blown glass museum.  Dale Chihuly is one of America’s best and most famous glass blowers.  He has art installations all over the world, including the lobby ceiling of the Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.  He takes his inspiration from nature, so all his work is very organic.  The museum has multiple exhibits of his work, including a very large garden that displays is work.  The museum also has video interviews and demonstrations of his work around the world.

Ellen, Claire and I

Glass exhibit

Blown glass garden

Blown glass tree in the garden

Space Needle from the gardens

The Harbor!  The harbor area is where you catch harbor cruises, cruise ships, restaurants, shops and the Aquarium.  Everyone loves Aquariums!  The harbor cruises are about an hour long, and take you through Puget Sound for spectacular views of the city, you can also take a cruise through the locks between Puget Sound and the city lakes.  The Aquarium is especially nice if you like otters!  They are truly the cutest animals on earth (don’t hate me dog lovers:-)).

Aquarium. The Seattle Aquarium is nice (not to the standards of the Monterey Bay, CA or Newport, OR) and worth a visit, if you are interested. If you have kids, this is the place for you! they can touch and feel everything, dress as divers, learn, watch videos- kids will love it. Me- I loved the otters.

Pikes Market.  Overlooking Puget Sound, this is a very fun place to spend a few hours. Cool shops, seafood restaurants, a cheese factory, fish sellers and fish throwers, and the very first Starbucks!  Really a cool place to go!  I recommend Pikes Chowder for clam chowder- it was really the best!  Plus, you can buy a crab for lunch (they crack it and pack it for you!

Crab for lunch

Starbucks Roastery and Tasting Room!!!!  (http://roastery.starbucks.com).  There are Starbucks on almost every corner, plus in very odd locations in the city.  It was almost laughable how many there are:-).  The first Starbucks at Pikes Market has no sit-down tables and does have lines; the lines move fast.  You must go at least once (we went daily:-)!  The Roastery, though, is an actual experience you should go to if you like coffee.  The roastery has an operational roasting and bagging system for coffee sales, full merchandising section, and a restaurant- the pizza was excellent!  Much like wine tasting (and just as expensive) you can choose different coffees to taste.  Plus you can see the barista brew your coffee through an osmosis system.  really a great way to spend an afternoon!

 A YouTube video of our day at the Starbucks Roastery and Tastery is just a click away:             https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJEwQAFChPQ

Claire and I with our coffee pots

The coffees we tasted

Barista preparing our coffee tastes by osmosis

Coffee bean roaster

Underground Tour. (http://www.undergroundtour.com) In Pioneer Square, the original area of Seattle, you can tour what was the original area, which is underneath modern-day Seattle.  What an interesting history this city has!  If you do one thing- other than the Space Needle- take the Underground Tour; it is one of the most interesting tours I have ever taken.  The original city was on a mud-flat, so it was soggy and flooded, and sewers backed up regularly!  The descriptions of life at that time, and what they went through re-building after the fire of 1889 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Seattle_Fire)  are really intense and funny.  The Underground city is pretty much left as it was (probably for effect!) but that is what makes it interesting- you could die at any moment:-)

Ghost Tours. I love Ghost Tours!  And Seattle has lots of ghosts.  We took the Spooked in Seattle Ghost tour (http://spookedinseattle.com) for two reasons: their guides are actual paranormal investigators, and we had a Groupon!  Our tour was 90 minutes long, and we toured different buildings in Pioneer Square (the original area of Seattle), complete with ghost stories, listened to audio recordings the investigators recorded, learned about ghosts, and toured the Death Museum.  Our guide, Adrian, is a funeral director, paranormal investigator and ghost guide!  He was very interesting!  I cannot recommend it enough.

Claire and our guide Adrian

display in the Death Museum

Death Museum wall paper

display in the Death Museum

Videos!!!!! From Europe, 2014

As you all may recall, Rich and I spent 6 months in Europe in 2014.  I am sure you all enjoyed our posts:-).  But in addition to photos, we took videos.  I know it has been awhile, but we have now converted those videos into YouTube movies!  (Aren't you lucky!!!!)  The videos are not extensive, and some, like Ghent, Belgium and Edinburgh, Scotland are essentially music videos.  But you are in luck:-)  We did take videos for your viewing pleasure.  But take solice- each of the video segments are not that long!  Some of the videos- Italy and Germany- are long, but only becausse we spent so much time there!  Enjoy!!!

1. Spain and Portugal
Our first video for your viewing pleasure is from Spain and Portugal. This is short- less than 8 minutes.  We spent the month of April between the two countries.  The video from Barcelona is of a procession of nuns and priests singing, becauses it was close to Easter.  We went to Seville, and filmed the Alcazar and Cathedral Square, then we have 2 videos of Fado singing in Lisbon, one male and one female singer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcBb5fbAD9s


2. Italy
We spent the month of May, 2014 in Italy, traveling around most of the country.  This video, although a little long- 18 minutes- takes us from Lake Cuomo in the north, to Florence, to Rome with St. Peters, the Coluseum, and Palantine Hill, to Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast.  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0TWUd5cXPE


3. Monetenegro, Croatia, and Bosnia
Our third video takes us to the country Rich really wanted to visit: Montenegro!  the first clip is from Budva, one of our all-time favorite places, then on to Kotor.  Off to Dubrovnik, Croatia, we have several clips when we climbed the walls of the old city.  Last time we were here was 1986 when it was part of Yugoslavia.  Now it is a cruise port- over-come by tourist hordes'; but at night, it is beautiful.  The last clip is from Mostar, bosnia.  Famous for their bridge, this was one of the most non-American places we had visited.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRIcksichDE


4. Germany
My favorite country of all!  We were lucky enough to stay in Berlin for almost 2 months, living at our favorite place, Pension Knesebeck, operated by Frau Kolenowski, her daughter Doreen, and granddaughter Emma.  We became so close to them, it was amazing!  Each morning Emma would have breakfast in her high chair, sitting between Rich and I.  Then we would watch her while Doreen walked the dog.  Emma would come in our room and watch tv or, more often, jump on the bed:-) Again, amazing!  We also spent a few days in Heidelberg, a really beautiful town.  

While in Berlin, Germany won the World Cup!!  We would go to the Tiergarten and watch the games on the jumbo-tron and pretend we were German!  On the last game, we had front row seats at a local restaurant- and of course, Germany won!  So we were off to Tiergarten for the "Welcome Home" celebration. Another amazing experience!

But one of the most significant adventures we had was a long weekend meeting my friends from the Camino de Santiago in the town of Dobeln.  That was an amazing weekend!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8phni_RD8k

5. Belgium and Scotland
This is a very short video.  First, we take a 360 of the main square in Bruge Belgium, a town I had wanted to visit for many years!  The next video is from a couple playing classical music under a bridge in Ghent, and the third, a local band in Edinburgh.  Hope ou enjoy the music as much as we did!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXpQzTqIK-Y