Greetings friends and family,
I'm a bit behind with this update because I've been traveling since the last week of August. I met up with our friends John, Sylvia and Lizbeth, in Stockholm. First up, we rented a lovely AirBnb on the island of Nacka, a short bus ride/ferry ride to old town Stockholm. For anyone planning to visit Stockholm, I would highly recommend taking a walking tour of the old town, which specifically includes a visit and tour of the Vasa Museum. What an incredible story and so interesting to see. Old town Stockholm is a great and charming place to wander around. I'm not sure how many cruise ships arrived while we were there, but at least three flooded the town with passengers. We also visited the ABBA museum, which was interesting and, while I love ABBA, the museum is not something you can't miss... just sayin'. Initially, we decided to purchase one Swedish cinnamon roll just to try it, and we split it in fourths ... we actually did this on our first two days there. But then, I think we all realized that we didn't want to share a cinnamon roll with anyone ever again and from then on we each had our own. Honestly, I don't think I've ever enjoyed a pastry as much as a real Swedish cinnamon roll (well except for a Portuguese Pastel de Nata, which is #1). They are not too sweet and loaded with a combo of cinnamon and cardamom ... I definitely want to learn to make them.
The happy travelers arrive in Stockholm
View of Old Town from the ferry
The Swedish Cinnamon roll
From Stockholm we took a train to Copenhagen where we checked into a fabulous AirBnb right next to the train station. We were close to a number of cool areas including the meatpacking district (a trendy area with a lot of restaurants and bars), and Tivoli Gardens (the second oldest theme park in the world). Of course we, okay John, found a great bakery where we headed each morning for a pastry fix and coffee before heading out to explore. With our Copenhagen City Card, we were able to take the hop on/hop off bus around town for a few days, enjoy a canal tour (watch out for your head...sometimes we went under a few bridges with little room above us), and an evening walk through Tivoli Gardens. Copenhagen is beautiful, clean and has so much to do and see. Bicycles are everywhere, and it was interesting to watch the bicycle traffic at rush hour ... it was very orderly, almost orchestrated. It's definitely a city that I want to visit again and for a much longer period of time. They are on track to have a carbon neutral heating supply, based on biomass, waste and geothermal energy by 2025.
The famous waterfront in Copenhagen
One of many photos taken at Tivoli Gardens. Walt Disney was inspired by this place before he built Disneyland.
Upon leaving Copenhagen, John, Sylvia and I departed for Amsterdam, where we met up with Nick; while Lizbeth set off for Berlin and Poland with another friend. Amsterdam is a lovely, scenic city with many more canals than Copenhagen. I will say that bicycle traffic in Amsterdam can be quite harrowing. Even though there are bike lanes, I didn't always get the sense that pedestrians have the right of way. Ron, our Dutch friend, met up with us one day to show us around a bit. We had a great afternoon with him, which included coffee/pastry, chocolate, and Dutch fries, called frites, (like French fries, only the Dutch version). There are actually little shops in Amsterdam that sell only fries. Of course we took a canal cruise because you cannot visit Amsterdam without taking one. Another day, we toured the Anne Frank house, which is a must-see there. Ron suggested that we walk over to a little square called NOORDERMARKT once we finished our tour. Fortunately, or unfortunately, we found it and dropped some bucks there! It's a great outdoor market with organic fruits and veggies, honey, pottery, jewelry, art, clothing, and some of the most beautiful flowers I've ever seen. BTW, one of our best meals on this trip was at an Italian restaurant, Impero Romano, in Amsterdam. Check it out if you visit.
The "Violinist" located inside Amsterdam City Hall/National Opera & Ballet. Believe it or not, the artist is unknown.
Ron, our Dutch friend on the right
The happy travelers in Amsterdam
Too many photos and not enough room to post. I did post some on Instagram while traveling and will be posting more soon.
John and Sylvia returned to Porto with us and spent more time exploring our town since their first visit two years ago. One evening we attended an immersive light show that's currently taking place at the Serralves Museum near us. Serralves is a 44 hectare (108 acre) park that has a contemporary art museum, beautiful gardens and lakes, a walking path and a suspended walkway through very large trees. This was a very impressive light-show, though difficult to describe in words. The creativity of the various installations is amazing. If you are going to be in Porto soon, i.e. before November 3rd, I highly recommend it.
Thankfully, John and Sylvia left for London a day before some serious fires broke out in northern Portugal. We started seeing smoke in the air on Sunday, 9/15, and by Monday it was getting thick. By Tuesday morning, we no longer had any view of the ocean and our air quality over the past few days is in the dangerous zone. The nearest fire to Porto is in the town/area of Gondomar, less than 30 minutes from here, however, there are numerous fires in the north, all contributing to this apocalyptic sky. Ash is falling everywhere and getting in people's homes, including ours. At this point we have no idea when the sky and air will return to normal. It's bloody awful here right now.
Nick's language class starts again next week while mine starts on October 1. Oh fun.
Just a side note, it would be nice if the U.S. would follow the practice of European countries when it comes to elections ... where they only last for about two months.
Wishing you all good health and much happiness.
Adeus, abraços e beijos,
MaryLou