Posts In The “Europe” Category
Even if we weren’t Formula 1 fans, it would be hard not to be carried away by the excitement when Ferrari won the Italian Grand Prix at their home track of Monza Circuit last weekend. In a contest that played out to the final laps, Ferrari driver Charles LeClerc picked up the lead when McLaren…
We had a fantastic time on our week-long Danube River cruise aboard the AmaMagna. Stops along the way included Pecs in Hungary, Vukovar in Croatia, Novi Sad and Belgrade in Serbia, Vidin and Ruse in Bulgaria, and Bucharest in Romania. As with Budapest, these cities all date back to the Middle Ages and have suffered…
The cities of Buda and Pest became one in 1849 with the construction of the famous Szechenyi Chain Bridge, the first permanent bridge across the Danube River (pictured above). Despite centuries of European conflict dating back to the Middle Ages, multiple occupations by conquering forces, and decades of Communist rule, both sides are full of…
After many months of anticipation, the departure date for our trip to the North Pole aboard Le Commandant Charcot finally had arrived. We would be flying from Seattle to Paris, spending a day there, then taking a charter flight the following morning to Svalbard, where we would board the ship. Packing for the trip was…
On our final day in Barcelona, we returned to the Barceloneta waterfront district to tour the area in more detail and visit Barcelona’s L’Aquarium. We started the day with a wonderful tapas lunch at Xup Xup beachside along Passeig Maritim de la Barceloneta, the busy pedestrian walkway that edges the beach. We saw some unusual…
The city of Girona is famous for its medieval wall and many centuries-old buildings and artifacts, including the 14th-century Girona Cathedral. The city’s Jewish Quarter also is one of the most well-preserved in Europe, with a maze of narrow, cobblestone streets, steps and arches dating from the 12th century. These features made it the location…
The Montjuic hilltop was the birthplace of Barcelona, in the 3rd century BC or earlier, and the site of many of the city’s significant events. With a commanding view to the Mediterranean and the surrounding area, several fortifications were built on hill, the latest being the still-standing 17th-century Montjuic Castle. More recently, the hilltop hosted…
The Montserrat mountains rise almost vertically from the surrounding landscape to 2,055 ft (1,236 m) above sea level. Montserrat means “jagged peaks” in Catalan, and their unusual shape is prominent for miles around. The mountains are a popular day trip from Barcelona, reachable in just over an hour by train or a 45-minute drive. The…
Catalonian architect Antoni Gaudi is famous for his unique and fantastical designs inspired from nature. The majority of his creations are in Barcelona, with seven comprising the UNESCO World Heritage Site, “Works of Antoni Gaudi”, including his masterpiece, the Sagrada Familia. At 412 ft (125m) high, the Sagrada Familia dominates the Barcelona skyline and is…
Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter is the oldest section of the city, with ruins dating back to the Roman Empire. Narrow cobblestone lanes, wonderful to explore on foot, wind through the quarter past varied architecture. Although most of the buildings appear medieval, many actually were built in the late 1800s and early 1900s as part of a…
Barcelona was high on the list of stops for our aborted trip to the Mediterranean in 2020. And we’re big Formula 1 fans, but hadn’t attended a race since the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2018. So when a last-minute opportunity came together to attend the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona, we jumped on it….
Our trip to Switzerland was even better than we anticipated. The scenery, particularly in the Alps, was spectacular, the food was delicious and we really enjoyed the various modes of travel ranging from high speed trains to gondolas to cog wheel railways to ships. Finding another destination that works as well for our tastes and…
We departed Geneva for Seattle early on our second morning in the city. The ascent from the Geneva airport gave us a few last glimpses to the Alps, and we got some really nice views into the Frankfurt area, pictured above, as we descended to transfer home. On the return flight, we continued our experiment…
CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is home to the largest particle collider and detector in the world. The Large Hadron Collider is 17 miles (27 km) in circumference and crosses the Swiss-French border four times in a tunnel as deep as 574 ft (175m). And the ATLAS detector is 150 ft (46m) long,…
Crescent-shaped Lake Geneva has a surface area of 224 sq mi (580 sq km), making it the largest lake in Switzerland. The lake straddles the Swiss-French border, with ferries regularly carrying passengers between the two countries. The Swiss side had gentler hills full of vineyards, towns, and centuries-old castles, while the French side is more…
Extending up from the banks of Lake Geneva, Lausanne is known as the headquarters for the International Olympic Committee and the home of 13th-century Cathedrale du Notre Dame, one of the finest Gothic cathedrals in Europe and the spiritual capital of French-speaking Switzerland. Lausanne also has a vibrant arts and music scene, and many excellent…
Historic Lugano is the third-most important banking center in Switzerland, a country that excels at banking. The city extends from the western edge of Lake Lugano up into the hills behind, with cobblestone streets winding and climbing between centuries-old buildings. At either end the mountains Monte Bre (3,035-ft; 925 m) and Monte San Salvatore (2,992-ft;…
The Bernina Express scenic railway operates between Chur, Switzerland and Tirano in northern Italy. Reaching an altitude of 7,391 ft (2,253 m), it is the highest railway crossing in Europe and the third-highest railway in Switzerland. The majority of the route, from Thusis, Switerland to Tirano, has been designated the “Rhaetian Railway in the Albula/Bernina…