At Home in Bangor

Andrew and I moved in to our new apartment (which is actually part of an old estate home that has been broken up into six separate apartments) in Bangor last week.  Bangor is a suburb of Belfast, to the east of the city, and right on the Irish Sea. It is a cute little town with a nice harbor/marina - a lot of people sail here. I got a great shot of the town at sunrise the other morning, and you can see a lot of the ships.

As I mentioned, we are right on the Irish Sea, with gorgeous views of the water. The best feature of our apartment is our bay window which faces right out to the water. Looking out the windows, you can see Belfast to the left, Scotland straight ahead, and Bangor to the right. You'll have to come for a visit to get a better look!

We are really loving it here so far. Andrew takes the train in to work every morning (about a 20-30 minute ride to the University) and I've been getting us settled in: cleaning, organizing, unpacking, and now packing for our trip back to the US on Friday. We can't wait to be home to see everyone!

Of course, we get a lot of rainbows here in Northern Ireland!

Lagan Meadows

On Sunday morning, Andrew and I set out for a walk to the Lagan Meadows, a large nature reserve in the south of Belfast, surrounding the Lagan River and towpath.

It was a cold morning and we got there early enough to see frost on many of the leaves and grass and we didn't see very many people out. As the day went by, though, it got much busier on the paths and it seemed like a popular place for people to go out walking or running. It was a beautiful morning and there are plenty of pictures on our flickr page.

Our New Home

Andrew and I arrived in Belfast last Wednesday, on Halloween! Our apartment is just minutes from Queen's, so Andrew's walk to work is relatively short for the time being. We're happy to be here and we're already starting to feel settled in. Here's a few pictures of our apartment:

Back to the Big City

Andrew and I were in Copenhagen last week - just a short, two-day trip - and we had a wonderful time, as always. We arrived on Sunday afternoon in time for an early dinner down in the Nyhavn neighborhood (a very charming little street on the water with shops and restaurants). We were having some wonderful late-summer weather, so we ate outside and spent some time wandering before stopping at the Mikkeller bar before bed (I think this may be one of Andrew's favorite places in the city).

On Monday, we hit the Strøget in the morning, had a pølser for lunch, and then went to a quick meeting at the UK embassy before another early dinner. We arrived at Ved Stranden 10 Vinhandel & Bar (that's the Ved Stranden winebar) just before 5, as I had read several places that this was the place to be in Copenhagen on Monday nights. If you've ever been to Copenhagen (or any other big European city), you'll know that many places are closed on Mondays, so it's often hard to find good places to eat. Knowing this, the owner of Ved Stranden 10 decided that he'd stay open on Monday nights, in order to give his staff (and actually the staff of several other restaurants in town) a place to eat. Each week, a different chef prepares the meal and it's available to everyone at the bar for as long as the meal lasts. This past week, someone brought in a very delicious bouillabaisse which we devoured along with some excellent wine.

On Tuesday, Andrew and I went back to the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek (an excellent art museum) for a few hours before touring the Carlsberg Brewery, something which has been on Andrew's to-do list since before we arrived in Denmark.

It was a day well spent, but we were happy to fly back to Aalborg on Tuesday evening. Photos of our short trip are on flickr here.

Belfast

Andrew and I were in Belfast last week - from Wednesday to Monday - and we had a wonderful time. We spent Thursday and Friday at Queen's University, and all day Saturday exploring the city, which is actually a very short walk from the university. We saw the Titanic Quarter, St. Anne's Cathedral, and got a fantastic (free!) tour of Belfast City Hall in the afternoon.

On Sunday, we ventured outside the city on a bus tour up to Giant's Causeway, stopping at a few small towns on the way. It was a great way to spend the day out in the Irish countryside.

 

As always, more pictures of our trip are on flickr.

Davis Family Visit

This past week, my Uncle Jim, Aunt Barbara, and cousin Matthew came to visit us here in little old Aalborg. They spent a week in Paris, then headed north to spend a few days with us. On their first full day in Aalborg, Andrew and I took them on the standard drive on the northern coast of Denmark. We stopped at the Viking burial ground on the way out of town, drove on the beach, walked out to Grennen at Skagen, and put our feet in the North and Baltic Seas. 

In addition to all of our usual stopping points, we visited a bunker museum in Hirtshals on our way around the coast. During WWII, the Germans built several bunkers along the coast of Denmark in order to control the passage of ships in the North and Baltic Seas, and we got to go inside a few (and Andrew got to climb up and down one - always fun!).

We spent the next day touring the Voergaard Slot, a nearby castle that has the widest moat in Denmark, and several furnishings that belonged to Marie Antoinette and Napoleon. (Also, the castle is supposedly haunted by a previous owner, but we didn't see any ghosts!)

For the rest of their visit we stayed in Aalborg: I gave them the historic tour of the city, we did plenty of shopping (and pastry-eating), and we visited the Aalborg Zoo. They were wonderful guests and we were so happy to have them here. More pictures of their visit are on flickr here.

Venice + Northern Italy

Andrew and I spent about five days in Venice. He had to be there for a conference, so I tagged along to do some sightseeing while he was busy during the days. We really lucked out, because it turned out that Andrew's cousin David was also in Venice for most of the time that we were there. We got to catch up and visit, and I had someone (two someones, in fact, since David's friend Oren was also in town) to tour the city with while Andrew was conferencing. Our hotel was on Lido, one of the islands to the south of Venice, and so we had beach access (an invaluable hotel perk since it was scorching hot there!).

Venice was a gorgeous city, full of wonderful art and architecture. Of course, we saw all the big sights - St. Mark's Basilica & Square, the Rialto Bridge, the Doge's Palace, the Grand Canal, Gallerie dell’Accademia - but the best part of the city was getting off the beaten path and wandering the incredibly charming side streets and canals. 

After his conference ended, Andrew and I rented a car and drove around northern Italy for a few days before heading back to Aalborg. We spent a night each in Bologna, Florence, Genoa, and Milan, and even stopped in Pisa to check out the tower one day. All of the pictures from Venice are here, and those from the end of our trip are here. It was an amazing vacation, but we were happy to get home to prepare for my aunt & uncle's visit to Aalborg!

Pre-Venice: Slovenia

Andrew and I got back this week from our latest - and possibly nicest - trip:  through northern Italy and Slovenia. It started off with a bang, as our flight out of Aalborg was late, causing us to be late for our connecting flight to Venice. We landed in Amsterdam with only a few minutes until the next flight was taking off, so we were literally sprinting through the airport to catch it. Luckily, we made it to the gate just in time, out of breath, but relieved; our bags, however, weren't so lucky, and spent the night in Amsterdam without us. Missing out on a planned night in Trieste, we picked up our bags at the airport the next morning and got back on track, driving to Trieste on Thursday morning instead. It was a beautiful seaside town, and we managed to tour the castle and an art museum there before heading on to Ljubljana, Slovenia. With a castle, a well-preserved old town, charming little side streets, and a gorgeous view of the mountains, Ljubliana was a fantastic city to explore for a few days.

On our way back into Italy, we stopped at Lake Bled in northern Slovenia, which was hands down one of the most beautiful places we've ever been. We spent the day walking around the area, hiking up to the castle perched above the lake.

We drove back to Venice on Saturday, where we stayed for the next few days. Andrew was attending a conference while I hit the beach and explored the city with his cousin, David, who was also in town for a few days. More on Venice and northern Italy later, but in the meantime, photos of Trieste are here and photos of Slovenia are here.

American Visitors

This past week, some of our old friends from the University of Illinois came to visit. Amit and Kate came all the way from Minnesota to Switzerland, where Jericho is living, and then the three of them all came up here last Wednesday night. We rented a car and gave them the tour-de-Northern-Denmark on Thursday, driving all around the Northern coast, despite the inclement weather - it was windy and rainy all day! We stopped to show them the Viking burial ground on our way out of Aalborg (the baby sheep were out and about!), and, of course, we drove on the beach and took them to Skagen to stand in both the Baltic Sea and the North Sea at the same time.

We also stopped at the Nordsøen Oceanarium in Hirtshals on Thursday to escape all the rain and wind for a while. We caught a seal show/feeding and spent a few hours seeing many varieties of fish found in Northern European waters. Andrew even got to see what it would be like to be a fish...

On Friday, we caught a break with the weather and drove south to Aarhus, Denmark's second largest city. We stopped at the coast on the way, but once in the city we headed straight to Den Gamle By, an authentic open air museum full of old houses and historical characters (in the same vein as Williamsburg, Virginia). Andrew and Amit learned how to walk on stilts, we saw some old half-timber houses, and toured some authentic old homes.

We spent some time in downtown Aarhus on Friday afternoon, and introduced our friends to the delicious Danish pølser (hotdog) for lunch!

On Saturday we wandered around Aalborg, shopping and eating, and then took a long bike ride in the afternoon. We came home and everyone tried a traditional pickled herring meal with the standard Aalborg schnapps - not surprisingly, it was not to everyone's liking... We finished out their visit by going to Jomfru Ane Gade last night for a game of nails at Heidi's. (You'll have to come to Aalborg to find out how to play!) And they all left early this morning to head back to their respective homes.

More photos of this fantastic visit are on flickr. I'm heading back to Chicago in a few days (!) and then we go to Venice in the end of June!

Göteborg, Sweden

On Monday night, Andrew and I left for Göteborg, Sweden with two of his colleagues at the university. We took a late ferry from Frederikshavn and were happy to find our hotel just after midnight. Andrew had to be up before seven on Tuesday for a workshop (the reason we were going), but I was able to sleep in a bit and have a leisurely day. I spent most of the late morning and afternoon meandering the streets of Göteborg, stopping in little shops and checking out the city.

 

After he finished his workshop, Andrew and I walked around the city some more and had a very nice dinner at Thörnströms Kök (one of the five Michelin-starred restaurants in Göteborg). Wednesday morning, we found a beautiful park and interesting greenhouse, which turned out to be a great little detour on our way into the city.

 

Then, we visited the Göteborg Museum of Art, which had a wonderful collection (including one of Degas' dancers - I can't believe how many versions of my favorite little dancer I'm getting to see!) and was a lovely way to spend an hour or so. After stopping for lunch, we wandered around some more, eventually making our way to the harbor to catch our ferry back to Denmark. More photos of our short trip are on flickr.

Eurotrip, city 4: Reims, France

On the last day of our whirlwind European vacation, we rented a car in Paris and headed northeast to the lovely town of Reims, right in the middle of Champagne country. It was a beautiful drive into the French countryside, and since Reims is located just about halfway between Paris and Luxembourg, it was the perfect place to meet up with our cousins in Luxembourg: Sara, Paul, and their darling daughter Julia. It's so nice to have family in Europe with us, and this short visit with them was probably the best thing we did on our entire trip.

fancy meeting you here...

Reims was extremely charming, but beyond that, it had a spectacular cathedral where the kings of France used to be crowned (it also houses some beautiful stained-glass windows by Marc Chagall, a personal favorite). We spent a while touring the cathedral and then wandered around town a bit before finding some delicious crepes for lunch.

 

As I said, this short visit with family was my favorite day of our trip, and certainly a wonderful way to spend our last day in France. We drove back to Paris and flew back to Aalborg that night. Mom and Dad are gone now, but we'll always remember this wonderful vacation with them.

(Next week, Andrew and I are headed to Gothenburg, Sweden for a few days!)

Eurotrip, city 3: Paris

Hands down, the train ride to Paris from Amsterdam was the nicest leg of our little trip, as I accidentally booked first-class tickets for us. Upon arrival in Paris, we headed right over to our apartment, settled in a bit, and got to know the neighborhood where we'd stay for the next few days (the 7th arrondissement).

On Sunday, we headed over to Notre Dame where we thought we could go to mass, but it was way too crowded, so we just checked out the outside. While in the neighborhood, we went to La Sainte-Chapelle and Shakespeare and Co. bookstore before heading over to Montmartre. In Montmartre, we stopped at the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur and wandered the neighborhood where some of our favorite artists lived once upon a time, before finding a little cafe in our own neighborhood for dinner.

We hit the Louvre on Monday morning, but not before strolling through the Tuileries and stopping at Angelina's for some of the best hot chocolate I've ever tasted. (We also picked up some macarons to snack on later - yum!) After lunch, we went to L'Orangerie and saw Monet's famous water lilies - it was maybe the best museum we saw in Paris, or possibly tied for first with the Musée d'Orsay, where Andrew and I went on Tuesday while Wally and Marie went out to Versailles. Andrew and I also went to the Musée des Arts Décoratifs on Tuesday, where we saw two exhibits: one on Louis Vuitton & Marc Jacobs, and a second on my favorite French elephant, Babar. That night, we took a boat tour of the Seine and prepared to get up early and head to Reims on Wednesday. (More photos of Paris are on flickr.)

Eurotrip, city 2: Amsterdam

We arrived in Amsterdam on Thursday, April 5 in the evening. We checked into our hotel, just a few blocks from the Rijksmuseum, and headed out in search of dinner.

We ended up at an Indonesian restaurant nearby, but not before strolling around our neighborhood. Indonesian rice tables are traditional in Amsterdam (as Indonesia was a former colony) and dinner was a feast of many different dishes served family-style.

Friday morning and afternoon we hit the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum, respectively; both were crowded, but wonderful to see. Andrew, Wally, and Marie also spent some time at a floating flower market and the city's largest flea market before we had another wonderful dinner. We ate at de Culinaire Werkplaats, a unique restaurant and experimental kitchen that was all vegetarian, all locally-sourced, and delicious! We all had the current tasting menu, which featured five different courses based on different Dutch landscapes.

The next morning, we were off to catch our train to Paris! More photos from Amsterdam are on our flickr page.

Eurotrip, city 1: Hamburg

Our first train left Aalborg to Hamburg, Germany at 6:00 last Wednesday morning. We arrived in the early afternoon, and headed right out to explore the city. We stopped at the town hall first, and then moved on to the nearby St. Petri's, where we climbed over 500 steps to the top of the steeple (well, Andrew and I went all the way to the top - Marie and Wally put in a good effort by making it 3/4 of the way). The view from the top was spectacular, but climbing the old wooden steps was a bit nauseating.

 

 

We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around town, stopping at a tea museum and attempting (unsuccessfully) to get into Minatur Wunderland. By the time dinner came around we were all starving and luckily found a pretty great little German restaurant, Thämers am Großneumarkt, to have dinner. Three orders of wiener schnitzel and one bowl of goulash were devoured.

The next morning we headed over to the Chilehaus and then found a small market going on nearby. Wally found a great leather belt with a little help from a friendly German:

At this point we had to head back to the train station for the next leg of our trip: Amsterdam! More pictures from Hamburg are on our flickr page.