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.