Tag Archives: wandering

Travel

Photo Journal: Copenhagen, Denmark

Lunch in Copenhagen, wishing you were here.

Central square
Eurovision took place here
Tivoli — rumored to be Walt Disney’s inspiration for the parks
Sing to get a subway ticket as a Eurovision promotion
Even department stores look amazing
Opera house
Boats float lazily, as visitors dine nearby
Saw Julia, my German friend from high school!
Beautiful Copenhagen
Colorful canals
Quiet day on the waterfront
Friday shoppers take a break
The sun kept coming and going as we walked
and walked
and walked
Stairs in this were leveled to make a sloping ramp up to the top at some point in the past.
We had an amazing brunch near the university
A church
Walking tour of Copenhagen
A very lively place
The trains have no drivers, just windows
Streets of Copenhagen
The airport is more a mall than any other airport I’ve seen!
Standard
Travel

Photo Journal: Gothenburg, Sweden (2)

For you, dad.

Dusk
Penguins at the zoo
Overlooking Gothenburg
From the top of the hill
Out to sea
The harbor
A rainy view from the top of a skyscraper
There are random trampolines
We didn’t care
Coffee tasting with Swedes
Live music at Starbucks
The drink menu was kind of cute
Looking over Liseburg amusement park
Dusk on the streets
The Central Station
Trams around town
The pool on top of the Avalon
Swedish pride
A sleep road
I was in heaven
The most amazing candy store
Lunchtime shopping
Coffee shop in the alley
Most places look like Ikea
Inside a housing store
Even ketchup has great design
Rooftops of Gothenburg
Leaving for Copenhagen
But second class was comfy
Fields of yellow
As far as the eye could see
The Swedish coast
And quaint country towns
Yellow
Standard
Travel

Photo Journal: Gothenburg, Sweden

I don’t know how much time we have left together, but I think of you every moment, wishing you were here.

Flew over the Atlantic
The design everywhere is amazing, including the airport baggage claim
Took the bus to the center of town
Three trams later, I figured out how to pay and which to board
But the money doesn’t have denomination labels
They leave blankets outside at restaurants in case you want fresh air– but it’s so cold.
Streets of Gothenburg
More streets
Banners made of jeans
Nordstan shopping mall
Had to check out the McDonald’s seasonal items — Chicken wings and Prime Nib (no typo)
Yup, a mall.
But spring is in full bloom
And the weather was lovely
So I wandered
And wandered
And wandered
And wandered
Graduation?
Followed the spring
Wandering
Discovering
Eating traditional Swedish foods
Like rump-roast
And raspberries with butter and ice cream
Until my first afternoon came to a close
But not without me discovering that Sweden loves gummies
Just like Ikea
My morning run through the park was gorgeous. We later returned here to relax that day.
Grabbed a morning coffee from across the street
Trying to learn the local language
Moved over to my hotel, that’s a pool on top!
7-11s are like Japan, places of wonderment and good food
So I bought the weirdest things I could find.
Before returning to the park
Swedes have good taste
I also located the largest chair in Gothenburg
And then I located a cider
And some local food
But, still managed to stop by to get more gummies
My hotel is nice
My view is nicer
Bill Murray talks about coffee
Tiny cars live here
And every afternoon, the Swedes enjoy the tradition of “fika” — afternoon coffee break. So I followed suit.

I love you, dad.

Standard
Travel

Lone Explorer

In an effort for a change of pace and lone exploring, I decided to hop in my car on Sunday and head up to Gunma prefecture to see what’s up. My original goal was to explore Oze National Park, which spans 4 prefectures and is famous for sporting some fantastic fall colors. Earlier in the week, I checked to see what was going on in Oze and there were already reports of snowfall. But, never deterred, I decided to go anyways. Needless to say, both roads up into the mountains were already closed for the season. Not to mention, it seemed a winter storm was on the horizon, bringing in little snow flurries.  Continue reading →

Standard