Entering Copenhagen’s Christiania

Posted on July 14, 2014 by Travel Spirit

Entering Copenhagen’s Christiania is a bit like entering a taboo fairyland. If you’re not familiar with it, according to Wikipedia, “Christiania, also known as Freetown Christiania, is a self-proclaimed autonomous neighborhood of about 850 residents, covering 84 acres. Civic authorities in Copenhagen regard Christiania as a large commune, but the area has a unique status in that it is regulated by a special law, the Christiania Law of 1989, which transfers parts of the supervision of the area from the municipality of Copenhagen to the state”. I visited on my second and final day in Copenhagen before taking a train to Stockholm. I was on a rental bicycle, in the rain, with the lady whose flight was delayed by a day. On the way to Christiania, she fell off of her bicycle and luckily was only bruised.

Let me back up for a moment. I asked the other two Tour participants if they would accompany me to the Airport to meet this participant (even though that took a few hours out of our meager time allotted for Copenhagen) because I knew she wouldn’t be able to find her way without us. So, the three of us met her at the Airport and she was very relieved to see us! After getting her checked in, I rented the bicycles for all of us to tour around on and we ended up splitting off from the other two because they didn’t want to ride any more.

Now…we’re back in Christiania…

I chatted with this lady for a couple of minutes and was surprised to hear that she’s been working there for 30 years! Just beyond her on the path there was a sign that said “no photographs” and she explained, “That’s the area where they smoke marijuana”.

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Copenhagen’s Royal Gardens at Rosenborg

Posted on July 13, 2014 by Travel Spirit

Copenhagen‘s Royal Gardens at Rosenborg are well-tended and quite peaceful. The manicured trees formed an artery leading in the direction of the Gardens…

My Tour participants and I meandered along the path eager to come upon the Gardens…

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Why you should visit Cave Run Lake in Kentucky

Posted on July 12, 2014 by Travel Spirit

Cave Run Lake in Kentucky is absolutely gorgeous! My husband and I met friends there on Thursday for a few days of camping and boating. We’ve been there before, but I didn’t remember it being so picturesque. We used to camp a lot before we moved to the house we’re in now, but with five acres of land and trees surrounding us, we feel like we’re camping without the tent. Camping is a wonderful way for families to enjoy the great outdoors and each other. My son loved it growing up! We’ve camped at many of the area lakes located within a three to four hour drive from Cincinnati…Lake Cumberland and Laurel Lake in Kentucky and Norris Lake in Tennessee, not to mention those within an hour drive…East Fork Lake and Caesar’s Creek near Cincinnati, and Brookville Lake in Indiana. Cave Run is a little over two hours from our home, which makes it a great option.

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Canal Ride from Nyhavn in Copenhagen

Posted on July 10, 2014 by Travel Spirit

I left off yesterday with myself and two of three (the third person’s flight being delayed a day) Tour participants I would be leading throughout Scandinavia for ten days checked into the Generator Hostel in Copenhagen. One of the reasons I chose this accommodation was its wonderful location within a five-minute walk from the Nyhavn harbor area. After freshening up we made our way to Nyhavn, which means New Harbor, for a canal boat tour. When I planned the trip and presented it to possible Tour participants, I included most of the activities in their total cost for the trip and this boat tour was one of the included activities.

Here’s one side of the harbor lined with delightful and colorful restaurants and townhouses…

We needed to use the restroom (and we didn’t have to pay like we did in so many places throughout Eastern/Central Europe), so we went inside of a building located behind me as I took this photograph of the harbor area…

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Generator Hostel is no ordinary Hostel

Posted on July 9, 2014 by Travel Spirit

In case you haven’t been following along, I began my month long European excursion in May 2014, escorting eleven people through four Eastern/Central European Countries in eleven days and all of them went back home to Cincinnati, Ohio after the trip except one…my friend Richard. He and I went on to Munich and Amsterdam for about six nights, and flew to Copenhagen, Denmark, where we were meeting two new Tour participants. Their flights were to arrive a bit earlier than ours, so they were to meet us at our baggage claim. We found one of them and waited for about 15 minutes before receiving a text from the fourth informing us of her flight’s cancellation and new arrival time the following day.

Our first stop for a couple of nights was Copenhagen, then we were traveling to Stockholm, Sweden, and two Cities in Norway. I had booked a hostel in Copenhagen, which was a new experience for me. I’ve used Couchsurfing.org, VRBO, and Airbnb, but never a hostel. Having researched lots of possibilities in Copenhagen, I booked the Generator Hostel. It’s not your ordinary hostel as you’ll see from these photos.

Here’s a view of the surrounding buildings while sitting on one of the outdoor patio furniture seats…

I played pool one evening in the recreational area pictured here with a twenty-something threesome and won! Love that funky chair!

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A Walk in Amsterdam

Posted on July 8, 2014 by Travel Spirit

On one of the three days I explored Amsterdam, I went for a walk with a few places in mind to visit. One of them was the Amsterdam Library and the other was an island (that I had no clue where it was located) with unique modern architecture. I set off on my adventure, asking people along the way for directions. First, I passed the Science Center NEMO for children….you can’t see it in this picture, but they grow grass and bushes on the sloped side and people are walking on it! When you cross this bridge, the view is cool!

This photo is out of sequence, but I thought it was cute…the girl having her photo taken by her boyfriend!

Here are another couple of canal pics I couldn’t resist putting up….

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Washington Park Festivities

Posted on July 6, 2014 by Travel Spirit

Washington Park in Cincinnati, Ohio is the happening place to be in the summer! There’s always something going on and this weekend was no exception. iSPYCincy had me on assignment to find out how much fun people have at a Fireworks festival and as you can see…it was a lot!

The Almighty Get Down Band was groovin’!

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Red White & Blue Ash Fireworks

Posted on July 6, 2014 by Travel Spirit

My 4th of July celebrations included attending a friend’s party and walking from her house to a fireworks‘ display called Red White & Blue Ash Fireworks! It’s located in Blue Ash, Ohio, which is a suburb of Cincinnati and there were over 100,000 people there! Midnight Special and Cheap Trick were the bands playing and the Rozzi Fireworks were spectacular! I took my tripod to capture the fireworks. It was my first time and I had my settings on 8 seconds at 8 F-Stop. In Lightroom 5, I edited some of the smoke out by increasing my black and contrast.

One of my friends took my photo with my camera. As you can see it was a beautiful day…low humidity and 78 degrees!

My friend Frank had a temporary tattoo on his head…

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The Heineken Experience in Amsterdam

Posted on July 5, 2014 by Travel Spirit

The Heineken Experience in Amsterdam is interesting. I think they could make it better if they let you start drinking from the beginning and if you’re tired of walking, like a lot of tourists, make it more like an amusement park ride, where you sit down and it takes you through each room! Anyway, first, you walk through a number of rooms with interactive displays and historical things to read and a cute girl that gives you the background of beer making…mixing barley, hops, water and yeast.

I’ll get to the rest in a minute…but here’s an artsy pic I took during the beer tasting…

Anyway, eventually you make your way to the tasting room…then more displays…then finally you get two small beers at the end, where it’s really crowded and there’s a huge line for the beer.

Here’s where the beer used to be made…

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Amsterdam’s Museum Quarter and Vondelpark

Posted on July 4, 2014 by Travel Spirit

The area in Amsterdam known as the Museum Quarter or District is beautiful! I just happened upon it while racing from Vondelpark to meet my friends at The Heineken Experience. If you want culture, then this is the place! The Rijkmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, Stedelijk Museum, and Concertgebouw (Concert Hall) are located in this area. Straight ahead in this photograph you’ll notice the iAmsterdam in red and white. People were sitting on the letters and some even climbing!

One quick story…while running to get on a Metro going somewhere (can’t remember where because I went through ten Cities in 27 days…that’s a lotta trains/and I guess it really doesn’t matter where for the story), just as I made it in before the doors shut and was jockeying for space, a lady with a large grocery bag and her two children with scooters were right behind me, unbeknownst to me. The doors shut on her, the kids fall over onto their scooters like dominoes, they start screaming and crying and luckily the doors open and the lady squeezes in. I was trying to help the children up, but was so tightly crammed in, I couldn’t bend over. That wasn’t fun.

I love how they’ve formed the trees…

In the late morning, the chill long gone, I traipsed through Amsterdam’s revered urban park…Vondelpark, observing the palette of greens generated by the shafts of sunlight. Vondelpark reminds me of Central Park in New York City. There were lots of people out jogging, walking, and bicycling…enjoying the weekend!

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Water and Wine in Amsterdam

Posted on July 3, 2014 by Travel Spirit

I left off yesterday having arriving in Amsterdam by overnight train from Munich for a three-day visit and promised I would share with you some of the beautiful canals that so generously weave their magic through the City! I also mentioned how Amsterdam is one of my favorite European Cities. The architecture, canals, culture and laid-back vibe merge to create an atmosphere that to me, is quite special!

This one reminds me of James Bond…

I had so much fun taking the metro or trams and walking around the City to see as much as I could in the limited time I had.

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Going Solo in Amsterdam

Posted on July 2, 2014 by Travel Spirit

My friend and I arrived to Amsterdam‘s Central Train Station just before 9am on May 30th, following a not so comfortable overnight train ride from Munich. I’ve taken overnight trains in Egypt and Portugal and I have to say this was the least comfortable. I’m sure my friend, Richard, can’t get comfortable in many beds because he’s 6’7″ tall, but it was also quite noisy throughout the night and when I would wake, I was being tossed to and fro. Enough complaining!

We bought our 72 hour transport card and followed the Google Map directions I had printed off leading us to the Metro line that would deposit us less than a half mile from the Airbnb I had rented for our 3 night stay in Amsterdam. Upon arrival to the Apartment, we were shown around by the owner, and once she left we settled in. It is situated on a canal and had everything we needed. We were especially thankful for the washer and dryer, which we put to immediate use!

Richard’s twenty something year old Cousin, Tobias, from Germany was arriving by train a couple of hours later, so I went exploring by myself, while he went to meet him at the station. This little car was parked on the Street in front of our Apartment. I call it the half car…

Having traveled in Southeast Asia, six countries in Africa, and other developing Countries, and experienced the organized chaos associated with a multitude of bicycles, I was surprised by this in Amsterdam, along with absent helmets on most children and adults, and the legality of motorcycles on bicycle lanes. There’s nothing like biking along and suddenly feeling the air whoosh by from a large motorcycle within inches of your handlebars!

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On the Street in Munich

Posted on July 1, 2014 by Travel Spirit

While exploring the streets of Munich, we came upon a photo shoot, so I asked the photographer if I could take a photo of the models. He said to ask them…so I did and they said yes!