Category Archives: Sightseeing

Amsterdam 2023

Mickey and I visited Amsterdam 28 August to 1 September. This is some of the things we did… Enjoy 🙂

Photo “heatmap’

Day1:
Flight KLM to Schipol Airport. Sprinter train to Centraal Station. Smart that we could use our Visa card as travel pass on the public transport. Checked in at Eden Hotel. Nice hotel with good location. Small shop for snacks and drinks, bar and pool table (free).

Walkabout: Dam square, Anna Franks house/museum (did not go inside) and much more in the neighborhood, Dinner at De Nachtwacht

Day 2:
Breakfast at the rooftop restaurant Blue with nice 360 degrees view over Amsterdam.
Walkabout: Cool gallery AbrahamArt Gallery – Museumplein with RijksMuseum, Van Gogh and Stedelijk Museum We didn’t enter any of the museums, viewed the exterior. Headed to the Heineken Experience for a tour, a visit at the bar and their rooftop bar with very nice view and beer cocktails.

Dinner at a small and very good Thai restaurant, NK Thai Noodles close by. We asked for the dishes made Thai mode – Quote from waitress: “are yo sure?” 🙂 – It was spicy and tasty.

Finished the day with an evening stroll to the Skinny Bridge and play some pool.

Day 3:
Brunch at the The Lobby, nice restaurant at Hotel V. Looked around the nice Joordan district and walked towards Wester Park to visit Amaze, an audio and video “museum”. In groups of eight you walk through a maze of different audio and video installations to finish in a big warehouse style room sitting on “fat boys” (big pillows) watching a light show on the walls and on the pillars accompanied with (loud) electronic music.

Took public transport back to the city and had a look at Red Light District – “no pictures please”.
Passed the Rembrandt museum, Had a good burrito at a small Mexican take away restaurant.

Day 4:
Great omelet brunch at Omelegg, very popular and good, recommend it. Expect to wait in line outside, no booking,

Theme of the day was rooftops. Started with a visit to Luminair, Fantastic view over Amsterdam. Continued to Nemo Science Museum that has a kind of park on roof, Crossed the harbour with a small ferry (free). Walked pass Adams Tower and had a peek at the Eye film “museum”. Visited De Ceuvel, an award-winning, sustainable planned workplace for creative and social enterprises on a former shipyard, The craft beer from the local brewery was good 🙂

Continued to Straat, a “museum” in a warehouse with some great street art. Amazed by the detail and size of some of the art work, fantastic! There was quite a heavy “scent” of spray paint.

Dinner at Ribs Factory, close to the hotel. Evening walkabout – the cocktail bar Luminair, night version, Great night view over the city. Next stop on the “cocktail rooftop bar crawl” was Malabar Cocktail bar also with great night view over the harbor and city.

Day 5:
Revisited Blue for a brunch with a view. Checked out the LEGO general store with some fantastic LEGO builds. Went on a Canal tour. Passed a French Fries shop with 3! security hosts to manage the line. Walked around Vondelpark where we saw the only people on bikes wearing helmet, 3 persons, the only ones during the whole stay! Very nice park with a brewery in the middle where we tasted the local brew.

On the way home we dropped by The Flying Dutchmen Coctail bar where some of the locals had their after work drink. Finished the day with dinner at Wagamama located across the street from the hotel. Then some backgammon at the hotel bar.

Day 6:
Checking out, Breakfast at Omelegg. Short break at the Centraal Station that is “under construction” for the next many years before heading to Schipol…

Juleløses Jul – Christmas 2022

Leave a reply

This year I had the opportunity and pleasure to attend Juleløses Jul Christmas Eve together with Arun, colleague and friend from India. It is an event taking place every year since 1975 in the Grå Hal at Christiana, Copenhagen. Before 1975 Juleløses Jul took place at Copenhagen Town Hall. It’s a very old Christmas tradition in Copenhagen, started once upon a time by Socialdemokraterna, haven’t managed to find information about when.

Free food is served to more than 1.000 people. It was a very amusing and interesting experience and I was amazed by:

The amount and variety of people.
Decorations – ceiling filled with paper peace pigeons, a Santa dressed only with hat and underwear, a huge disco ball, light effects and much more.
Food – choice of vegetarian dish, sallad, beef and/or pork, Dessert was rice porridge with cinnamon sugar and/or cherry sauce. Beer, wine and soda is sold at the bar.
Entertainment – Storytelling by one of Santa’s elves about why there are summer, winter and Christmas. The priest had a sermon and a “choir” sang some hymns with the audience. A DJ and different groups played a vast variety of music genre.

Learned from Kirsten, at the Christiania Information Office Nyt Forum, that there are 100 volunteers that help out with the different tasks. There is no entrance fee and the food is free so the financial part is solved by applying for different funds and collecting money during the Christiania Christmas Market. They also get support from both Copenhagen Municipality and Her Majesty the Queen.

There are none or very little advertising and it is worth a visit.
Door opens at 17:00 (next year).

Sightseeing Malmö – November 2022

1 Reply

Saturday 26 November a group of colleagues from India, Lebanon and Argentina visited Malmö. I had the pleasure of guiding them through the city.

We started the sightseeing at Triangeln Station. Walked along the pedestrian street, Södra Förstadsgatan, via Stadsbiblioteket, Slottsparken, Gustav Adolfs Torg to Lilla Torg for lunch at Viktor. After lunch we continued to Stortorget. We had a look inside the pharmacy Lejonet with a beautiful ceiling. Outside the pharmacy you find the statue Optimistorkestern. The group like to visit a “loppis” (flea market) so we visited Loppis Lounge. Then we had a look inside St Petri Church. We the passed the Central Station and then the statue The Knotted Gun. We visited the Sky Bar at Malmö Live. Had a look at Kockums Shipyard and finished at Turning Torso, Västra Hamnen.

Earlier versions: Sightseeing in Malmö 2012 and Sightseeing in Malmö 2014.
Apart from added information on some of the places updated points of interest are:
25. Malmö Live
26. Triangeln Station
27. Kockums Shipyard (Varvsstaden)

Point Hyllie– a new developed site close to Malmö City and Kastrup Airport. It consists of four main buildings comprising approximately 45,000 square metres. They are allocated for housing, offices and shops. The tallest building is about 95 metres high.
Malmö Arena– the latest addition to northern Europe’s growing number of modern multi-purpose concert and event venues. Malmö Arena is a premier venue in the Öresund Region for world-class sporting events, concerts, family shows, full-scale conferences and smaller meetings, wining and dining or a quick snack. It can seat a maximum of 15.000 guests. It measure 22.5 m. up to the inner ceiling.
Hyllie water tower is white and has the form as mushroom (at the moment getting some make up due to the Euro vision song contest and coz its need it). The light on the tower changes on different occasions. At Christmas it’s red and when there isn’t a special event the light is blue. It’s 62 m tall and contains 10 200 cubic meter water. It was ready 1973. Architect was Kjessler & Mannerstråle through Karl Ivar Stål. A water park is being built close to the tower.
Emporia is one of the biggest shopping center in Scandinavia with a total size of 93 000 m²for shopping, food, culture and pleasure in approx. 200 shops, restaurants and cafés on 3 stories and a unique roof park. The two main entrances are spectacular, one is amber theme that symbolized in the logo type. The other is water theme.
The Glass House– “House of brands for good living”. A shop with exclusive scandinavian interior design.
Ikea has built a 44 000 square meter store at Svågertorp. It’s the second largest in the world and was inaugurated 20 October 2009.
Limhamns Kalkbrott is approximately 1.300 meters long, 800 meters wide and 65 meters deep. The walk around the quarry is 4 km.
The mining of the began in 1866 and lasted until 1994. The last explosion was in the late 1980’s. The explosives have shaped the quarry, so it consists of plateaus, called pallets, about 20 meters high and vertical walls. At every blasting, a ton of dynamite was used. There was a loud bang as many locals felt.
The lime in Limhamns quarry has been formed in a warm sea of between 65-55 million years ago (during the early Tertiary). It consists mainly of deposits from microscopic cuisine liters (algae), bryozoans (moss animals) and corals. In some limestone layers there are plenty of shark teeth. A remnant from a relative of the great white shark, which for millions of years swimming around here along with other now extinct species. Fossils of two crocodiles have also been found in the quarry.
There are over 1.400 different animals and plants in the limestone quarry. Several species are rare or special in some way. Most notable is the presence of the endangered green spotted toad and “Kalkkrassingen”.
Öresund bridge was inaugurated on 1 July 2000. The link between Denmark and Sweden is 15.4 km long and consists of the world’s longest cable-stayed bridge for both rail and motor vehicle traffic, at nearly 8 km. The main span is suspended from four pylons that measure 204 m above the sea level. The best viewing point over the Öresund Bridge is from Lernacken at the Luftkastellet restaurant.
The Øresund Bridge offers a 4-lane road carrying more than 60,000 travelers daily, 6 million vehicles per year, and two train tracks (another 8 million people each year) e carries . Building the Øresund bridge included construction of a bridge, a tunnel 4 km and a new island where travelers go from tunnel-level (on the Danish side) to the level of the bridge.
Sibbarp beach is popular diverse recreational area with beach, camping with snack bar, mini golf, barbecue stones, open-air swimming bath with sauna. There are also large grassed areas with several jetties from which you can jump in the sea. Not far from Sibbarp’s beach is a small skatepark. From here you have a brilliant view of the Öresund Bridge.
Limhamns Småbåtshamn has room for around 1.000 boats and is the biggest of it’s kind in Malmö.
Ön (The Island) is situated in Limhamn-Bunkeflo in the southwestern municipality of Malmö. Today there is a land connection between the island and Limhamn, so technically the island is today a peninsula. It used to a harbour for the ferry connection with Dragør in Denmark.
While limestone mined for cement production in Limhamn’s Kalkbrott (Limestone quarry) the area was used for dumping of waste products, and thereby laid the foundation for an artificial island.
In the first half of the 1900’s, various industrial activities has been carried out here: Shipyard and aircraft production. Two of the office buildings and a factory building still stands today and house the school on the island, a convenience store and an aerobics (Friskis & Svettis).
The island is divided into a northern and a southern part by Övägen. The northern part of the island began to plot in the early 1990’s, with apartment buildings and construction is still in progress. The southern part was settled in the late 1990’s.
Ribbersborg Kallbadhus (“Open-air-bath”) also known as Ribban by the older and Kallis by the younger generation, is an open-air public bath on the Ribersborg beach . The bathhouse is open for a skinny dip all the year around and has separate areas for men and women and each area is equipped with two saunas. There is also one mixed sauna between the ladies and gentlemen’s area. There is a cafe and a restaurant.
The bath was inaugurated in June 1898 with initiative by C.A. Richter, who bought the old bathhouse at Nyhamn port, which was being sold because of the port’s expansion. Four years later a storm damaged the new bath during Christmas and it was rebuilt. During the refurbishment a diving tower was added to the men’s department, with a view of the strait and the women’s department. During the 1930s it was modernised with nude bathing and confidentiality was added between the departments. In 1966, the City of Malmö purchased the baths. It was again damaged by a storm in 1988 and in 1995 it was declared a historic building.
Västra Hamnen (Western Harbour) is Malmö’s new city district attracts people with its exciting architecture, lovely beach promenades and green spaces and a fabulous view over Öresund. An award-winning ecological housing area finished in 2001 for the major European Housing Expo Bo01 is found here. The buildings were designed by several internationally renowned architects including Gert Wingårdh, Ralph Erskine and Mario Campi.
The neighbourhood is home to a wide variety of flora and fauna. Water is also a vital element of the environment, expressed in canals, ponds, small craft marinas and swimming beaches.
The Western Harbour was once an industrial area where Kockum’s world-famous shipyard operated, now replaced by Malmö University and companies in the IT and telecommunications industries. The dance company Skånes Dansteater is based in one of the vaulted halls, Båghallarna, and an exciting, specially designed concrete skateboarding arena, Stapelbäddsparken has been constructed around one of the old ship ramps.
Turning Torso. Architect Santiago Calatrava’s spectacular apartment building in the Western Harbour. At 190 metres, Turning Torso is the tallest building in Sweden. The building was inspired by a sculpture “Turning Torso” by Calatrava himself. Turning Torso consists of nine cubes with a total of 54 stories, with a 90° twist from base to top. The top two floors boast the exclusive meeting rooms of Turning Torso Meetings.
Stapelbäddsparken is one of Europe’s largest outdoor skate parks with a surface of 2.000 m² and is located at Kockums shipyard’s old factory area in the Western Harbour. The old slipway was transformed in 2006 into a modern and important meeting place open to all skateboarding enthusiasts and everyone else too. Here takes the prestigious international skateboarding competitions like The Quicksilver Bowlriders place periodically.
The park is open 24/7, 365 days a year and it costs nothing to visit or use it. All activity in and around the skate park is operated by Bryggeriet which is also responsible for the cafe in the park.
Malmö Central Station opened in 1876. It serves approximately 17 million passengers per year, making it the third busiest in Sweden behind Stockholm Central Station and Gothenburg Central Station. The opening of the City Tunnel in December 2010 made it possible for passenger trains to travel through the station, which had previously been a terminus, and most traffic shifted to the new lower level. All passenger traffic to Denmark now uses the tunnel, and most local trains continue to the new Triangeln and Hyllie stations even if they are not going beyond Malmö.
Malmö St. Petri Church was founded in the early 1300’s. When the church first mentioned in writing in 1346, it had already been consecrated for worship-service. Tradition says that the high altar was consecrated 1319. The church is dedicated to the apostles Peter and Paul.
Stortorget (Big square) The equestrian statue of King Karl X Gustav, who took Skåne from the Danes through the Roskilde Treaty of 1658, stands in the midst of the largest square in Malmö. Stortorget was built in 1536 at the initiative of Jörgen Kock, Malmö’s powerful mayor and master of the mint. Stortorget became Malmö’s new marketplace and was the largest city square in Northern Europe for a very long time. The city well was located in Stortorget, with the site now marked by a bronze water sculpture. Jörgen Kock built a new and stately city hall as well as a home for himself, Kockska huset next to Stortorget.
At Stortorget you find the bronze statue “Optimistorkestern“ , created by Yngve Lundell 1985.

Next to the statue you find the pharmacy Lejonet (The Lion) from 1896. Have a look inside and especially look up at the beautiful ceiling.
Max hamburger restaurant started 1968 and is the oldest and most popular hamburger restaurant in Sweden.
Lilla torg (Little Square) Malmö’s most charming square and one of the most popular meeting places in the city was built in 1592 as a market square. There are several interesting buildings dating from the 16th century and later around Lilla Torg. Hedmanska Gården is an enclosed courtyard where the oldest half-timbered house dates from the 16th century and the youngest building, a warehouse, is from the late 19th century and is now home to Form/Design Centre, which mounts exhibitions related to design and architecture. Outdoor concerts are held at Hedmanska Gården in July. From March to October Lilla Torg is filled with outdoor restaurants and cafés and the atmosphere is enchanting.
Kungsparken (Kings Park) was created 1869-1870 and is Malmö’s oldest park. It was built on land that was formerly part of Malmöhus Castle fortification and was designed by the Danish landscape architect Ove Høegh Hansen. When it opened 1872 the park was originally called Slotsparken (Castle Park).
The park has a romantic character with examples from the continent’s parks. Here you can enjoy leisure walks, beautiful artwork and exotic trees. The heart of the the park is a cast iron fountain built in 1882.
Stadsbiblioteket (Town Library) Sweden’s largest town library, has over 1 million different media, about 1,500 different journals, approximately 10,000 DVD and 33,500 music CDs and was Sweden’s first library to lend video games.
It’s one of the most intriguing buildings in Malmö situated in Slottsparken. The library consists of two buildings, one older and one newer, that are linked to each other. The new part, which is called the “Calendar of Light” was designed by the notable Danish architect Henning Larsen and opened in 1997. The older section of the library dates from 1899 and was designed by architects John Smedberg and Fredrik Sundbärg.
Slottsparken (Castle Park) This wonderful organic garden is situated just behind Malmöhus Castle adjacent to Kungsparken. Fresh-picked vegetables and flowers and exciting plants are available for purchase – and you may get a bit of wise advice from the head gardener. One of Malmö’s smallest and most charming cafés is also found here. The garden and the café are open year round. Concerts, film evenings and other events are held in the summer.
A “Dutch Mill” from 1851 – is situated next to Slottsträdgården. The area also features a well-preserved miller’s house and garden. This site is a popular place for outdoor concerts and other summertime events.
Malmöhus Castle was originally a minor citadel whose construction was ordered in 1434 by Erik of Pomerania, king of the Kalmar Union which brought Norway, Sweden and Denmark together under a single monarch.
In the 16th century King Christian III of Denmark and Norway rebuilt the citadel to create a modern defensive fortress, an imposing castle and the home of the Governors of Malmöhus County.
This is where Denmark´s money was coined in the Middle Ages, where Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark held wild parties in the 16th century and where prisoners were decapitated in the castle courtyard during the 19th century when the castle served as a prison. Today Malmöhus has been restored in the spirit of the 16th century and forms part of Malmö Museer. The castle is part of Sweden´s cultural heritage and is managed by the National Property Board.
The castle presents historical exhibitions. By Order of the King is an exhibition about the 17th-century wars over Skåne and how Skåne became Swedish in 1658. Power over People depicts the history of Malmöhus Castle over the past 300 years.
Malmö Live opened 2015 consist of hotel, congress and concert halls, on 25th floor a Sky Bar and a restaurant with great view over the city, Västra Hamnen and the beach. The first couple of years there was a sticker on one of the toilet windows – “Not a shitty view”.
Close to Malmö Live you find the statue The knotted gun (Non-Violence) that was created 1980 by Swedish artist Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd, He created this piece of art after Lennon’s tragic death as he wanted to honor the singer’s vision of a peaceful world. The statue are placed on several places around the world.
Triangeln Station – an underground train station next to the shopping mall Triangeln. Opened 12 December 2010 as a part of the underground train track City tunnel.
Kockums Shipyard – In 1873 Kockums Mekaniska Verkstad (Kockums Mechanical Industry) delivered its first ship, a 700 tonne steamer named Tage Sylwan. Two years later the Royal Swedish Navy orders the steam barge Torpedo. This was the beginning of a long and successful cooperation with the Navy.
Today the area is being developed to be “The worlds most exciting district” – Varvsstaden.

The shipyard formerly had a 138-metre high crane, known as the Kockums Crane, built in 1973/74 and capable of lifting 1500 tons, making it the largest crane in the world when it was installed in 1974. It was used the last time in 1997 for lifting the foundations of the high pillars of the Oresund Bridge. The crane was sold the first time in the early 1990s to the Danish company Burmeister & Wain, but the company went bankrupt shortly thereafter. It was later sold to a Korean company, Hyundai Heavy Industries. for only a dollar.
The crane was a landmark of Malmö before being shipped to South Korea in the summer of 2002 and residents of Malmö shed tears as the crane was disassembled, which spawned the phrase “Tears of Malmö”.

Porto Myrina, Limnos 2022

Leave a reply

21-28 August Mickey and I visited the Greek island Limnos (Lemnos). The island is the 8th biggest in Greece, located in the center of the Northern Aegean sea.

We travelled with Apollo and stayed at Porto Myrina, Powered by Playitas. The hotel had a lot of different sport activities included in the price. At some activities you could just up show at the set time, others you should sign up for. We tried Yoga, Padel, Scuba diving, kajak, SUP and did a lot of laps in the pool.

Tuesday we did a 12 km hike to the “Antenna hill”. Beautiful 360 degree view over the landscape from the top:

Wednesday we experience “extreme weather conditions” where there came a SMS warning!
Spent the day playing backgammon and visit the fitness center:

Thursday we hiked up and around the Castle of Myrina, that could be considered as one of the most resistant and best fortresses in Greece:

Friday we rented a car (“jeep”) and drove around the island to see some of the sights – A dessert. Sand dunes (and a tank) at Gomati beach.

Extraordinary lava formations at Falacro and drove on some dirt roads – great fun! and might be the best sight of the day. A salt lake at Aliki, that was not white but muddy due to the rain storm.

Had lunch at the surf beach Keros. Should see some windmills at Kontias but probably also due to the storm, the path up to the windmills was closed. Many of the roads was very narrow, especially through the villages:

Saturday we did a 14 km hike to “The Church without roof” (Church of Panagia Kakaviotissa). This Greek Orthodox Church was built by refugee monks who fled to the mountain as early as around 1,416 AD and is one of its kind in the world.

The track towards the church we choose an alternative route that Google maps marked as a path. In reality there was not much of a path, only the ones the sheep and goats had made. We used Google maps as a compass to help us keep on the right track. An exciting adventure.
Hiking back from the church, it was more or less roads and “the beaten track” all the way back to the hotel.

Myrina is the capital and main port of Lemnos and counts on 4500 inhabitants. The settlement stretches around two beautiful bays and between stands the imposing Venetian castle surrounded by massive formations of volcanic rock.

Visitors are charmed by the old neoclassical mansions, Ottoman buildings and fountains, traditional houses, narrow streets and modern constructions that compose the setting of Myrina. Along the waterfront lie plenty of restaurants and traditional taverns.

Kattegattleden 2021 on inlines

Leave a reply

Kattegattleden is a 390 km long bike path along the coast from Helsingborg to Gothenburg.

Friday 6 August 2021 I rolled the Kattegattleden, trail section Falkenberg – Varberg on inlines together with my sister and her friend Lena, who traveled on electric bikes.

Last summer I did the marked track and found the part on the old E6 challenging with quite a bit of high speed traffic with little or no respect for inliners (or bikers) and rather ruff asphalt.

This year I found out about Fyrleden, a detour that runs along the beach between Olofsbo and Glommen, very nice and beautiful views.

The other detour was to avoid the old E6. In Morup we crossed the old E6 and took the road to Tvååker. Much better asphalt and very little traffic and the few cars passing us took it nice and easy.

A very nice bike path started just outside Tvååker towards Träslövsläge. We had tailwind all the way to the coast :-).

After approx. 48 km we arrived to Varberg where we had after skate at Rolands Kök & Bar.

Respect to sister and friend who biked back home to Falkenberg, with face wind and some rain.
I took the train…

Leaving Kattegattleden for Fyrleden

Water break with a view at Glommen harbour

Photo gallery:

[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”2″ gal_title=”Kattegattleden 2021 Gallery”]

Live broadcasting videos:

Leaving Falkenberg

Fyrleden: Olofsbo 1

Fyrleden: Olofsbo 2

Detour 2 at Tvååker

Passing the picturesque small village Träslövsläge

Reaching the final destination – Varberg

Madrid 2019

Leave a reply

Visit to Madrid 19-23 October 2019.

Saturday
Flight CPH – Madrid with a friend of Norwegian. Limited service on board. Good we bought a Joe and the Juice spicy tuna sandwich to go as “on-flight-meal”.

Metro #10 from airport, change to #8 to Tribunal.
Checked in at Rentalis Gran Via Fuencarral, an Airbnb flat (didn’t know booking.com have airbnb). Small, nice and clean with fantastic location. It was a challenge finding the entrance since the notification from Booking.com didn’t have a street number. Called the host, José, that guided and greeted us. José liked Madrid very much and he wanted the guests to do the same :-). He explained and marked all the sights in Madrid on a map.
It was raining so limited walkabout. Dinner at the local Delisko.

Sunday – walkabout, 18 km

Flea- /Street market El Rastro
Mercado de San Miguel
Plaza Mayor
Puerta del Sol
Lunch at Five Guys
Park De El Retiro incl. the beautiful garden Jardines de Herrero Palacios with many peacocks.
Tapas and beer at the local El Tigre, recommended by the host José. A plate of tapas and 2 beer – 5 euro.
After walkabout rosado at Makilla
Dinner at Takos al Pastor after 1 hour in line. A selection of tacos, (1 euro each) and quesadilla and Margarita – Disfruta!

Gallery:

Monday – walkabout theme “Getting High”, 16 km

Sunny and chilly. 4-8 degrees in the early morning! Mickey comment, “like being at a ski resort – clear blue sky, sun and cold”.
The host José marked some viewpoints on the map.
Started with Mimosa (Cava + orange juice) brunch at Brunch club – great brunch salad, Mickey Slamon wrap
First viewpoint – El Cortes Ingles – view to Schweppes building
Second viewpoint Endifico Espana – 360 Rooftop bar where Stephani served us rosado, birthday version :-).
Passing Templo de Debod on the way to third viewpoint, Teleferico de Madrid
Walked through Parque del Teleferico and passing Lago Casa de Campo on the way to Palacio Real and Catedral de la Almudena for viewpoint #four. Arrived too late, It closed at 14:30.
Dinner at restaurant La Cabana Argentina Mickey’s birthday gift to me 🙂
Mickey invited to cocktail bar – 1862 Dry Bar

Gallery:

Tuesday walkabout – avoiding the rain showers

Tapas lunch at Orio
Historic Museum
Museo ABC graphic art and illustrations, theme Metro 100 years
Källa craft beer, FB
Great burger dinner at SteakBurger

Gallery:

Wednesday
Showers. Checking out. Brunch at Zenith Brunch & Cocktails

To airport…

Gallery – Shop curtains:

Gallery – Metro station signs:

Paris on skates 2017

Leave a reply

25 members of Malmö City Skaters went on tour the 15 – 18 June to Paris to join a Pari Roller Friday Night Skate 16 June.

Thursday
One group flew with Easy jet in the afternoon and were picked up by two cars that drove us to the 3 Ducks hostel. On the way to city I noticed a lot of people on three wheel motorbikes with warning light on driving like crazy between the cars on the highway.
After checking in we had some rosé and food at a local bistro.
Took a walkabout to and around the Eiffel tower.

Friday
Some of us walked to the Arch de triumph where we should meet for a surprise lunch, and what a surprise!! Boarding a Bustronome double decker bus where we had a gourmet lunch with a wine meny. Multitasking taking to a new level – eating, drinking, looking at the beautiful views, listen to the interactive guide and talking with the company… A fantastic experience and many thanks to Patrik and Stefan for arranging it (and the other things).

In the evening, before the Pari Roller event, it was wining and dining at A La Tour de Eiffel, next to the hostel. After dinner it was time for the main event – Friday Night Skate/Pari roller. We meet outside the hostel and rolled to the starting point next to the Montparnasse tower. When we arrived, we were more or less the only ones there and thought maybe they moved the starting point or cancelled the event… Finally we met one that told us they started just around the corner.

The tour was about 30 km and took about 3 hours with an 8 min break 10 km from the end. It was a fun and exciting challenge with quite high speed between the many stops. The road quality was limited, at the best. Many parts with paving stone, bad asphalt, many hills (also with paving stone). The reputation said that there could be up to 20.000 participants back in the good old days. This evening we were around 500. As often at these kind of occasions, there were a couple of “show offs” that like to show how cool and good they were, even if it a risk for them that don’t skate that well. We were escorted by two polic men on Vespas in the front and a big ambulance at the back. When the the back blockers and the ambulance were ready, it gave a “symphony” of what all it had in sound and light, fun and loud 🙂

After skate at a local bar next to the hostel.

Saturday
Paris has a good “rent-a-bike-system”, Velib, where you pick up and return the bike at several places. Gisle, Kicki Anders and me biked to Montmatre were we had lunch at a nice and tasty “hole in the wall” Asian restaurant. We walked up to Sacre ceur and had some rosé breaks on the way. Anders and I decided to walk back to city via Forum des halles and Pompidou center.

Evening dinner at restaurant Café De L’Industrie and finishing with after dinner drink at a bar close by, with “people whatching”…

Sunday
5 people joined the Sunday tour that I planned should go along the Seine since it was quite warm and I thought along the water it was a little bit cooler and parts of the roads along the river is closed for traffic on Sundays. The Tour de Seine started at the Statue of Liberty and at Bd Peripherique we turned and went back, A few challenges on the way with walking down hill on cobble stone, but most of the time, very good asphalt and parts even with silky smooth concrete.

The plan was to join a Paris afternoon tour but it was cancelled due to an election. That’s why had decided to go home on Monday. The rest of the crowd left in Sunday afternoon. I got a new room and went out for dinner at the very nice Persian restaurant Mazeh, near the hostel, that was recommended by the receptionist at the hostel.

Monday
Early home bound with metro + bus to the airport…

New York City 2016

2 Replies

15 June

Arrived JFK – Airtrain to Jamaica – MetroCard – Took subway E to Rockefeller, changed to B “express” – Missed to get of at Columbus Sq. and ended up at 112 st. where we changed and returned to 59 st./Columbus Sq. – Walked 5 min. to 63 st. – Checked in at West Side YMCA.

16 June, DAY #1

High Line Park day. Little bit cloudy, warm.

Walked along Broadway to Ellen’s Stardust Diner for breakfast. They have singing staff, fun. – Times Square – M & M’s world, amazing a small chocolate candy can have 4 floors with a chemically smell of candy on Times Square – Hudson River Parkway – High Line Park, (one of the highlights of the trip and can be recommended) – Visited a cool gallery next to the Whitney Museum – Chelsea Market – Coffee break at FIKA – Madison Square Garden – NYC Public Library – Bryant Park – Grand Central Terminal with the Whispering gallery and we were allowed to stand at the doorway to Campbell Apartment Cocktail bar, admission 21!! (and our dress code was “maybe” not totally correct) – Passing Empire State Building (save the visit for later) and Chrysler Building – Dinner at Five Guys and Fries – Evening stroll in Central Park south end – Ice coffee break at Lincoln Center before heading “home”.

17 June, DAY # 2

Circle Line Landmark Cruise and Battery Park day. Sunshine and warm.

Walked down to Hudson River, booked the Circle Line – Landmark cruise at 11.00. Had a cup of coffee/water. Learned that one reason for long lines could be the taking of photos against a green screen for “tacky” backgrounds… – Lunch at Landmark Tavern, recommended by the guide on the boat. Nice place – Walked 47 st. with lots of small restaurants – Subway from 42nd str. to World Trade Center Station – One World Observatory – “Ground Zero” – Irish Hunger Memorial – Battery Park (Pier A, East Coast Memorial, American Merchant Mariners’ Memorial) – Wall Street – Charging Bull – Visit to a local liquor store. Mickey was told “don’t touch!!!” the bottles, the 21 year syndrome!! – Testing burger at Shake Shack on Murray Street – subway from Chamber st. “home” (59 st.).

18 June, DAY #3

Central Park day. Sunshine and warm.

Breakfast, smoothie @ Starbucks – visit Best Buy (electronics shop) – Central Park, The Mall, Belvedere Castle, Swedish Marionette House – The Metropolitan museum and roof top – Lunch at Tom’s Restaurant (famous from Seinfeld) (Jerry’s Big Salad, nice) – Interesting outdoor photo exhibition by Matt Black, The Geography of Poverty @ St John the Divine, 110th. – Strawberry Fields, Imagine, John Lennon – But where are all the roller skaters in Central Park?

After Centrapark drink @ the “Y”, Gin & Lemon/Lime juice (no admission and no ID required in the room, don’t tell anyone) – Walked Down 8th Avenue to Thai restaurant, Chai Thai – Times Square by night – Soft ice Dessert @ MacD

19 June, DAY #4

Brooklyn Heights day. Sunshine and warm

Subway to High Street st, Brooklyn – Walk Henry St. to Joralemon St. – Breakfast at Pier 6, a fruit bowl, $11 + coffee, same price as 4 big muffins!! …Burgers and fries cheaper… “It’s more expensive to be healthy…” – Walked along Brooklyn Heights Promenade to Brooklyn Bridge (another highlight of the trip and can be recommended) – Lunch at Pier 1, under the tent. Beer (for me), water (for Mickey, 21!!) and fries, “Alcohol consumed under the tent. ID required” – Manhattan Bridge – DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) – Jane’s Carousel – Sunday Flea Market – Brooklyn Bridge – Supreme Court – Chinatown, Mott st.- Little Italy – Pizza at Lombardi’s, first pizzeria in NYC, 1905 – Spring St. – Subway “home”.

“After walk drink”, nice gin/lemon/lime in the room – 6th, Avenue of the Americas, to Empire State Building (did you know it was built in 13 months!!) – Museum at 80th floor – Looong line to the elevator to the top at 86th floor. Walked. Clear sky with stars and full moon, TOTALLY MAGIC!!! Did several laps around the deck (another high light of the trip and can be recommended) – Walked back “home” on Broadway.

20 June, DAY #5

South Manhattan day. Sunshine and warm.

Subway to Downtown – Staten Island Ferry (it’s free) with a nice view of Statue of Liberty – Staten Island Boardwalk – Lunch at the River Dock Café, Salmon salad, yummy – Return Manhattan – Stone Street, many bars and pubs, 21!! – Short visit to a performing art show, River to River at Native Americans Museum, “little” weird – Battery Park for a beer break, “Alcohol consumed inside the roped area, ID required” 21!! – “Dead Rabbit Grocery and Grog“, 21!! ID required – Dinner at Chipotle – Subway “home”.

21 June, DAY #6

Check out day.

Luggage label challenge. Label machine no work, WHAT TO DO!!! “Stupid tourist who suggest a solution”… (Mickey overheard conversation between the staff…) – Smoothie at Starbucks (again) – Talked to a girl from Vice magazine about New York music: New York – by John Lennon and what to spend the last ticket on, suggestion was visit the Intrepid Sea Air & Space Museum – We spent over 3 hours there + at a Navy school ship + in USS Growler submarine. Very interesting visit – Testing burger at Island Burgers and Shakes – Walkabout in Hell’s Kitchen – Coffee break at Bryant Park – Time’s Square, talked to some “bus boys”, salary 20% commission – 7th st “home”

Collect luggage – Subway “A” to Herman Beach, $2.75 x 2 – Air train to JFK Terminal 1 $5 x 2! “Who said free terminal shuttle?” – Mickey liked to get some special sorts of alcohol, e.g. Tito’s Vodka, St Germain… – For some reason we managed to get “Premium Check In” and “First Class Security Line” – Flight departure was 2 hours+ late and not with a Norwegian flight but with Hi Fly, Portuguese low budget flight. No safety instructions, no information, no inflight entertainment, “nothing!!!”, they served “food”…it was NOT Norwegian standard…

PS:

I bought New York Explorer Pass ($77) with 3 tickets (x 2), that we used on Circle Lines Landmark Cruise, Empire State Observatory and Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum
Examples on other New York passes: City Pass and New York Pass
Zagat web site for restaurant recommendations
Apps for finding restaurants Yelp, Foursquare and Zomato
Ulmon app for offline map
Tourist in New York – Danish website

Picasa photo gallery

Berlin Inline Marathon 2015

Leave a reply

Thursday
The trip to Berlin Inline Marathon 2015 started from Malmö at 15.30, Thursday 24 September, with Patrik as driver and Lotta, Stefan, Gisle and myself as passengers. The time of departure involved rush hour on the southern motorway to Gedser. Patrik did a very good job and manage to get “in time” to the ferry. It was probably the tightest timing I’ve tried – 4 minutes before departure at the ticket office. Should mention that Patrik found a Super Duper deal on this specific departure, SEK 130!!, total price, one way for the car and passengers.

We arrived at the Acama hostel, Kreuzberg Berlin, at 22:00. Checked in and went out to an Ethiopian bar/restaurant in the neighbourhood where some tried Banana beer and palm beer served in a calebasse bowl. Finished the evening with a late night photo walk with Stefan to the Sience museum.

Friday
Some of us went “breakfast hunting”. After that Stefan found a green spot on the gps and it turned out to be a nice park called Victoria park. After a photo stroll it was time to head for Tempelhof Airport to pick up start number, chip and check out the different gear.

Lunch at a nice Italian restaurant on Bergman strasse.
Photo walkabout to the hostel with Robert where we passed a super cool shoemaker, totally retro, where it already was after work drinks 🙂

The afternoon was spent with a approx 20 km photo roll about with Stefan. Rollerskates is a great way to go around Berlin. Lot’s of really good bike pathways. Also some that’s not so good 😉 .

For Friday evening dinner, Ceci recommended a Singaporian restaurant, Mirchi, that was really good. Got a doggy bag with the fantastic lamb in coconut I couldn’t finish. Left in the reception at the hostel. Perfect for breakfast 😀

Saturday
The staff couldn’t find the doggy bag and I didn’t get that fantastic lamb dish for breakfast, øv 🙁

Preparing the gear for the Marathon. Lunch at the traditional Italian “around the corner”.
Some of us rolled to the Marathon start.

The race this year was a total good feeling and fun trip all the way. No sore back or anything. Finished on 1.40. Impressed by Torkel who joined the pack all the way after just practice inlines 4 x 10 km before!! (bonus info: he’s been practice a lot of ice skating…)

Some of us rolled back to the hostel, with a beautiful “pre sunset”. Feeling “natural high”…

The after skate dinner was at the same place as last year, at the steak and burger restaurant The Bird, X-berg. Unfortunately the fuse for the ventilation went and we had to wait quite some time for the food in a very smokey restaurant. The staff was friendly and brought starters and shots as an excuse for keeping us waiting…

Finished the night with After Skate Disco at Kosmos. Returning back to the hostel we all decided to take the U-bahn. It was a “interesting” trip but probably not the best decision, time wise, compared to a taxi 😉

Sunday
Returning home…

Thanks Malmö City Skaters and everybody else for a great weekend 😀

Photo album on Picasa

Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt 2014

Leave a reply

Sharm el SheikhThe 25th October Mickey and I returned to Jolie Ville Maritim Golf Hotel & Resort, where we stayed 2012. The resort is still nice but the reef has been a bit worn out coz of some of the tourists. The number of restaurants that serves a la carte has also decreased and the resort cater mainly for the “all inclusive” guests – buffet and drinks.

The daily routine was a couple of laps in the 300 m. long Lazy River and some snorkeling along the local reef. Tuesday and Thursday we went on a boat trip, snorkeling at different reefs at sea. Fantastic experience where we saw a vast variety of fish. Close encounter with a Murray eel and a Napoleon fish. We also saw Lion fish and Sting rays among a lot of other kind.

Wednesday we went on quad bike ride in the dessert. At the end of the tour Mickey and I was asked to leave the rest of the group -” we go faster” the guide said. And we went FASTER!! FUNNY!!

Picasa photo album