Milan

Fashion, fun & sun!

We decided to head south in search of the sun this past weekend so we hopped on a train and went to Milano!  From what we read we were expecting an industrial, modern city (the book said people either love it or hate it) - so we kept our expectations in check, but boy were we pleasantly surprised.  The city is built around the gothic Duomo di Milano - the fifth largest cathedral in the world.  On one side of the cathedral is Quad d'Oro (the fashion district, home to the likes of Gucci, Prada, Armani, etc.).  On the other side is the Brera district (the historic old town).

 

We found a rooftop restaurant right across the street from the Duomo for lunch, and then made our way to meet another free walking tour.  The tour guide (an Italian college student) was nice and all, but not as charismatic or boisterous as some of the others we've had.  And this tour involved more walking and less talking, but still provided us with a good overview of all the top sights.

 

After the tour we visited the Gallerie d'Italia Piazza Scala - a converted 18th century bank building that is now a museum (it only recently opened).  We went in more for the building/architecture than for the art - although the art was nice too.

For dinner we joined the crowd and headed to the popular Navigli district, known for its canals (and canal-side bars).  We found a nice spot along the canal and had a few drinks before eating at a pizzeria on the other side of the water (several little bridges connect the two sides).

On Sunday we actually went into the Duomo, popped into some stores and then decided to wander around and get lost in the streets before our afternoon train.  All in all it was an enjoyable weekend!

Heidelberg

We kept it pretty local this past weekend and drove up to Heidelberg in SW Germany for the day.  There was some construction on the road so the drive up took a tad longer than we anticipated (approx. 3 hours).  It was a picturesque town.  Sitting on the Neckar River, the city hosts a large castle, university and an enchanting baroque style Old Town.

After a few mis-navigations with our Garmin, we found parking and our first stop was up to the Castle and Gardens.  The Castle sits on a hill overlooking the city so it offers nice, panoramic views!  It's a combination of several buildings that surround an inner courtyard and each building highlights a different period of German architecture (dating back to 1300, when construction began).  In 1764 it was destroyed by lightening, leaving it permanently uninhabitable.  We didn't take a tour, which is suggested, so we didn't know the details of the buildings we were looking at but they were pretty!

 

The Castle's cellar is also is home to a "big barrel" that was built in 1591.  An even bigger barrel was built in 1751 - it's more than nine yards long, eight yards high and has a capacity of 55,345 gallons of wine!  In earlier times, the wine growers had to pay their share of taxes by delivering wine to the castle, thus the need for a large container.  It has a dance floor built above it and used to be guarded by a jester (legend says he was able to consume large quantities of wine and died when he mistakenly drank a glass of water)!

There is also an old Apothecary Museum at the Castle, outlining the history of the pharmacy and of dispensaries.  The collection includes a complete pharmacist’s office, a laboratory, pharmacopoeias, manuscripts, a wide array of vessels, mortars, and technical flasks, and over 1,000 raw drugs representing medicine from the 17th to 19th centuries.

We then walked to the Carl Theodor Bridge (Old Bridge) and Old Town, seeing some pretty churches along the way.  There are several cute, narrow streets but the main one is Hauptstraße, where most of the shopping and restaurants are centered.  It's perfect for an afternoon stroll!

After lunch and gelato, it was time to head home!

 

Stockholm

Vikings. Vasa. Meatballs.

For our long (Swiss holiday) weekend we visited the capital of Scandinavia - Stockholm!  It's a beautiful city straddling the Baltic Sea and Lake Mälaren, consisting of 14 different islands.  Much like Venice, the islands and waterways make for a pretty surrounding, but they also make transportation across the city tricky, requiring a network of bridges linking the different islands.

We started our visit by taking a walk around the Riddarfjärden bay, starting in Gamla Stam (the old town), across a bridge to Södermalm, across another long bridge to Kungsholmen, and finally another bridge to Norrmalm.  On the way, we popped into Mellqvist Kaffebar, a favorite haunt of the late Stieg Larsson (from Girl with the Dragon Tattoo fame).  Very cool! 

It was a nice day, but a bit overcast - perfect walking weather.  There were a lot of families out and about, as well as a ton of joggers.  Very outdoorsy.

The walk worked up our appetite so we headed to the Östermalms Saluhall food hall.  The hall contains old wooden stalls with vendors selling fresh vegetables and meats as well as a handful of small restaurants (which were packed).  We settled on a stall with two open seats at the bar and enjoyed our traditional Swedish meatballs, tart lingonberries  and parmesan pork.  Yum.

In the afternoon we took a free walking tour of the old town.  Kate even rubbed the city's smallest statue for good luck (I'm still waiting for a winning lottery ticket, dangit).

For dinner Matt made us ressies at a fun little gastropub serving small plates of delicious-ness.  The ceiling was decorated with suitcases and vintage luggage labels.  Eclectic but cool!  I think we have finally found a place more expensive than Switzerland.  Stockholm ain't cheap, especially the highly taxed liquor.

Sunday was our "museum" day.  We started our morning by visiting the Vasa museum (on another island), which contains the well preserved remains of the Vasa warship from 1628.  The cold water of the Stockholm harbor preserved the ship until it was exhumed in the 1960's.  Very impressive, indeed.

 
After the Vasa we walked to Skansen, the first outdoor open air museum containing historical buildings from all over Sweden (spanning multiple decades).

Following a quick lunch we took a late afternoon boat cruise traveling through two locks and under 15 bridges.  It was a great way to see the city from a different perspective (it looks like there are trails all along the water, filled with runners and walkers).

For dinner we had traditional Swedish food.  Kate went with the salted bacon in onion sauce with a side of potatoes (healthy right?), and Matt finally had Swedish meatballs with mashed potatoes.  It was good but heavy & filling (I guess you need hearty food to survive the cold, dark winters)!

On Monday the sun finally came out, allowing us to revisit some of our favorite sights to see them with the gorgeous blue sky backdrop.  Not only was it sunny but it was also pretty warm - it was warmer in Stockholm than in Basel.  Overall a great weekend.