Toronto in 48 Hours: Cold Weather Edition

From the title, it may seem like I have given myself an impossible task (the cold weather edition of visiting a city in Canada, really?), but in Toronto’s defense and from experience with many northern summers, the city is probably a very different place in the summer with an abundance of rooftop bars, open markets, outdoor events, a beautiful waterfront, and even a beach/dock fusion situation. So this fall/winter Toronto travel post focuses on what’s best for brief outdoor walks or activities with plenty of options to warm up inside.  Continue reading “Toronto in 48 Hours: Cold Weather Edition”

Berlin: Meeting a European Hauptstadt That’s Younger Than Me

I have finally had the opportunity to start to take in Berlin in person, which I plan to do in a series of visits, and I still can’t wrap my mind around it. Berlin is the Hauptstadt of Europe’s economic powerhouse, a centuries-old city, but also a brand new city, reborn again and again through some of modern history’s worst clashes.

Most know that the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, but I was shocked when I realized that its occupiers, including the Russians, did not leave until 1994. 1994! Continue reading “Berlin: Meeting a European Hauptstadt That’s Younger Than Me”

Uttlandsvensk i Stockholm: Gamla Stan, Djurgården, Riddarholmen

English begins after the introduction

Idag var det ganska kallt men otroligt klart, soligt, och fint med lite snö. Från mitt hotell bredvid tåg stationen, Nordic C Hotel, så var det bara att börja vandra. Jag vandrade söderut mot Riddarholmen, Gamla Stan, Grand Hotel, och sedan körde till Djurgården.

From the central location of my hotel (Nordic C Hotel), a lovely stroll could get me anywhere I wanted to go. I walked south from the train station towards Riksdagen, and these are the places I revisited: Continue reading “Uttlandsvensk i Stockholm: Gamla Stan, Djurgården, Riddarholmen”