While in Utrecht we walked along a substantial section of Zocherpark, a lush and scenic green space located on the footprint of the now-demolished city walls that used to encircle the city center.
Read the full post »Zocherpark
De Pijp & Zuid
We stayed in Amsterdam Zuid, a little south outside the busy core of the city. Separation from the overcrowded tourist areas was great for our sanity but the immediate surroundings didn’t provide many restaurants. Luckily, the neighbourhood of De Pijp, only a couple subway stops north, had many great spots for eating and drinking.
Read the full post »Arrival in Amsterdam
We’ve arrived in Amsterdam, where we’ll be staying for about a week as we explore the city and some surrounding towns.
Our hotel is in the Amsterdam Zuid (South) area, a little ways out of the city core, and it feels much more sane than the overcrowded areas near Dam Square. The immediate surroundings are a mix of upscale residential and modern office parks.
Read the full post »Jardines del Real & Museu de Belles Arts
On our last Sunday in Valencia we took the subway to the neighbourhood of Benimaclet, then walked down through the Jardines del Real to the Museu de Belles Arts (Museum of Fine Arts).
Read the full post »Jardines del Turia
Valencia sat on the banks of the Rio Turia until 1957, when the city had the river diverted after a series of devastating floods. The former river bed was turned into the Jardines del Turia, a 9 km-long park that now curves across the top of the city centre.
Read the full post »Around Córdoba
Though the main purpose of our day trip to Córdoba was to visit the Mezquita, the city itself is also very scenic and we enjoyed wandering and seeing how it differs from Seville.
Córdoba has more hills than Seville, and more narrow winding streets, particularly in the Juderia, or old Jewish quarter. It reminded us a bit of the Alfama neighbourhood in Lisbon.
Westminster, St. James Park & Museums
Our time in London was suddenly running short, but conveniently many of the remaining essential London sites we wanted to see were quite close together.
Our first stop on the Westminster side of the river was Downing Street. Due to understandable security concerns, the street is gated from Whitehall and heavily guarded. The Prime Minister’s residence at 10 Downing is barely visible through the bars.
Nearby, we saw some democracy in action, in the form of a loud protest on Whitehall.