stadler

I only spent a night (we had a friend there), as part of a monster road trip of eastern North America, so I can’t say I really gave it a try, but it’s not the kind of place most tourists would bother visiting. For dinner, we asked our friend to take us to “something unique and local”, and she took us to an American chain restaurant. Maybe that’s Ancaster, maybe that was our friend. At least in the morning, we hit a Tim Hortons for some slightly more authentic local colo(u)r.

I spent a very enjoyable 12 hours in Amsterdam due to an airline error, and I clearly need to go back, because I enjoyed myself very much while I was there. True, all I did was have some tasty frites and some quality Belgian beers, but still.

Tallinn’s old town really is charming. It has its share of touristy muckmuck, but still feels a bit more natural than more well-known places. The language, like Finnish, is impenetrable, but it doesn’t matter, since like most well-visited northern European places, they speak English. As we were only there on a side-trip from Helsinki, we didn’t have time to venture outside the historic district, but it looked like many a former Communist concrete block, from what we could see.

Great city, with everything you’d expect from a northern European capital — great architecture, good food (yes, really), lots to see and do. Like most of Scandinavia, not exactly cheap, but then I live on the West Coast, and it’s actually pretty comparable.

We’d heard so many great things about the Vasa Museum that we had to go. We enjoyed ourselves for an hour, and then were heartbroken to hear that, contrary to our guidebooks, the museum was closing. We could have stayed there for at least half a day! Lots of good exhibits on this great (and pathetic) ship. I need to go back just to experience the stuff I didn’t get to see.

Too cute! I’ve been to lots of European capitals with the castles and the cathedrals and the old roads going every which way and whatnot, but Stockholm, namely the Gamla Stan (Old Town) district, still stands out as a great example of same. Lots to see, plenty of good wandering, and good eats. We even saw a free concert of Carmina Burana played in one of the squares.

Mainly just passed through on a ship to Helsinki, but so. many. islands! All looking so very charming. Clearly, with more free time, I need to actually visit some of those islands, rather than just leave them in a large wake.

If you like Rothko, you should clearly go. If you like dark, quiet places, then go. But, frankly, it’s not all that impressive to me. Any of Houston’s art museums (within spitting distance from the Rothko Chapel) are more interesting as art. I think this place is popular as an anti-church where people can un-worship in a totally postmodern, pluralistic way. But that’s not very interesting to me.

Hey, what’s better than a world-class art museum? A free world-class art museum! I also like this part of the city, and the adjoining art museums (Cy Twombly Gallery).

They speak French here! Of course you knew that, but it’s still charming, all the same. And no, they’re not snobby about it (supposedly snobby cultures rarely are), especially if you make a go at learning a few phrases. One lady was so charmed at how well I said “Je ne parle pas français” that she refused to believe I couldn’t speak it. And that’s what I remember about Québec today.