Europe
We've been to so many European cities that Seth has started to think they
all look alike - a Cathedral, a town hall and a shopping street! Actually,
we've been to many Western European countries, but no Eastern European
countries yet.
Andorra
We visited Andorra on our World
Tour 2000 since we were visiting all of Europe's Smallest Countries.
Austria
We've spent a small amount of time in Austria. The first two times were
with Mark, Seth's friend from high school, and/or his wife Tara. Tara got
away from work in Zurich for a long weekend and Tara and Tara went cross
country skiing together. Seth and Tara and Mark and Tara also spent a day
in Salzburg together after our weeknd
in Germany. Plus Innsbruck
was a day stop on our World Tour 2000.
Belgium
Our first trip to Belgium was to Brugge.
Our second trip to Belgium was to Brussels
to see Bob and Eileen, friends we had met over Christmas 1996 in Rovaniemi,
Finland. They are Canadians living in Brussels. We've also been back to
Brussels a second time to meet up
with Bob and Eileen before leaving for Egypt.
Denmark
Copenhagen was the first stop
on our Winter of 1996 Scandinavian tour. The timing was perfect since Tivoli
was open for a Christmas market. We were also wise and took a bus to see
the little mermaid instead of walking as I had done previously. Copenhagen
was also a stop on our World Tour 2000.
Finland
Finland was the second stop on our Winter of 1996 Scandinavian tour. We
spent Christmas in Rovanemi, Finland.
Santa came to our hotel, with his reindeer, on Christmas Eve. Then we went
to his workshop at the Arctic Circle for Christmas Day. It was a great
winter vacation: snowmobiling, dog sledding, reindeer sledding, campfires
and more. It's even better since we really never knew exactly how cold
-29 Celsius was in Fahrenheit! We also stopped over in Helsinki
twice while between flights.
France
Disneyland Paris is the best reason to go to France. We're been to Disneyland
twice, once by ourselves and then
again with a group of friends from London. We also went to Paris for
the weekend to see only Paris, not Disneyland!
Paris, Paris
Disneyland , Nice and Cannes
were stops on our World Tour 2000.
Germany
Munich is one of our favorite cities. We've been to Munich twice so far
and very much enjoy it. Once was only for
an evening before traveling to Southern Germany, and staying on beautiful
Lake Chiemsee. The second time was
for a weekend during Oktoberfest!
During our World Tour 2000, we spent a month in Murnau
because Tara was studying German at the Goethe Institute in Murnau.
Iceland
We were planning on spending only one night in Reykjavik,
but it surprisingly turned into two nights.
Ireland
We spend a wonderful weekend in Ireland
with our friend Mike Coop. As we were walking in the airport parking lot,
we were commenting on how clean the air was.
Italy
Seth's friend from high school, Mark, lived in Italy from 1994 - 1997.
We went to visit them in Vicenza at the same time that Tim, Seth's other
friend from high school, was visiting. We spent a week driving around Italy.
We met our friends Tod & Kristen from Tokyo in Florence
and Milan and stopped in Pisa for
a night while we were on our World Tour 2000.
Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein was
the first stop on our "Smallest Countries of Europe" tour - just one section
of our World Tour 2000.
Luxembourg
We haven't been to Luxembourg yet. We hear Luxembourg city is a good place
to visit. Even in our four months in Europe on our World Tour 2000, we
never made it to Luxembourg.
Monaco
Monaco was a stop on our World
Tour 2000 - "Smallest Countries of Europe" sojourn.
Netherlands
Bob and Eileen invited us to go to Amsterdam with them to see the bulbs.
However, the original plan never took form because Bob had to work. Therefore,
we said goodbye to them at the Brussels train station and headed for a
night in Amsterdam by ourselves.
Amsterdam was the
last stop on our European leg of our World Tour 2000 since flight prices
out of Amsterdam to the US were cheaper than out of any other city in Europe.
Norway
Norway was our fourth
and final stop on our Winter of 1996 Scandinavian tour. We started in Oslo
for New Years and then traveled across the countryside by train to beautiful
Bergen. Tara is 50% Norwegian, so it was kool to see other "Solberg's"
in the phone book. During our World Tour 2000, we spent a couple of weeks
in Norway. We visited Narvik, Tromso,
Nordkapp, many cities where the Hurtigruten
coastal steamer stops, Trondheim and the town Tara's great grandparents
are from: Ottestad.
Portugal
Tara needed one more business class European trip on British Airways to
reach "gold" frequent flier status. Lisbon
was the cheapest!
San Marino
San Marino was a very pleasant
and unique stop on our World Tour 2000's Smallest Countries of Europe trip.
Scotland
We visited Scotland for the weekend
with our friends Grace and Jeff. It was June, but we were wearing hats
and scarves as we toured the castles on the shore. It made for a good atmosphere.
We went back to Scottland
with Grace and Jeff for a week during our World Tour 2000.
Spain
Barcelona is the only city we've
visited so far. We spent a long weekend and fondly remember the late night
dinners and Gaudi architecture. During our World Tour 2000, we went back
to Spain and visited Barcelona
again, Sort, Zaragoza,
Madrid and Seville.
Sweden
Stockholm was our third stop on
our Winter of 1996 Scandinavian tour. We agree with the city's slogan:
Beauty on Water. And we want to go back again to Seth's favorite Italian
restaurant in all of Europe. We did make it back
to Stockholm during our World Tour 2000 tour. We also made a stop in
Lulea, Sweden since that is where
one northbound night train terminated.
Switzerland
We traveled to Switzerland together for a week in 199x. Tara thought it
was so nice to have Seth along for a week of work. We went to Zurich
again together during our World Tour 2000 so that Seth could meet his old
work colleagues.
United Kingdom
We lived in London from December 1995 - June 1998. Because we lived in
London, we've seen a lot of England: Derby,
Bath, Blackpool,
Brighton, Leeds
Castle, Blackpool Again,
Oxford, Stratford,
etc. We've also been to Edinburgh
in Scotland with our friends Grace & Jeff and then Scotland
again with Grace & Jeff during our World Tour. We were planning on
Wales before we left, but never managed to organize a trip! Before moving
to London, Tara took many business trips to London - on one trip, she and
Seth's friend, Tim, went to York together.
When she travelled to London for work, her nickname for London was "The
Pit". Take a look at our Living in London
web section to learn why.
During our World Tour 2000, we visited London not once,
not twice, but THREE
time and also spent a week studying at Oxford
University. Plus, we met friends from Tokyo in Gloucester.
