Location: Houston, TX
After our pet sit in Treviso, Italy, we flew to Copenhagen, Denmark and spent a few days touring the city. From there, we traveled to southern Sweden for a pet sit with no pets, then to Spain to tour the north coast and Seville.
Copenhagen, Denmark - August 10 - 12, 2024
On Saturday, August 10th, we caught the train from Treviso to the Venice airport, then flew to Copenhagen. Our hotel was near the center of the city, so we had easy access to lots of bars and restaurants and things to do. The city is very safe and walkable and we enjoyed our time there.
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| Colorful buildings and sail boats on the Nyhavn Canal in Copenhagen |
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| The main canal in Copenhagen |
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| Having coffee and pastries in the Brygge neighborhood |
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Our driving route from Copenhagen, Denmark to Karringe, Sweden
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Ljungby, Sweden - August 12 - 21, 2024
On Monday, August 12, we checked out of our hotel, picked up a rental car and crossed the bridge from Denmark to Sweden. We made our way north to the small town of Karringe, near Ljungby, for a short pet sit with no pets. We spent the week taking care of the house and extensive garden and hiking and exploring the area.
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| The garage and barn at our no pet sit near Karringe, Sweden |
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| The house where we stayed near Karringe, Sweden |
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Strawberries in the garden, Karringe, Sweden.
They were delicious. |
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| Flowers and veggies in the garden, Karringe, Sweden |
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| Plum tree in the garden, Karringe, Sweden |
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We hiked every day while we were in Sweden. This is a waterway at the south end of Bolman Lake near Skeen, Sweden.
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| Ripe lingonberries near one of the hiking trails |
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| Rock formation near the Sagobygden Ivars Kyrka trailhead |
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| A deer near Karringe, Sweden |
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| A deer stand in the woods near Karringe, Sweden |
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| B in front of a camping shelter. |
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There was a small festival in Ljungby so we went into town to check it out.
For lunch we had stir-fried moose meat with lingonberry sauce from one of the food trucks. |
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One of our chores was to mow the garden, the lawn between the house and the barn and the paths between the house and gardens.
Dave worked on the lawn tractor while I mowed the garden with the electric mower. |
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B on the way back from an early morning trip to the outhouse in the rain.
Did we mention that there was no toilet in the house (yes - we knew this before we signed up).
They had a composting toilet out in the barn. |
We finished our no pet sit on Wednesday, August 21st and drove back to Copenhagen for a one night stay near the airport. The next morning, we flew to Bilbao for a road trip along the north coast of Spain.
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The map of our driving route in northern Spain.
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Northern Spain - August 22 - September 2, 2024
Our first stop in northern Spain was the city of Bilbao, famous for the Guggenheim Museum located near the center of town on the Nervion River. We spent two nights in Bilbao and enjoyed exploring the neighborhoods near downtown, trying various restaurants and walking along the riverfront.
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| The Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain |
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| One of my favorite art pieces - Kathreiner's Morgenlatte (Kathreiner's Morning Wood) by Sigman Polke, Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain |
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| Puppy by Jeff Koons, Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain |
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| Iglesia de San Jose de la Montana, Bilbao, Spain |
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| One of the Bilbao subway entrances |
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| The outside of the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain |
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Maman (a giant spider sculpture) by Louise Bourgeois on the river promenade outside the Guggenheim
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| The exterior of the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain |
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| Outdoor art across the river from the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain |
On Saturday, August 24th, we left Bilbao and drove east to San Sebastian in the heart of Spanish Basque country. We stopped in the small coastal town of Burmeo for a coffee break and arrived in San Sebastian mid-afternoon.
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| A sculpture on the Burmeo harbor front - "The last wave, the last breath" by Enrike Zubio |
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| The breakwater, Burmeo, Spain |
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| The Cathedral of the Good Shepherd of San Sebastian. Our hotel was nearby. |
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Statue of a woman with bricks on her head by Salazar Romo.
She represents the civilian population during the reconstruction of San Sebastian following the storm and fire of 1813. |
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| Koruko Andre Mariaren Basilika, San Sebastian, Spain |
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Spanish Basque country, including Bilbao and San Sebastian, is known for its Pintxos (pinchos), Spanish snacks, smaller than tapas.
The word "pincho" comes from the Basque verb pinchar, which means "to poke" or "to stab".
This is a variety of pintxos that we had for supper one night while we were in San Sebastian. |
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We took the funicular to the top of Mount Igueldo, where there is a small amusement park.
This is the view of the Bay of La Concha and San Sebastian from the top of the funicular |
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| We watched the start of a swim race as we walked along the Beach of La Concha. |
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| The view of the Bay of La Concha from the beach. |
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| The view of old town San Sebastian from La Concha Beach. |
On Monday, we drove east to Santander, the capital city of the Cantabrian region of Spain. We stopped in Getaria for a coffee break, ate lunch in Laredo and arrived in Santander mid-afternoon.
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| The Getaria Harbor. We stopped here for a coffee break. |
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We walked along the Santander harborfront and beaches to the Magdalena Peninsula, then took a bus tour to see the rest of the city.
This is the view of the beaches and waterfront looking west from the south side of the Magdalena Peninsula. |
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| The Palacio de la Magdalena on the Magdalena Peninsula, Santander, Spain |
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| We had a seafood lunch at La Casa del Indiano in a covered market near the waterfront. |
After two nights in Santander, we continued our drive east. We stopped in Santillana del Mar, a small town known for its cheese making and in Comillas, a small town on the north coast, both in the Cantabrian region. Our final destination was Ribadesella, in the Austrias region, an historic town founded by King Alfonso X the Wise in the 13th century.
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| The Collegiate Church of Santillana in Santillana del Mar, Spain. It was a monastery dating back to 870 and became a church during the 11th century. |
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| The Comillas Beach, Comillas, Spain |
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| Dave looking out to sea from the observation deck above the Comillas Harbor |
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| The northern coast of Spain in Comillas. |
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The Iglesia del Seminario Mayor de Comillas, the seminary college in Comillas founded in 1890 by Pope Leo XIII (the large building at the top of the photo).
The white building on the shore is a seafood processor whose primary products include mussels, clams and periwinkles. |
We spent two nights in Ribadesella, walking along the waterfront and exploring the town.
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| Looking toward the mouth of the Sella River from the east bank of the river, Ribadesella, Spain |
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| The rocky shoreline of the Cantabrian Sea outside the entrance to the Sella River, Ribadesella, Spain |
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| The view of Santa Marina Beach, Ribadesella, Spain |
From Ribadesella, we had a short drive east to Llanes, our next destination. We stopped in Puertas de Vidiago and hiked from the village to Bufones de Arenillas, a sea spout where "a dozen geyser-style jets of seawater (are) pumped up through rock cavities by the pressure of the tides".
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| Hiking amongst the rocks near Bufones de Arenillas on the Cantabrian Sea coast, Northern Spain |
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The crevice above the underground tunnels for the sea geysers at Bufones de Arenillas.
The seas were calm and the tide was out so we didn't see any geysers or water spouts but we could hear the air and water in the underground tunnels. |
We spent three nights in Llanes, the last stop on our north coast of Spain driving tour. We enjoyed hiking along the cliffs and beaches, exploring the town and learning about the Asturian culture.
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| The Llanes breakwater |
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The painted cement blocks of the breakwater at the entrance to the Llanes Harbor
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| Scallops and home made apple cider at a restaurant on the Llanes waterfront |
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| Basilica of Santa María del Conceyu, built in the mid-12th century, in the historic center of Llanes, Spain |
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| The old city wall in the historic center of Llanes |
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| Cows grazing in the hills above the sea coast, Llanes, Spain |
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| The sea coast at Llanes, Spain |
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| The sea coast, Llanes, Spain |
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| The small boat harbor, Llanes, Spain |
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| Playa del Toro, Llanes Spain |
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There was a festival in town while we were there and we got to watch a parade.
A bagpipe band marching in downtown Llanes. |
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| Kids on a float in the Llanes parade |
We left Llanes on Monday morning, September 2nd and drove to the Bilbao airport. We turned in our rental car and then flew from Bilbao to Seville.
Seville, Spain
Seville in the largest city and the capital of the Andalusia region in Spain. It's a beautiful city, easily walkable and there are a lot of historic sites to see.
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| The Spanish Plaza was built for the Ibero-America Exhibition of 1929 |
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| The north tower at the Spanish Plaza, Seville, Spain |
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| The south side of the Spanish Plaza, Seville Spain |
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| Gin and tonics near the river after a long day of walking and sight-seeing |
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| The main gate from the patio de la Montería courtyard into the palace at the Real Alcazar, Seville, Spain. You can read about the history of the Alcazar here. |
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| The gardens at the Real Alcazar |
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| The Giralda tower near the Seville Cathedral. It was originally built as the minaret for the mosque during the Moorish era in the city (712 to 1248) and was later converted into the cathedral's bell tower. It is 101 meteres (331 feet) tall and has a total of 24 bells. |
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You can climb the tower using a series of 35 ramps winding around the perimeter of seven vaulted chambers at the tower's core.
These are some of the bells in the Giralda tower.
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The Seville Cathedral is the world's largest gothic temple. It was built on the ruins of a mosque.
Construction started in the first half of the 15th century and continued for over a century.
This is one of the side altars inside the Cathedral |
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The front of the Church of San Salvador in Seville.
It was built in the baroque style between 1674 and 1712 on the site where a basilica stood in Roman times and a mosque during the Moorish period. |
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| A flamenco dancer performing on the plaza outside of our hotel |
We left Seville on Thursday, September 5th and flew to Amsterdam, then caught a flight to Houston on Friday, September 6th.
Until next time...
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