Copenhagen Day 2

Another beautiful day in Copenhagen. Also it’s Saturday so lots of people out and about, especially in the water. Boaters, kayakers, paddle boarders and tons of swimmers. The water looks clean and someone said you can drink it. Wait isn’t it sea water so doesn’t that mean it’s salty? I will research that another time.

I started my day with a tour of city hall which is called Rädhus located in the town square. It’s looks quite old but was actually built in 1905. We had a great tour guide that not only described the building and architecture, but quite a bit about the history and beliefs of the Danish people. They are very proud of their democracy and everything is built around the importance of keeping it. That’s the city’s founder above the entrance in gold - Bishop Absalon (1128-1201).

Lots of detail inside filled with symbolism and history.

They have a special room that houses Jens Olsen’s World Clock built from 1943 to 1955. The most precise clock in the world. One of its gears does a complete rotation every 25,753 years. That makes zero sense to me but still pretty cool.

Outside to the left of the building is a statue of Hans Christian Andersen. I read the tradition is that you sit in his lap, take off your shirt and take a picture. What? Just reporting what I read! I didn’t see anyone do that and I was not inclined. The Danes do seem to be quite fun loving so maybe another time.

Lots of bakeries in Denmark - just look for the pretzel hanging outside. This one had a pretty good line so I hope to get back there before I leave.

Next up Rick Steves walking tour. He never disappoints for people like me that want to know all the history including the statues, fountains and hidden courtyards that usually just the locals know about. Here are a few pics of things that stood out to me. Top left - fountain in the old town square. It’s a pregnant woman squirting water from her breasts next to a boy urinating. I’m not making this up! The people were appalled so they raised it high hoping no one could see it, and in all honesty it’s a little hard to see. Top left - the Round Tower. Built in 1642 it connects a church, library and observatory and offers a great view of the city. Bottom left - Christiansborg Palace which the royal family shares with parliament. Bottom right - Sankt Peters Church. Lots of weddings happening all over town today - from City Hall to all the churches.

I found a cute place for lunch on the walking tour. It was in a sweet courtyard off the busy main street so I enjoyed a delicious panini sandwich and did some people watching while sitting in the shade.

There are lots of cute street food stands and quite a number of them offer sausages. Always makes me think of my son. He would be trying them all. This one looked particularly good so I was tempted. Not there yet.

One of the most popular things to do here is take a canal tour. The main company is called Canal Tours - so creative. There are other companies that use much smaller boats and would be fun for a group of friends - but I just did the traditional one and really enjoyed it. You get to see lots of impressive buildings, museums, neighborhoods, the Royal yacht, where the queen lives, and also go under about 30 of the lowest bridges you’ve ever seen! I saw the famous Little Mermaid statue but just from the back. Tomorrow I might rent a bike and go see it from the front. The guide doing the tour has to actually crouch down and almost sit on the floor of the boat not to get knocked over. Plus on a nice day it’s fun to get out on the water. Tours are an hour.

Walking back to the hotel my GPS took me right through the Royal Garden which is between Parliament and the library. So beautiful! An unexpected surprise and great way to wrap up a fun day.

Thanks for coming along💕 Farvel That means goodbye.

Day 1 -Copenhagen

Better late than never! This was a trip I planned for 2020 and it’s finally coming to fruition. First stop Copenhagen and my initial impression is very positive. This is going to be fairly brief as most of the day was just spent getting here. I landed and then took the train to the center of town. Super easy to do and only cost $4.40 US - quite a bargain. Found my hotel and then took a long walk to get my bearings. Here are just some things that caught my attention. Lots of construction happening. I love the contrast of the very old and very new. Feels like such a vibrant city and because the weather was amazing so many people out walking and more bicycles than cars for sure. Lots of water with the sea and all the canals so beautiful boats taking people out and something I’m planning to do tomorrow for sure.

Nyhavn is probably the most photographed area of Copenhagen and what everyone thinks of first. Established in the 1670s it was originally sailors’ quarters. Now very gentrified and full of trendy cafes, jazz clubs and great people watching. Also where Hans Christian Andersen lived and no way at some point I’m not going to see the Little Mermaid statue.

I walked by so many beautiful stores! Good thing I’m not much of a shopper because it was tempting even for me. I wandered into this beautiful emporium called ILLUM and came across this spectacular art installation by Kenneth Rasmussen - an artist that upcycles trash to art. This one is knitted from plastic bags and was gorgeous.

What I didn’t do was eat! I was occupied with taking it all in and then was just too exhausted to sit at a restaurant for fear of falling asleep in my plate. So tomorrow I will definitely make up for it and post the local fare. Lots of bakeries which is right up my alley. As usual I have planned full days for myself so check back and come along. It feels so good to be out exploring again🤗

A Fun Day in Milwaukee

Milwaukee Wisconsin is about an hour and a half from Chicago, so I’ve been wanting to check out a few things I heard were great. My friend Cheryl coming in from Kansas City was a good opportunity to have a fun road trip with a great friend plus Cheryl is always up for any crazy idea I concoct.

The first stop was the Milwaukee Art Museum. It’s located right in downtown Milwaukee on the beautiful shore of Lake Michigan. There was a special Scandinavian exhibit I was interested in seeing since I’m heading there very soon. Plus I had heard the museum was wonderful. That was actually an understatement. The building itself is spectacular and starts out right as you approach with the most incredible “wings” on top of the museum. They are called the Burke Brise Soleil and is a moveable sunscreen that rests on top of the museum’s vaulted glass-enclosed entrance hall. They open when the museum opens, close and reopen at noon, and close again when the museum closes. They are giant wings that are the size of a Boeing 747 and really take your breath away. It’s two ultrasonic wind sensors automatically close the wings if the wind speed reaches 23 mph or greater. Being right on the lake that probably happens pretty often. The picture of Cheryl and I on the left is before the wings opened and on the right fully opened. So cool!

What was a big surprise to me was how gorgeous the inside of the museum is and how the style of the sleek wings is reinterpreted throughout the entrance hall and hallways of the modern structure. All the while allowing you to gaze out at the gorgeous lake just steps away.

The Scandinavian exhibit was really great and made me even more excited for my upcoming trip. The museum had many exhibit rooms of their permanent collection, but we wanted to have a bite to eat and then head to our next destination. They have a small but nice cafe where you can get a coffee, drink, sandwich or salad etc. so we decided to get a light meal and take it out to one of the tables right by the lake since it was a perfect weather day. I will definitely plan to get back up there soon to see some of their other beautiful works of art.

Next stop the Joan of Arc Chapel on the campus of Marquette University. It is the oldest building in North America still used for the purpose it was intended. Build in 1420 it was purchased in 1966 by a wealthy couple who donated it to Marquette and had it taken apart, shipped to Milwaukee, and rebuilt on the campus. The chapel contains the stone that has a French endorsement of authenticity that it is the stone Joan prayed at for success in battle. She would then kiss the stone. Joan of Arc is a French heroine of the Hundred Years War and is now the patron saint of France. The stone is installed in a niche behind the altar and pictured in the bottom left below. Engineers have repeatedly tested the stone and found it is always at least a few degrees colder than all the other stones in the chapel. We were able to touch it and it did feel colder! We took the opportunity to sit for a few minutes and take in the peace and beauty of the chapel. Also say a few prayers for those we love and the world in general.

Did someone say we need dessert? Did I mention it was Cheryl’s birthday? Did you know Milwaukee is the world capital of frozen custard? All of these things are true! Let me share more information than you ever thought you needed to know about frozen custard. it originated in the UK and made its first appearance in the US in 1919 on Coney Island. It made it to Chicago in 1933 for the World’s Fair and then moved up into Wisconsin. More frozen custard is consumed in Milwaukee than anywhere in the world! So we just had to have some plus Cheryl needs a birthday treat. I did some research and landed on Leon’s. A Milwaukee legend since the early 1940’s. It did not disappoint. We decided we would share a sundae so the birthday girl picked fresh raspberry with hot fudge and salted pecans. It was incredible! Almost worth a trip to Milwaukee just for that! Your health tip of the day is that as good as it tastes - frozen custard is lower in calories and fat than most ice cream. So go ahead and indulge ever so often.

Our last stop before heading back to Illinois was the Burnham Block. Frank Lloyd Wright designed this block of American System-Built Homes in 1915. There are 6 homes in total - two one story homes and four two story duplexes. Wright was trying to solve the housing shortage and build smaller less expensive but still beautifully designed homes. In 1985 the block was added to the National Historic Registry and thanks to a remarkable group of volunteers the homes are being returned one by one to exactly how they were originally designed complete with furniture. They only do tours of the interiors on Saturdays with a reservation but our lucky stars aligned and there was a volunteer there working on a deck who offered to give us a private tour after we chatted about Wright a bit and he could see that we were more than just the casually curious. We felt like we had won the lottery! Not the billion dollar lottery but a pretty decent one😂

That was our fun day in Milwaukee! From the research I did in advance I know there are more things to see there so a return trip at some point is on my list. Enjoy the last month of summer and check back soon for my upcoming trip posts!

Driehaus & Charnley-Persky House Museums

A mini post about two beautiful historic architectural gems in Chicago that are worth visiting. Both on the National Historic Registry, built around the same time, and both available to visit and tour. The similarities end there as they are very different styles - which is one reason Chicago is such an architecturally significant city.

First the Richard H. Driehaus Museum located at 40 E Erie St, which is just a couple of blocks west of the Starbucks Roastery on Michigan Ave. This home was built in 1883 for Samuel M. Nickerson - a wealthy Chicago banker. The museum is named for Richard Driehaus - a Chicago businessman, philanthropist and art collector. The restored mansion is not a recreation of the Nickerson period - but rather broadly interprets the design, architecture, and decorating tastes of Gilded Age America and the art nouveau era.

The museum displays original furnishings from the Nickerson era along with decorative arts of the late 19th and early 20th century along with works by Louis Comfort Tiffany. The house took 4 years to build and cost $450,000 - a very large amount of money for the time - but that translates to over 10 million in todays costs. And having been there I totally believe it! I called it a mind blowing experience - I can’t ever recall seeing such exquisite attention to detail everywhere you look.

The Driehaus is closed Monday and Tuesday and usually open Wednesday through Sunday from 11-5. The second floor has been restored and is used for special exhibits. Check the website for all the details. I highly recommend paying the extra $5 for the docent led tour. It was excellent. And they have a small but really fantastic gift shop!

Next up the Charnley-Persky House Museum. Located at 1365 N Astor St, just a few blocks north of the Drake Hotel on Michigan Ave and a block west of Lake Shore Dr. This house was built in 1891 and is one of the few surviving buildings designed by two of the most famous architects in the US - Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright💙

Wright was a young man working for Adler and Sullivan but I saw so many of his ideas - quite an endorsement from a revered architect like Sullivan to allow so much input from his employee. This new style embodies the desire of Sullivan and Wright to create an American style of architecture, and was the basis for Wright’s Prairie style.

This museum has more limited hours available for tours so please check the website before heading there. I definitely recommend booking your ticket in advance as you can only see the home on a tour and the groups are fairly small.

The home was built for the Charnley family but was saved and restored by Chicago philanthropist Seymour Persky in 1995. He provided the Society of Architectural Historians with the funds to purchase the house and it is now the international headquarters of that organization. Another important architectural piece of history saved.

That’s it for now! Thanks for letting me share my love of history, architecture and Chicago with you💕

Lake Tahoe 🌄

My third trip to Lake Tahoe and I would be happy to return again. So beautiful if you love nature. It’s a popular place to ski and I hear summers are great for boating and water activities, but my favorite time is late spring and early fall. It’s not that crowded and since one of my favorite things to do is hike it’s pretty perfect. A BIG thank you to my friend Liz for hosting Peggy and I again at her beautiful home on the lake. She’s our built in tour guide as she has been going there for many years and she even makes us delicious meals! My view for the days I was there 😊

You may recall that Tahoe got an unusually large amount of snow this past winter. Huge in fact, so even though it was the middle of May lots of snow still covering trails. But Liz had planned for lots of alternate trails if one we had wanted to hike was closed. On the days we hiked we would get up and just head out to hike close to where we were staying. Lots of great hikes right outside her door so here’s a picture of Liz and I doing that one morning. Thanks for being our photographer Peggy!

Then head back to the house for lunch and out for another hike in the afternoon - this time using the car to get further away. One of our favorite hikes is at Emerald Bay. You see waterfalls and hike all the way to the bottom where there is this cool old estate you can tour. We headed there but upon arrival discovered due to an avalanche the trail would be closed for at least another month. So this year just views from the top. There is actually a little island in Emerald Bay so you can see it in this picture.

The waterfalls at Emerald Bay were really fantastic - much larger then I’ve seen them in the past due to the melting of all that extra snow.

Another day we headed to Van Sickle Bi-State Park to hike and saw breathtaking views as we climbed as high as possible with all the snow covering the trails. Luckily Liz had the All Trails APP to help us navigate as we did lose the trail often. We didn’t make it to see the waterfall as there was just too much snow but the views were worth the hike.

It’s called Van Sickle Bi-State Park because it’s in Nevada and California and here’s the proof.

Liz suggested taking a drive to Virginia City, Nevada to experience a real western town, and also supposedly one of the most haunted cities in the US. Why not? We even did some googling to find out where the most haunted places to visit were and put possible ghost tour on our agenda. Virginia City was a huge town for silver and gold mining in the 19th century due to the Comstock Lode discovered in 1859. It was the most important industrial city between Denver and San Francisco and had a population of 25,000 people. Well now the population is just 900 people and it appears their main source of revenue is tourism. We talked to a number of the locals first of all to get their opinion on the best place for lunch, and second to ask about all the ghost activity we read about. The consensus was the Red Dog Saloon for lunch and yes lots of spirits around due to all the mining accidents that happened due to the poor mining conditions at that time. If you’re familiar with the TV show Ghost Hunters then you probably know they frequently film from Virginia City. We did eat lunch at the Red Dog Saloon and it was pretty good. Browsed some of the shops downtown and took a walk through the Silver Dollar Saloon. I was so taken back in the saloon that I forgot to take a picture but evidently women who enter take off their bra and leave it behind, and maybe men are required to leave a dollar bill? The walls and ceiling are covered in dollar bills and their are bra’s hanging everywhere! Plus my nose told me immediately that smoking is not only allowed but encouraged. I’m out! But worth a walk through😂

We decided to take the ghost tour that was most frequently featured on Ghost Hunters at the Old Washoe Club. It was totally worth the $10 even though (thankfully) we didn’t see or hear a ghost. Zach our tour guide did a great job of sharing the history of the town and of the club. In it’s prime it was I’m sure a beautiful building, but time has not been kind so while the first floor is still an active saloon, the upper two levels are uninhabitable - except of course for the ghosts. Zach took us into each of the rooms and told us about some of the people that had lived there that they believe are the ghosts still present. Most of the people had met untimely deaths and one by suicide - so kind of grim. But to his credit he was super matter of fact as everyone in town was about the fact that they just accept the spirits as part of their town. There is a crypt that I did get the chills in because when typhoid was an issue the morgue ran out of space so they stacked the bodies of about 100 people in this shaft - most of them children and then showed us a picture someone supposedly took of a child ghost floating around. Ok I’m out.

One of the rooms on the 2nd floor had this poker table set up and Zach said back in the day Ulysses S Grant, Mark Twain and a couple of other famous people I can’t remember used to meet there and play poker nonstop for days!

There is also a cemetery that is very haunted and weird things have been seen especially around Halloween so we made a stop there too. Actually I have always wanted to see wild horses and thought I would have to go to Wyoming to check that off my list - but the locals told me that wild horses are often seen in the cemetery so that was my major motivation for going. Plus I really kind of like old cemeteries- seeing the dates and how many people died so young. A reminder to enjoy every day because you don’t know how much time you have. Well not to keep you in suspense but we didn’t see any wild horses. Well not in the cemetery but we did see them on our drive home! And also the next day on the drive to the airport. So that was awesome.

Normally I post a lot of food. Well Liz cooked and we ate most of our meals at her home, so it wasn’t really a focus of this trip. We did go to the cute town of Truckee, CA for lunch after Liz picked us up at the airport. We ate at the American Bar and the food was great. I had delicious fish tacos but was too hungry to take a picture. Our flight left early and we had a quick plane change in Phoenix so no time for food. I did take this picture right outside the restaurant. I thought it was so funny because we were starving and I was hoping we wouldn’t have to resort to extreme measures for food.😂 Truckee also has cute shops we browsed after eating before heading to Liz’s and taking our first hike.

We did force Liz to let us take her out one night for dinner as a thank you - so went to the Bistro at the Edgewater Resort. We had been there before and it’s a really lovely very fancy hotel with spa and I think golf and a couple of nice restaurants. Our food was good but you really go for the spectacular views. The lobby has this very cool staircase and our tradition is that we take a photo on the stairs. So no food pics but at least the staircase happened.

Liz took this pic of Peggy and I and her daughter Maddie who stopped for one night on her way driving through Tahoe of our favorite place to have an adult beverage at the end of the day. These benches are right on the water and it’s a spectacular view of Lake Tahoe. It never gets old.

Sunset at the Edgewater Resort. I’ll be back! Thanks for a great trip Liz and thanks Peggy for being a great travel companion. Jump while you can💕