Dave Smith wrote:
What a time we had. Anyone interested in a nice destination that won't
cost an arm and a leg should consider a trip to Tallinn, Estonia.

That's one place we haven't been in the region. A few trips ago we took
the overnight ferry to Helsinki, our choice over Tallin at the time.
Glad to hear Estonia is still one of the cheap places--the others sure
arent't


We had tremendous hospitality in Sweden.

We have had exactly your experience every time I've been there.
Everyone is eager to show you the best their country has to offer.
I was leery about the herring and game meat, but enjoyed it all.


Copenhagen was great. We had a nice dinner in one of the restaurants in
Tivoli. It is a beautiful park.

Yes, and we loved Nyhavn. Copenhagen and Stockholm are laid out well
for walking and have really good public transportation for long
distances. Our last trip two years ago, we were disappointed that the
Stroget (walking street) in Copenhagen had been transposed from a
street full of local artisan shops to a high fashion designer mall.
Much of the charm has been lost as a result.


We are exhausted. We didn't get much sleep.

We are also tired from all the walking we did.


Don't discount the jet lag, either. It plays a big part for about a
week after you get back. The 8 hr. time difference is significant.

I'm so glad you had a good time.

gloria p

On Fri, 27 Jun 2008 09:02:19 -0400, Dave Smith
wrote:

What a time we had.

Nice read. Glad to see you back.

Lou

Gloria P wrote:

Yes, and we loved Nyhavn. Copenhagen and Stockholm are laid out well
for walking and have really good public transportation for long
distances. Our last trip two years ago, we were disappointed that the
Stroget (walking street) in Copenhagen had been transposed from a
street full of local artisan shops to a high fashion designer mall.
Much of the charm has been lost as a result.

Sad isn't it. I think that has happened over the years since I was first
there in 1999. When I was there two years later there seemed to be more and
mark of the marketing hype, and even more this time. It is also disappointed
to see all the advertising on the buildings. It was bad enough that the
buildings across from the city hall have so many neon signs on them, but at
least you only see that at night. What was really disappointing in the
Stroget was to see a lovely old building covered with a huge sign.

"Mark Thorson" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
...
Michael Kuettner wrote:

Well, the first "Kaffeehaus" in Vienna indeed opened
shortly after the Turks were kicked out (in 1567).
Whether the beans came from the supplies left behind is unknown.

According to this, the legend is that it was opened
shortly after the Battle of Vienna in 1683.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerzy_Franciszek_Kulczycki

Ooops, you're right. I picked the wrong siege.
Btw, the oldest still existing Kaffeehaus in Austria is the Tomaselli
in Salzburg (since 1705).

Cheers,

Michael Kuettner