Travel: Valencia, Spain

     I love Valencia!  That's it - to the point, short and sweet.  It is beautiful, in a "Paris-pretty-girly" sort of way.  Her buildings are elegantly decorative with scrolling pediments, filigree balconies and gracefully draped windows.  Of course a few buildings have surrendered to the carefree style of Gaudi or Calatrava, but what 'woman' hasn't given in to a few eccentricities in her time?  She is lovely to admire...
     But you cannot live on infatuation alone - one must eat in order to survive.  Seafood Paella was divine - in fact it was a lobster paella and it was so good we had it twice!  Now that we've eaten, time to stroll around.
     First, we check into our favorite hotel: Zenit Hotel Valencia.  It is located next to the North Rail Station, a two block walk to a fabulous pedestrian only area and maybe, maybe, 10 minutes to the central food market.  The subway station is across the street as is a bus stop.  Overall location is a "10".
   On this visit we were upgraded to a suite...OMG...it was unbelievable!  Top floor, with living room (and a TV) access to a terrace that was enormous.  Bedroom with double closets (and another TV), fabulous marble bath and access to that huge terrace.  It was a small fee to pay for the upgrade, but the upgrade was worth so much more...we even ordered Sunday breakfast room service; served on the terrace overlooking the city!  What a special treat it was...
     On this visit, we took a self guided tour of the bullring located next to the rail station.  Two weeks prior there had been a bull fight and the arena still had a residual scent.  While I would not attend a bull fight, this is part of a country's culture; it is up to Spain citizens to decide whether to continue the tradition or not.  That aside, the ring is quite large with plenty of seating in both sun and shade....I'm guessing seats in the shade cost a bit more!
     Having done the food market last year, we passed on it this visit...beside, it was Sunday and it was closed.  However, a former outdoor (covered) food market, in another part of town, has been converted to a unique concept: chic cafes and colorful flower shops.  The lower level had a few restaurants and shops, but the open area of the main level was unique.  The cafes were buzzing with families, friends and couples alike.  From there we strolled some more and came upon a lovely neighborhood shaded by lovely old trees and dotted with benches for those who would prefer to stop and watch the world go by.
     Following day we took another stroll, in a different direction and wandered through and old part of town, came upon one of the old Roman city portals, walked along a dry river-turned-green space, past a Catholic university, and then we suddenly realized we had no idea where we were!  We looked at one of those "you are here" maps and still had no clue - the North Rail Station wasn't even on the map!  How far did we walk?  Well, we just kept walking and decided we should ask someone.  We saw a police car ahead and walked towards them when we realized they had someone there and it wasn't looking too friendly...the person they had started calling out to us in Spanish to help him....the police weren't doing anything but talking to him because we could see the policemen from the hill we were walking down...we were NOT getting involved in that despite understanding what was being discussed between police and the man...we just kept walking, at a slightly quicker pace!  We did meet a man pushing a stroller and asked him where the North Rail Station was and he gave us a shocked look...it was a good 30 minute walk ahead of us.  Tired as we were, we just kept walking and walking and sure enough, within the 30 minutes were we back at the hotel.
     What a day...good thing we had that fabulous terrace with lounge chairs and a bottle of chilled white wine in our cooler bag!  Watching the sun settle down and the city lights come up would be a pretty sight from the terrace that evening.  And lucky for us, there would be no walking tomorrow, just a 3 hour drive to Murcia.  But right now, we were going to put our feet up and go over our visit of Valencia.  Why not do the same and check out the video!

Fifi

Travel: Perpignan, France

Perpignan, France was our first stop on the road trip to Murcia, Spain.  Had no idea what to expect and what a delightful surprise!  A little bit of old, a little bit of new, a lot of history! We booked our one night stay at the Best Western Windsor Hotel and it was a perfect location for exploring!  (http://www.hotel-windsor-perpignan.com/)

Perpignan is quick off the auto route and just about an hour's drive to the Spanish border.

Full of charm, not too many tourists, and easy to navigate, Perpignan is highly recommended!  (Tourism link: http://www.hotel-windsor-perpignan.com/)  Arriving midday, we were so happy our room was available; we dropped off our bags and off we went to investigate!  A short 2 block walk and we were in the old part of town - free of cars, lots of warm sunshine flooding the town square and gentle breezes along the shop lined streets.  Old towns are funny: their streets turn and curve and loop around leaving you wondering where you are in relation to your starting point - you are usually just around the bend!  The culture is definitely has a "Catalan" influence; it's everywhere: food, language, signs and little "Catalunya" stickers!

Enjoy the photos of our afternoon stroll through Perpignan....

Fifi

Where We Stayed: Road Trip from France to Spain

During our last road trip, we took the leisurely route and drove only four or five hours a day.
Our first stop was Perpignan, France.  I think it is the last largest city in France before arriving at the Spanish border along the Mediterranean coast.

We stayed at a Best Western "Windsor"; great value, fabulous location and we had a great room on the top floor with a small balcony that overlooked the city.
http://www.hotel-windsor-perpignan.com/

Next day's drive was to my favorite city of Valencia, Spain.  We were in Valencia last summer and stayed at the Zenit Hotel Valencia.  This trip, there was no question where to stay: back to the Zenit Hotel!  This visit we upgraded to a junior suite for our 2 night stay and it was fabulous beyond anything!  http://valencia.zenithoteles.com/

Final destination: Murcia, Spain!  Last day's drive we arrived to our hotel Hotel Principe Felipe
Pure luxury, relaxation and 5-star service in every department!
http://lamangaclub.com/accommodation/hotel-principe-felipe-5

I write reviews for all my hotels stays, sightseeing and dining on TripAdvisor under my blog name. 
To read my reviews, you can visit TripAdvisor.com and in the search field enter: VirtualGlobalLiving

Have fun!
"Fifi"

Where We Dined - Hamburg, Germany

During our two days in Hamburg, Germany we enjoyed quite a few good meals:

Cafe de Paris, very near the Rathaus:   http://www.cafeparis.net/en/home.html

Die Bank, near the Renaissance Hotel & shopping mall   http://www.diebank-brasserie.de/
(be sure to click on the "language" tab to get the English version)

Cox Restaurant, a pleasant walk from the Kempinski Atlantic Hotel  http://www.restaurant-cox.de/

Kempinski Atlantic Hotel lobby bar served up the best club sandwiches one evening after a long day of walking!  http://www.kempinski.com/en/hamburg/hotel-atlantic/welcome/

We stayed at the Kempinski Hotel during our stay.  The hotel is gorgeous, the staff attentive.  Great location near the train station including the metro.  Beautiful setting overlooking the lake and tree lined street - any easy walk into either the new or old town!

Travel: Hamburg, Germany

The cruise has come to end...
We disembarked the cruise ship at Hamburg, Germany.  Interestingly, we had discussed travelling to Hamburg during the winter while watching a travel channel show.  (The show featured a young woman who was barge captain and expressed how much she loved her city...)

Disembarkation morning is always busy and structured but somehow still feels chaotic.  We collected our bags and off we were to get a taxi to our hotel.  O-M-G the line for a taxi was worse than any amusement park ride in the middle of summer!!  However, Germany being Germany and efficient as it is, had just about every taxi in the city on call and it was the quickest cue/line we've ever been on.  Taxis were constantly arriving; so to the front of the cue/line we were and off we went for a mid-morning drive through the city.  First impression, lots of greenery, well cared for older buildings, plenty of modern ones too, and great roads.  We arrive within 20 minutes to our hotel: Atlantic Kempinski Hotel.  Lovely turn of the century hotel, period details, elegant lobby/lounge area and modern room decor.  Rooms were not ready for checkin at 9am, so we left our bags with reception and off we went to investigate Hamburg.

Lucky for us, it was Sunday.  The streets were calm and gave us a chance to admire the buildings, stroll and check out a few places where to dine.  The old and new seem to intertwine as we rambled street after street.  We found the town square and the magnificent Rathaus (city hall).  It was incredible and hope the photos can do it justice (but I doubt it!).  Afterwards, we were ready for lunch and, of all places that were suggested, it was Cafe de Paris!  A French bistro!  With no reservation we sheepishly asked if they could accommodate us considering the place was jam packed with locals.  Quick as can be, we were shown to our table (two were pushed together for the 4 of us).  The brunch menu was fabulous and we spared no time in ordering - with a bit of help from the bartender who was more than willing to help translate some of the menu items.  During the meal he, as well as our server, checked on us to be sure we were content with our order.  Afterwards, they suggested other places for us to check out in the city.  How nice was that?!

We walked the city that day and the following day; we covered lots of territory, enough to warrant a few "pit stops" each day for beer or wine and give our feet a rest.  Hope you do the same right now: put your feet up and check out the photos!

Fifi

Travel: Fredericia and Copenhagen, Denmark

And so the cruise continues!  We are almost at the end of the journey as we call upon our next ports of call.

The next two cruise stops were in Denmark.  Our cruise ship was the first to ever call upon Fredericia and the whole town was out to greet us!  It was the most amazing thing to witness - a whole town from infants in carriages to toddlers to teens to grandparents and all in between!  There were cannons being fired, school marching bands, folk dancers and local politicians among the community that came to welcome us.  And as luck would have it, we were the very first two cruise passengers to step off and meet the flash of photos!!

The people were so kind, so warm and friendly.  It was suggested that we walk the park/town ramparts and enjoy the walk ending at the sea.  We took their advice and found our way to a far corner of the town and began the walk...the park was so green and lush with trees and shrubs and multitude of duck families laid claim to the slow moving waterway.  The walk had us walking up and down hills, stopping every so often to read historical markings.  The end of the walk brought us down to the shore where we met a group of friends who were out for a morning walk and swim...they were the happiest, healthiest and prettiest 80-somethings we've ever met! After a short chat (we speak no Danish, and only one lady had a good a grasp of English), we were back on our walking route along the water.  No sooner had we picked up our pace, we slowed down to see what was going on behind a little brick building...It was a rowing club - and already two boats had been launched and a third was getting ready.  But this was no college rowing club - no it was a "golden" group of rowers.  In fact, this third boat was a group of ladies heading out for the mid-morning workout!  Impressed - to say the least!  As we arrived back into town, we wandered along the main streets of shops and stores admiring such beautiful flowers, fruits and vegetables along side clearance sales of shoes and summer wear.  We stepped into a bakery and, needless to say, I became dizzy with the scent of fresh breads and delicate sweet treats!  After 5 hours of walking, we went back to the ship for a quick lunch and put our feet up for rest!  The evening sendoff by the townspeople was just as amazing as the welcome.  Again the town was out, the cannons fired, the band marched and thousands of hands waved us goodbye.

Fredericia was followed by Copenhagen.  Hans Christian Andersen published the "Little Mermaid" in 1837 and a bronze statue of her is perched upon a rock on the waterfront and she is photographed by almost every tourist - and that's a lot of tourists!  From the ship we walked to Tivoli Gardens - part amusement, part entertainment park.  It is the second oldest amusement park in the world, opened in 1843.  It has some nostalgic features like the 1914 wooden roller coaster (one of the oldest still in operation) alongside a roller coaster that has loops and turns and dives and spins.  There are plenty of places to eat, and in the evening the park is magical - lights are strung from trees, framing buildings, illuminating garden paths while music plays in the background from any one of many stages and entertainment venues.  There is something for everyone.  We've had the pleasure to be there during the day to see how beautiful the grounds are and by evening to admire the spectacle of lights.  After leaving the park took a long, aimless walk that, somehow, magically brought us to an enormous pedestrian only area.  Throngs of people were out, enjoying the bright sunny day and the "sales" must have been good ones, judging by the number of shopping totes we saw along the way.  Eventually, we made our way back to the ship just as sunny skies decided it was time to water all of Copenhagen's gardens and lawns!  Where's that umbrella when you need it?!
(http://www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenhagen/top-30-attractions-0)

Enjoy the photos!  (Next week: Hamburg, Germany including where we ate!)
Fifi