Our drive to Seville was a pleasant one. We passed vast fields of sunflowers and gray-green stands of olive trees. We had only one day to spend in this city before moving on east to Granada. Seville is rather big, with a population of about 700,000. Our first attraction on the menu was the immense Seville Cathedral which houses the remains of explorer, Christopher Columbus (Cristobal Colón). On the way to the cathedral, we passed a crowd collected on the sidewalk. A news reporter and a gaggle of camera crew were focused on a row of raven-haired beauties decked out in some pretty innovative wedding dresses. What a bit of local flavor! So we also took a picture. The Seville Cathedral has several chapels and a small exhibition room showing off some of the fancy gold ... read more

There is a bit if British territory off the south of Spain. Gibaltar, or The Rock, is home to about 30,000 residents. One can see double decker buses, policemen in their old-fashioned uniforms and the distinctive red phone booths and postal boxes. An important site of several conflicts, including WW2, the mountain and caves are peppered with bastions. We took a bus about halfway up the mountain to Europa Point. Depending on where you are on the Rock, you can see the coast of north Africa. The top of the Rock is best reached by cable tram. Up at the top, we were greeted by George, a Barbary Ape. A colony of apes live among the trees and are always on the lookout for anything in a shiny wrapper. Sure enough, we saw one of George's ... read more

From Stockholm we took the X2000 bullet train to Copenhagen, Denmark for a quickie one-day visit. The X2000 train has a top speed of 124 miles per hour. Its not an entirely smooth ride and not for those prone to motion sickness. But it does the task of traversing the country quite well. We reached Copenhagen in 5 hours. Copenhagen has a western European feel to it. And more of a "party" vibe. We did not see a whole lot of private cars. Apparently, the 180% tax on a new car puts a damper on owning one. Anyway, the central train station is right across the street from Tivoli Gardens, a grand amusement park started in 1843. Behind this was the City Hall and the long shopping avenue called the Stroget. The prices in the shops ... read more

Off the Helsinki coast is an old fortess, Suomenlinna Sveaborg, established in 1748. The fort was built during the time that Finland was under Swedish rule. Later, when Finland was under Russian authority, more cannons were added, facing west, toward Sweden. A quick 15 minute ferry ride spilled us out onto the picturesque island. The ramparts are irregular in shape and undulate with the uneven terrain. (Photo.) Today, the island is a major tourist attraction and UNESCO World Heritage Site. On the island is a church, coutryards, restaurants, museums, small shops and a glass blowing studio. The island is the permanent home of about 1000 people. The fortress church was originally built as a Russian Orthodox church but was later converted into a Lutheran one. The steeple on the church served as a lighthouse for air ... read more

Sorry folks for the delay in posting. Internet access in Eastern Europe is not as cheap (as in free) or accessible as we had hoped. Anyhow....Buda and Pest are split down the middle by the Danube River. Our hotel is on the Buda side atop Castle Hill. Near our hotel is an old church under going some repainting. There are great views from the top of the hill. The weather here is delightfully warm and sunny, a treat after nearly a week of chilly rain and drizzle in Poland. Perfect walking weather and so we took advantage. North of town is an impressive set of Roman ruins,part of an ancient village. It took us some effort and the accosting of several strangers for directions before we found the place. After this. we wandered around Pest's Jewish ... read more