aarhus

We visited Aarhus (pronounced "Are-hoos"), the second largest city in Denmark this past weekend. Aarhus is about 3 hours or so from Copenhagen. These days it's pretty full of students going to University there, but there are some great sights to see there.

The ARoS Art Museum is very modern and houses two popular installations- the "Your Rainbow Panorama" rooftop walkway by Danish/Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson. Also featured is "Boy" by Australian artist Ron Mueck, which is a giant model of a crouching boy.

Aarhus also has the awesome Den Gamle By (The Old Town) which is an open-air town museum housing 75 buildings (from houses to a bakery to a post office to an old radio/electronics store) from all over Denmark. The buildings have been left decorated as they were left in either the 1550's to the late 19th century.

It was a great little (or big) city and we enjoyed the trip. Enjoy the pics!

PICTURES

istanbul

...not Constantinople :)

Last Easter, Jason and I traveled to Berlin. To say it was colder than a witches you-know-what would be an understatement. So, this year we dedicated ourselves to finding a place that would without a doubt be a tad bit warmer. A friend had said to me long before moving to Copenhagen that her favorite place that she visited in her European travels was Istanbul. So, it wasn't a hard decision to make. So, Istanbul it was.

I'm going to turn it over to Jason since he is due for a blog entry here. Hope you enjoy the pictures. There are LOTS!

-Howard-

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Guess I better make it good then or I won't be invited back ;-)

Everyone describes Istanbul as East-meets-West.  Also perhaps first world-meets-third world, with a shiny new building next to a vacant, falling apart, hopefully abandoned structure.  But with 15 million people, it's not an overnight fix...

Speaking of 15 million people, one thing I will never forget is arriving at the hotel at 11:30 at night, asking the person at the desk if there is anywhere to go around the hotel, and him saying 'no'.  Then after a few probes, he tells us we can walk to a street a few blocks away, where as it turned out, there was probably only about 1/2 million people walking around at that time (looked like Istanbul's Times Square).

I saw in a travel book someone wrote that Istanbul was their favorite city landscape in the world. Depends what you like, but in a unique way, it is.  The Bosphorus running through the city, each side going up over a rolling hill, you get to see all the good, the bad, and the overpopulated from just about any vantage point.  But you get to see the great structures built by the Byzantines, the Ottomans, and everyone thereafter.  It's unbelievable to think of the wealth the sultans had at one time. And the Aya Sophia, as well as a number of mosques, are really spectacular.  I would have loved to have seen the Aya Sophia in its Byzantine glory.  But some day it will probably be restored.  Then you throw in the underground cisterns, and the unbelievable bazaars, and you have some pretty full days.

So quick summary for me - amazing city; well worth a visit!

Jason

PHOTOS

DAY 1

DAY 2

DAY 3

DAY 4