I have to agree with Fretful Porpentine about Spain.
There’s more to Barcelona than Gaudi (who is a God)check out http://www.bcn.es/cgi-bin/pt.pl? url=/english/turisme/perdis/igaudi.htm&i=i
for the works of Gaudi and the Eurpoean Modernist route which covers most of the Modernist/Art Nouveau works. http://WWW.BCN.ES is the Barcelona Tourist Authority.
Don’t got to Barcelona AT ANY TIME without having accomodation booked and confirmed and then bring their confirmation fax with you. And when you’re booking specify a double bed “cama matrimonial” or you will end up in a twin room or with two single beds pushed togther.
If you want Scenery, hire a car and drive the Full length of the N620 (600 miles) it crosses the north os Spain along the Pyrnees and is the most awesome place imagineable (my wife compared parts of it to Yellowstone) Go to the Ordessa National Park and the Picos de Europe park (both on the N620)
Stop at little towns for Tapas at lunchtime. Drive for days without seeing a Burger King of Ma$(&^*$£s. But bottles of local wine for just under a Dollar, buy bottles of drinkable wine for just over a Dollar.
Lots of local cheeses, including one made with cows placenta.
With a little application, you’ll learn enough Spanish to get by.
Check the signature. Denmark lost Oslo back in 1814, so neener neener and get with the program, okay? I just happen to love going to Denmark, even if all my clothes mysteriously shrink every time I go there.
Well, if you’ve been to France then at least you’re not intimidated by the language difference. Also, you’re not into the ‘group tour’ crap so may I commend you on both counts (welcome to the world of ‘travelling’ as opposed to the lesser form known as ‘tourism’).
Switzerland, IMHO, is great if you like hiking/skiing or looking at mountains / cuckoo clocks. Beyond that, it’s pretty non-descript compared to other options. Tag fight, Arnold ?
Spain has been mentioned but not either Seville or the close proximity of Portugal. I’d take a look at both, especially the mountains in eastern Portugal (and it’s ridiculously cheap)
Czech Republic. Hmmm, feel mixed about that. Certainly Prague has impressive architecture and the country is cheap to visit but Bohemia as a whole left me a little wanting. Much of it is seriously flat and little more than a series of fairly similar villages and towns to break up the landscape. By far the most impressive place I visited was a town in southern Bohemia (whose name, quite unforgivingly, escapes me) which is listed in the top three of the UN’s list of World Heritage sites. And Prague in summer is Crowded.
The whole Denmark, Holland and Belgium combo would be very interesting and varied. Looking at your list of interests, you would be spoilt for choice at every turn and, although expensive, the people are friendly and welcoming. Very interesting option.
Or there is always Italy ?..the Greek Islands ?..an Ireland / Scotland combo ?
I suggest Iceland, especially if you are going in the summer. Rekjavik is a charming city, and it is extremely easy to get to the magnificent countryside beyond. It is a great mix of Nordic culture and southern European cosmopolitanism. There are always fabulous music and art shows, and the nightlife is much fun. It is really easy to get around, as the city is relatively small.
The only thing really expensive there is the cost of high-end restaurants. Otherwise it makes for a relatively inexpensive vacation.
Zenster: Thanks for the tip about the bakery in Oakland. Mr. Pug and I want very much to go up and check things out up there (and eat at Chez Panisse). Since we’ve only lived on the bay area for under a year, we have yet to spend some time in the east bay. We’re still eating our way up 'nince . . .
Maeglin: And if we go to Iceland, I promise to try to look up bJorn. Where the heck is that guy? I miss him.
Fretful Porpentine: You’re making me lean seriously towards Spain. For one thing, my husband speaks Spanish. For another, I recently saw a travel show about a university city (whose name I can’t remember) in Spain, and the architecture there was magnificent. And for another thing, as you mention, the cost is very reasonable. Anyplace I can buy good red wine for about a buck a bottle is okay by me.
flodnak: As I mentioned, Norway is another strong possibility, and I see you’re in Oslo. I’d sure like to cruise those fjords and drink that pale blonde beer and check out those blonde, blue eyed guys there. Surely the Norwegians make as good pastries as the Danes? (ducking) My Norwegian ancestors’ name is Bakke, theoretically after the town they emigrated from. Meet a lot of Bakkes in Oslo?
pugluvr: Unfortunately, most Norwegian bakers are skinflints. They cut the butter with margarine (or use nothing but margarine) to save money, and won’t spring for the high quality flour that makes real Danish pastries so special. So… you can get good pastries in Norway, at least in the cities, if you know where to look. But Danish bakeries have a much higher average quality. That’s not to say that Norway doesn’t have its attractions, it definitely does. I was just sort of stuck on pastries.
Norwegian guys aren’t really nearly as blonde as the stereotype would have it. On the other hand, they have awfully cute bottoms
“Bakke” means “hillside”, and is part of the name of lots of little villages and farms throughout the country. As a result it’s not an uncommon name.
Coming from Holland myself, living in Scotland at the moment, and having had the priviledge of visiting most European countries, I advise you to visit Ireland/Scotland if you like atmosphere. I walked Connamara (Ireland) for ten days and each day when I woke up I understood why the people there had made up stories about leprechauns. That country is so mysterious, it was sometimes creepy. Scotland is much like that, only more rugged. I can heartily advise Edinburgh after living here for about a year.
I suppose Holland is nice if you didn’t grew up there. To be honest, I don’t really see what the fuss is all about.
I would advise against Iceland this time of year. I think there is about 5 hours of sunlight each day now. You might miss out a lot
Personally, I love Italy. Beautiful nature and lots of history. It has also quieted down a bit in former Yugoslavia. The peninsula of Istria is great.
I never had the opportunity to go to Scandinavia, but I heard from several people that especially Norway is beautiful on the nature side. You need lots of cash when your going there though, especially alcohol costs you seemingly a fortune ($40 for a bottle of wine is not unheard of as far as I’m told).
Oh, by the way. If you do decide on going to Holland, don’t forget to get one of those aformentioned Maatjes haringen and definately a Broodje kroket with mustard. Those are the only two things I really miss from The Netherlands.
