Our first day in Copenhagen, we were busy little tourists, meaning that for day 2, we decided to take it a bit slower and relax.

The gardens of Rosenborg with the castle in the background. And do not worry, there was a moat!

The castle was originally built as a Summer House by Christian IV in 1606 and was a royal residence until 1710. The House is divided up into sections based off the various royals who lived there. There isn't much details in the signs, so it may be worthwhile to invest in an audio guide if you're hoping for more information on the history. The castle has 3 floors - many filled with relics from the past inhabitants. My favorite was the top floor which included the thrones. His and Hers thrones flanked by lions, with the his throne made of narwhal tusk.

The Kings Throne on the left, the Queens on the right

After the interior, we ventured down into the cellar area for the true sight to see - the Royal Treasury. The only other treasury I have visited was the Tower of London; while London has more in their collection, you're able to get more up close and person with those at Rosenborg and don't need to worry about the crowds surrounding the jewels.



After picking out my future jewelry, we finally headed to Tivoli Gardens.  First, we stopped for a quick bite before heading out to the true attraction of the gardens. While there are some gardens and greenery as the name implies, the biggest reason to visit is the amusement park. Full of roller coasters, games, bumper cards and little eateries, it's like a European Six Flags.



I am not a fan of roller coasters (it's been at least 10 years since I have ridden one), so while I ventured out to a few of the tamer rides at first, I decided to avoid anything that went upside down. I did well at first, being a great purse holder and photo taker while the others enjoyed their crazy dangerous rides. We then took a break at an Augustiner beer garden to enjoy a litre of beer, which turned out more successful than our last trip to a beer garden.

Sarah and I at Tivoli Gardens

After our break, we continued our rides. I was, however, talked into joining this time. I tried a couple different ones, and while I would not say I'm a convert, I survived my time at Tivoli!

One of the roller coasters I did NOT try in the background

We wandered the park, eating, talking, enjoying the rides until the park closed. The last thing we were able to catch were the beautiful lights, reflecting on the water and a special lights show for the evening.

Another coaster I didn't ride (swear I tried some though!)

Traveling with someone can be difficult - differences in attitudes, sleep patterns, diet, or whatever else, can make travel range from awkward to completely unenjoyable.

I've been so lucky to find Paul in so many different ways, but one of those is he is my favorite travel companion. I have loved traveling the world with Paul and lately have been reminiscing back on all our trips together.

Our very first trip together was a big one - a Eurotrip. The summer after Paul's graduation, we took a 3 week trip around Europe, riding the Eurorail through 5 countries.

So, where did our backpacking Eurotrip take us?

First off - Barcelona. What an amazing place, full of architecture and laid-back Spanish (or more appropriately Catalonian) lifestyle. Buildings from Gaudi are dotted around the city, from Casa Batlo to Sangrada Familia to my absolute favorite of Park Guell. That, plus the super late night dinners, beaches and backpacking friends made it the perfect start to our trip.

Park Guell - the beautiful mosaics and whimsical shapes were all around

Sangrada Familia - I hope we can go back when it's completed to see it in its glory!

Next up - Marseille. One perfect day at the beach, one miserable day of windy weather stuck inside. Paul still is not a fan, although I'd be willing to give it a second chance.

Beautiful - the Chateau D'If is in the background

Moving on to Switzerland - Interlaken is something like the extreme sports capital of Europe. Paul wanted to do everything from skydiving to paragliding to canyoning. Instead, I talked him into plain old Jane biking and kayaking. Luckily, the setting was so beautiful that the lack of adrenaline rush wasn't even noticeable.

Biking through the Alps - this made the best scenery

From Switzerland, we trekked to Munich. It was my first time in Germany, and while the main attraction was beer (not my favorite), I still managed to find things to fall in love with in the city.  The English Garden, beer gardens (minus the beer), the history, both good and bad. And Paul even managed to get me to try out a litre of beer.

Too much beer - I still can't live this down

Finally, we ended up in Paris. Perhaps the city of love was a perfect way to end the trip. I had visited before, but Paul hadn't, so I was able to show him all the tourist spots and some of my favorite less known haunts. We visited everything we could while still trying to embrace the slower pace of European lifestyle.

St. Chappelle - my favorite spot in all of Paris

The first of many nights at the Eiffel Tower

I loved our first trip together - thank goodness we didn't kill each other and made it 3 weeks tramping through hostels with our backpacks. Looking forward to seeing what our next adventures will bring! (and hopefully no more hostels).

I have never been what you would call a foodie - maybe because I dislike a lot of things that seem to be included in good food, such as mushrooms and sea food of all kinds. But, earlier this month, we went with some friends to Copenhagen who do know what they are talking about when it comes to food, so much of our trip was spent eating all kinds of weird, yet in many times surprisingly good, Scandinavian food. And luckily, it was a 3 day weekend with the bank holiday, so we had some time to fit in some sightseeing with our food.

We started off our first day in the city with a segway tour. After trying them in Budapest and St. Petersburg, we liked to think we were pros and were excited to see the city. In 2 hours, we saw everything from the Little Mermaid Statue to the Royal Residences, to the canals and harbors. Riding segways through a walking & biking city like Copenhagen always makes you a spectacle. It's so funny to see people's reactions and we had quite a few people stopping to take photos of our group as we zipped around the city.

Getting comfortable on the segways

Royal Residences - there are four matching buildings around the circle. One for the Queen, two for the Princes and one for guests

The Little Mermaid Statue - we were sad to learn that H.C. Andersen's version ended much more sadly than Disney's - she loses her tongue and legs, and is stuck in purgatory for 300 years, or something similarly sad

 But don't be fooled, riding segways is hard work, so after our ride, we were ready for our first true Scandinavian meal. We stopped in a little shop off the main walking (and shopping) street of Strøget to try a smørrebrød. These are open faced Danish sandwiches, with rye bread on the bottom and whatever your topping may be. 

3 "smushis" at the Royal Smush Cafe. I had a ham one, chicken salad and fake duck (aka pork).

After being much replenished, we were ready to hit the road again. This time, we headed to the other side of the harbour to look a bit more closely at the Church of Our Savior which we had seen from our segways. This is a Baroque church was built in the 1680's, however the most captivating part of it, the tower, was built about 50 years later. The unique part of it is the spiral staircase that goes around the outside of the tower, almost as if you could walk to heaven. We climbed the many steep steps up to the top and started to wind our way around the top of the spiral. Unluckily for me and my fear of heights, it was very crowded and windy that day, almost feeling as if the steps were shaking beneath us. After queuing up to get to the very tip top, I decided it was close enough, I could call it a day.

At the top of the staircase is a globe with Christ on top. While he looks tiny here, he is actually 3 meters tall.

Views of the city from the top of the church

As a prize for making it so far, we stopped for a dessert at a pastry shop/cafe our friends had researched and enjoyed a bit of people watching.

Next up - Christiania. This was an area the hippies took over in the 1970's and set-up almost as a separate city within Copenhagen. They have their own set of rules (although I'm not sure how much is actually followed) and act independent of the city they are surrounded by. I have to say, I was not impressed. Sad little shacks, dirt streets littered with trash, graffiti which may or may not be art and people that obviously do not have their brain functioning at full speed. A quick walk through was enough for me before we headed back towards the hotel. We detoured by the Opera House to lounge on the lawn European style before we took the ferry back across.

The Opera House - people had all kinds of things to say about it when it was built, including people who were afraid the roof would be blown away??

Sunset behind the Marble Church

 That night was our biggest foodie adventure yet. We went to our first Michelin star restaurant (or at least the first one I've been aware of!) - Grønbech & Churchill. The interesting thing about these restaurants is that so much of it is about presentation. I'm used to greasy, sloppy, yet more often that not delicious Tex-Mex, BBQ and other Texas favorites. This was much prettier looking, and because there were so many courses, much smaller portions with each plate.  Three hours later, we came out of the restaurant stuffed and pleased with our meal.

Opera House at night

To work off some of the food, we strolled along the canal, snapping some photos and chatting before calling it a night to rest up for our second day in Copenhagen.

Where do I start with Shanghai? Like Beijing, the city is stock full of people, but in Shanghai, you are also surrounded by the skyscrapers and lights of a modern city. And, while it seemed to be the city that embraced everything new, bigger and better, you could be walking down a street and stumble upon something old, like with the Jade Buddha Temple, reminding you of the countries history.

View of Pudong from the Bund - you can see the Bottle Opener, the tallest building in Shanghai in the back

View of the highway from our hotel

Another example of new meets old was the Yu Gardens. It is modern shopping set in old buildings, and not just modern knick knacks like shot glasses and magnets. Within a few blocks, we found a Starbucks and Dairy Queen. I felt a little silly visiting the DQ, but was happy to give in to a Blizzard craving with a Mississippi Mud Pie blizzard. We shopped for jade, abacuses, local art and walked away empty handed. Too many people, too much haggling for my taste.

See the Texas stop sign (aka DQ) in the back? There was another one just outside the shopping area

Then, after all the commercialism and craziness in the shopping centre, you escape into the gardens themselves and tranquility descends. It was originally built during the Ming Dynasty for a government official in his retirement. While it wasn't kept up over the ages, it was restored in the 1950's and has been opened to the public to enjoy their own type of retirement - an escape from the bustle of Shanghai - for a small fee. Perfect for us to relax after a typical night out Shanghai style karaoke-ing at K-TV.

Tea house in the middle of Yu Gardens

While we wandered among the gardens, you did not hear the sounds of Shanghai. You did not see the crowds of people (minus the tourists, which may be more substantial in the summer). You did not see technology. Just lakes, koi, rockeries and pagodas. So we wandered, sat, then wandered some more until it was time to find our way back out into the city for one last night of Shanghai debauchery til we headed back to London.

Inside Yu Gardens

In Beijing, we went to several temples. I never really thought about the fact that they weren't really temples any more, and never really connected them to religion in China.

Then we headed off to Shanghai, where I was busy with work and figured I would see nothing.

But, I managed to squeeze in a thing or two. And one of the things that Paul and I did on our own was the Jade Buddha Temple.

Despite everything, I have to say that this was one of my favorite things about Shanghai. It was the epitome of old meets new.

The history of the temple itself isn't actually that old. It was built in the late 1800's during the Qing Dynasty to house 2 jade Buddhas that were brought from Burma. After being re-built in the 1920's, it remains an active temple today.



Upon walking in, you see evidence of its current use. Individuals are lighting incense and candles, expressing prayers to Buddha. Behind the temple, you see the high rises of Shanghai, making you feel like you stepped out of the big city into a little haven hidden within its midst.

We first walked into the Great Hall, the most exquisite of the halls. When you first walk in, you see the Three Golden Buddhas. The hall is lined on either side with Gods of the Twenty Heavens. In front are rows of cushions for kneeling in prayer. It was nothing like I had ever seen before. We enjoyed taking a few minutes to stand there in awe.



Next, we sent to see the famous Jade Buddhas. It is an extra cost to go check out these relics and no pictures, but worth the few bucks. The hall where the first Buddha is held is lined with tiny golden statues, helping to make the Buddha itself more impressive.


After wandering through the rooms and shops, we headed towards the back of the temple complex.  Here, we found a koi pond, perfect for sitting and observing, or if you were so inclined, some fish feeding. And so we sat, soaked up the sun, reveled in it all and prepared to head back to the city streets of Shanghai.

A lot of things seemed to be lost in translation while we were in China.

One of those things, surprisingly, was one of the most visited tourist site in all of Beijing, perhaps outside of the Great Wall.

We asked a local about visiting the Temple of Heaven. They looked confused, we explained, and the aHa moment came. The Altar of Heaven! Who knows why they seemed to give it a different name in English, but we'll go with it.

The complex was used mainly during the Ming and Qing dynasties, and is smaller than the Forbidden City, as emperors supposed to have residences for themselves larger than those temples or spaces dedicated to Heaven.


The architecture is similar to that of the Forbidden City in style and even in many ways layout. You still have the intricate paintings, the little animals adorning the roof buildings, the marble, walkways especially for the emperor. The biggest difference though is the iconic blue tiled roofs of the building, to represent Heaven. Another claim to fame of the complex is that it was built without a single nail - each wood piece was made to fit perfectly with the other connecting pieces.



I visited with Paul after meetings and before heading to the airport, so needless to say it was a speed tour. Luckily Paul had gone on his own earlier in the week and knew all the best spots to hit. Unfortunately, it was an overcast day and I missed what Paul said was the best part - the locals hanging out around the park surrounding the temple. From tai chi, to games, to calligraphy practice, people were out in full swing, enjoying their time outdoors.


 So, what did I see then? In addition to the grounds and some glances at the smaller buildings, I was able to see the two biggest sites (in my opinion). Tip: For those that do want to explore the site, make sure to buy a through ticket so that you don't have to buy individual entrance tickets to each building.

As we came through the North Entrance, the first big building we saw was the Hall of  Prayers for Good Harvests - this is the building that everyone knows. Fight the crowds for a look inside, especially up at the ceiling. Beautiful.


After wandering, the last area we passed through before the exit was the thing that gave the site it's Chinese name - the Circular Mound Altar. Here is where the Emperor would offer sacrifices to the Heavens at Winter Solstice.


After our powerwalk through, I felt happy to have seen so many sites in such a short time. Our time in Beijing was through. Off to Shanghai!

During our time in Beijing, we stayed at a hotel near Wangfujing. I picked it because it seemed to be the perfect location, both central, close to transit lines and restaurants.

Little did I know that it was the BEST location to stay at in Beijing.

Wangfujing literally translates to Prince's Mansion Well, as this location was home to many aristocratic mansions during the Qing dynasty. According to the legend,  the location had a well that was famous for it's sweet water.

Now, Wangfujing is the walking street of Beijing. With this, there are tons of restaurants, shops and more off the street. It's the Taksim of Beijing and even without cars is full of pedestrians.


We wandered one night to try out some Peking Duck at Quan Ju De - Paul's first taste of the crispy skinned duck. Afterwards, we decided to wander the streets.


I was certainly glad we ate before, because while the food from the street vendors was great for pictures, not so much up my alley for eating.




So we strolled, soaked up the craziness and exoticism of it all, then turned our happy tummies back to bed and left the fried scorpions for others to enjoy.

The Great Wall is one of the most iconic landmarks for China. Right up there at the top of every tourists wish list.

So, understandable, the wall itself is jam packed with tourists and those catering to the tourists.

We got an early start out to the wall, hoping to beat the crowds. So after a quick stop at the jade shop (courtesy of our tour guides), we found ourselves there.

Already at 9:30 am, in April, it was teeming with tourists. We posed for our pictures at the bottom and from there, as we looked up the mountain, we made a goal to make it to the top.


And so the climb began. It was actually a bit precarious. There were so many people, so many steps, very uneven and worn steps, and a low handrail causing people to hunch over to use it. Add to that the people stopping to catch their breath or take a photo, and it doesn't make for easy going.





















Luckily, the higher up you go, the fewer people there are in your way. Unfortunately, the higher you go, the harder it gets for anyone (ergh, me) that doesn't work out regularly. As you climb to the top, there are towers to mark your way. Some allow for nice photo opportunities, some allow for you to shop from vendors for trinkets to mark your visit. For me, they were mile markers, marking my progress, giving me an excuse to stop for a water break and shed more layers of clothes.




Just over an hour after we started, we made it to the top.We had reached the end, nothing more to climb up, just a view across the expanse of mountains, or at least what little of them you could see through the haze. We took a moment to glance across the landscape, catch our (my) breath, revel in our accomplishment. Then it was time to head back down. Here the path diverges, to the left, Mongolia, to the right, China. We stuck to the right, as we were told by our guide, and perhaps because while we had defeated one part of the wall, we weren't quite ready to face the peaks of the other route.