14 years of travels in Europe, and a few non-European countries, and still going. Random photos taken over the years with some commentary and background info. Thanks Rick Steves!
Rosenborg Castle Gardens.
"Rosenborg Castle Gardens (Danish: Kongens Have literally The King's Garden) is Copenhagen's oldest and most visited park with 2.5 million visitors per year.
In 1606, Christian IV commenced the landscaping of the gardens simultaneously with the construction of Rosenborg Castle." – Wikipedia
Avenyn.
"Kungsportsavenyn, commonly known as just Avenyn ("The Avenue", It is the major avenue in the city), is the main street of Gothenburg, Sweden, and a smaller counterpart of the Champs-Élysées. It was created in the 1860s and 1870s as a result of an international town planning competition. With a total length of about 1000 meters, it stretches from the old moat at the edge of the older part of Gothenburg, and ends at the Götaplatsen square, where the Gothenburg Museum of Art and several other cultural institutions are located.
Gothenburg (Swedish: Göteborg) is the second largest city in Sweden after Stockholm and the fifth largest amongst the Nordic countries. The city is located on the south west-coast." – Wikipedia
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New Harbor (Nyhavn).
"Nyhavn (lit. "New Harbor") is a popular area in Copenhagen, Denmark with both locals and tourists. Starting from the memorial anchor at Kongens Nytorv, the street is lined with many bars and restaurants facing out to a picturesque harbor. In warmer weather people fill every available table in the outdoors seating area in front of every restaurant. And even in cooler weather the heartier types sit outdoors with a beer and a blanket, provided by the restaurant on each seat, over their legs. While not extremely expensive, the restaurants are not cheap.
Less formal seating is on the edge of the harbour with bring-your-own beer. It is not uncommon to see groups of young people sitting along the waterfront with beer, enjoying the sunshine, the crowds and the street entertainment.
It is the starting point for various canal tour excursions, and is located near Kongens Nytorv, at one end of Strøget, and near the royal residence, Amalienborg Palace.
Nyhavn was built by King Christian V in the 1670s, and is thus the oldest part of Copenhagen harbor. It once had a bad reputation on account of the concentration of sailors living in the neighborhood. The north side, where the bars are, is still known as "the naughty side". The oldest building still standing is from 1681, at number 9.
Danish author Hans Christian Andersen lived at Nyhavn 18 for some years." – Wikipedia
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The Château de Cheverny.
"The Château de Cheverny is located at Cheverny, in the département of Loir-et-Cher in the Loire Valley in France.
The lands were purchased by Henri Hurault, comte de Cheverny, a lieutenant-general and military treasurer for Louis XI, whose descendent the marquis de Vibraye is the present owner.
Lost to the Crown because of fraud to the State, it was donated by King Henri II to his mistress Diane de Poitiers. However, she preferred Château de Chenonceau and sold the property to the former owner's son, Philippe Hurault, who built the château between 1624 and 1630, to designs by the sculptor-architect of Blois, Jacques Bougier, who was trained in the atelier of Salomon de Brosse, and whose design at Cheverny recalls features of the Palais du Luxembourg. The interiors were completed by the daughter of Henri Hurault and Marguerite, marquise de Montglas, by 1650, employing craftsmen from Blois." – Wikipedia
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The Palace of Versailles.
"The Palace of Versailles, or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles, in France's Île-de-France region. In French, it is known as the Château de Versailles. When the château was built, Versailles was a country village; today, however, it is a suburb of Paris, some twenty kilometers southwest of the French capital. From 1682, when Louis XIV moved from Paris, until the royal family was forced to return to the capital in October 1789, the court of Versailles was the centre of political power in France. Versailles is therefore famous not only as a building, but as a symbol of the system of absolute monarchy of the Ancien Régime." – Wikipedia
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The city of Blois.
"Blois is the capital of the Loir-et-Cher department in central France, situated on the banks of the lower river Loire between Orléans and Tours.
The famous Château de Blois, a Renaissance château once occupied by King Louis XII, is located in the centre of the city, and an 18th century stone bridge spans the Loire. As Blois is built on a pair of steep hills, winding and steep pathways run through the city, culminating in long staircases at various points. To the south of the city, the Forêt de Russy is a remainder of the heavy woods that once covered the area." – Wikipedia
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The city of Dijon.
"Dijon is a city in eastern France, the capital of the Côte-d'Or departement and of the Bourgogne region. Dijon is the historical capital of the province of Burgundy. Dijon boasts a large number of churches and cathedrals, including St. Bénigne, Notre-Dame, St. Étienne, and St. Michel. The crypt of Dijon Cathedral, dedicated to Saint Benignus, dates from 1,000 years ago, and the city has retained many architectural styles from many of the main periods from the past millennium, including Gothic, Renaissance and Capetian.
Dijon is famous for its mustard, even though around 90% of all mustard seeds used are imported, mainly from Canada. The term Dijon mustard (moutarde de Dijon) designates a method for the making of mustard, particularly strong if made in that fashion. Most Dijon mustard (brands such as Amora or Maille) is produced industrially, and in fact need not be produced around Dijon. The name has become genericized, meaning it cannot be registered for protected designation of origin status under European Union law. Dijon mustard shops also feature exotic or unusually-flavored mustard (for example fruit-flavoured Dijon), often sold in decorative hand-painted faience (china) pots." – Wikipedia
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Château de Chambord.
"The royal Château de Chambord at Chambord, Loir-et-Cher, France is one of the most recognizable châteaux in the world because of its very distinct French Renaissance architecture that blends traditional French medieval forms with classical Italian structures.
It was constructed by King François I in part to be near to his mistress the Comtesse de Thoury, a member of a very important family of France, whose domaine the château de Muides was adjacent. Her arms figure in the carved decor of the château.
Chambord is the largest castle in the Loire Valley, but was built to serve only as a hunting lodge for François I, who maintained his royal residences at Château de Blois and at Château d'Amboise. The original design of the Château de Chambord is attributed, though with several doubts, to Domenico da Cortona, whose wooden model for the design survived long enough to be drawn by André Félibien in the seventeenth century. Some authors, though, claim that the French Renaissance architect Philibert Delorme had a considerable role in the Château's design." – Wikipedia
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