Helsinki is the capital city of Finland, but until 1812 the tiny hamlet of Porvoo claimed that honor. Today Porvoo is a tourist attraction representing what architecture and structures looked like in the 1700s, although the square in front of the old city hall dates back to the 1350s. What this means is that Porvoo was the center of civilization in Finland 150 years before Columbus set sail to find the passage…
Who would have thought that tiny Denmark would have castles that rival France and Germany? An 82 room hunting lodge? No problem. Frederikborg Castle was constructed beginning in the early 1600s and since the late 1800s has housed the Museum of National History to include some of the most remarkable original period artwork and portraits. Surprising? Yes. I was not expecting to see an elevator to bring the King into the audience…
As an experienced rail traveler in Europe, I thought I had the system down. But Spain is an exception to every other experience I’ve had. First a friend told us there are two train stations in Madrid and that we needed to go to Estacio Madrid d’Atocha to travel to other major cities. Saved us from going to the wrong place to start. Next, they have a great deal. It’s called the…
While in Madrid, we changed our itinerary at breakfast on our second day. Rather than spending most of the day at the Prado Museum, which most of our party had visited previously, we chose to take a day trip down to Toledo. It is only a 38 minute train ride (cost about 20) from the lower level of the Madrid Atocha station. (The upper level is the major cities, but apparently Toledo…
The main train station in Madrid, Estasio Puerto de la Atocha, is located near the historic center of the city. We checked into the Tryp Hotel Atocha, which is only a short distance from the train station on one of the streets that runs from the train station to the Plaza Mayor or Main Square. This location is within walking distance of the primary attractions we wanted to see in this city.…