Terra Trekking

Paris

There is so much to see and do in Paris it's no wonder the city never sleeps. The parks, monuments, and museums are all amazing. Then there's the street artists, cafés, and markets scattered all over the place. The best way to experience the city is by walking the crisscrossed

Pixel Art

As we walked through Paris I noticed images made out of pixels on some of the corners of the buildings we were passing. The first handful I saw were of the aliens from Space Invaders and the ghosts from Pacman. They were fairly simple and took me on a nice

"Walking Distance"

What do I mean when I say something is within “walking distance?” To me, “walking distance” is anything that is one to three kilometers away. For my American friends, that is about a half mile to two miles. Why would I want to walk that much? When I walk, I

Hundertwasser Haus

Vienna is home to many artists, however my favorite is Friedensreich Hundertwasser and his house built to be in harmony with nature. This house has 50 different living quarters of different shapes and sizes some with gardens and each with is own unique design inside and out. Hundertwasser built the

Beautiful Czech Architecture

Prague is in the center of the Bohemia region of the Czech Republic, and home to some of the most beautiful architecture I've ever seen. The heart of Prague is filled with cobblestone roads lined with colorful buildings and interesting statues. The Prague Castle sits on a hilltop with red

Prague

Why did we decide to travel to Prague? We hosted an exchange student that said it was a nice place to visit. We were looking for someplace to go between Berlin and Vienna on our itinerary. Our first thought was Munich but after a review we thought Prague might be

Tiergarten Park

In the center of Berlin is the beautiful Tiergarten Park with trails that wind through tall trees and over streams. There are statues and flower gardens throughout where people can sit on a bench or listen to the birds. It was easy to forget you were in the middle of

The Berlin Wall

The Wall that divided West Berlin from East Berlin during the Cold War is memorialized in the streets and in outdoor museums throughout the city. We learned that in a November 1989 press conference Günter Schabowski, an East German politician, mistakenly said papers were no longer needed to cross into

Malmö, Sweden

The third largest city of Sweden is just across the Öresund bridge from Copenhagen, Denmark. Malmö has many large parks and a mix of historical buildings and new infrastructure. The city is very walkable and had lots of trees, murals, and trendy restaurants. Above is the Malmö castle which has

Christiania Freetown

Christiania is on the East side of Copenhagen's main channel and is home to a self-proclaimed autonomous district run by its residents with its own rules since 1971. It's a home to hippies and artists and the rules are simple: no guns, knives, or violence of any kind. The signs

Challenge Accepted!

While in Copenhagen, we decided to visit city hall to learn more about the city and how things are run. We found out that a tour was available and thought that would be better than just wandering around the building aimlessly and wondering what we were looking at. If you

Elephants!

In Frederiksberg Have, on the West side of Copenhagen, sits a huge public park with nice walking paths, canals, lots of birds, and... elephants. One of the people we met in Copenhagen recommended we check out Frederiksberg Have which borders the Copenhagen Zoo. We took a trail that led through

Copenhagen, Denmark

We are currently visiting Copenhagen and it is a very beautiful city. There is a wonderful mixture of old world and new all around. This makes for exciting walking trips around the city. Around one corner you may find a store with all the latest electronics or an awesome vegan

Rosenborg Castle, Copenhagen

The Rosenborg Castle was built in the 1600's and is a treasure trove of beautiful artifacts. Different rooms have been decorated by the various kings and queens of the last four centuries and each has it's own unique style. There was so much to see floor to ceiling we had

Duisburg

Duisburg, Germany is small compared to Frankfurt, however it has a long history as a center for trade dating back to the 9th century. It sits at the intersection of the Rhine and Ruhr rivers and archeologists have found ancient tools from thousands of years ago. Vikings raided the city

Frankfurt Architecture

Walking through downtown Frankfurt you would never know it was almost completely destroyed during World War II. Some of these buildings have their original façade and some were rebuilt entirely from the ruins in the 1980's. The Frankfurt town hall façade dates back to 1405 and sits in a main

The Royal Palace

This was Amsterdam's town hall when it was originally built in 1655. However Napoleon transformed it into a king's palace for his brother Louis I of Holland in 1806. Now it is the Royal Palace for the House of Orange and when it's not open for public tours it's used

Bike City

Amsterdam is where bicycles rule the roads and are covered in flowers when they retire. Bike lanes line every street and most residential blocks have more bike parking than car parking. It's a cyclists paradise!

Windmill Tour

This is the Molen van Sloten Windmill that was a block away from our first Airbnb on the outskirts of Amsterdam. A light breeze is all it took to for the sails to start spinning and get the windmill working. The corkscrew at the bottom pushes water up from the

Moco Museum

The Moco Museum is a modern art museum located behind the Rijksmuseum. The building itself is a townhouse that was build in the early twentieth century before being re-purposed as a museum. Works on display are from artists such as Marina Abramovic, Andy Warhol, and Banksy. Moco, like most of

Alrighty then!

On our way to lunch the other day we passed by the Veloretti bicycles showroom. They are a luxury bicycle manufacturer based in Amsterdam and when you see their products up close, they do look like works of art. The bikes have a simple, clean design and look fantastic. Citizens

Canal Cruise

We found "Those Dam Boat Guys" and learned all about the canals that circle Amsterdam from Captain Marc. On a map these waterways look like semi-circles that get smaller as they get closer to the city center and Amsterdam's beautiful Central Station. The house boats that line the canals are

Packing and Travel

We packed our backpacks and hugged our kids goodbye before we started. From Bellevue, WA we took a bus and the train to the SeaTac Airport and waited to board our flight to Amsterdam. I couldn't sleep the night before we left and I'm running on excitement now. Although we

News

Europe Trip

Terra Trekking, is a brand new site by Jacque & Robin that's just getting started. As we are trekking across Europe we will blog our about our adventures and share photos on this site. Our 90 day trip will include the following cities and countries. Amsterdam, Netherlands Frankfurt, Germany Copenhagen, Denmark