Photo of the Week #20 - Copenhagen

I just love the beautiful side streets in Europe. This shot is in Copenhagen, Denmark. Picture was taken in 2004 as part of our Northern European trip.

York, England

As part of our 2006 trip to Europe, we found ourselves in York, which is just a beautiful place for a tourist who loves history. It of course was built by the Romans around 70AD and the history just continues from there. During the Civil War, King Charles II moved to York until it was overthrown by the parliamentarians in 1644. There is so much more so check it out.

The York Minster.

One of the city gates and wall.

One of the side streets in York. A great place to walk until you drop!

St. Michael-Le Belfrey Church. The only pre-Reformation church built all at once (1525-1536)

Jenny on one of the walls surrounding the city

Bracewell, Lancashire, England

In 2006 when Jenny and I were touring Ireland, Scotland and England, we made a special attempt to get over to the northwestern part of England to see the town of Bracewell, (maybe I should have said village) since it carried the original spelling of my name. I also thought that maybe this was where my roots lie, but the more I read the more I'm convinced that this is a different branch of the Bracewell Family (spelled Braswell today by my family and has been since the 1800 census). But still it was really an educational trip.

We rented a car and driver to take us from York to Bracewell, about a two to two and half hour trip. We saw some beautiful scenery and a lovely village. The village today has about five or six houses. While we were out walking around the church, trying to figure out how to get into it, we met the Major of Barnoldswick, or as she is called, Chairman of Barnoldswick Town Council. Since the Village of Bracewell is within her town, she not only got us the key to the church but took us on a special tour of the area. It was such a nice gesture on her part. As my Sister would have said, while touring in Ireland with us, "another angel helping us". It seemed every time we needed help, some "Angel" would be there.

St. Michael Church in Bracewell.

Inside the Church.

I wish I could have gotten the sign for a momemto!

Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC)

Jenny and I took a short trip to the White Mountains of Vermont to celebrate her birthday and do a little shoe shoeing. What a great place to enjoy the mountains and the heavy snows that they had received in that area.

We stayed in the Highland Center at Crawford Notch just east of Bretton Woods, Vermont. This is such a beautiful place, not just in the Winter but also in the summer. The Highland Center is the newest of the AMC lodges and we stayed in a private room with bath. For group of hikers there are lodges with bunk beds; that must be very cozy!

This is the Highland Lodge on the left with the bunkhouses on the right. You can't see much now because of the snow!

The train depot just east of the lodge with my guide!

The trail close to the summit!

The summit of Mt. Willard with my guide.

Photo of the Week #19 - Adirondack Loj

We leave for the Appalachian Mountain Club Highland Center in Bretton Woods, NH tomorrow so I thought maybe it is about time to post our trip to the Adirondack Mountain Loj last September.

The Adirondack Loj situated on Heart Lake just outside of Lake Placid. In 1890, Henry Van Hoevenberg opened the original Adirondack Lodge near Lake Placid, NY. The current building was built in 1927. Great place to stay, hike and enjoy the mountains.

Picture taken on top of Mount Jo; the summit is about 2900'. Photo taken by Jenny.