The first time we landed in New Zealand, descending over the offshore islands, the otherworldly blues of the sea, the vibrant green of the land, and the fresh smell of the air upon landing, I knew I wanted to live there. As we disembarked, I told my husband of an immediate visceral feeling - "We're home." We bought a home on the beach on Auckland's North Shore, and later shifted to a home above the beach in Nelson on the South Island. My husband was working in the States and I was telecommuting and could live anywhere; we had a bi-hemisphere marriage for several years. I was born and raised in Southern California but New Zealand will always be the home of my heart.
Well, we visited Costa Rica many years ago and liked it a lot. 6 months later we went back and bought a house thinking we would go there for a couple of weeks during the summer and a couple of weeks during the winter. After a year we decided to sell our Minneapolis home and move permanently in Costa Rica. That was 26 years ago and it was the best move we ever made!
A place I'd move to in a heartbeat? Prague. We were there a couple of weeks ago and I want to go back again just to wander the streets.
We flew SAS from ORD, with an 8 hour layover at CPH. We rode the train into town/metro back to the airport, which allowed us to walk from the exit of the train station across from Tivoli to Nyhavn for the obligatory photos--so while we didn't see much of Copenhagen, we at least got a taste of it on a 2.5-3 mile stroll.
Word to the wise: We only had carry-ons and thought we could store them in the lockers in the P4 garage at CPH. Unfortunately, those require a data connection and the CPH public WiFi doesn't cover that garage, and we didn't plan on getting a SIM until arriving in Prague. I have a bad knee and my wife is recovering from broken toes, but we made it work--but wouldn't do it again!
We then spent six nights in Prague and found it to be wonderfully cosmopolitan and incredibly beautiful. My wife and I are over 65 so public transit--clean, fast, and widely available--was free.
About Prague, me too. As an American Jew whose people came from the general area (Ukraine, but that's not an opportunity for now), I felt very much at home. We even attended Yom Kippur services there last year in a liberal temple in the Jewish quarter, which was quite moving. I also "rescued" a marionette of a Hasidic rabbi from a Czech toy store near the Clock, and he's hanging in my office right now. They seemed proud of their city's Jewish heritage, as opposed to our other stops of Budapest and Vienna, which were ambivalent at best. Although I did have one of the best meals of my life at a Budapest Israeli restaurant in the ruin quarter, Mazel Tov.
I have always wanted to live in London. Every time I go back I see something different that makes me want to live there again. And I love taking photos there. Wish I had been brave enough to have move there for a while when I was younger.
My favorite city, which we’ve been to a few times is Brugge. There’s just something about the city that’s so comfortable and fun to walk around and has good food and it’s definitely not too crowded as long as you avoid the main square.
The place we love is Denmark, particularly Aalborg. The Danish way of life is so compelling that relocating was very tempting. If we were younger we might have considered it. But then there's family--children, grandchildren, siblings, cousins--that we don't want to abandon (that's what it would feel like). So...we have our memories of a delightful country.
We spent our work years in Miami, but we had a three day layover in Vancouver, Canada on a trip coming home from China in the 1980's. We fell in love with this city of natural beauty and such a diverse population of very decent unarmed people. By 1999 we had moved here. We've been citizens since 2004 and are still thrilled to live here in the West End of Vancouver.
The first time we landed in New Zealand, descending over the offshore islands, the otherworldly blues of the sea, the vibrant green of the land, and the fresh smell of the air upon landing, I knew I wanted to live there. As we disembarked, I told my husband of an immediate visceral feeling - "We're home." We bought a home on the beach on Auckland's North Shore, and later shifted to a home above the beach in Nelson on the South Island. My husband was working in the States and I was telecommuting and could live anywhere; we had a bi-hemisphere marriage for several years. I was born and raised in Southern California but New Zealand will always be the home of my heart.
Well, we visited Costa Rica many years ago and liked it a lot. 6 months later we went back and bought a house thinking we would go there for a couple of weeks during the summer and a couple of weeks during the winter. After a year we decided to sell our Minneapolis home and move permanently in Costa Rica. That was 26 years ago and it was the best move we ever made!
A place I'd move to in a heartbeat? Prague. We were there a couple of weeks ago and I want to go back again just to wander the streets.
We flew SAS from ORD, with an 8 hour layover at CPH. We rode the train into town/metro back to the airport, which allowed us to walk from the exit of the train station across from Tivoli to Nyhavn for the obligatory photos--so while we didn't see much of Copenhagen, we at least got a taste of it on a 2.5-3 mile stroll.
Word to the wise: We only had carry-ons and thought we could store them in the lockers in the P4 garage at CPH. Unfortunately, those require a data connection and the CPH public WiFi doesn't cover that garage, and we didn't plan on getting a SIM until arriving in Prague. I have a bad knee and my wife is recovering from broken toes, but we made it work--but wouldn't do it again!
We then spent six nights in Prague and found it to be wonderfully cosmopolitan and incredibly beautiful. My wife and I are over 65 so public transit--clean, fast, and widely available--was free.
About Prague, me too. As an American Jew whose people came from the general area (Ukraine, but that's not an opportunity for now), I felt very much at home. We even attended Yom Kippur services there last year in a liberal temple in the Jewish quarter, which was quite moving. I also "rescued" a marionette of a Hasidic rabbi from a Czech toy store near the Clock, and he's hanging in my office right now. They seemed proud of their city's Jewish heritage, as opposed to our other stops of Budapest and Vienna, which were ambivalent at best. Although I did have one of the best meals of my life at a Budapest Israeli restaurant in the ruin quarter, Mazel Tov.
We love Prague, too! It's been a while since we've been there, but maybe next summer we'll get back there.
We've been told the livability of Prague is the main reason that Czechia doesn't have a retirement visa option. ;-)
I have always wanted to live in London. Every time I go back I see something different that makes me want to live there again. And I love taking photos there. Wish I had been brave enough to have move there for a while when I was younger.
My favorite city, which we’ve been to a few times is Brugge. There’s just something about the city that’s so comfortable and fun to walk around and has good food and it’s definitely not too crowded as long as you avoid the main square.
It's on our list!
I hope you’re doing it on your current trip. I suggest you watch the movie in Bruges.
My entire family lives in Denmark. They tell me all the time I should move there.
The place we love is Denmark, particularly Aalborg. The Danish way of life is so compelling that relocating was very tempting. If we were younger we might have considered it. But then there's family--children, grandchildren, siblings, cousins--that we don't want to abandon (that's what it would feel like). So...we have our memories of a delightful country.
We spent our work years in Miami, but we had a three day layover in Vancouver, Canada on a trip coming home from China in the 1980's. We fell in love with this city of natural beauty and such a diverse population of very decent unarmed people. By 1999 we had moved here. We've been citizens since 2004 and are still thrilled to live here in the West End of Vancouver.