View over Kraków on a fresh January day
I have been taking photos ever since my uncle and aunt inspired me to buy my first DSL at the age of 16. I was born in Holland, moved to the eastern part of the Netherlands, immigrated to Sweden. Here I wrote a travel guide book as thick as a brick about my new home country, was a news and radio correspondent and was a teacher in Swedish schools. 15 years after settling in the land of the Vikings, I popped over to the southern side of the Baltic Sea, and found my third home in Kraków, Poland. The third time's the charm.
December starts with a few fresh photos of Kraków's Old Town. Here the Christmas Market is up and people are warming up for the end of year celebrations. Followed by the first set of photos of my September 2025 visit to the world's oldest open-air museum.
Marcel Burger
Kraków, 8 December 2025
Kraków, 8 December 2025
Explore more of Europe!
Skansen | Stockholm
8 & 9 December 2025 • Skansen is the world's oldest open-air museum, and was opened in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1891. It has a great collection of historic buildings from all over the country, as well as some close-up possibilities with Nordic wildlife. The first photos of my September 2025 visit are up, more are coming soon.
Kraków | Poland
6 December 2025 • The historic centre of Kraków is UNESCO World Heritage since 1978. This was the capital of Poland for almost five centuries, until the "Swedish" king Sigismund III Vasa moved it to Warsaw in 1596. As a merchant town, the medieval Kraków was surrounded by a city wall and 46 defence towers and seven gates. Apart from the Florian Gate and a piece of renovated wall, not much of the old walls is left. But the city has marked the locations of the old towers with plates on tilted stone to give you an idea of the old defences.
Venezia (Venice) | Italy
30 November 2025: much expanded story, many more photos • Summer 2023 was my first trip to Venice (Venezia)—a long-standing wish fulfilled. The old city is Impressive with a capital I. But at night even some of the central parts turn into a ghost town, as the number of inhabitants has dropped to as little as 50,000; and day tourists flock away.
West-Friesland (West Frysia) | the Netherlands
25 November 2025: Zaandijk and Zaanse Schans added •West-Friesland (West Frisia) is a region in the northwest of the Netherlands. It's not defined by administrational borders, but by historical context and lingual differences. Within the region the towns of Alkmaar, Enkhuizen, Hoorn, Zaanstad and Den Helder became the most powerful. Edam, Volendam and Medemblik are also considered small national gems.
Dubrovnik| Croatia
24 November 2025: new photos and updated story • UNESCO calls Dubrovnik the 'Pearl of the Adriatic'. While the Serbian armies took aim at Dubrovnik during the 1990s Balkans Wars, the city has recovered since. Restoration is still ongoing, but for visitors of today, Dubrovnik is indeed a gem like it was before the conflict.
Uppsala | Sweden
20 November 2025: new section of Lake Ekoln added • Uppsala is the fourth-largest city of Sweden and was once the capital of the kingdoms' lands of Svealand, still the name for the central part of the country. For me, Uppsala was the first place I visited in Sweden, back in 2001. It later became my hometown for more than a decade. I revisited the city that I left in September 2025.
Gouda | the Netherlands
17 November 2025 • City of where the famous cheese comes from, but was never made here. Also the city which grew big on beer and laundry of the rich. And the city that is the birthplace of the "stroopwafel": the cookie with two slices of biscuit and a caramelised layer of sugar to keep it together. Welcome to Gouda, Zuid-Holland, the Netherlands.
Zeeland | the Netherlands
16 November 2025 • The Zeeland area is famous for its fight against the see, which it lost for a moment in 1953. But with the Delta Works—a big engineering win—in place, the peninsulas in the southwest of the Netherlands are staying afloat. I frequently visit Zeeland, and the latest expansion of my Zeeland story include the Oosterschelde Storm Surge barrier, the towns of Goes and Zierikzee, and a first limited series of the regional capital of Middelburg.
Photo locations of Marcelburger.com
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