Blog Day 29 July 15, 2014

Oslo to Paris to LAX to Oceanside

Home!

So how much do you trust a hotel wake up call set to call you in Norwegian at 3:30am?  We both got up several times in the short night to double check on the time.  Then when we did get the call (right on time) Patti couldn’t figure out how to hang up the phone….oh, the middle of the night!

We easily did the last minute packing, checked out of the hotel and picked up our sack breakfasts….they don’t start serving the real breakfast until 5:30.  Much too late for our flight.

The airport check- in went well.  We will have a small regional jet from Oslo to Paris, then non-stop to LAX, a two-hour drive and THEN we are home.  Even though this seems fairly daunting as we are contemplating it, Patti was thinking about what it must have felt like in 1919 when her grandma, Hilda, left to go by herself on a ship to America.  A voyage that surely took a LOT longer than a long day.  With all of the hassles with security (we were warned that we might have to power up our electronics to prove that they are not some kind of an explosive devise…), it sure is so much easier and possible for us to travel than it has been at any time in the world.

The flights went without troubles.  A quick plane change in Paris.  Then we settled in for the eleven-hour flight.  A chance to catch up on some movies (Patti watched 4 of them!!!) and on a little sleep.  And some Air France plane food.  Still quite a cut above what they serve (or don’t serve) on American domestic flights.  They serve really lovely meals which include champagne or wine without extra cost.

So, this final note comes come home, where we arrived at about 4pm, having been awake for more than 22 hours.  Be it ever so humble, there IS no place like home.  A great trip.  Thanks for following our adventures, and holding us in your thoughts and prayers.  Until next time!

“Traveling. It leaves you speechless and then turns you into a storyteller.”

Blog Day 28 Monday July 14, 2014

-->

Oslo Norway

Really the last full day of our vacation.  We got up, did our on-line check in for tomorrow’s 6:30 am flight, checked out of the hotel while leaving our luggage until evening.  We have got this down, but Patti is getting tired of all of the logistics.  Just getting ready to hop in the car and drive somewhere that she knows where it is.

We went to the transportation center and bought an “Oslo card” which allows us free entry to all kinds of museums and free transportation for 24 hours.  We have our "plan” to walk down to the harbor, take the short ferry across to a nearby peninsula, and then visit two or more museums.  Worked like a charm. We cut through the ancient city fortress on the way to the harbor.  It was old and sturdy looking.  We were thinking that no one would try to get through it.  It turns out that the Nazis did, when they took over the country in 1939.

The first museum we went to way The Viking Ship Museum  http://www.khm.uio.no/english/visit-us/viking-ship-museum/index.html  This museum focuses on three ships built in about the 900’s which were found as burial sites on farms.  Two of them were in fantastic shape.  There also was a lot of different jewelry and sleds and other Viking artifacts.  Small, but really well done.

Then we walked over to our main event:  The Oslo Open Air Museum of Folks Museum  http://www.khm.uio.no/english/visit-us/viking-ship-museum/index.html.  This was originally started when a Norwegian king in the late 1890’s decided to bring some old buildings into the city to show the city folks how country folks lived.  This included a traditional stave church built in the 1200’s. Eventually it expanded and expanded to now included over a hundred traditional farms, houses and other buildings, plus a collection of very well interpreted art and artifacts.  It was well staffed with lots of living history interpreters, musicians, farmers and other staff.  We so enjoyed to talking with them and finding out more about life in Norway from several hundred years ago to quite recent times.

There was a great exhibit about the Sami people (who we always heard of as Laplanders).  This really showed how another indigenous group of people were pushed off their land, and forced to abandon their native language. Some very good politic and cultural work has been happening in the past couple of decades to preserve the language and way of life.

There was another amazing exhibit showed an apartment building set up with 8 apartments showing how various families lived from 1979-2002.  Very cool.  Dick was especially interested in how the kitchens changed through time.  Here is a panorama view of the apartment from 1965.   http://www.123media.no/fileadmin/editor/360/Norsk_Folkemuseum/14/360.html

We saw some dancing and heard a special Norwegian fiddle with extra strings.  The whole museum was filled with really great stuff.  Thank goodness that someone thinks of preserving these great historical things and places.

We hopped on the ferry and were quickly on the other side of the harbor.  As we walked back, we stopped for a powerful, but sobering visit to the Norway Resistance Movement Museum  http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g190479-d206467-Reviews-Norway_s_Resistance_Museum_Norges_Hjemmefront_Museum-Oslo_Eastern_Norway.html  It focused on the impact of the Nazis on Norway and the ongoing battle both overtly and covertly that happened over the five years that German dominated Norway.  It was hard to watch and read some of the things, but it was a gripping story.  One area that was very powerful was, they tried to make the teachers use propaganda in the classroom and they refused, and the parent backed them up.  That would have taken some serious courage in the face of the Nazis.  We left feeling quiet, but appreciative of all of the suffering that war has brought to Europe and the world.

We picked up our suitcases, made the way one more time to the train station, then off to the Oslo airport.  Not leaving QUITE yet, but need to get there by 4:30 in the morning, so we thought it was wise to get out closer to the airport tonight.  It took a bit of figuring out which bus to take to the hotel…but we did it again.  We had had sandwiches earlier, but Dick as in the mood for a bowl of soup, which wasn’t on the hotel restaurant menu.  The waiter and chef conferred and they whipped up tomato soup for us both…pricey  $14/bowl (this is Norway after all), but good and really nice that they did it.

Dick then packed up the suitcases for the early morning wake up call.  How does 3:30am sound?  Then we are seriously “off”.  Several hours to get to Paris, a quick change and then on to LA.  Home, here we come.

“When it's over, I want to say: all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.

When it is over, I don't want to wonder
if I have made of my life something particular, and real.
I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened,
or full of argument.

I don't want to end up simply having visited this world.”

Mary Oliver

Blog Day 27 Sunday July 13, 2014

-->

Bergen to Oslo Norway

We are writing this while sitting on the training in Bergen waiting.  Just as the train was set to depart, they made an announcement that for many people, a portion of their trip together was canceled due to a rockslide, which has left a chunk of the road impassable today.  These folks were scheduled to take the train partway, and then taking a bus down to a small down and a boat through the fjord over to the little town of Flam. This is billed as “Norway in a Nutshell”, the most popular tour in Norway.  Whoops!!!! Luckily for us, we are set to take the train directly to Flam.  People are confused and in a panic.  It’s not really like most people can just rebook for several days down the road.  The train company didn’t handle this very well.  We are leaving 20 minutes late –just started going with less people aboard.  We don’t know what they are going to do.  We hope this won’t affect the number of people who will be trying to get the small train down to Flam.  Whatever.  There is nothing that we can do…and our trip will be minimally impacted.  Just another day on the road.

The train ride to Myrdal went well, with more of the lovely scenery, countryside, mountains, little towns, farms, bike paths….just pretty, pretty sites. And some pretty long tunnels.

We caught the little train down to Flam-standing-room only in some of the cars due to the extra folks who were supposed to go the other route.  This route took us from around 3000 feet to pretty much sea level in quite an astounding train trip.   We were scheduled for about a half hour to stare at the scenery at the bottom of this mountain.  Wow!!!! And can I say again, Wow!!!

Park way down, we had a stop at a spectacular waterfall, where we were entertained by three young women portraying some type of mythical sirens who would try to lure us into the waterfall.  A pretty good gig on a nice day.  Pretty nippy if it was raining or cold.  Every half hour all day long they need to do a 3 minute dance.  We hope that they have somewhere warm and dry to go in between sets.  But it was fun to see them.

Because of our late leaving time, we had only about 15 minutes down at the bottom in the town of Flam before we had to leave.  We traded taking a very early 6:30am train or getting back to Oslo at nearly 11pm for having a short time at the bottom.  It is really all about priorities…We soak in the beauty of the small village at the bottom of the fjord, and then we piled back on the train for the ride up the mountain. The ride up was also wonderful.  Dick talked to a guy about the process that they have where a B&B rents bikes to people for the 10 miles downhill bike ride to the bottom.  Then you can ride the train back up.  It was be really lovely.  Maybe next time. We got off that train to catch the train back to Oslo.

It was so much easier to find our same hotel in Oslo than it had been four days ago.   Hop off the train, and walk a few minutes.  This time with just our two small bags, having checked our luggage at the hotel.  A very good move!!!!  Crazy little hotel, but it felt a bit like home.  We got some great middle eastern take out from across the street and then turned on the World Cup Finals for soccer. Following the commentary in Norwegians makes it interesting. It has been quite interesting to be in Europe for the whole of the World Cup.  This is a huge deal, and everyone is quite excited to have Germany in the finals, as well as having the Netherlands come in third.

We are coming to the tale end of the trip. One more real full day of site seeing and then the next day is when we go home.  We feel like we have been gone for a long time.

“There are so many important lessons I’ve learned in my journey to now. Trust your instincts, follow your bliss, make plans, work hard, learn to let things go. Don’t be late. Remember that fortune favors the brave. Live. If you need to run, try and run toward something. Study for tests. Laugh at silly cartoons. Be organized. If you fall seven times, get up eight. Always carry an extra pen. Believe you can do everything. Find your key. And the most valuable lesson I’ve learned will forever live in my heart, right beside my husband. Love the one who proves to you that happily ever after is only the beginning.”

Nina Lane, Awaken

Blog Day 26 Saturday July 12, 2014

-->

Bergen Norway

Oh, to be able to sleep late is so nice.  This trip has given us so many wonderful times, but a lot of days that have needed us to get going pretty early.  Dick is still not back to his normal energy level, so extra sleep is appreciated.

After a breakfast in our apartment (having found the nice grocery store the night before,) we were off to explore the wharf area and then go on an amazing guided tour.  Our young costumed guide was very knowledgeable and able to give an excellent tour filled with history and stories about the history of the city. We went through a couple of museums, and had the chance to see a rather secret ruins of the old courthouse that has been hidden away in the basement of a parking garage.  This has been open to the public only for the past 10 days.  Very cool!! 

 The museums focused on life in the middle ages, as well as basically a working house where the Hanseatic merchants would have worked.  Filled with such treasures.  We also saw some examples of runes that appear to be written by average people, things like items to buy, or a note asking a husband to come from maybe from the local bar.  Fascinating!

After another lunch at our favorite fish and chips place, we made a half-hearted attempt to go back to one of the museums from the morning, and then gave into the idea of another nap.  A couple hours later, we emerge ready to find food. 

We wandered around checking out the outrageous tourist restaurant prices, including a VERY expensive Chinese restaurant (it turns out that there are a lot of Chines tourist here).  We finally settled on a $44 vegetarian pizza to go which we ate at the side of a local lake.  A lovely final evening in Bergen. Dick is finally feeling well enough to do some more work with the photos.  He stayed up until midnight, playing with pictures and following the World Cup game.  Brazil had to be devastated losing in the semifinals.  Then off to sleep for both.  Another lovely day.

“To be on a quest is nothing more or less than to become an asker of questions.”  Sam Keen

Blog Day 25 Friday July 11, 2014

-->

Stavanger to Bergen, Norway

Breakfast at the hotel at 6:30, along with an enormous Spanish-speaking tour group.  We extravagantly decided to take a taxi rather than the bus, saving a long walk and giving us time for breakfast.  Breakfast consisted on something for everyone:  bacon and fried eggs, hardboiled eggs, beets, herring, cereal, bread of all types, coffee, juice, salads, fruit, yoghurt, potatoes. We both ate as much as we could muster at that early hour.

Then off to the airport, easy  check-in and security process (although Dick’s beard trimming scissors drew some attention). You know how you could take someone out with a tiny trimming scissors.  The flight was only 25 minutes, and then we were in Bergen.

This is a medium-sized city on the coast of Norway, but further North.  The airport shuttle was clearly marked and easy to take.  We had good instructions from our Air B&B host as to which stop to get off at, and we were able to do this without incident.  Patti was a bit nervous from the walking instructions as to how to get to the apartment.  It seems that many people got lost trying to find it, but Dick was able to use his good sense of direction and we walked right up to it.  The hosts weren’t home, but had left directions as to where to find the key, and it was there.  We were able to drop off our bags at the apartment, thinking e would just strol lfor a bit, but ended off going off for the entire day.

Bergen is a harbor town, with an amazing old section that was a center for the Hanseatic League of German merchants for a couple hundred years.  The town itself had been settled since around the year 1000.   These old, old places are so amazing.  Most of the buildings are only about 300 years old, due to a long serious of fires that would burn down the whole town.

We did some initial exploring, had a delicious fresh fish and chips lunch, and then decided to take advantage of the lovely day (it generally rains in Bergen, with only 60 days a year without rain). 

We wanted to go and visit Edvard Grieg’s house (the composer of such pieces as the Pyre Gynt Suite.)  We were at first determined to take a tram out in that direction and then walk a half hour each way.  We couldn’t get the darned ticket machine to take our American credit card (something that hadn’t happened more than a couple of other times).  We finally regrouped and decided to book ourselves on a tour bus that would include the lunch time concert there.  This turned out to the a great choice, not only because it was so hot that the extra walk would have been hard, but we got an extra guided tour while at the house, which was excellent.  

 “Lunch time concert” sounds like someone sitting down and pounding out a little music, but we were treated to an exquisite Norway pianist who delighted us with 7 or 8 of Grieg’s piano pieces, that were delightful and especially moving in an amazing chamber concert hall will excellent acoustics, played on a fine Steinway piano.    He was obviously delighted to be playing in the place that Grieg had spent 22 summers living there and composing.  The house tour was also very interesting, with lots of little stories about Grieg and his friends. Ad maybe most moving was the Composer Hut, a little small room right on the edge of a lake with a small upright piano.  To imagine such song coming through right there was powerful.

Our trip back was fun, having the chance to chat with a young teacher from Washington DC who was on her way to teacher summer school in Italy.  Lots of fun exchange there. 

We were hungry again, and were helped to put together a really nice plate of very fresh shrimp and smoked salmon but a young woman from Los Angeles California. We had a quick walk back to our apartment, and then a really nice late afternoon nap.  Traveling is such hard work. 

After a nice sleep, we took the funicular (train that goes up and down hills) up to the top of the local mountain. There were spent a couple  of delightful hours gazing down at the city, talking photos of the troll carvings in the woods, and walking around a sweet little lake.  All of the local people we talked with confirmed, the weather is not usually like this, and everyone who could was totally out enjoying the hot, warm and lovely weather.  People were sunbathing, swimming, and having picnics in the wooded area.  What a peaceful time.

We thought briefly about staying up to watch the sunset, but that would be another couple of hours, being that it was only slightly after 9pm. That would be past our travel time bedtime.  We took the funicular back down and then strolled to our home away from home.  The apartment is in a perfect location, only minutes from the tour area and harbor, but in a real neighborhood.  We are thrilled that we made such a good find.

No umbrellas or raincoats needed in Bergen today.  Yahoo!  What a great day.

There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler alone who is foreign. Robert Louis Stevenson

Blog Day 24 Thursday July 10, 2014

-->

Oslo to Stavanger Norway

Up fairly early and we did some strategic repacking.  We are now going on a several day train journey through some of the most beautiful areas of Norway and then returning to Oslo.  Dick had the brilliant thought of asking if we could stow much of our luggage while we are gone, picking it backup when we are back at this hotel on Sunday night.  They said, “yes, of course.”  We were able to  condense it down into having everything we need in one day pack and one medium sized duffle bag.  Yah!  Traveling light is really excellent.  Especially as you are hopping on and off trains and buses, and walking from train stations.

The day’s work was getting from Oslo to Stavanger, going west through the south of Norway along the coast.  It was about an eight our trip.  We were pleased to again be able to take advantage of our Eurail first class status to get a really nice car with good seats.  We have noticed that in about 75% of the cases, the seat we are assigned seems to have us riding backwards.  Some type of Murphy’s Law or something.

The scenery was spectacular, with Dick especially enjoying and snapping photos of the changing landscape.  There we saw many glimpses of fjords, mountain villages, lakes and streams.  We both wondered about what it would be like to live in these places, both now and in the past.  They are really off the beaten path.

But we had some surprises:  Christiansand was a place that a lot of people got off.  We had never really heard of it.  It turns out to be Norway’s answer to a beach resort community, and had a cruise ship in the harbor there.

Patti used the day to catch up on blogging, and to finish a Danish novel (translated into English, thank you!!) that she had received as a gift from her cousin, Annette, in Copenhagen.  Smilla’s Sense of Snow   http://www.amazon.com/Smillas-Sense-Snow-Peter-Hoeg/dp/0385315147/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405151753&sr=8-1&keywords=smilias+sense+of+snow  The book (a murder teamster) was set in Annette’s neighborhood, and Patti had seen some of the places, so that made it really special.  What a nice book, and a good bit of relaxing.

We had a bit of a surprise when, about a half hour out of Stavanger, the train stopped and virtually everyone got out.  As we were watching, we were able to catch an old woman on the train, who said that that we now all had to get out and take a bus.  We scrambled and were befriended by a conductor who was catching the same bus.  Good life’s lesson:  if everyone else is getting off, ask someone quickly!!!  We all piled into a cramped bus and drove to the train station in Stavanger.  It turns out that there was a construction project happening on the tracks which kept it closed for 3 weeks.

So we got to the train station, got out our little map to walk to our hotel and headed out walking  We went for quite a while, and there were no street signs, with an occasional one not showing up on our map.  Finally we stopped a woman who was powerwalking and ask where we were.  She looked carefully and said where we were was not on that map at all.  She thought for a moment and then said that she would take us to where we needed to go.  What an angel.  It turns out that we had gone through an underground tunnel and then took the wrong turn.  She got us on track and within site of our hotel.  A very nice woman who worked at a beauty salon with a small daughter.  Who knows where we would have ended up without her help.  (Later on, Dick was able to look at a more detailed map, and we were actually quite close to where we needed to be, if we had only known....oh well.)

By this time we were tired and starving (maybe about 9 in the evening, still VERY light, of course.)  As we were going by a middle eastern kabob place, we decided to stop and get some food.  It was delicious and easy.

The hotel was a Raddison, with English speaking staff and a breakfast buffet for morning.  We made our plans and went to bed.  Next phase, completed.

“I travel light. I think the most important thing is to be in a good mood and enjoy life, wherever you are.” — Diane von Furstenberg

Blog Day 21 Monday July 7, 2014

-->

Møn

A chance to sleep in and have breakfast at 9:00.  Birthe picked up our picnic basket breakfast, and there was enough food not only for breakfast, but for sandwiches for lunch.  And great cheeses and meats.  They do breakfast up big in Denmark!

The morning goals was to visit the biggest tourist attraction on the island of Møn, Møns Klints (These are chalky white cliffs).  These were very close by our B&B.  Finn was always looking for a different scenic route to give us the best experience. We were able to see the little harbor that had once had a lot of fishing, but was now pretty quiet and touristy.

We also made an impromptu stop at the island’s only light house.  Although there were signs all over that said no admittance and keep out, Finn helped us to boldly walk in and see it. It was lovely!!!  We love lighthouses, so appreciated the chance to take a peek.

Then on to the cliffs.  They have a very new state of the arts museum and visitor’s center, that we had the chance to just walk through.  There are fossils and exhibits and amazing things to be seen.

There are also stairs (about 300 each direction) to go down to the bottom of the cliffs.  Between Dick’s health, and our tight schedule we sadly had to say, “Not today” to going down to the bottom, or to taking a boat trip to see them from the water.  We were able to walk out on a lovely board walk to a viewing platform, which was built by our cousin Kim.  It gave a good peak at the cliffs. How totally cool.  There is s story from Patti’s dad’s grandpa’s family that he lived in that area and worked by the cliffs and everyday would carry a large rock on his back home in order to build a family house.

From there, we were invited to see Kim and Lenna’s country home (not quite a farm, but they have a hen house and lots of fruits and a huge garden. ) We were so warmly received and got the grand tour.  Kim has been battling with a fox who would like to eat his chickens and rabbit.  He shared so many ripe berries, and ripe cherries straight off the tree.  The fruit was delicious and we tasted some of all the ripe goodness.

It began to rain as we ate our picnic lunch on the outdoor patio with a roof.  Let it rain.  We were having a great visit.  We looked at more photos and then they wanted to see our home on Google Earth.  Technology can be wonderful!

A couple of stops at churches gave more stories, and more wonderful houses to see.  A treat for Birthe was stopping at the home that her mom was born in and getting a tour of some of the features she still remembers including a funny self-closing door to the bathroom.

Dick officially “out of gas” and so they drove him back to the B&B for a welcomed 2 and ½ hour nap.  Meanwhile, Patti, Birthe and Anni had the chance to stroll around downtown Stege, the largest town on the island.  They saw the original medieval gate to the town, and many old and wonderful buildings.

Patti was especially interested in seeing their library branch.  Denmark has a new system that allows patrons to come and use the library without staff there until 10pm.  You use your health insurance id car and pin number.  Although this was into the evening, the place was jumping. How creative.  It was a very nice library.

Birthe and Patti power shopped at the local grocery story that was closing in 15 minutes and bought take out food back to the B&B and they creatively figure out how to heat it up. Dick had more energy. Amazing what that nap could do.

Then Patti and Birthe sat up very late looking at old photos.  There were several total gems, including one that was the five oldest kids in Patti’s dad’s family when he was the baby.  She brought several photos home, and will get scanned copies of many more.  What total fun.  She was so tired and so buzzed that it was hard to calm down to sleep.

WOW!!!

“Blessed are the curious for they shall have adventures.” Lovelle  Drachman

Blog Day 23 Wednesday July 9, 2014

Oslo Norway

Now officially in the final week of the trip.  Waking up in Norway is fantastic.  Our funky hotel got quiet in the night, and doesn’t seem to be an early rising place.  We walked from the hotel back down to the trainstation.  It is amazing now much closer it seemed when you are not dragging suitcases and when you know where you are going.  We changed some money into Norwegian Kroner (not to be confused with Danish Kroner…), got some help with our final several train reservations, and had a little breakfast.

Because of the huge oil boom in Norway, everything is EXPENSIVE here.  Finding food has turned out to be challenging.  Our eating today ended up being pretty spotty.

We got our tram/bus pass for the day, and then set out to go to a wonderful sculpture garden, Vigeland (Sculpture) Park.  Catch a little slideshow of the photos at  http://www.visitoslo.com/en/product/?tlp=181601

Or a longer explanation at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frogner_Park  The sculptor Gustav Vigeland had an amazing career creating huge sculptures, mostly in granite of people commenting on the cycles of life.This included some amazing elders.  It is an astounding collection, free and open to the public.  And you can touch the sculptures and people do, interacting very playfully with the art.  What great fun!  Dick first saw them 40 years ago, and wanted so much to see them again.  

 We also went to a nearby museum where we got to see some of the prototypes and the process behind making them. Wow!!!!  It was incredible.

Then we took a long tram ride (kind of by accident) riding out to the suburbs and the end of the line.  Oh well, we saw some interesting parts of town.  Coming back, we had the chance to get off and see the king’s palace, and some of the harbor area.  This is another very old city.  And one that gets a lot of tourist attention.  There was a large cruise ship in the harbor, and lots of tour groups all around, especially at the sculpture gardens.

Then we went to the Museum of the Nobel Peace Prize.  There were caught up with a tour in English, and got to hear about the fascinating process that goes into honoring someone for bring more peace into the world.   http://www.nobelpeacecenter.org/en/ We both knew something of the prize, but were quite moved at this place that focused on peace.  Well worth a visit.

Then, the hunt for food was on again.  We found a great restaurant on a boat right on the harbor, but after 30 minutes we never could get someone to take our order.  Bummer!  Then we wandered looking and being amazed at the prices.  We finally grabbed some bread and ready-made potato and shrimp salads and ate this looking at the water.  Followed by ice cream.  Ice cream seems to be very important to Europeans, so we have been trying to do our best to sample it wherever we go.

Did we mention that it is HOT here?  Everyone is talking about the heat.  We were told that 2 weeks ago they had snow here in Oslo, but not this week.  The temps are in the 80s and muggy.  Takes a lot out of you!  We hauled a lot of cold weather clothes along to be prepared for raining and cool, but not this week!

We dragged ourselves back to the room and feel asleep for about 3 hours starting at 7pm.  Party animals.  Then awake a bit, and restless sleep in the hot night. We are still so tired from our full week in Denmark, and Dick is still struggling with his stomach.  And the heat….it all means, trying to get some extra rest wins.

We went to bed, knowing that tomorrow we hit the rails again, now getting out to the coast of Norway and some amazing views.

“Traveling is like flirting with life. It’s like saying, ‘I would stay and love you, but I have to go; this is my station.’” – Lisa St. Aubin de Teran

Blog Day 22 Tuesday July 8, 2014

Møn to Copenhagen train to Oslo

Up early enjoying the lovely area around the B&B.  The piles of things that need to go into the suitcase has grown with presents and things that need to be brought back to America.  Dick is again a packing champ.

We had a great breakfast, prepared in a picnic basket by our B&B host.  The four of us so enjoyed the quieter time together.  Birthe and Finn are as nice of people as you can meet.  Breakfast went quickly, and Patti packed up sandwiches for the long train journey North.

Ani, Mogens, and their son Kristian arrived (15 minutes early, but Dick was totally ready. Way to go Dick!!!)  They had borrowed a neighbor’s larger car to have enough room for the drive for five of us and our luggage to get us up to Copenhagen to the main train station for our train to Oslo.   We said our grateful goodbyes to Birthe and Finn.  Then we had a really quick car ride (okay, some of the traffic made it not so quick), but the time went by quickly having the last chances to share stories and ask questions of each other.  Our meager amount of Danish was put to good use, especially in saying Tak (thanks) about a million times.  How can you thank people who have just welcomed you into their arms and homes?  It is such a privilege to have such an inside look at life in Denmark!

They said only that we need to come back again for 14 or 21 days to get a broader experience.  We will try.

They got us to the train station before our train’s platform was even listed on the board, and Kristian waited to make sure the train was scheduled to be on time.  He was such a gracious trooper.  Thank you , Kristian.  And Thanks to Anni and Mogens for the long drive up from Møn.  It was so appreciated!!!!

The train (or actually trains) to Oslo were on time, and pretty uneventful.  We drove about 180 Kilometers/hour (120 mile/hour)  much of the way.  We had an hour and a half time between trains in Guthebo, Sweden.  We had a little chance to poke around at the train station, including having some ice cream and French fries at a Burger King…the only ice cream we could find.  It was pouring rain when we arrived there, with lots of good lightening and thunder.  We knew we were not in Southern California when they had umbrellas at a vending machine as you got off the train.  It rains here!!!

Dick got the special treat of talking to the engineer of the train and then got invited to ride up on the control cabin while we were driving. Patti had a little time where she was hopeful that Dick had gotten back on the train before it left, but found a very happy Dick so pleased at the up close tour he got.

The final leg to Oslo was in the “Comfort” or First class car.  This meant we had nicer seats and got free hot coca and coffee, but that we also had guaranteed seats.  The train was very full.  Patti got a kick out of the “Uf da” train sickness bags.  She had to take a couple of them home.  Uf da!

The train arrived on schedule in Oslo.  We had about a mile to get to our rather budget hostel/ hotel.  It was a hopping place, filled with folks from around the world-mostly young and pretty loud in the lobby.  We were mostly looking for a clean place to sleep.  Another long day, but very satisfying!!!

“To move, to breathe, to fly, to float,
To gain all while you give,
To roam the roads of lands remote,
To travel is to live.”
― Hans Christian Andersen

Blog Day 20 Sunday July 6, 2014

-->

Copenhagen- to Møn

Up quite early, Dick still up and down with his stomach.  He is ready to end this siege, but so glad to be feeling much better.  He did a stellar job in packing up the suitcases.  We knew that we would  be putting all of our luggage , plus five people in a small Opal car.  Dick is a champ packer.  He did it.

It was with grateful and sad hearts that we said goodbye to Willy and Karin.  They have been the consummate kind and gracious hosts.  We feel that we came, having had fine interactions by email and SKYPE, and are leaving having some new good friends.  Our paths will surely cross again.  We did not in any way see everything there is to see in Denmark.  We’ll be back to Copenhagen again, for sure.

Lars, Gitte, and Kjeld arrived to pick us up, 15 minutes earlier than planned, as good Scandinavians ought to be.  We were nearly ready, just a couple more things tossed in the case, and then with goodbyes and greetings, we were off to the island of Møn.

It was a great day to drive, and quickly we were out of the large city of Copenhagen into countryside land that could have been Minnesota where Patti grew up.  We were so lucky to have lots of great commentary and guiding information in Danish and English.  So many of our family in Denmark have really excellent English, and do such a nice job of not only speaking to us, but translating both directions in a really easy way.  This made such a difference for communication.  Especially some of the older folks had less English skills, but people helped out all of the time, and we never felt left out of the conversations

We drove and heard stories, and then suddenly, there was the bridge that took us from the mainland over to the island of Møn.  Kjeld shared that it was built during WWII in 1943, and that on opening day, he was there and rode his bike across.  Oh, this is going to be quite a wonderful, very personal tour of the island. 

We stopped at Kristian’s parents (Anni and Mogens) home to drop off Gitte, and say a quick hello to many of the relatives, before hopping back into the car for a drive around before the larger group of family members met.  Warm greetings all of the way around.  The family has begun to assemble.

Kjeld had some great places that he really wanted to show us before the large gathering.  We drove by a number of houses in several of the little villages on the island.  Many houses had a story:  a family member lived there, a place that he rode his bike, a neighbor with an interesting tale, the house where he grew up and his grandparents who lived there.  Our heads were already spinning, but we were there!!! On the island of Møn, where Grandma Hilda grew up. Wow!!!!!

There was an especially beautiful church on the island that has frescos form the 1300’s (this is an OLD island).  Services were just getting out, and so we were able to go inside and see it.  Wonderful primitive drawings, but really lovely.  This church had had a lot of restoration work.  Very nice!

We ended this portion of time at the church that the family primarily attended in Borre.  It was there that Dad’s cousin’s daughter Birthe took her leadership role.  She had quite an agenda for the day, and also a check list of family members who were all meeting at this church at noon.  Most were early, but all were there by the time that the clock struck noon.  We met every one (and many of them met each other.  Hilda had 9 brothers and sister, and many of these descendants didn’t know one another, as well as meeting Dick and Patti.)  In all, we were a few over 20.  Patti’s original hope in going to Denmark was that she could find and meet 2 family members.  Success!!!  It was really amazing and moving, as each one introduced themselves and warmly received the greetings form the USA.   

Several shared that they brought old photos to look at.  Patti was in heaven.

Unfortunately, the family church was not open for us to go inside, but we had a nice walk through the garden, as well as through the cemetery.  There were some family members who had been buried here.  The church was lovely, and it was terrific to be here with family. 

Ulla, another of Patti’s dad’s cousins also arrived, with her husband Poul.  She also had stories to tell.  She remembered that when Hilda arrived in 1952, she had a huge suitcase that included a lot of used clothes.  After WWII, it was very difficult to get goods in Europe.  Ulla remembers that she got some of the clothes, and then would tell her friends that these were clothes from America.

The group then caravanned to a lovely park on the island:  Lislelind, a former summer place for a wealthy family.  It was the perfect summer day, with lots of sunshine and beautiful skies.  The women had brought coffee, water, and cookies and cakes, so we had a lovely time enjoying the scenery and company.  Patti was able to go through the photos from another section of the family, the Kaspers.  People not only remember and spoke of when Hilda came back, but also about the other large return 23 years ago when four of Patti’s dad’s sisters came to visit for 17 days.   Aunts Alice, Gladys, Jeanne, and Shirley had a terrific visit, and there was a huge party for them.  Many people who came to meet us were there then.  It is a bit daunting to now be the next generation of ambassadors returning “home” to be with family.  The photos were amazing, and this would continuing over the two days on Møn.  Some were given as gifts, and others we took digital photos of, or requested scanned copies.

Birthe especially has a grouping of all ten children in little oval professional photos.  Kjeld was quickly able to identify who is who.  This is so precious at this point.   We all agreed that these need to be scanned, labeled and shared.

The visiting was interrupted by a tour of one of the summer houses.  A lovely professional guide did a great job of giving a tour, and Kristian gave us the gift of translating  it for us.  We were especially interested in hearing the rest of the story that Kjeld had begun for us about a portrait of a monkey in the house.  As it turned out, the family who owned the house had once been living in Lisban, the husband being a political attaché.  While the parents were gone, the monkey, a pet of the children ages 2 and 4, started going berserk.  He would not settle down and so finally the governess took the monkey and the two children to go be seen by a doctor.  When they were out of the house, a horrible earthquake happened killing 32,000 people, including all who were still in the house.  The monkey saved the day!  Apparently there is an obelisk on the island also to the monkey  We didn’t get to see that.  Maybe next time.

Anyway, it was a cool tour, and a beautify property.  It also features guest outhouses camouflaged to look like woodpiles….who knew?

Some of the family had to leave, and so we did a large gourp photos which was great.  Then lots of hugs and promises to send photos and keep in touch.  All are invited to come to California for a visit.

Then it was on to the actual home where Hilda, her siblings (and also Ulla) were born.  It is no longer in the family, and we were not able to go inside, but could see it from the outside.  It was a nice and pretty large home.  There were stories about the property including the number of fruit trees there. Ulla told us that they put a bell in the cherry tree with a string to the kitchen.  When they would see birds in the tree, they would ring the bell.  Pretty clever. 

We went on and went to a Danish Dairy where the star attraction was watching the cows get milked, and eating the very good homemade ice cream.  They had some very young calves who were adorable.  It was a large operation and was quite interesting to view.

More of the group left, but a number of us wen to a lovely traditional Danish restaurant for dinner.  It was a buffet, but you choose your meat separately.  It was so nice to have cousins Lenna and Kim help us navigate.   The food was great and we all ate our fill and more.

Then Patti and Dick and cousins Birthe and Finn went back to the lovely B&B that Birthe had found for the four of us to stay in.  It was perfect, on an old Danish farmhouse.  Here is the website   http://www.tiendegaarden.dk/en/   We would highly recommend it.

We both fell into a dead sleep, so filled up with family and names and photos.  What a day!!!!  No blogging or working on photos tonight!!!

“Sometimes I need
only to stand
wherever I am
to be blessed.”
― Mary Oliver

Blog Day 19 Saturday July 5, 2014

-->

Copenhagen- Family party

We had a nice morning at Willy and Karin’s, and then they graciously offered to drive us into another area of Copenhagen where part of my dad’s side of the family was gathering for a party.  All of them were people at least Patti had met before in person, or Dick and Patti had met via SKYPE.  We were dropped off at Lars and Julie’s apartment where they party was held.  Nearly all of the buildings in Denmark are over 100 or 200 years old.  It is very funny to find the 100 year old ones being considered pretty new.

Lars and his partner, Julie, were our hosts, and we were joined by Kristin and Gitte, and Lars’ dad, Kjeld.  What a really fine afternoon we all had together.  We ate great Danish sandwiches and salad, and then went into the livingroom, where Lars hooked up his computer to the big screen TV and we had a fascinating romp through old photos and life on the island of Møn, where Patti’s grandmother, Hilda, grew up, as so did Kjeld and Kristian. 

 Kjeld, just a couple weeks short of 85 years old, had a great memory for people and places and told all kinds of great stories.  He is my father’s first cousin, one of two that we would have the chance to meet in person.  He remembered very well when Hilda came on her only return trip back to Denmark in 1952.  He shared that she had always been very homesick from Denmark, and especially for Møn, but when she got back, having taken the long ship ride form New York, she was homesick for America.  Everything had changed, and in 30 years, her siblings had all married people she didn’t know, and had children that were no familiar to her.   He told that she ended up making arrangements and going back to America sooner than she had planned.  She never returned again, dying in 1966.

Seeing actual old photos of Møn felt like seeing photos for Hogwarts, or some other fictional place that you have read about, or heard about but never though you could actually go there. And we will travel there tomorrow!

We talked about a lot of different topics over the course of the afternoon in some very easy sharing.  Everyone was glad that Dick felt good enough to be able to attend the party.  Yah!  Still not 100%, but so much better.  Everyone except of Julie would be making the journey south about an hour and ½ to Møn for the family gathering.

We ended the time with an American and Danish flag waving photo opportunity.  Lots of fun.  In Danish you ask people to say “Applesine” or orange in order to make them smile.  It was a very smiley time.

Willy and Karin then drove over and picked us up.  What champs they have been with all of the driving.  Cars are very expensive in Denmark, as well as  gas running around $8/gallon.  Expensive.  Everyone who can travels mostly by bus, train and bicycle.  It is a great luxury to be driven.  Thanks to them for such hospitality!

The four of us put together quick dinner of leftovers, co-cooked, with Dick feeling well enough to join in rather than nibbling on something bland.  Yah, again!  (Although he only had one Danish beer during the whole time we were in Denmark…bummer for that!)

 The day ended with sitting again the garden and watching these amazing lily flowers, Night Lights” who open as the sun is going down.  More  timelapse photography, only in real time.  You can actually see the flower move.  It is astounding!

Finally time to go to bed (we had some great discussions about what “hit the hay” really means…”) but we knew the next day would need to be up early for packing, because Møn was calling.  What a fine day.  What fine, fine family we have been fining in Denmark!!!

“It's funny how, in this journey of life, even though we may begin at different times and places, our paths cross with others so that we may share our love, compassion, observations, and hope. This is a design of God that I appreciate and cherish.”
― Steve Maraboli

Blog Day 18 Friday July 4, 2014

Copenhagen- 

Dick woke up feeling quite a bit better than he had for the past several days.  Hoorah!!!!  We did a load of laundry, hung it out on the clothesline (it is amazing how quickly one gets used to hanging out and taking in the laundry).  Then, with a picnic lunch in hand, we set off for the Frilandsmuseet (English: The Open Air Museum) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frilandsmuseet

This is a lovely museum with nearly 100 historical buildings primarily housing and farm buildings that have been moved to this land site just outside of Copenhagen.  We spent a really nice day seeing windmills, riding in a horse-drawn wagon,  and poking around inside these wonderful old homes, mostly from the 1700’s and 1800’s.  It was a totally warm, sunny and great day to be out enjoying this place.  Very nice!

We had hoped to get in a canal tour, but didn’t get to do that.  But we did ride along the road that goes down along the ocean.  Nice!

For dinner, we took Willy and Karin to a lovely local restaurant where we all really enjoyed a delicious dinner.  They have fed us all week, and we were pleased to be able to return a bit of the hospitality.  Dick did quite well, but was very tired by the end of dinner.  This bug has been rough!

After dinner coffee was served in the garden, where Patti Willy and Karin had the joy of watching some Night Light flowers pop into bloom in the twilight. These were so much fun.  It was like watching timelapse photography, but it was happening in real time.   You could literally watch these flowers open up. The joy of sharing plant names continues on.

We are now getting very soon to the end of our time with Will and Karin. They have been such wonderful hosts and we will miss them.  We all hope very much that we will meet again, either in Denmark or in California, or maybe elsewhere.  We have in common many places that we would love to travel.  We have already proven that we live very well tighter.  What a blessing to find these dear relatives.

We remembered that it was the 4th of July, and Patti brought out the American flags she had brought along for just this occasion.  We had a little celebration.  Yah!

"A journey is best measured in friends rather than miles." Tim Cahill

Blog Day 17 Thursday July 3, 2014

-->

Copenhagen-  today on the schedule included “everything you haven’t seen yet,” which of course, includes all too many things.

However, with Dick being so sick, it turned into a day “off” with Patti and Willy spending some time doing family history, genealogy work on the Internet.  They spent a lot of time comparing notes and pooling their information.  It was very fun.  Dick snoozed and rested, making frequent visits to the bathroom.  Not much fun for him.

Patti and Karin went for a wonderful late afternoon walk through the neighborhood.  The focus on their walk was on identifying plants, flower and weeds.  Patti was struck by the fact that nearly all of the plants they found growing wild were the same ones she knew for growing up in MN.  The immigrants from Scandinavia had to have thought, “This looks like home” when they arrived in the Midwest, and especially in MN.  They also went by many farms and riding stables.  This is interesting because they live so near to downtown Copenhagen, but far enough out that there are farms.  One of the nicest one they saw as built in 1768.  When they talked to the owner, he shared about the home including the fact that they have a Dutch ghost, named Cornelius who has been seen in their home.  How cool is that?

The hope is that Dick will feel better enough tomorrow for a bit more of an adventure.  We are all crossing our fingers.

“I wore only black socks, because I had heard that white ones were the classic sign of the American tourist. Black ones though,- those'll fool 'em. I supposed I hoped the European locals' conversation would go something like this:

PIERRE: Ha! Look at that tourist with his camera and guidebook!
JACQUES: Wait, but observe his socks! They are...black!
PIERRE: Zut alors! You are correct! He is one of us! What a fool I am! Let us go speak to him in English and invite him to lunch!”
― Doug Mack, Europe on 5 Wrong Turns a Day: One Man, Eight Countries, One Vintage Travel Guide