Location: Canada
Travel 2009 - Amsterdam (Part 1)
As a graduation present to our daughter, we had planned on going to Paris since she had not seen Paris and we felt that she would really enjoy it. Unfortunately, we were not able to exchange our timeshare so we would have to pay for our accommodations. So we decided that since we have seen Paris and since we have to spend for accommodations, that we should see another city instead. Our daughter and her friend was fine with this. So, we decided to go to Amsterdam. We really enjoyed Amsterdam and were glad that we made the decision to go there.
Our daughter had booked the flight to Amsterdam and back. She was able to save on airfare but our outbound flight went to Zurich before going to Amsterdam. So, on the very first day of our Amsterdam trip, we had gone to 4 countries - Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, and Holland. Such is the character of European travel.
We arrived at Amsterdam and took a train from the airport to the Amsterdam Central station, which is quite typical of European cities. Cost about 4 Euros per person. (Why can't we do this is Calgary?) From the Central Station, we took a tram to the tram stop near our hotel. While on route, we were discussing if we should purchase the 3 day museum pass which include transit or a 3 day transit pass. On route, we noticed as we looked out of the tram, that there were lots and lots of people walking. The place was jampacked with people just moving around. We knew then that we would be doing a lot of walking. The only question was how far was our hotel from the main drag.
Our designated tram stop was the Leidseplein station. Leidseplain, it turns out, is one of the most popular places in Amsterdam where people just congregate. On that day, it was packed with people. It also turns out that it is the southern tip of the main strip that started from the Central Station at the northern tip. This was where people go when in Amsterdam (which I will call Central Amsterdam). And our hotel was located across the bridge from Leidseplein, no more than 500 yards away. It was an ideal location. At that point, we decided that we did not need any transit passes.
Central Amsterdam is actually traversed by a series of concentric canals in the shape of parabolas. The Central Train Station is located at the north end at the centre of these canals. If one draws a line from the Central Station to Leidseplein, this line will roughly bisect Central Amsterdam into two halves. One of the things we found out is that no matter how far out we go, eventually, we end up at the centre. This parabolic design made everything in Amsterdam within walking distance. And because there are a lot of shops to see and because everyone walks or bikes, one does not really realize how far one walks.
We learned that the canals were initially created as a defensive mechanism. The initial inhabitants settled in the north end, built a defensive wall and dug the canal to protect them from a land based invasion. When the population grew and people lived outside the wall, the rulers built another defensive wall and dug another defensive canal. As the population kept growing, the defensive walls extended outward and more canals were dug. Today, the walls are gone but the canals remain and have become a tourist attraction.
We were told that Dutch cooking was bland and boring (except for their Poffertjes, or little pancakes and bitterballen, a Dutch treat). But Central Amsterdam was a mecca of ethnic foods. There were Chinese, Middle Eastern, Greek, Indonesian, East Indian and African restaurants. One of the places we went to was an Indonesian restaurant that was recommended by the hotel and located a few minutes from Leidseplein. The meal was delicious. We even heard that though the Dutch may have conquered Indonesia during the age of explorers, eventually, Indonesia conquered Holland with its cuisine.
Location: Canada
Travel 2009 - Gothenburg
Our next trip was to Gothenburg - the second largest city in Sweden, next to Stockholm. We made the decision to go to Gothenburg instead of Stockholm simply because it was nearer (only about 2 hours instead of 4 hours) and we stayed overnight. We had to come back to Lund for the graduation ceremonies.
The first thing we saw was the brand new stadium, the Ullevi Stadium, the largest outdoor sports arena in Scandinavia. At that time, Sweden was hosting the FIFA U-20 football (soccer) world cup and one of the games was held there. Unfortunately, we did not know about this and the game was sold out so we just watched part of the game on TV.
We went to the Gothenburg Museum. There was a section that dealt with the Viking age and displayed parts of a Viking ship, the only one on display in Sweden. The museum also had a display of how technology evolved - from radio, to television, to vacuum cleaners, etc. from the 1940s to the present. It was very nice to see the different technologies side by side. It is amazing how fast technology evolved during our lifetime.
One of the displays brought back fond memories. On display was an IBM 029 card punch machine. This brought back memories of those long hours I spent punching out over 1500 IBM cards at the Fordham University Computer Centre. I still remember the rules for punching out the cards. One mistake and the whole card had to be thrown away. What took me over a year of computing then could probably be done in a month or two today. Memories....
We spent the rest of the time just going around Gothenburg. One of the places we went to was the shopping mall, Norstan, the largest one in Sweden. One might think this a bit mundane but for my daughter, who had spent almost a year in Lund where there are no shopping malls, this was "sublime joy".
There was also a pedestrian section, called the Haga. The streets were cobbled stones and narrow, lined with shops and cafes. Many cities in Europe have exclusive pedestrian sections - like Stephenplatz in Austria, the Plaka in Athens, The Plaza Mayor in many cities in Spain to name a few. What we did not know then was that in a week's time we would see a huge one in Amsterdam.
The other point of interest that we went to was the fortress at the centre of the city. At the centre of the fortress was the Skansen Kronan. The fortress was built to protect the city from a Danish attack. It was located just off the pedestrian section, high on a hill overlooking the city. To get there, we had to climb over a hundred steps. Once on top, we have a 360 panoramic view of Gothenburg.
Gothenburg was a really nice city and we were glad we came there. We could have gone to Stockholm instead but we felt that we had not lost anything by going to Gothenburg.
We were considering going to Helsingor and Hamlet's castle after our trip to Amsterdam. Unfortunately, when we went back to Lund from Amsterdam, it was a national holiday and what we found out was that nothing is open at that time. In a way, it was fortunate since we had to help our daughter pack her stuff to bring back to Canada.
Our week in Sweden was really nice. It was a different culture even from the rest of Europe and there were enough variety to keep us interested. We only wished that we had better weather.
So on to Amsterdam.
Location: Canada
Travel 2009 - Copenhagen, Denmark
Our first trip out of Lund was to the Danish capital, Copenhagen, less than an hour away by train. This is a much larger city than Lund. In addition, the currency is the Danish krone which meant exchanging some of our dollars and Swedish krone.
Upon exiting the train station, the first site we see is the Tivoli Gardens. This is Copenhagen's famous amusement park and garden. Though it would be nice to go into Tivoli, we felt that since we had only one day, we would rather spend it somewhere else than in an amusement park - but it was nice to see the rides from the outside. We have included a picture of one of the rides in our travel pictures.
We walked around and eventually came to the museum. We were surprised with the number of ancient sculptures and artifacts from Egypt, Greece and Italy (mainly, Rome). Though we had seen many of these during our travels 2 years ago, it was still intriguing that there are these artifacts so far north. It was unexpected.
We had lunch by one of the canals in Copenhagen and sampled some of the pickled herring that was on the menu. Apparently, pickled herring is quite a delicacy among the Scandinavians and there were a few varieties available.
After lunch, we walked along the canal until we reached the harbour and the site of the most famous and loneliest statue of Denmark, the Little Mermaid, made famous by Hans Christian Andersen. The statue was a present by the owner of Carlsburg Breweries. As a statue, it was fairly nondescript and not as imposing as other statues we have seen. Nonetheless, it had become a symbol of Copenhagen and we are indeed glad that we had gone there to see the Little Mermaid.
After viewing the Mermaid, we took a canal bus to go to Christiania. On the way, we passed by the Copenhagen Opera House, which was a new and imposing building overlooking the canal.
Christiania is a self proclaimed autonomous neighbourhood within Copenhagen. It is in reality, a commune, a fallback to the 60s hippie communes. The site is a former military barracks which the hippies took over when the military left. The residents feel that they are independent of Copenhagen, Denmark, and the European Union. In fact, in some of the exits, one can see the following: "you are now entering the European Union". It is a controversial community and continues to be such. Having lived in New York in the late 60s and early 70s and having been in contact with the hippies in Greenwich Village, being in Christiania felt like going back in time.
There are probably more to see in Copenhagen but what we saw provided us with a good glimpse of what Copenhagen had to offer.
Travel 2009 - Lund, Sweden
We flew to Lund in order to attend our daughter's, Fleur, graduation from the University of Lund with a degree of Masters in Managing People, Knowledge, and Change. We flew into Copenhagen, Denmark and then took the train from the airport to Lund some 45 minutes away. It is just amazing how easily accessible the airport is, even from a different country.
Lund, as expected, is a university town, with about half the population being students, many of whom are foreigners. We stayed at a bed and breakfast just minutes away from the central bus stop (which we lovingly called, the "Port Authority"). One of the first things that we noticed is the abundance of bicycle stalls regardless of where you are. In fact, at many of the bicycle parking stalls, there is a machine that dispenses free air for tires. The second thing we noticed is that in the central core, the streets were narrow and cobbled and hardly any cars on them. People either walked (like us), biked like everyone else, or rode the bus, which was so efficient that one can set his watch using the bus schedule.
There was not much to see in Lund, except for the Cathedral that had some kind of a huge cuckoo clock that played hymns at set times and the botanical gardens. We did walk about the University where many buildings were ivy-covered, reminding me of my days at Fordham, in New York. In addition, it is fortunate that there were a lot of "ethnic" food from Thai, East Indian, Middle Eastern/Greek so that we had good meals. Swede food apparently is mainly meat and potatoes (sounds familiar....) although they love their sweets. There was store dedicated solely to candies.
One thing about Lund weather - during the time we were there (about a week), we probably saw the sun no more than 20 hours. The weather is very similar to Vancouver - gray, misty, showery. However, because they are at a higher latitude, the sun rises quite early (4:30) and the sky does not really get dark - just kinda dusk/dawn shade.
We had an opportunity to visit a farm/ranch that uses sustainable technologies. They use solar power to heat up the buildings, wind to generate power. On some of the buildings, the roof had grass growing on them, thereby providing very good insulation to contain the heat. They compost waste material, with manure from the flock of sheep, goats, and rabbits to be used as fertilizer. This is an experimental farm that is funded by the government. Very educational tour.
The graduation itself was very simple, nothing compared to the graduation ceremonies in the US, Canada or the Philippines. The program is quite new so they are still in the development phase. yet in spite of this, they are well over subscribed, accepting less than 10% of the applicants. Our daughter learned so much during her stay there and is now looking forward to continuing to build her own business here in Calgary.
At the time we were in Lund, it was the time for High School graduation. The graduates dressed in their uniforms and move around the city blowing horns and whistles, shouting - generally being rowdy in a nice sort of way. I guess this is a tradition in Sweden. It was fun watching them.
It was really nice to see where our daughter had spent almost a year of her life. Lund is a nice place - very easy going, relaxing, yet with easy access to Malmo and Copenhagen. As nothing much happens there, one can really concentrate on studies.
Location: Canada
Epilogue
This was a trip of a lifetime. It was a wonderful experience. However, given the opportunity, we will not do it again. Rather than do 8 different tours, we will probably do two or three at most at any given time. Or we may visit some countries on our own.
We were often asked which country was the best. To be honest, we cannot answer that question for there was no best country. Each country offered something different, something unique. Yet all the countries offered something similar, the old world charm that is so different from North America.
We are indeed glad that we did this trip. We met so many nice people from the United States, Australia and New Zealand. There were even those who came from Indonesia and the Philippines. We also met with really professional tour directors and excellent drivers who can drive the motor coach through some of the narrowest streets we have seen.
But most important is the experience of seeing a different world, steeped in history. We walked where great men had been. We wondered how a fairly small painting of a woman smiling had generated so much interest. We wondered how such a small instrument such as a violin can fill an entire concert hall with such beautiful sound. We marveled at the engineering prowess of the ancients that built Stonehenge, the Pyramids and the ancient fortresses. To be able to touch the Great Pyramid, the only existing wonder of the ancient world. We admired the different churches, Catholic, Anglican, Orthodox, the monasteries built on top of mountains, the Muslim mosques and Jewish Synagogues. We even saw a cathedral in the process of being built.
We also experienced that though Europe is composed of different countries, their histories are so intertwined that the same names and royal families and that because of this, Europe is quite fascinating. And even the different artifacts are located in different places. The pediments of the Acropolis are in London, Egyptian obelisks located in Paris.
We read about these in our youth, as part of our Literature, Classics, and History classes. During these three months, we lived in them. And that is something nobody can ever take away from us.
We thank you for sharing with us our experiences. We hope that you enjoyed reading our travelogue as we enjoyed writing them. Though the trip is over, the experiences will remain forever.
Ben and Iris
