Europe Summer of 2014

Oslo, Norway - June 2014

Central Station, Oslo, Norway

June 10, 2014 - the beginning of our trip!  Flying into Oslo, we have a few days to adjust before our trip towards central/eastern Europe.  We will be spending more time in Norway towards the end of our trip.  First impressions:  beautiful green countryside, lush forests, rolling green hills from our view of the countryside via plane and train.  The easiest way to get from the airport is to hop onto a train that deposit you right in the heart of Oslo in 20 minutes.  Trains, buses, metro, trams, and taxis all stop here!

Oslo - a bustling place!  Right next to the big station are blocks and blocks of shops and restaurants. It felt like an outdoor mall. Though it doesn't reflect it here, there were throngs of people coming and going.

First night in Oslo, and what do we have for dinner?  Indian food!  We found that Norway prices are astronomical!  Have to watch our budget…!

Building details are found everywhere in Oslo.

Near the town center of Oslo, is the Oslo Fjord. It's late in the day, and sailboats are still out and about. Overlooking the fjord, is the Akershus Fortress, built in 1300 to guard the city. We just wandered the grounds, and came upon these sights.

A shady path along the fortress walls.

This guard was casually peeking around the corner, at ease.  As soon as she saw us, she straightened up and stood rigidly at attention. Looks like a lonely job.

This little guy found this whimsical metal sculpture, and positioned himself to "be" just like it.

At the Vikingship Museum in Oslo, on display is a ship that was found buried in a farmer's field. It was the burial vessel for a queen and her servant, around 834 AD.  With the two women, they found the skeletons of horses and dogs, an ox, food, clothing, cookware, and various tools. They believed the deceased would need these in the next life. Jewelry and other valuables were most likely taken by grave-robbers. 

You can take home your own choice of Viking sailors from the many trinket shops all around Oslo.

Had dinner at a cool outdoor cafe.  Those hunks of meat were served on a LOG plate!  They look enormous, (deceptive photo), but are actually the size of a filet mignon.  It was yummy!  Just looking at this makes me hungry…

But, after doing the conversion, we realized that Norway's costs are astronomical!  This meal was about 3 times the cost of what we would pay at home.  (Later in the trip, once we returned to Norway, we had many picnics of crackers, cheese, and salami!)

We had to visit the Edvard Munch Museum here in Olso, featuring the artist who painted "The Scream".  He painted a handful of different versions of this, some in oils, and others created in pastels, around 1893. I think this reflects the sentiments I had when a large group of school children all crowded around us in the very small room this painting was displayed.  Eeeek!

Berlin, Germany - June 2014

A day of trains, planes, automobiles, and a ferry!   We left Oslo via train to the airport, flew to Copenhagen, picked up a car, and drove to the ferry, which took us to Germany.  Our destination -- Berlin.  We only have a few days here, before moving along.

This is deceptive - it looks peaceful and calm, but it is NOT!  Our hotel is on Kurfurstendam - one of the busiest retail areas in Berlin, interspersed with restaurants, stores, and banks.  We fortunately don't face the busy street from our hotel room!  This street is a bit like the Champs Elysees in Paris, only busier!  It is a shopper's dream, from H&M to Versace. Note the beautiful Art Nouveau details above the doorway.  

To maximize seeing Berlin, we took a double-decker tour bus trip.  This appears to be a train station.  Much of Berlin is fairly new, rebuilt after the war. 

The Reichstag building -- used for the German Parliament.  Built in 1893, it was severely damaged by fire in 1933, and was partly refurbished in the 1960s, but fully finished in 1999.

Checkpoint Charlie -- entering the historic Western Germany side.  This is where the Berlin wall stood, separating the 2 sides of West and East Berlin.  It was erected in 1961, and torn down in 1989.  The sign still stands, from both sides.  The image of the soldier, as you enter the West Berlin side, is wearing an American uniform.  

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Facing the East Berlin side, a soldier is wearing a Soviet Union uniform.

Here I am, standing at one of the few remaining sections of the wall at Checkpoint Charlie (Checkpoint C).  There's a display of photos and information about the people who attempted to or succeeded in crossing the Berlin wall.  

So this is the goofiest vehicle I've seen:  It's a beer wagon, with 12 people pedaling, sitting around a bar, all drinking beer.  Someone is steering, but it's not apparent here.  They look like they're having fun, singing and drinking, and driving!  Only in Germany!

One more goofy thing.  Note that it's sitting next to a forklift, has a hinged top, and a padlock to keep it closed.  What is it?  (seen in an industrial area)

Dresden, Germany  (daytrip) 

We took a quick stop in Dresden. This was a city devastated by carpet bombing during WWII. It was rebuilt (and the work continues) from original plans, photos, and drawings. All around the town center, surrounding the cathedral, blocks of buildings are slowly being put back to the city's former glory. Today, Dresden is a lovely city, filled with ornately decorated buildings. It has a dreamy quality, as if you're stepping in another age. (Reminds me of cake decorations)

This is the Dresden Cathedral, built around 1840. It was destroyed during WWII by heavy bombing, and sat for years as a ruin, a memorial to the war. After the reunification of Germany, the cathedral was rebuilt, completed in 2005. Note the dark stonework, which is what is left of the original cathedral.

Throughout the city, there are surprises that delight the eye.  Here are very cool finds -- a door pull, and doorway arches decorated with figures.

We came across a huge, ornate building, taking up most of a city block. Once I saw the detailed figures on the front entry, did I realize, that this must be either the police station or the hall of justice.  The three heads on each of the arches appear to be a police officer (left), a prisoner (right), and I am guessing the Justice (center).

We have no idea what this grand galleria was used for -- we can only guess. You're seeing only half of the entire grounds in this photo. The second half is a mirror image of this, completing the full square. 

The children were part of a wedding party, but broke away from the group to look for fishies in the fountain.

Kliczkow Castle, Poland

Poland has many castles throughout the countryside.  We stayed at this castle, Zamek Kliczkow, in southern Poland. We had to try it out -- since the cost was reasonable, and it was a new experience!  

Here I am, at the front of the castle. It opens to an inner courtyard, behind me. There's a moat that surrounded the castle, but it's been filled in, and is now a grassy lawn, where they hold an equestrian jumping course. 

We stayed here a couple of days -- it was very quiet and peaceful, maybe too quiet - not even a ghostly visit at night!

We had meals at the castle, served in huge empty rooms. The first night, we ate in what was originally the chapel, converted to a small theater. We think there might have been a total of 3 other groups of guests -- the place was pretty empty!  

The original fortress was established as a defense way back in 1297, but the main building was completed later in 1585. You can see different architectural styles on the different parts if the castle.

We learned that one of the owners had belonged to the underground resistance to the socialist movement in Germany, was arrested, and his property confiscated. The castle was later used by the German army as a headquarters.  Luckily, during WWII, it was left undamaged, although the Soviet army had looted it afterwards. During the communist era, it became a technical college, and now, it is back in private ownership.

While we were there, we kept smelling, what I thought, was hot asphalt being poured (faint smell). I thought it would go away in a reasonable amount of time. But it kept hanging around -- finally, we realized, it's the coal-fire heating system they use.  Smelly!  We found this in other parts of Poland, too.

Boleslawiec -  This is a small town north of the castle that we discovered just wandering around in the countryside. Following the collapse of the Soviet empire's control in many eastern bloc countries, (after 1989), private ownership and development of businesses and communities have revitalized little town centers like this. On a weekday, this was a bit empty, but we still enjoyed a quiet lunch a this little eatery. (Although, I had the strangest spaghetti there, with paprika sprinkled on it…)

Wroclaw, Poland (day trip)

On our way to Krakow, we stopped in the town of Wroclaw, a large city in south-west Poland. Like many of the cities we've visited, it had a sizable old town center. It just happened that they were having a festival.

 

  

The festival had food booths, crafts, drink stands and other assorted booths in the square, set up right in front of this church. We immediately found ourselves eating an enormous plate of MEAT!  Kielbasa and pork on a stick. Needless to say, Poland serves a lot of pork!

A Dutch windmill in Poland?  This was the drink kiosk.

This is an oddity I saw in Berlin, too… beach chairs and sand (box) for anyone imagining themselves at the beach, getting a sun tan. I think they imagined themselves at Santa Cruz... 

In contrast to the fixed up old town center, this is how another part of the city lives, which is more commonly found surrounding the town center. Row upon row of concrete block apartments are the basic communist-era housing you see around the town. This is the reality and less of the dressed up side of Poland.

    

Krakow, Poland

We stayed for several days in Krakow. Our hotel was in the old Jewish section of Krakow, about 6 blocks from the glittering town center. That meant a bit of a walk to get to the town center (and then back again).  We found Krakow to be a busy, bustling kind of place.  Lots of tourists, and lots of tourist money spent on the many shops and restaurants throughout the city. It's a fun city for people watching.


The signs are advertising a huge summer solstice celebration, one of the largest for Krakow - coming this weekend.  We are thankfully not there at that time.

There were tour group after tour group all marching along following their guides. We noticed a lot of Asian tour groups, as well as Germans, British, Polish, and even a group from New Caledonia, wearing the same flower patterned shirt or blouse that attracted our attention. (FYI, New Caledonia is near New Zealand.)  There were also a lot of school kids taking field trips here (I was almost trampled by them -- kids looking at everything except where they were going. Some things never change…)

There were several horse-drawn carriages that were for hire. Interestingly, there were no horse smells, no horse poop, and the horses weren't even outfitted with those nasty catchers. Are these the best-potty trained horses in the world?)

There were food booths here, too. If you like meat, this is your kind of place!

This is the same building, though one side has been patched up, painted, and restored to a pristine state. The side on the right is the condition many buildings are in -- faded, crumbling, and peeling. In time, these buildings will all be restored to their original grand state.

An old fashioned beer garden adjoining a restaurant.  I love the old style graphics on the sign.

In front of the restaurant - a cute old-fashioned beer truck.

One of the best moments of our trip was attending the performance of a string quartet in one of the churches in the old town area. We listened to the amazing sounds of Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Beethovan, and even the Beatles. Not wanting to be a distraction by taking pictures during the performance, I unfortunately do not have a picture to show of it.  

However, I do have a photo of Pope John Paul II's church in which he served.  That's a statue of him in the foreground -- he is truly loved and revered as Poland's only Pope. He served as pope from 1978 to 2005.

Auschwitz-Birkenau, Poland  (daytrip)

After Krakow, we made a stop at Auschwitz, the death camp in Poland. (Birkenau is the addition to Auschwitz, built to accommodate more prisoners.)  Auschwitz originally was constructed to hold Polish political prisoners, and later, imprisoned Jews, Poles, and many other groups.  90% of the prisoners were Jewish. It is estimated at around 1.1 million people died at this camp.  We came because we felt that we must, to see this grim reminder of the atrocities of that war.

  

This is the famous sign, "Arbeit macht frei" which is the lie: "Work will set you free", installed at the entry of the camp, and what prisoners first saw when they were brought here. 

I have to say - I couldn't go through with it.  We were on the tour, and once we walked through the rooms of photos of people, men, women, children - murdered, starved, gassed, (and before the worst of the exhibits I knew were coming), I could not stay. I started feeling sick, and had to leave. An awful emotion came over me, and I left in tears. I kept thinking I had to get out of this horrible, evil place. I left the tour group and waited at the entry, just outside of the barbed wire fence. (I noticed that there was another woman crying her eyes out, being comforted by her family, too.)  I am glad many people come to see this place, to not forget this, never to let this happen again, and for the innocent victims.  This left me so emotionally drained - that leaving here couldn't come fast enough. 

Bratislava, Slovakia 

Our next stop was Bratislava, Slovakia -- where?  It's a small country, formerly part of the broken up Czechoslovakia, just south of Poland, east of Austria and the Czech Republic, and north of Hungary - mainly dead center of everything. (It's also west of Ukraine, but we didn't want to venture there on this trip, not with the Soviet action there right now.)  We didn't know what to expect, but assumed it would be a good central location to jump to other cities.  We did not expect what we found -- a charming, small city, with the right mix of friendliness, sophistication, old world charm, and lots of urban development.

We arrived late in the day, tired from driving from Poland. We splurged and chose a very nice hotel, and found ourselves on the top floor. Our first view out the window was this amazing sunset!

Exploring the old town center area, we found narrow winding streets, filled with lots of small eateries and shops. It's a picturesque town, with cobblestone streets, very pretty buildings, perfect for strolling about.

There are some beautiful buildings throughout the old quarter, and many more that are being fixed up. Like in many of the other former Soviet-satellite countries that now have their own autonomy, Bratislava, Slovakia, is now renovating their old buildings, recognizing the value in preserving these treasures.  

More details found around the city:

Cool signage

Elaborate bank doors 

This was an unusual set of doors depicting religious scenes. The doorway is not finished yet.  

Scattered throughout the old town center of Bratislava, there are interesting and playful sculptures. This one is of a WWI soldier, peeking out from a manhole cover. Note that his helmet is polished by the many tourists who pose with him. No one seems to know what he's doing there, but he's the most popular guy in town.

This is our hotel!  The Radisson Blu Carlton. Bratislava isn't that well-known, so prices were reasonable. That top floor window, the one on the right -- that was MY ROOM!!!  I felt like the President!  And directly below in the street - was the festival (described next).

We lucked out, arriving on a big weekend celebration. The event was The Coronation Festival, which starts with a procession of loyal subjects (in period costumes) that march through the town from the castle that ends right in front of our hotel in the town square.  It culminates in a re-enactment of the coronation of the king, complete with a presentation of the crown jewels by the cardinal. 

The actors included drummers, jesters, soldiers, ladies in waiting, the prince, the king and queen and the royal court, a cardinal, and guards, horsemen, and all kinds of other subjects.  

The actors were fun to see, and the costumes were well-detailed. 

Also part of the festival were food booths, crafts, artwork, and dancing and singing performances by children's groups. The event ended with the guards shooting their rifles, and cannons fired, and at night, a fireworks show in the square. 

This was a funny sight at the festival -- a low-tech version of a merry-go-round.  This wooden structure was turned by hand by the man in the center, who pulled/pushed the levers that would spin the baskets around the pole. Five small children would twirl around, looking rather dazed, while parents and onlookers laughed and took pictures. I think they enjoyed it more than the children. One little girl sat crying in her basket, but the others seemed ok with it.  Those strings holding the baskets looked pretty flimsy, though… 

Disaster struck next -- while I was lost in the crowd, snapping pictures, I became a victim of a very stealthy pick pocket. I lost not only the freshly acquired cash from the ATM (about $300.), but also my bank card, my credit card, my driver's license, and my passport!  I had nothing left!

Here's the crowd I stood in -- somewhere down there are at least 1 pickpocket who has my stuff!

Once I found out that I was missing my valuables, the hotel contacted the police for me, assisted me with translation, directions, and phone numbers to the US Embassy.  As it turns out, the embassy was right next door to the hotel, but being a weekend day, I had to wait for Monday.

So it was a strange sensation - I had my laptop, internet, a luxurious hotel room, cable tv, room service (if I wanted it), but not a penny in my pocket, no ID, no way of accessing my cash, nor credit, and no passport to be able to go anywhere!

What an interesting experience!  The police were very kind, thorough, and the translator was very helpful.  The US Embassy folks were also super helpful, and calming in a stressful situation. I don't wish this to happen to anyone else, but if it did have to occur, Bratislava officials were wonderful to work with.  By Monday afternoon, I had a new passport, a new credit card on it's way, and I felt much better!

Budapest, Hungary

Onward, with a new passport in hand, we drove to Budapest. (yes, pronounced Budapesht). 

Budapest was an amazing place - a far away dream of past grandeur, remnants of recent political turmoil, and a new promise of return to glory.  After the turn of the century, Budapest rivaled Paris with grand and stunningly beautiful buildings and streets. It is the capital of Hungary, and prior to WWI, the capital of the Austria-Hungarian empire. Prosperity fell after political upheavals from WWI and WWII, and the communist takeover until 1989. Now, the city is experiencing growth, restoration, and many tourists!

We were able to cruise down the Danube River, which divides the city into two areas, Buda and Pest.