Travel notes for those heading out

This was my fifth trip over the Atlantic and each time I learn a bit more about how to keep travel simple and fun. Here are a few things that we tried that worked, and a few that didn't.

Things that worked.
Getting all of our cash before we left and carrying it in our money belts.
Taking two computers. Worth the hassle.
Using our GPS for driving in Denmark. A life saver...literally!
Taking the airport Super Shuttle to LAX- Well worth the price.
Staying with family and friends..You guys were totally awesome!
Booking hotels as we went, no problem in the Fall.

Things that didn't work.
We got too many big bills, constantly searching for opportunities to break a big bill.
Eurail pass, very convenient, but many times more expensive than getting the last minute travel deals.
Needed to read travel book before leaving home. Several missed opportunities.
We found our clothing too hot for the warm subways, cafe's and shops. Hard to find a balance.
Our 100 different beers goal was way too ambitious, what were we thinking?

The house exchange:

Wonderful way to really relax and spend time in one place. We loved it. Would definitely do it again. Loved having someone taking care of our place while we were wondering around Europe. Enjoyed having a home base where we could cook, sleep and relax.


Signing off for now, check back in with us in May when we take off to Moscow!

Carol

Dresden, Chemnitz and Wiesbaden our final stand

I am by nature a "finisher", whether I am cleaning the paint brushes or entering the final photos and destinations in the blog, I prefer to finish. So here is the very hurried last week of our trip. The cities flew by and before we knew it, we were on our way home. We left Irene in Berlin with a kiss on the cheek after another wonderful German breakfast. I sure will miss those rolls. We took the train to Dresden. Our hotel was close to the train station, but far from the old town. The real Fall weather is certainly coming and the chill kept me from enjoying the half-mile walk between our hotel and the river. The lights on the palace, musicians in the tunnels and majestic old bridges made this a stop we will remember. We climbed to the top of the Frankenkirche, spectacular sunset over the city.

One day was not enough, but our final itinerary and travel weary bodies pushed on to finish where we began, back in Wiesbaden.

There is a fast train to Frankfurt from Dresden, but we decided to take a little side trip to Chemnitz to visit Gene's roots, and it made for a long day on slow trains and no dining cars. Note to self.... pack lunch AND dinner if you are taking the slow trains.

We planned a one-hour quick visit to Chemnitz , with plans to catch the next train. But, our one-hour became 3 and we saw more than we planned on. Chemnitz, in all of it's post Russian-style glory, served up the best cappuccino I have had in 5 weeks. And I have had some pretty great cappuccinos. Which, perhaps made it a worthwhile stop.

We accomplished the goal of purchasing Chemnitz beer mugs, and experiencing a couple of hours in the town where Gene's grandparents once lived. Not a destination spot, but as Gene says, "We can say we have been there". I am not sure the value of that, but it made him happy.

Back on the train by late afternoon, we spent the rest of the evening getting to Wiesbaden where we were so happy to see Caroline. She fixed us the traditional onion cake and apple cider and all was well with the world. Hunger can really make travel seem long and hard. It also makes for grumpy travel buddies. At one point Gene and I were sharing a hard candy he found in the bottom of his back pack. Yuk!

Our final days in Wiesbaden were warm and cozy, we saw one more castle while making the morning bakery run and had a chance to see Thomas, Philip, Alex and Vic one more time. Our blog title should have been Castles, Cousins and Cappuccino's!

Stefan and Sina had us over for home rolled pizza. Yum... and I got a good dose of Vitamin D in Caroline's back yard as the last sunny days gave way to the normal Fall fog. We certainly had unbelievable weather.

We are already planning our next trip, though it is great to be home. We got to feel our grand-baby kick, celebrate Gloria's 79th birthday and see little Andre. So all is well.

Travel karma

We started our journey home from Wiesbaden train station at 8:00 am and, with a little bit of luck, we arrived safely in Redlands 24 hours later at 10:00 pm local time. Eight hours in a plane, crossing the Atlantic is never terribly comfortable, but Delta does their best to lessen the pain. And looking down at Greenland under the bright arctic sun, with the contrast of white snow and dark, dark blue water with tiny dots that appear to be sails or maybe ice burgs, adds a wonderland feeling to the long journey. There were also honeymooners, on their first trip to America in front of me, the stewardesses fussed over them with champagne and well wishes. Ah to be young again....

New York was clear and warm, which is the most we can hope for in New York. All flights heading to California were full. (not in our plans) We were faced with that inevitable "stand-by moment". Do we get a hotel and try again tomorrow? Or, just get on any plane going west and hope to be home sometime this week? I was voting for the hot bath, warm bed option (even if our luggage was on it's way to LA.) Gene was researching the west-bound routes. "How about going to Washington DC, then Atalanta, Cincinnati and Salt Lake City?" I am thinking this sounds crazy for even the most enthusiastic traveler.

There were about 33 people on the stand-by list, the flight was over-sold, (they were offering $300 to passengers willing to give up their seats) and our chances of getting out of New York on our afternoon flight were nil. But, "lady karma" stepped in and somehow got 17 people delayed in the airport, and convinced the other 5 or 6 stand-by passengers ahead of us to give up and go home, and suddenly.... moments before take-off, we see a glimmer of hope. The exasperated Delta agents keep calling the same list of names and no one comes running. Gene and I close our laptops, pick up our coats and stand with the few remaining hopeful travelers. Even Gloria, watching the boarding list in California, couldn't see how we got on that plane. But there we were, fastening our seat belts, thrilled to squeeze on to a completely full flight for 5 and 1/2 more hours.

Natalie and Gloria met us at the airport, so great to see them. Our over-stuffed bags arrived in good shape. At the last moment we added 8 wine glasses, 3 glass beer mugs, 4 coffee mugs for my collection, a full pound of European coffee beans (have to wean ourselves off that yummy coffee) and a bottle of wine. Haven't unpacked yet, but it appears that everything made it in tact. Thank you Caroline and Irene for your gifts, such good memories. We will think of you often.

We are so thankful for our good travel karma, and really happy to have the cat sleep on our heads and be back in our little house. Ulla and Leif left everything just perfect for us, it is so nice to come home to house that has been lived in.

Stay tuned for some final travel thoughts,

Carol

Frantic last days!!

We are back at Carolines', had a chance to say our good-buys to nearly everyone. We had a wonderful day with Caroline and Vic, Stefan and Sina and all the rest of the gang.

Already planning our next visit,


Thanks for following along,

Carol

Bicycles, boats and Berlin!!

I did it! Got on that bicycle and took the 4-hour city tour. And I didn't fall off once!

Gene got his T-shirt! Whew, mark that off the bucket list.

We really put on the miles in Berlin, walking, boating, bike riding and taking the bus and underground. It is a big city and we covered it multiple times. Beautiful sun sets. Chilly mornings and perfect days.

We met up with Irene and enjoyed a great Turkish dinner with her in the "Deutsche Opera" neighborhood. This is right in front of our hotel.


Saw a lot of sights in two days. Could have definitely seen more if we had read Rick Steves' suggestions before we got in line. Twice we wanted to go to sights that were reservation only. Darn!! Something left for us to see next time. We managed to get into two out of the 150 museums.

Here are my photo winners for Berlin:
Most sights in one photo!

I took this photo of Berlin (below) to share as much as I could in one photo. First, look at the amazing blue sky with white, puffy, clouds, then scan down to the big building on the left, this is the last Hitler-era building left in Berlin, it is huge, in order to make us feel small (it works), just below it with the gray cap, you will see the remains of the Berlin Wall. This little stretch is one of only a few places where it is still standing. And below that, you will see people looking at an open air museum called "Topography of Terror" which tells the story of the Nazi party from early 1920's to the final days. It progresses from left to right, Gene and I went from right to left, our museum karma was off today. It is located in the remains of the basement of the actual Nazi Party engine room where the Gestapo and SS had their command centers. These types of exhibits usually give me the shivers, but the sun shine and the kids running around and playing kept me feeling hopeful that this era is gone for ever. Finally, check out the crane in the background. Berlin is still rebuilding, cranes are still dotting the city and it is beautiful.



Most interesting sight! I liked the Memorial to the Murdered Jews. A very interesting memorial.

It is a series of cement blocks, lined up in varying sizes. When you walk into it, you disappear into a maze with other people appearing, then disappearing. The wavy walkways give you the sense of things getting bigger and smaller. It is really interesting. It is supposed to be experiential, no explanations, and no names. It is a public place, so there are people crawling all over it. I left feeling that it was a powerful image and one that makes you ponder the 6 million lives it represents. But it has been very controversial and many people don't like it at all.






Best sight! Brandenburg Gate!! Totally awesome, beautiful, bigger than I imagined. Definitely beats out the other 54 statues and gates we saw:)

Well, we pack up for Dresden tomorrow. Will see Irene for one last breakfast.

Berlin is hopping, glad we stayed an extra day.

Berlin in a nutshell

We had a bit of trouble getting from Hamburg to Berlin today. First, we had some last minute things to pick up in Hamburg, where shopping is pretty great. And second, some sort of train event happened on the Berlin-Hamburg line and we took an 1-hour detour to avoid it. Saw a few clips of ambulances, rescue equipment, etc. on the TV, but could not understand enough to know what happened or if any one was hurt. If anyone out there is worried about us, no worries. We had a little delay and a nervous and apologetic train conductor.

Berlin station was as impressive as the travel books say it is. 5 stories of perpendicular trains, 70 stores and restaurants, beautiful archetecture and I believe it was build where the Wall used to be. It is alive with people.

We grabbed a great lunch there and did some people watching. Very, very international city. We made it to our hotel too late to consider any major tripping today, so we will probably need to add a day in Berlin to our itinerary. Now that I am here, I want to really take it in. This has probably been on my "list" for 4 years.

We met up with Irene, my other cousin and made plans for tomorrow. Gene and I (if I have the nerve and the weather is perfect and the stars are all aligned) will go on the Berlin Fat Tire Bicycle Tour tomorrow. Gene has had this on this "list" since he discovered the Fat Tire Tours in Paris. However, me on a bike and the Berlin traffic doesn't sound so good to me. I am praying for rain :)

We are all tucked into the Comfort Inn chosen for it's location and price, not it's European charm. And we will get a little look at Jon Stewart tonight, haven't heard any real news from US since we left.

Our only update has been from one of our Hamburg tour guides who told us that Southern California is having major fires. Yikes, hope it is getting under control. And we saw that Steve Jobs died and that Paul McCartney married. Both events translate clearly in any language. So we are mostly lost in a traveling oblivion and it feels pretty good.

So lala

Carol

Livin' the good life

We became serious tourists today in Hamburg. Thomas and Delia had things to do, so Gene and I took the City Tour Bus and the Harbor Boat Tour. Both very good, especially since the alternative was walking around in the rain. We visited the Miniature Wonderland, an amazing display of miniatures places from around the world. (From the Alps to Florida to Hawaii) They have an airport with a schedule and taxiing planes, rock concerts with a thousand tiny screaming fans, and a soccer game, including big screen replays and, again, thousands of screaming fans cheering on cue with the spectacular plays shown on the tiny screen. This "wonderland" is so popular, you have to have a reservation to see it and there were hundreds of people looking at the four or five rooms of miniature displays.

Most interesting part was the control room, where 5 "engineers" kept the whole thing running and on track. Literally, making sure the hundreds of tiny trains were all on their specific track. These guys in the control room were landing pretend planes, staging pretend fires, creating day, sunset, night and sunrise for the entire place about every 5 minutes. While ensuring that the traffic jams in LA looked realistic and the trams taking tiny people to the top of the Alps were all synchronized. I know it sounds strange that adult people spend their lives creating, designing, and maintaining this place and that, even more people (like us), come in droves to see it. But what can I say, we are in Hamburg and things are different here:)

We got a chance to enjoy a wonderful dinner with Thomas at one of his favorite places in the village. I ordered something with salmon and spinach, thought it was a dish, so when a pizza-arrived I said, "No, that isn't what I ordered", only to find out, it was what I ordered, a salmon and spinach pizza. So I have eaten two pizzas this week with strange, but surprisingly good ingredients.

It is great being back in Germany, where everything seems amazingly cheap (compared to Denmark) and where staying with family and playing Settlers is the best part of the day.

We head to Berlin tomorrow, we are on the fast track now, less than a week left. Gene and I have been doing great. We can't believe we haven't had as much as a cold to slow us down.

Call out to Kim, if you are out there reading. My nails lasted until today. I think that is a record for me.

Final note: Gene and I planned our wardrobes very carefully to ensure we would not be too cold. So we put on our best 4 layers today before heading out into the rainy, cold day.

Results, we were much too hot. The underground, the shops, the buses and museums were all stifling. We were constantly removing our extra layers. Tomorrow it is light clothes with a rain-proof jacket. We are slowly learning how to live like a local.

Ta ta...

Carol

Welcome to Hamburg

Gene and I had our "Welcome to Hamburg" walk last night with our hosts Thomas and Delia. It was cold, but we stopped for hot coffee and found that the city was beautiful in the evening.

Got to go catch a tube!

Chues!

Carol

Saying farewell to Odense

Tomorrow we pack up and Sunday morning we are on our way to Hamburg. Seems like our time has really gone fast. We love it here and will be a bit sad to leave. But our time is running out and we have so much more to see.

We will especially miss having a comfortable (and beautiful) home and the easy access to the internet, skyping, blogging, etc. But, we vagabonds have to take the good with the bad.

For those of you who stay at home because of the language barrier, take note. Only a couple million people speak Danish, and if the Danish weren't pretty good at speaking English, they would be very isolated indeed. (They start teaching it in second grade.) Even the Swedes and Norwegians often prefer to speak English with their southern neighbors. We have not yet had a problem with language. It is fun to watch the Danish people get this momentary blank stare when we say "Hi", it is like they are turning on their English section of their brain and then off they go, and after a few moments of warm-up, they are speaking to us like old friends.

Though I must admit, Gene and I have not really learned any Danish phrases. Unless you call "Ge mornin" a phrase. The town names and street pronunciations are more then we can handle on most days and the GPS just says "turn right", she doesn't even try to pronounce the streets. Of course, there was that time yesterday, when Emily, our British GPS, started speaking Africanese. It was really funny. We could understand a little bit and it took us awhile to realize she had changed languages on us. Then there was the time she got stuck on "turn left", had Gene going in circles. But mostly, she has been a great guide and we definitely wouldn't leave home without her. Especially with all of the driving we are doing.

We went into "town" today, shopped around a bit, couldn't find anything that would fit into the corners of our tiny suitcases, so left empty handed. Had a beautiful windy, fall day, we feel like we are leaving Denmark just in time, before the real weather arrives.



On a final note, here is our little casa. In the back yard is a tall flag pole with a long Danish flag blowing in the wind. We will remember the gorgeous sunsets and huge rain drops.









We had to sit in the car today while a little rain cloud dumped a huge amount of water in about 5 minutes. Then sunny again, and off we went.


So la la

(Cousin Caroline says this means "up and down" in French). I just think it sounds really cute as a sign-off.

The fair weather tourists

We are starting to see hints of Fall. Rainy and cold. But the sky looked promising this morning, so Gene and I got all dressed, ready to walk out the door and, whoosh, a blast of cold, wet air made us scurry back in and make grill cheese sandwiches. We are such wimps!

By early afternoon, the sky cleared again and we put back on our boots and headed to a another of the recommended destinations. A little town called Kerteminde.

You see, we are situated in a central spot on Funen, with sights in all directions, so we pick a direction and go. The entire island is only 2 hours from one end to the other, so no problem getting places.

I fell in love with Kerteminde. OMG, the sea, the sky, the Johannes Larsen art museum which is really his villa, and still furnished the way it was in 1950's when he worked there. The displays were really beautiful. Even though I cannot tell you what these things are in this room. Seed pods? Pottery? Some organic thing grown by artists? No idea.

The the affect of these nearly identical painted pods with little hats on their heads was really stunning in this room with natural light. This was a guest artist displaying here. Johanna's does things I can understand like naked people and landscapes.

His work room, was so wonderful, quiet, all you hear is the trickle of water from a fountain in the winter garden. I loved it so much, I bought a print to bring the sensation back to Redlands.


Oh my, definitely a highlight for me in Funen. It isn't like we haven't seen beautiful places, but the gardens, ocean, wild and constantly changing sky, just spoke to me. Or maybe the hotel coffee and chocolate were speaking to me! Not sure which was more inviting.

We were able to avoid getting drenched by dashing in and out of the museums and the fjord&baelt while the clouds took a rest. What is a fjord&baelt? Good question. It is sort of a animal rescue center that also shows the animals that live in the fjord waters of the Danish coast, which is called the baelt. There are animal trainers who were feeding the porpoises and sea lions when we arrived. Always fun to see these guys. And there is an underground tunnel with aquariums and viewing windows.

Best animal, the tiny sea star, alone on the glass saying "Me! Me!" with a huge sea lion coasting behind. This little star fish is only about an inch across, but so bold. I couldn't get enough.

Best dessert so far was the "little piece of chocolate cake" at the Kerteminde Hotel. Call out to Carsten. You are right. Their coffee is the best in Denmark!

We drank a liter in one sitting! And the waitresses description of this dessert was definitely the biggest lie ever!


Coffee, a "little" chocolate cake, rainbows, boats and stunning ocean views, that is Kerteminde. Definitely want to go back.

Vacationing at last!!

We have been away from California for 22 days, today. Can't say I miss much about the 100 degree heat or the cat sleeping on my head, but I do miss those of you we left behind.

We have been traveling so much, that today, we decided to vacation!! There is a subtle difference between vacation and travel, but travel is definitely harder. Travel involves eating what is in the refrigerator, taking self-narrated walking tours, and carrying your own luggage. (The cold showers and unstable toilet facilities has helped us feel even more like travelers than usual:)

But today, we went on vacation!!! We sat in an elegant little cafe' in Aarhus, ordered a $30 sandwich, put chocolate pieces in our hot cappuccino and shared a double chocolate brownie muffin. Wow, it was luxurious. Then we strolled down the charming streets, window shopping and taking a little "vacate" from life.

It felt so good, that after a little serious travel, that included, taking a self-guided tour of Aarhus, climbing down into an 11th Century crypt, and searching out "Bog Man" from the Iron Age, we found a water-front town called Middelfart and continued our vacation with a huge burger (at a huge price) and a Corona, just like home.




Can you see Aarhus Bay behind me? The beautiful bridge and the outdoor eating, reminded us of California, except for the 16 Degree Centigrade temperatures and rain. We took shelter inside.

Now for a little back-tracking...The town we are in is called Veflinge, I just realized it yesterday. Our house is visible from the main road to Morud and Odense, which are both bigger places than Veflinge. So it has been a bit of a mystery.

Also, we have not only exchanged houses, we have also exchanged cars, bugs, pets, plants and problems. So we have a great little car that takes us everywhere and we hope that Ulla and Lief are getting used to the hybrid.

They have Tango to bother them at night, we have the mosquitoes.

They have 100 degree heat, we have cool nights and a heating system that decided to take a short vacation. Just kidding, Brian and Martin have been great and all systems are go. We have been very, very comfortable here despite the little glitches.

We have spent most of our time touring around the island of Funin and today went to the island of Jutland. We feel like we have really had a great chance to get to know the lesser known, but more beautiful, parts of Denmark. I included a shot of Long Lake, this was yesterday and it could have been our last glimpse of the sun. This is just a few minutes from our Danish house.

We will definitely miss the luxury of schedule-less days and quiet evenings, but we look forward to packing up this weekend and visiting Tommy in Hamburg and Irene in Berlin. After that, it is anyone's guess. Gene and I will arm wrestle for first choice:)

Cheers from the travelers,

Carol

Where is Gene?

Dear all,

If you are tired of hearing my interpretations of our excursions, please do not hesitate to email Gene and let him know you want to hear from him. He is very busy playing Settlers, watching American TV with Danish sub-titles and napping.

We have 4 more days here in Denmark, hope to have a few rainy days, so we can get our work done and maybe a few sunny days to inspire us to get out to the coast and see the beautiful fiords.

It is a bit quiet in the little fishing villages and walking in the countryside. I feel refreshed and ready to head back to the hustle of the city. The end of our trip is still up in the air. Probably not such a great plan. Gene wants to spend 2 days in Dresden, I want to spend 2 days in Prague and with our limited time, we will have to choose. So please send in your votes. Both are great cities. We may have to just watch the weather report and go to the warmest of the two.

Skyped with Natalie, Craig, Gene and Gloria in Redlands today, was great to see them all.

Ta ta

PS- Funniest part of my day was watching little 4-year old Rachel talk to Gene in Danish. She just can't figure out why we are so stupid. We don't even know how to count to 5!

She is so sweet.

Doing what I love, loving what I do...

Today I got to do what I love. What is that? Seeing mothers and babies and teaching nurses. Kolding Hospital allowed me to come and spend the day with new moms, babies and dads and present the California project to their nursing staff. This was an opportunity for them to be glad they are working in Denmark, where they are about 30 years ahead of California. It was great fun and wonderful orange brownies were served following lunch.


We also spent the evening with Helle's brother, Brian and his wife Christine and their three children, Rebecca, Lucas and Rachel. It took Gene and I back to the days of pink bedrooms with doll houses, plastic dinosaur models, and negotiating computer game time. It was glorious. We miss the fun of helping with homework and finding abandoned socks and underwear on the kitchen floor.

We ate a "symphony of fish" for our starter and bar-b-q'd ocean trout, caught by Brian, for our main dish. Totally yummy. Haven't had this kind of fish since we left home. The final dish was a rhubarb crumb cake, so tasty. Brian and Christine definitely cooked up a gourmet dinner for us.














I guess you could say, Gene and I enjoyed having someone to talk to other than each other:) It was a great day. We are looking to cooler temperatures and chance of rain coming on the horizon. Turns out, last week was a record high temps for Denmark.

We keep saving our work for a rainy day, but looks like one more clear day to sight see tomorrow.

Skaal,

PS- If you missed the "third right to go left" message, check it now, I added a photo for those who haven't enjoyed the pleasures of the round-a-bout.

Our first Danish, Danish

Today is Sunday in Denmark. We visited two little sea side towns, walked around, ate wonderful danish and enjoyed another rare, fall, warm day. By looking at these photos, can you see

anything strange about our day?

If not, take a closer look.

First, as expected, the Danish, Danish are sweet, buttery,
fresh from the oven and just about perfect.





We decided to take a scenic harbor cruise and waited, and waited and double checked the sign and waited a little longer. Then realized there is no tour today. Turns out, the tour stops running for the season in September, no matter how nice the weather is in October. I am sure a few old timers had a good laugh watching us wait and ponder for a good half-hour.


So, we decide to take a stroll through Svendborg and catch the later ferry to Aeroskobing (I pronounce it Arrow-sko-bing, which is so wrong I hope none of our Danish friends are reading this). Svendborg was beautiful, warm, on the ocean, but the strange thing about our day was the fact that we saw no one. The streets were empty. An occasional motor cycle would pass, but the restaurants, shops, tourist information, all of it, closed down. We kept thinking that everyone knew something that we just didn't know and that any minute, around any turn, we would see people. Nope. No one.


So we got on the ferry, had a glorious hour cruise over to Aeroskobing, loads of sail boats out, little races were happening, 2 guys were doing jet ski acrobatics off the wake of the big ferry. We loved it, just what we were hoping for.

We got off at Aeroskobing which is a very, very old sailing village. Some houses dating back to 1500's. And once again, we were met with completely empty streets. As Gene said, "You could shoot a canon off and no one would even hear it, much less be hit". So we took Rick Steves tour, enjoyed the island by ourselves, found an open grocery store and bought some cheese, wine and crackers and had a picnic at the marina.

So, we spent a rather strange Sunday visiting two lovely little towns by ourselves.


Whatever, we had a great, warm day on the sea and got to enjoy these little towns undisturbed by anyone.

Alone, together....

I had to use the gorilla pod to take our photo.

Take the third right, to go left

Round-a-bouts are so much fun. If you miss your exit you just keep on rounding until it comes up again, marvelous.

We headed out on the freeway today to see Denmark. Heading towards Egeskov Castle, through the morning fog. The castle proved to be the least interesting part of the expedition. I discovered that, 1. when the early morning dew shimmers on the roses, it really does look like glitter, 2. my sense of direction in a maze is actually better than Gene's and finally, people have been creating fun places for children to play for 500 years and the games are still fun!

Other notes from the road:

The warm weather is fabulous, but with it comes the vicious mosquitoes, I have the welts to prove it.

The leaves are turning and starting to fall like rain.

We are experiencing a very, very unusual string of sunny days and everyone, including the birds and the bees, seem to know it.

Farmers in Denmark work the fields until the middle of the night it if is dry.

The bike with side car that Hagrid drove, really exists!!

And finally, getting away from the routine for a few days is pretty great.



Love'n it,

Carol