THE SCANDINAVIAN ADVENTURE BEGINS

Our day begin with a taxi to the train station.  We were a little hesitant about walking because of the down pours that had been occurring.  Of course the sun was shining but saving a few steps and some shoe leather probablly couldn't have hurt.  We were catching the train for the first time to Schipol airport.  We purchased out ticket and took the stairs up to the platform to await the train.  We were sure we were in the right place, we had a good 20 minutes until the train departed so we sighed a sigh of relief.  There were a number of people standing there and the sign said Schipol.  As the departure time approached the train up the track quite far away did not move.  There was something wrong with that so we proceeded to walk up the platform to take a closer look at the train to see where it was going.  As we got almost to the train someone hollered that indeed this train was going to the airport.  

We took off running and although the doors closed someone pushed them open and we managed to get on the train and made our way to the airport.  A train goes every 15 minutes to the aiprot but from diffferent platforms. Although we  only had one bag and a small back pack we did not want to be changing platforms.

Arriving at the airport.A little breakfast before the flight.

Our flight went well and we arrived just a bit late but managed to get to the "meeeting place" where a someone with a banner with our name on it would be standing.  Well no one was there but being patient we waited and waited.  Time it was a wasting and so we tried to use our devices - iPhone, Samsung phone, calling and emailing - help, help, what do we do?  We couldn't get service so I left Sharon with some very loud character and I stepped outside to email Scandinavian travels.  Waited for a response, rescued Sharon from the very nice but very loud and talkative stranger and we waited for a response to the "SOS" .  Finally , since there was no response, I ran outside checked with a taxi to find out the cost to the city.  Not bad, so we hopped in a cab.  As we were appraoching the city our SOS was acknowledged.  Sangeeta, our travel agent, was most apologetic.  I wanted her to be less so since I was paying for an international call :-).   We were instructed to save our receipt and we would be reimbursed.

We arrived at the hotel.

Checked in and couldn't help but notice the "neat trashcan".

              A compartment for each type of trash.  

After settling in we decide to find a place to eat and then catch the Blue and Red On and Off bus.  We had a travel voucher for this and it was good for our two days in Copenhagen.  

We were directed to the longest pedestrian walking street in the world -  Stroget ( almost 2 miles) and told that just parallel to that is a street with a number of restaurants.  

                             

We found a little cafe. Hoped in just before the rain hit and I had a typical Danish openfaced sandwich of smoked salmon, apple horseradish, dill and slices of delicious Danish bread - smorrebrod.  Sharon had just an old plain boring openfaced sandwich.  Can't even remember what it was it was so boring!

We finished our $26.00 lunch - 146 Krone, DKK.  Nothing is cheap in the Scandinavian countries.  

The sun was good enough to come out and Sharon and I headed to the nearest bus stop to begin our tour of the city.  Just as we turned the corner we saw the bus at the stop and despite our best effort to get there the bus pulled away before we could get to the appropriate place.  No problem since a bus comes by every 20 minutes and there were a few shops close by and the Copenhagen Cathedral. Lots to do to keep busy while waiting for the bus - only a 20 miute wait.

The Cathedral

        King David outside the cathedral.

Just looking.  Right, Sharon?

While we were waiting a green, on and off bus came and went.  Pretty soon we spotted our red bus - a little late but not too bad.  We showed them our voucher and were told it was the wrong bus, wait for the red and blue (two toned) bus.  Well we waited, and waited and waited.  Twenty minutes turned into over an hour.  We saw every color bus but ours stop and go on.  This was not our day.  We had run out of things to see and do.  Finally the  bus arrived  and we hopped on, got our ear plugs and sought a good seat.  We drove one stop and sat for another 30 minutes while they waited for I don't know what.  Finally we were on our way.  Everything started out well enough but pretty soon we realized the script in many instances wasn't matching what we were seeing and the commentary would end abruptly and and then start with a completely different thought.  Very interesting.

I did manage to pick up a few interesting tidbits about the Danes. They do not engage in small talk, they are very blunt, but they are the most content and happiest nation and people on earth.  Danes have the shortest live span but although they don't live long, they live until they die!   They do not like political conflict and have no political corruption, they love the royal family, and would rather socialize than own big houses and expensive cars.  They are taxed at a 45% tax rate but everyone has health coverage.  The average age for men to marry is 32, Cophenhagen is the best city for biking and what ever you do, don't ask for decafe coffee.  Sharon did and embarrassed me to death.  

We knew we were going on the tour again in the morning since we wanted to see The Littlest Mermaid

so we would listen to the commentary again and this time everything would sync - right?

A few sights from the city, of course I don't know what they are but...

                         

Enough of the city tour, we'll pick up on that tomorrow.  Sometimes it's just best to say it just wasn't our day.  We returned to our hotel and rested a bit and then headed to Tivoli Gardens for dinner and to walk around.  We really had no idea what to expect but the nice young man at the hotel assured us we would enjoy it - beautiful gardens, wonderful restaurants, and an amusement park.  What's not to enjoy!

I've been forgetting "the pose"-  Hand on hip, angled and one leg slightly bent.  Makes one look thin - or maybe it was sexy, or was it stylish?  Darn, I can't remember but from now on - look for "the pose".

We decided to eat at Grofton's although there were any number of wonderful looking restaurants. 

It was packed but we managed to get a table for two in the "Grandma's room" right away.  I guess they don't want to keep "Grandma's" waiting.  

We were told we'd have to wait a little bit for our food since the kitchen was busy but we were happy just to have a place to sit and maybe have a drink. There wre lots of people and it was fun just to watch all the activity.  

We had a delicious meal and were anxious to begin our walk around the gardens.  Everything we had seen thus far was enchanting.

This is a hotel on the premises - The Nimb.

And later on in the evening...

Inside the hotel

                          

Around the grounds.

A few of the rides at the amusement park in the Gardens.

The roller coaste

The Merry go round,

The Orient...

                                

The pictures don't begin to capture the beauty of the Gardens.  It is described as fairy like.  The park opened in 1843 and is the second oldest amusement park in the world.  Tivoli's founder, Georg Carstensen obtained a five-year charter to create  Tivoli by telling King Christian VIII that "when people are amusing themsellves, they do not think about politics"  

In 943, Nazi sympathizers burnt many of Tivoli's buildings, including the concert hall, to the ground.  Temporary buildings were constructed in their place and the park was back in operation after only a few weeks. 

We finished our evening looking at some beautiful silver creations by Georg Jensen.

                      

                     

THE WEATHER REPORT

It's been such a dreary week -lots of rain and quite cold for this time of the year.  So, what does one do to perk oneself up during that bad weather.  One could sit at home and read but at our age your eyes can get tired.  One could clean, but not every day.  One could play cards on the iPad, but not all day, everyday.  One could take naps but that would be a bad habit to fall into.  One could blog, but not much to blog about if one is couped up inside the house.  One could grab an umbrella and go to ones local movie house and see a good movie but not everyday.  So, what does one do to lift ones spirits- SHOP!  So Sharon and I went this week and got in a little trouble in the shopping department.  We discovered some new stores.  Some really nice stores!  We really did need some clothes for this colder weather and it's more of the same in the Scandinavian countries.  So we had too!  They do have some lovely clothes over here.  Anyway, I also felt it was time to have some new looks on the. Blog.  (Mmmmmm- do you suppose I could write off some of the expense of the new wardrobe someway- I'll have to look into that)!  Now my only concern is what am I going to get rid of when I move to Avignon.  I just don't think all the old and all the new is going to make it in my two suitcases.  I wonder if my new landlord would accept a box if I shipped one to him.  Well, in 2 months I will let you know what's going to make it to Avignon and how.

Last week we noticed that there was a little water on the wash machine and this week we are looking at pails and pans on top of the machine catching the drips - lots of drips.  Fortunately for us the owners brother lives in Amsterdam and the owner had him come over to take a look.  We now have a big hole in the bathroom wall but Lauren discovered the problem and the plumber will come in while we are gone and fix it.  Perfect timing?  (This is a very old building and some of the pipes are iron and then there's some PVC, and then some copper - they don't always fit so well together and after time problems develop.  Anytime you need some help analyzing a plumbing problem just give me a call.  You can tell. I know a lot about plumbing.).  Just glad we were here to notice it.

As I mentioned before we are heading to Avignon in November.  We had a little trouble trying to pay our initial payment. Poor Sharon who was dealing with the issue was getting so frustrated.  We couldn't deal directly with the owner because he had the property listed with an agency.  We couldn't pay through the agency.  They kept refusing our credit cards. We tried every card we have over here.  We could not figure out what was wrong.  All the cards had plenty of credit ( this was before we went shopping 😀😀😀!  and no daily spending limit.   We finally got a number to call ,which we did, but it was a recording in French and we did not understand  any of it.  I pushed zero thinking that would get me a representative. Nope!   The recording just kept on.  Long story short,  Lauren , the owners brother speaks French and we called, he listened and told us to push one for English.  At last we were speaking to a person and it was explained to us that we could not pay on the iPad but had to put in the CC info on a computer.  Fortunately there is a little place close to the gym that we have used before to do some printing so we went there and got on the computer,put in the CC info and finally received a "Merci, your payment has been accepted"! ALLELUIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tomorrow we leave for Copenhagen.  We have a cab picking us up and taking us to the train station and than a train to the airport.  It's our first time to fly out of Amsterdam.  So much easier to take the train but this is too far.

 A little coffee break after shopping.

Last time, well maybe last time for this sweater.  It's been replaced.

Sharon found a new red hat!

And, on the way home tonight from getting a bite to eat, a flower shop was open and we just had to take some pictures of the flowers and arrangement! 

                     

                  

  

EUROPE IN TWO HOURS OR LESS

Before I tell you how you can see Europe in two hours or less it's time to unveil the Flower Carpet,

Up early and out the door.  We were off to buy our tickets and stand in line , or stand in line to buy our tickets, whatever was required. We have noticed that generally people in Europe do not get up early and we were counting on that.  We arrived at the ticket area at 8:15 and we were about number 10 in line  and we found out tickets would go on sale at 9:00.  Now, you know if this had been in the states, people would have been camping out.  We were grateful that the queue was small and we could get our viewing done and hop back on the red bus to take us to the sights around route 2.  Our ticket for on and off ended at 2:30.

The morning was a little chilly and the forecast was for rain so this time we ncame prepared.  Sharon ran and got us coffee and a coissant and we chatted with the people standing in line so the time went by fairly quickly.  

                                            

I've already told you some general background of the Flower Carpet and that each year a theme is selected.  This year the the Flower Carpet chose to celebrater the 50th anniversary of Turkish immigration in Belgium.  The carpet of Begonia's made up an ephemeral tapestry inspired by the patters of Turkey's famous kilms.

                        

I have 225 more pictures of this but perhaps this is enough to give you an idea.  If any of you want to view the other 221 just let me know next time you see me :-)!

Climbing the stairs to the balcony of the City Hall allowed us a glimpse of the inside of the buiding as well. That too was pretty spetacular.  

The Main Staircase

Beautiful and unique flower arrangements were located throughout the vaious rooms. These were done by new flower designers.

                                                            

Our panoramic view of the carpet was complete so we left the square and ran to catch the on and off bus, line #1.  I think run is an exaggeration of our pace.

Our first stop was at the Atomium.  

"The story of the Atomium is, above all, one of love, the love that the Belgiums have for an extraordinary structure symbolising a frame of mind that wittily combines asthetic daring with technical mastery.  The appearance is unusual and unforgettable.  It has a rare quality of lifting everyone's spirits and firing their imagination."

The Atomium was the main pavilion and icon of the World Fair of Brussels (1958).  It symbolizes the democratic will to maintain peace among all nations, faith in progress, both technical and scientific, and an optimistic vision of the future of a modern, new, supertechnological world for the better life for mankind.

I particularly liked this description:  " A seminal totem in the Brussels skyline, neither tower, nor pryramid, a little bit cubic, a little bit spherical, half-way between sculpture and architecture, a relic of the past with a determinedly futuristic look , museum and exhibition centre, the Atomium is, at once, an object, a place, a space, a Utopia and the only symbol of its kind in the world which elludes any kind of classification".

And here it is.....

It stands 335 ft tall and 59 ft in diameter.  Tubes connect the spheres.  They enclose escalators and a lift to allow acess to to the five habitable spheres which contain exhibit halls and other public spaces.  CNN named it Europe's most bizarre building.

                     

Yup!  That's some person tightrobe walking  between the sphere's.  He took a couple of tumbles while we were watching and we were definitely relieved to see a safety line attached to him and the wire.  

                                                             

Next, we searched for Mini Europe which we were told was out by the Atomium.  We failed to see any sign but were told to go up the path and to our left.  Well , we walked around a bit and then it really started to rain.  You remember me telling you we were prepared.  Well, not so true.  Sharon was prepared.  When I reached into my purse for my umbrella it wasn't there.  Fortunately Sharon had her trusty raincoat with her so she put up the hood and gave me her umbrella.  We finally found the sign for mini-Europe and debated if we should do it.  It was raining and we really didn't know what we were going to see.  We finally decided, we're here, why not.  We are so glad we did and in just a few minutes the rain stopped and we completed the entire walk without one raindrop falling.

They have built replica's of the standout or major buildings in each of the countries of the EU.

All models are built down to the finest detail to a scale of 1:25.  "The park offers something to everybody's taste; lovers of history, enthusiasts of the European Union, people remembering their latest journey, people preparing their tour or people just having a nice stroll."  This stroll takes almost two hours and you see something from every country, in great detail.    In front of each display is a blue button you can push and listen to the National Anthem of the country while looking at one of it's famous buildings.

                                     

                                                              The Abbey in the city of Melk, Austria                                      

Flanders Field  

                                 

"In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Betwen the crosses, row on row.

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead.  Short days ago 

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe;

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow in Flanders fields.

The Flower Carpet in the Grand-Place

The Sacre-Coeur - Paris

The Brandenburg Gate - Germany

The deregulation of airspace in Europe has 

permitted a strong expansion in air transport.  These planes actually taxi down the runways.

The Olavinlinna Castle - Finland

Where in the world is Sharon Daugherty ?

Bath - England                  

Arc de Triomphe - France

There are over 100 buildings on the site.  Fifty five professional workshops from 9 member states of the EU were contracted to carry out the mammoth task involved in making models.  The models were made using a new technique that reproduces exceptionally fine detail and guarantees excellent weather resistance.  The entire process to build these models is extrememly slow.  For example, it took 24,000 hours of work to complete the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela ( the equivalent of one person working for 13 years).

The Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela - Spain

It is a well done - the trains race by, the boats move to the docks, the cranes lift materials, and the models are truly amazing. 

The Monument of Freedom - Riga, Latvia

Big Ben - London

                                                

Of course, it wasn't all buildings,  We ran into some very nice people there as well.  I asked them if I could take a picture or two and they were most gracious.

I really wanted to know if this gentleman would share his bottle of wine but he had places to go and things to do.

    This is the first time I have ever seen one of the Royal Guards with a smile on his face.  

                                              

This guy was pretty fierce looking but I got him to smile for the camera.  HIs moniker was "Terrible Terry"!

We finished,  caught the bus and got off in a little area known as Bourse which the guide said had cafes and restaurants.  Just what we were looking for.  

We found a restaurant situated on the corner that had lots of outside eating space so we sat down and before ordering we decided we'd go inside.  Just a little chilly for us.  We scaned the menu and I found that they had Moules with frites.  The Moules ( Mussels) could be cooked any number of ways but I chose them to be cooked in leeks, mushrooms, ham and wine.  I wish I could say I ordered a Belgium beer but I didn't.  I do love the fact that there is a beer to go with every dish and each beer has it's own particular shaped glass.  Last night when I was looking at foods in Belgium I came across a website which told you what kind of beer to order with the different food selections.  I wish I had had that when I was in Belgium.  I will definitely use it when we visit Brugges and Ghent and try more beer.  Back to the restaurant.  We placed our order and just as we finished a downpour came and everyone outside came rushing in and sat at any available space.  Two women sat down at a table right next to us.The restaurant was large, an upstairs and down and it was packed.  Just a little chaos ensued.

To pass the time Sharon took out her phone and started to look at some of her photo's from mini-Europe.  One of the woman looked over and commented on it - asking if Sharon had just been to Paris.  Sharon explained about mini-Europe and before long the four of us were having a wonderful conversation.  They were delightful.  They were concerned that our food had not arrived but as I said it was chaotic in the restaurant as waiters were trying to find their costomers that had been seated outside, and we assured them that we were fine and just enjoying talking to them.  They did not want us to have a bad impression of Brussels.

    Josee                                                                             Elisabeth

Look how smart Elisabeth was to hold up the menu so we would remember the name of the restaurant.  We have their email addresses and if we should get to Brussels again we are going to have lunch.  

This lunch finally came and I can only say, they were the best mussels I have ever tasted.  Josee and Elisabeth said it was a little early and they probably weren't as good as they would be a little later in the season.  Shoot! I may just have to go back for "the good" mussels.

                           Look mom - all gone!

This is the broth that the mussels steamed in.  Absolutey delicious! I couldn't eat it all but I tried!

It was a good three hour lunch but such fun - good food, an old friend, and new friends!

On our way back we did stop into a little chocolate shop - Elisabeth's.  Elisabeth had a bag of chocolate from this store so we decided that was a good endorsement and we bought a few little treats for ourselves. 

                                                              

Now, with our new found energy we walked to the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula and went inside to have a look.  

The Cathedral is the National Church of Belgium and it is here that royal weddings and funerals take place.  Though dating from the 12th century, the church was only granted cathdral status in 1962.  The interior of the church is not as decorative as one would expect to see in a Gothic Cathedral but Victor Hugo desribed this gothic wonder as the "purest flowering of the Gothic style".

                                                          

                                                     

                                                     

We returned to our hotel and rested up for our night out because we had big plans.  At 10:00 we were returning to the Grand-Place where a splendid sound and light show was to take placre.  A special musical theme was especially composed by Gregoire Dune for this summer's display.

We ate dinner, and I had the rabbit stew this time.  I was a little hesitant but Josee had told me she made it all the time and it's delliciious. I tried it and I liked it.  Only one problem - it's hard to get   the meat off the bones and there's not a lot of meat.  

Rather than go back to the hotel after dinner and wait until 10 for the show we decided to justwalk  around a bit.  After a while we stumbled on a little alley way where some great music was coming from so we proceeded to go and check it out.  We didn't go into the place with music it looked more like a restaurant but there was a little bar around the corner so we stepped inside and had a wine and beer.  It was a very interesting little bar.

                                                            

                                   

And this is Sharon saying " not again," I'm always pullling my camera out to capture our presence at a place and Sharon just looks at me and that's why I wanted you to look at Sharon's expression at the bus stop.  I think she wanted to do this very same thing.  So when you see that look on Sharon's face , not really happy, she's saying " really, another picture - do you have to" ?  The answer is YES!

We returned to the Grand--Place and unfortunately we didn't get there early enough to get a good view of the light show.  We did hear the music and I have some video's of the light show.  I just held the camera up in the air and shot.  

Can't post the video's on the blog but I'm going to put them on Facebook.  They aren't great because I didn't have a good view but you can hear the music and get a feeliing for the light show.

So ended our night in Brussels. 

 The following morniing we headed out to have a little breakfast in the Gallery.  Now I have failed to tell you that everytime we went out of the hotel we had to walk through the gallery to get to almost anywhere we were going and we had to walk right by the shop which had the lovely sculptures, and chandeliers, and vases and crystal.  This morning was no exception.   This time we went in with intention.  We were going to buy a piece of our favorite artist's work and we did.  The artist is LOHE, a Frenchman  We each bought a piece.  They are  signed and named.  Sharon's piece is Leah and mine is Dorothy.  They are on their way via Federal Express to Charlotte NC.  

Dorothy

                                                  Leah

                                                            

We both loved this artist's work.  Hopefully next time we're in the mood to buy a momento of  our year it will not be similar.  Who would have known Sharon would have such good taste.  I guess my influence is rubbing off.

                                                        

.