Call of the North
this is a journey i am undertaking as we speak. i'll try to post updates to this thread, as per possibilities.
The first episode is Würzburg, Germany:
When saying “Würzburg”, I had absolutely no image forming in my head. Nothin. Emptyness. Grey spot. Not even blank, grey – no idea why.
Well, it was a very pleasant surprise. The first sight after emerging from the underground parking lot was this church
in this square
from where I randomly walked along this road
and then this road,
all very cozy, very colorful, but laid back, just like these people must feel enjoying a sunny day.
Stolen by the atmosphere, I got lost. Time for a map – asked for one at the first hotel I saw, and a kind gentleman gave it to me for free – getting a grip, I soon found the Residenz, apparently the largest palace in Germany, a UNESCO monument.
Monumental indeed, with a nice garden around it.
That being ticked, on to the next objective, fortress Marienberg – but on the way, time for a quick look inside the dome, where this interesting… candled ornament was posted at the entrance. To me it looks Hannukah-like.
Moving on, got to the river (Main), and to the fortress
which I admired only from downstairs, from the impressive Alte Mainbrueke – it was already too late to climb up.
On the way back
there was still time to discover some randomly spectacular church
and the famous university
The town impressed me a lot. It is accidentally beautiful in the sense that no matter where you go, you can accidentally find something to please your eye. Speaking of which, I found a suspect agglomeration of aesthetically pleasing-looking young ladies. Felt like in Romania. Probably the huge University is the key.
What stands for sure is that the grey spot for “Würzburg” is gone from my mind, with plenty of things on stock to replace it.
With that, on to the next planned stop, Leipzig.
The first episode is Würzburg, Germany:
When saying “Würzburg”, I had absolutely no image forming in my head. Nothin. Emptyness. Grey spot. Not even blank, grey – no idea why.
Well, it was a very pleasant surprise. The first sight after emerging from the underground parking lot was this church
in this square
from where I randomly walked along this road
and then this road,
all very cozy, very colorful, but laid back, just like these people must feel enjoying a sunny day.
Stolen by the atmosphere, I got lost. Time for a map – asked for one at the first hotel I saw, and a kind gentleman gave it to me for free – getting a grip, I soon found the Residenz, apparently the largest palace in Germany, a UNESCO monument.
Monumental indeed, with a nice garden around it.
That being ticked, on to the next objective, fortress Marienberg – but on the way, time for a quick look inside the dome, where this interesting… candled ornament was posted at the entrance. To me it looks Hannukah-like.
Moving on, got to the river (Main), and to the fortress
which I admired only from downstairs, from the impressive Alte Mainbrueke – it was already too late to climb up.
On the way back
there was still time to discover some randomly spectacular church
and the famous university
The town impressed me a lot. It is accidentally beautiful in the sense that no matter where you go, you can accidentally find something to please your eye. Speaking of which, I found a suspect agglomeration of aesthetically pleasing-looking young ladies. Felt like in Romania. Probably the huge University is the key.
What stands for sure is that the grey spot for “Würzburg” is gone from my mind, with plenty of things on stock to replace it.
With that, on to the next planned stop, Leipzig.
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Amazing buildings
My Gallery
Architecture is not the thing that knocked me out in Berlin. Probably the most historically battered big metropolis of the Western World is a relatively chaotic mix of styles, mostly modern and... construction site-ish, with oasis of old buildings in-between.
What makes Berlin special though can hardly be captured in pictures. It is in the air, in the people, in their minds. The atmosphere, spirit, life which pulsates from every corner. Maybe because of so many hardships, some lasting till very recently, Berlin feels a city ALIVE, with capital A, L, I, V and E.
Ce face însă Berlinul deosebit nu se poate surprinde în poze (sau nu ma pricep eu), ci doar respira din aer – atmosfera, spiritul, viaţa care pulsează peste tot. Poate tocmai pentru că a fost greu încercat de istorie, şi asta până foarte recent, azi Berlinul e un oraş VIU, cu V mare, I mare şi U mare.
Our walk started at the Alexanderplatz, whith the World Clock
and, of course, the television tower, second highest in Europe. Compare with the church tower to its left...
Before seeing the Dome, we stopped for the Neptune fountain in front of the red City Hall
and then saw the Dome, on the river banks - what river crosses Berlin?
The Spree.
Inside, the Dome is even more spectacular, both upstairs
and downstairs.
Outside, relaxation,
totally.
We then finally reached a "classical" point, Unter den Linden. The Berlinese Champs Elysees is not as large, but chic.
and ends with an equally symbolic construction, the Brandenburg Gate.
From there, on to the Reichstag, the Parliament,
which you can visit for free for a rainy panorama
from the pantheon-style (but modern) dome
The Holocaust Memorial is in controversy for its weird style,
But I liked it. It is absurd, which fits.
Gendarmenmarkt is one of the nicest squares in Berlin. Especially cool the two domes, one for Germans,
one for Hugenottes
Potsdamer Platz is where we entered a different era. The Wall era. Few pieces are left over from the wall, some here
and in the meantime they are fixing several "memorial centres"
One of the important ones is Checkpoint Charlie, one of the 7 border crossings between East and West Berlin.
Before 1961 it looked like this,
today it looks like this
This is the best way to learn history. First you learn in school, but then visit the place, to be able to feel what must have been going on.
Now i wonder - how was this possible?!? And then I remember that not too long ago, the concept of "east and west berlin" was very "normal" to me. And that scares me - people forgetting so easily, this makes all sorts of horrors to be able to happen again, and again...
I first heard the words below in a music clip. Now i understand them much better.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Pjn5E6yOKo
http://www.jonathanswinton.com
http://www.swintoncounseling.com
The most famous palace in Berlin
does not lie in Berlin. But in Potsdam, but nobody worries, no matter how persistently it rains - maybe because Potsdam is the former capital of the Prussian empire, or maybe because the palace is called Sans Souci, i.e. "no worry".
Built by Friederich 2nd, a.k.a. The Great, a.k.a. Old Fritz, built this summer residence, of course with terraces
and an orangery
a Chinese house
and other stuff, culminating with another, larger, palace at the other end of the garden
The interiors are stunningly rococo, unfortunately no pictures allowed.
Before leaving we went to see Cecilienhof, the place where the 3 little... hm, personalities, Truman, Churchill and Stalin signed the "Treaty on Germany" in 1945. We were awaiting some more rococo, but stumbled upon a british-style old mansion!
Cool, they withdrew here, far from the rizzrazz, to be able to chat unbothered.
Day ended in Spandau, a small suburb of Berlin, which kept some of its medievalbohemian air.
Lonely Planet - Scandinavian Europe is one of the best investments made so far. It has almost everything I am anticipating of needing.
An even better investment (as it was free) was the map taken from the hostel (Danhostel city center, for the record). It contains a 3 hours walking tour, nicely marked with main attractions. Perfect for the first day! So here we go.
First observation - the weather. I haven't seen so rapidly changing weather, ever. In a matter of seconds it went from sunny to completely clouded, and I am not exaggerating. Very confusing.
First main stop was in the city hall square,
where I consumed a ciabatta at a terrace, peoplewatching and tourpreparing.
Further on, on streetlets,
through squares
till i caught water.
Back to their main shopping street
with rickshaws (Indian fashion catching);
a.k.a. ecological taxis. Quite expensive, compared to India.
Finally, from this square
suddenly... first I saw the anhor.
Only thereafter I realized where I was. Nyhavn is probably the most well-known place in Copenhagen, and I saw why.
Made dozens of photos here, couldnt stop. Even now I dont know which one to choose. Maybe this one
or this one
or this one?
From the part of the world i have seen so far, this place has only one rival - Canale Grande, Venice. I was completely mesmerized. But after a picture with the Romanian violonist
I continued my tour, by the new opera,
the royal palace with one of the few equestrian statues out there featuring a lady
heavily guarded.
The Copenhagen Dome is called Marble Church,
and has one of the largest cupoles in Europe. It didnt even fit in the picture.
There was more, but let's jump to one of the landmarks, probably the landmark, the Little Mermaid, small and shy of all the crowd wanting to touch her (don't touch me!)
The way back lead through a fortress, red on the inside
along houses yellow on the outside,
or churches with blue Bugs.
Back to the Dome, since at 15:00 sharp one can climb the tower, for a panorama picture. Following my King Kong syndrome, of course I had to be there, climbing on a very long and narrow stair system, very cool.
The view
is nice, but not knockingoffyourfeet. Hard to pick something outstanding, maybe these windmills on the sea
or the huge bridge conneting Copenhagen and Malmo, in Sweden.
I had a secret wish, to stroll on a bike in one of these cities. Voila les bikes, I took one, and strolled.
That satisfied, resumed walking, among others seeing the Round Tower
next to which some Russian lads from St. Petersburg were performing some outstanding Xylophone pieces.
URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqUjPKMzK6s"]Sample clip here[/URL
After a bit of musical refreshment, went on to the free city of Christiania, a famous hippieish place on one of the islands, declared "independent". It looks... optimistic.
Soon I reached Pusher Street, where I saw the below sign, which I hurried to take a picture of
Some elderly kiosk sellers on the right protested immediately - this is the only street where they sell hash, and the boys are not too nice if they see you taking pictures. I said i was only taking pictures of the sign - which is true, and turned away fairly quickly, just in case. Thinking in my mind - these people "ask politely" to not take pictures of their illegal activities. I honestly dont feel like obliging. Anyway - on the way there I had observed this lot
being it seems arrested around that corner. Serves them well - was quite annoyed by the reaction i got.
Glad to be "back to civilization", I stopped by Nyhavn again, on nightfall, shooting another 1000 pictures, like this one
and this one
or this one.
That's it, enough, back to Strøget, the main shopping street, now much emptier
and which was resounding with... music. There was this american-seeming dude playing the guitar and - surprize! One of the Russians had joined him for a spontaneous guitar/xylophone jam session. It was AWESOME.
URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ogdgs1TNm0"]clip here[/URL
Unfortunately, my battery ran out during this song:
URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8w511CxHSig"]clip here[/URL
It was the best way possible to end a rich day.
Err... would have been the best way. It didnt end exactly like this. I reached the hostel, wrote for a bit, then went to the room fairly late, after midnight... there was someone in my bed. Shit. What do I do? everyone was sleeping... i go to the other room (was an apartment with 8 beds), a very bad smell and... noise. Someone was snorring like a cavalry unit attacking. Shit. What do I do? Wake the guy up? my backpack was on the ground, maybe the lad is a touch violent, i don't need that. go back to the other room, one dude wakes up, tells me the guy in that empty bed had changed to the other room. Aha. Shit this is unbearable. Fuming, I gather my guts and wake the guy up. Try to wake him up, he sleeps like a log. I manage eventually, ask him whats the deal, he apologizes and says that he had asked the others in the room and they had sad the bed was free. I said well, my backpack and linen and stuff was on the bed, so... well that guys said it was free. well it was not. oh, sorry, no problem, i go. but, you know, very bad snorkeling in the other room. i know, i'm sorry, but this is my bed... he goes. the guy he was talking about raised a tired head, saying - i didnt say it was free, i said i dont know.
no worries, mate. i am very happy to have re-gained my bed in the "good room", with no violence in the process. the guy was very polite, just a bit... odd.
Only now, the longest day so far came to an end. Good night.
Initially I wanted to go to Æroskøbing today, but I found out it takes 4 hours, one way, so I changed my mind to a trip to the North part of the Sjaelland island.
First, Roskilde.
In the former Danish capital I wanted to see Domkirke and the Viking museum.
Domkirke is the church where almost all Danish kings are laid to rest! It is big
and full of history.
More history more to my taste at the Viking museum, near the Fjord. In the '50s they found 5 sunken viking ships, and after a few decades they managed to preserve them in a condition to show them in a museum.
They also reconstructed a few, so visitors can experience how it must have been to walk on those devices.
I didn't see much of the next city, Hillerødul, as I went straight to the Frederiksborg castle. built by King Christian IV, their most famous renaissanceist king, who drove the nation broke, but made some fancy residencies. Like this one, streched on 3 islands
and guarded by a small pink soldier.
Let's enter
And do a tour. Lonely P says it's worth it.
This is the knights room, for a warm-up
Firts jaw-drop is in the chapel:
„aaaa”.
Then some "normal" rooms in different colors
preparing for the big attraction, the Great Hall.
That's not the big hall, that's the entrance chamber. THIS is the big hall:
„aaaa” again (jaw on the floor)
Yeah. Those boys didnt save much. no wonder they went broke.
That was the highlight. Tour done, check gardens
I missed the first train to Helsingør, but thanks to a beautiful blonde local I managed to catch the next connection and reached the small city at the edge of the island, too late to visit the castle. But I knew that - all I wanted was to see it from the outside. And I saw it from far away,
ancient fortress guarding Denmark from the Swedes, with whom they are now connected by lots of ferries like this to Helsingborg
Looking at the serious business meaning castle
I realized I hadnt eaten anything since breakfast, always postponing. And I asked myself - to be, or not to be?
Because yes, Helsingør is actually better known as Elsinore, Hamlet's castle.
I swiftly answered "to be", taking out my yoghurt with muesli.
Thereafter made a round, reading about the place's history, till rain started to fall, sturdily. Damn. Soaking wet I made it to the train and back to Copenhagen, to see a big moon
and a nice reflection
and a Nyhavn always ready for a photo session.
That's it, good night.
Did you take any videos, by the way?
Cheers.:)
I like the old medieval cities. Nice pictures everyone
Help Desk Solution
some links to movies are in the post above.
cheers
Malmö is just across the water from Copenhagen. There's a huge bridge connecting the two cities over the sea. Unfortunately, I slept through the journey, so I didn't see it properly. Landed, half awake, in the middle of the City Hall square.
Went on, to the main shopping street, with some walking-looking statues,
all with soundtrack from some merry artists
who got a bit scared when they heard the 'hare krishna' convoy approaching. I had seen them in the main square:
URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTXA7SqzMsU"]clip here[/URL
I went on to look for Malmöhuus, the castle. Had to wade through a sea of wild geese (now I get why Nils Holgersson was riding a goose)
The red water
is actually the reflection from the castle
And that's it. I didn't enter, went back to Copenhagen. And there - guess where - Nyhavn, obviously. In time to take this picture.
and spontaneously enter a boat, for the last boat tour of the day. Which gave a nice water-level perspective on things.
Tour was nice and relaxing, navigating through picturesque channels and below... low bridges. For the atmosphere,
URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsFt_ImXdns"]clip here[/URL
Good night
It was 23:00h and dark at take-off in Copenhagen. When the plane was rising, I saw a faint sunset at the horizon. Wondered how it will be in Iceland - it was 2 hours behind. Hmmm... Then I fell asleep.
...
It is almost 2:00am, Copenhagen time, midnight Iceland time. I was woken up by something reddish in my eyes. This.
Till we landed, it became like this.
It took a while till I got on the right bus to take us from Keflavik, the airport, to Reykjavik - around an hour's journey. Finally, sitting on the bus, I looked out the window, at the midnight sunset.
It was already 1am. By the time we reached the city, 2am Iceland time, 4am Copenhagen time, the sky was still red. After a while I found it weird - even looong sunset doesn't last for 2 hours.
Then I realized. The sun was rising.
Welcome to Icelandic summer, where sunset seamlessly transitions into sunrise. I found it totally cool.
Good morning, Reykjavík, I said, before going to bed. Looking forward to meet and greet you... today.
Gear:
Digital: Olympus E-520 with Zuiko Digital 14-42mm 1:3.5-5.6 and 40-150mm 1:4-5.6
Analog: Canon FTb with Canon FD 50mm 1:1.8 S.C., Tokina 28mm 1:2.8 & Vivitar 80-200mm 1:4.5
flickr
Finland? who says i didnt go to finland? coming up
thanks for the invite! next time.
cheers!
I started exploring Reykjavik around 11 am, not in a hurry, but very happy. Just very happy to be there. When I realized I was happy, i wondered what will happen to dampen my mood. Something always happens to dampen your mood when you’re happy. Or maybe it’s just me.
It did, nevertheless. The fact that I found out that the trip I wanted to do is damn expensive. Which raised worries about the whole trip budget. Oh well. I booked it nevertheless, and then joined a free walking tour (”the only free thing you get in Iceland”), lead by a funny guide, the one with a geuti.
That’s how i found out some interesting things about Iceland. In no particular order:
- Around 1800 their literacy rate was 100% (!!). „what can we do in winter? read!”
- Very advanced education system, completely free. First school dates back to 1052. Book recommendation: „independent people”, Halldor Laxness, the only icelander winning the Nobel prize for literature.
- Country was colonized by vikings around year 800. the few irish monks living here before “fled”. Quotation marks from the guide - “do you see anywhere where they could have gone??” Then he made a suggestive gesture at his neck.
- Male genoms seem to be of norwegian origin, female of irish. Apparently vikings had a base in Ireland, hence the irish ladies supply.
- Oldest parliament in the world, Anno 930. We’ll get back to that.
- Population - 310000 (3 100 1000, i.e. three hundred thousand), more than half living in the capital and around it. About 20% of the island is inhabitable
- Country is supplied 100% by natural energy. 30% thermal, 70% hydro. Or the other way around. Anyway, first shower - odd rotten eggs smell. Sulfur. You get used to it. Drinkable, too, says Vero. Directly from the ground. Even the hot one, there are 90 degrees temperature hot springs.
- Thats because Iceland is on the Altantic ridge, hence volcanos, hence thermal water.
- Crime pretty low. Phone number of the prime minister supposed to be in the public phone book.
- Cheap natural energy = ecology? Nope. Government wants to sell it to some canadian and/or american dudes who want to build a huge aluminium factory. to get power for that they want to flood a huge currently uninhabited territory. Environment scandal on-going.
After the tour, which was fun, i started walking on my own. Town is small, no place to get lost really, at least in the center, with the main shopping streetmain intersection, with the photo project featuring every kid between age 3 and 6 in rural Iceland
next to the lake
in the “center”, with the cathedral (middle) and the parliament (right)
the harbor.
Speaking of the harbor, a highlight is this shack, selling the apparently best hotdog in the country.
Bill Clinton was passing by one day, and one of the employees shouted at him asking if he wants a hot dog. He said yes, and got one each for all his staff. Liked it. They have a picture
Indeed, it is simply the best hot dog i ate in my life. And it seems that not only me, but also these young people who arrived as i was queuing
to eat a festive hot dog!
After that, on to the big dome
all under refurbishment
but with a good view from the back
finally the king kong syndrome - up the tower for the panorama
Upon exit, i asked how to get to the Pearl. I wanted to see it, but also to go shopping before they were closing at the supermarket, to get some food. It would have been wiser to go to the supermarket first, so i turned the other way around and hurried out to the Pearl first
they are water tanks, but also used as panorama spot.
After that, quick shopping, and… hm. It was 8 at night, sun high up… a thought kept nagging at the back of my brain. There was this town closeby with the coolest name, Hafnarfjörđur. Only 30 mins away by bus. Not much of tourism at this time, but… that name… so i went.
Not much to see, of course, it was evening, everything closed, but it didnt matter.
After a short walk i took the bus back. And while the normal Icelander was preparing for the runtur, the famous bar hopping every Friday night, I went home to sleep. One has to prioritize, and with 7 euros the cheapest beer in town, i had other thoughts on what to do with that money.
It was still light outside, although midnight. I observed that it does something to your biorhythm. makes going to sleep harder - i.e. less of a priority for the body. Especially combined with the adrenaline of discovering a totally new place, many sensations to digest…
While writing this, it’s almost dark by now, it passed 1 am, Dar acum e destul de întuneric afară (e trecut de 1, probably the max darkness point to the point that you dont see well enough to read. Time to go to bed. Good (nordic) night.
July 20
I decided to do a few "standard" trips. Touristy to the bone, but found it the optimal way to cover as much as possible in the little time available. Mass tourism, much like Spain and Turkey, with pickup at the hotel, transit to a bus, with a big group, travel to the "objectives", a little time for photos, that's it.
The first was the "Golden Circle".
I was going to get picked up at 8 a.m., so at 5 to 8 I went down, to make myself a sandwich. While I was busy toasting n stuff, a tall blond guy with shoulder-long hair, around 45-50 years old, was standing in the middle of the kitchen, staring at me.
"you need to get rid of those, there's no room at the table". 'those' were my backpack and jacket.
"it's ok, i'm not staying".
"aha. good."
while he keeps watching me, i finish the sandwich
"you done?"
"yes."
"Good. Now go."
I look around for a napkin.
"whar are you looking for?"
"a napkin"
"we dont have any. only at the table".
"ok." i take a napkin from one of the tables.
"right, you'd expect people to eat at the table, not like this, on the way. Not nice."
„...”
„Now go.”
I smile, and go without a word, down the stais. He comes to the stairs and watching me go, says:
"be careful not to spill on the floor. Making it dirty. Not nice."
"bye."
I walk away smiling. Dani and Vero get along well with him; I admire that. It must have taken a while for them to "crack his social code".
I get "collected" by the minibus, which takes me to the big bus, and off we go. Through lava fields, along hot water pipelines.
The first "warm-up" stop is on a hill from where we can see a geothermal plant and several hot water-collection points.
The plant serves the city of Reykjavik - one part of it, including the one with the Pavi Guesthouse, being directly supplied with hot water from the ground, ~80-90 degrees Celsius. From here. The other part of the city is served by cold water heated using some other ground water, which comes at 120 degrees. celsius. That's possible, i found out, due to the higher pressure below the surface, which pushes the boiling point above 90 degrees.
The lake in the distance will be talked about later.
The giude told us not to step on the moss. It takes a few seconds to destroy and some 50 years to grow again. As per the picture.
Iceland has the oldest ground in the world (somewhere in the west), and also the youngest. This. Hardened lava.
They have the youngest island in the world, UNESCO world heritage. Born around 1960.
Moving on, along the idyllic Þingvallavatn („thinkvadlavatn”) lake, one of the most memorable landscapes from the entire trip,
Next target: Þingvellir (Thinkvedlir), the place of the first parliamentary session in the world, 1078 years ago. It was called Alþingi. A Viking parliament, every tribe was sending over a chieftain + a small escort, to debate and settle community issues, including Supreme Court type stuff. Interestingly, the Court was just giving the verdict, the execution remained with the accusing party. Also, there was no death penalty - the toughest penalty was exile, rejection by the community. You were not allowed to live with people, and anyone finding you had the right to kill you. The penalty was effective 20 years. If you made it, you could come back to 'society'.
In the Icelandic sagas, there is a story about a man who survived 18 years alone. Lived on an island. People were preparing to welcome him back to community, thinking that he had paid his toll. One didn't agree, went out and killed him. No other made it that far.
Sagas, by the way, are their most important literary creation. Sort of legends, written around 1200-1300, accounting for viking life from colonization till then.
Another cool thing about Alþingi is the fact that you can see, probably best in the world, how two continents join/drift apart. The Atlantic Ridge is the place where Europe and America meet. Here, in this valley.
These rifts are made during earthquakes. I liked their puzzle aspect, if you join them they fit. And we're talking about continents.
Every earthquake they drift apart a few centimeters, or even meters (last time, 7m). This is how these corridors were made,
where we walked down
with the English girlscouts following.
This corridor has some outstanding acoustic properties. If one stands at a certain point, he can be heard along the entire corridor, making it possible for a few thousand people to hear a single speach, without microphone.
They had a Law Speaker, since before year 1000 there was no writing here. Writing came with Christianity, which was also adopted in a parliament decision that year, right here.
Our next target was Gullfoss (Gudlfoss), the Golden Falls, second largest Icelandic waterfall
Nice view, getting you wet if walked down. Which I obviously did.
In the distance, the glacier where the river making the cascade comes from
Next, the attraction of the day, at least for me.
The word Geysir comes from this place, from the first hot water-bursting spring internationally acknowledged. It was called
Geysir.
In time, it became a common noun, like "xerox". The "Old Faithful geysir".
Those people in the picture were not supposed to be there. It's damn dangerous. Geysir erupts very irregularily, now not perdictable. 50 metres column of 90 degrees boiling water - you don't wanna be there. The old Geysir had been silent for many years, but started erupting again after an earthquake in 2000. First often, then even less so. Now maybe once every two weeks.
Of course he was silent while we were there, but his younger brother, Strokkur, is much more reliable. On average every 5 minutes, he has something to say. And spit.
The surprise for me was the blue/turquise bubble.
But first to explain the mechanism, which I only now understood.
There's hot water in the ground, right. Like 80 meters deep, i donno. Because of the pressure it is still liquid at 120 degrees celsius. But because it's so hot, it climbs up if it finds a crack. Climbing up, the pressure decreases. So does the boiling point. And the water cools down. At some point both water and boiling point reach 90 degrees - that's when the water boils and turns into vapors - i.e., gas. In the meantime, the cold water which fills the pond at the top, being cold, is falling down. at some point, it meets the gas, which is trapped between the boiling water climbing from below and the cold water falling from above. This gas pocket expands and expands, with even more water boiling, and finally the direction with less pressure gives in - and that is upwards. So when there's enough gas gathered in the pocket, it breaks the cold water barrier and erupts at the surface.
What we see at the surface is how the geysir "breathes"
swells,
and when there's too much gas for the water to hold,
it bursts,
pfffffffffff
tsssssssssssss
eruption.
Filmed, it looks like this
After spending about half an hour with Strokkur, to get the images above, i climbed a small hill to get a panoramic perspective
and to tape another eruption (somewhere around sec. 22, here)
I liked the geysirs a lot. On departure, I found Little Geysir as well, who was mumbling something all the time, all by himself, without any height ambitions though. Yet.
On the way home, we stopped at a smaller but very neat waterfall,
with green spring water (unlike grey Gullfoss, which was glacier water),
And that was it, went home. Arrived around 7pm, in time to make it to the thermal pool, a "compulsory" experience in Iceland. Water at 32 degrees, perfect for outdoor swimming in cold weather. Thermal pools are social meeting points for Icelanders, where they discuss from gossip to business and politics. The one I went to has a large Olympic pool and a smaller pool where I played waterbasketball with a family from Sheffield.
Which should help for a good sleep, because tomorrow is about listening to the Call of the North, big time.
.
July 21
The trip to Greenland was ultratouristic. Even so, it was highly memorabile.
A one-day trip, departure at 10am from the local Reykjavik airport with Icelandair, arrival after 2 hours in Kulusuk, Greenland (still 10 am given the time difference), time spent there till 1:30, and back.
After waiting in the wrong bus station for the right bus, I ended up taking a cab to the airport and made it in time. [sigh of relief]
Was a bit nervous as I heard it's a small plane. Was indeed, but not too small, about 50 seats.
and very stable. I fell asleep of course, as usual, this time against will, and woke up when the destination was already in sight.
The first impression upon exiting the airport was of the fog on the mountains
and of the cold outside. Although Kulusuk is almost on the same latitude as Reykjavik, it is significantly colder (no Gulf stream...). 5 degrees Celsius.
We met the guides, a tall seemingly bored Icelander and a young more enthusiastic German dude. The Icelander was not a Greenland-specialist, and you could tell. The German dude stayed in Greenland for the second summer and was more knowledgeable, but didnt get to speak too much. His role was more keeping tourists together, which this time wasn't hard, as there were only 2 Swedes, 2 Polish people and myself.
We walked to Hotel Kulusuk
3 stars, all amenities. The coolest thing was the moskito water bag at the entrance.
In summer there are herds of insatiable moskitos, but when they get close to the bag, they see themselves in the convex mirror much bigger, get scared and fly away.
The next stop was at a cemetery. Not too interesting. Much more so was the view from the hill we eventually climbed, from where you could see the village.
Around 300 Innuit people live in Kulusuk. And their dogs, and dogsleds.
They live in a fascinating mix of stone age and 21st century technology. They hunt to live. Completely self-sustaining community, they don't produce anything in excess, except a few souvenirs. Just that they don't hunt with a reindeerhorn-topped harpoon, but with iron. And the kayaks (like harpoon, an innuit word given to the world) are not from seal skin any more, but like the ones below.
Fog persisted.
And we reached the village. First stop at the local supermarket, next to the post office.
Then, the souvenir shop, small, few items only.
The more interesting stuff was about to come - they had just shot a polar bear. I thought it was a touristic story they tell us, but then they took us to see the skin.
They have a quota of 20 per year. This is no. 21, and they were allowed to shoot it because it came less than 50m from the village. In that case it is self-defense, given that the polar bear, along with the tiger, are apparently the only animals which see humans as standard meal.
This is seal fat
and this is a seal skin.
which concluded the hunting results of the day.
Next stop, the church
for a short presentation of the icelandic guide. "from the books", but at least I learned stuff. Greenland has a population of 56000 people (! - Iceland seemed crowded all of the sudden), is under Danish rule for a long time, from about its discovery by then danish vikings around the year 1000 - just that for long periods in history people just forgot about it altogether.
The local population, Innuit, was almost exterminated, less by violence than by... common European viruses, such as the flu, for which they had no antibodies! Only around 1970 (!) could they stabilize the situation and managed to beat the diseases! Very few people are left though... the largest island in the world has the population of a small town in Romania...
The next "attraction" was the drum dancer.
I felt a bit awkward to watch the man come in front of us and start to sing just like that.
The atmosphere relaxed when kids arrived.
They followed the show very attentively, and seemed to know the lyrics
- meaning the old man didn't just sing rubbish mocking us secretly. Or maybe he did
"Kayak" and "hanorak" are Innuit words what made it to the world. The kayak has long been at the centre of the Innuit civilization, so we watched a "kayak show".
They even hunted small whales from these boats...
The way back to the airport turned out to be one of the most memorable experiences from the entire Northern Trip. Icebergs.
Like with waterfalls, I could watch icebergs minutes in a row without getting bored. They have an elegance I could not have realized from pictures.
And the colors... that turquise reflected in the water,
stunned me.
Sadly we reached the shore pretty fast - I could have navigated a day among those beauties. On the shore, even more sadly, we saw traces of "civilization":
Remainders of the American military base which functioned here till the '90s. It was them who built the Kulusuk airport as well.
There are no streets in Greenland. To reach another village you have to travel by boat or helicopter. Our return plane waited for a helicopter which couldn't take off from a neighboring village because of the fog. We departed ~3 hours later, but this is nothing special here, as weather makes schedules highly... flexible. Time enough to take some more pictures right outside the airport.
Thinking back, one of the things that impressed me in Greenland was the lack of "tourist harrassment" found in other poor areas of the world. These people live in the harshest environment it probably gets, hunt to live, produce little else, are poor to the bone. Little money, a bit of tourism, that's it. It seems though friendliness and wealth are not two correlated variables. At the village entrance were some men drinking to something. they invited us to join, but when we kindly refused, no problem, they said "welcome to Greenland" and went on with their business. Those kids kame to see the drum dancer and left as discretely as they came. No "take a picture of me, stranger, and now give me money", like it happens in other parts of the world.
Respect.
One more thing - about Global warming - here there is a theory circulating, "local cooling". if the water in the glaciers melts, it will cool the ocean around Greenland and Iceland (and who knows, even around Western Europe, as the Gulf Stream becomes thinner and thinner), which will make these places... colder. Meanwhile, two polar bears crossed the 300km from Greenland to Iceland. Although it is said they can swim only 150km @ open sea. They were shot, since they have nothing to feed on in Iceland except... humans. Sad.
People and icebergs were the strongest impressions in Greenland. Then, the surreal landscape, with the fog at sea, sky-blue water and sky, snowy mountains.
My trip was very short and touristic, one of those "to be able to say i've been there" things, but even so, I found it fascinating. Came in contact with things and people I had seen only on Discovery Channel-type TV shows.
300km like 300 years away from Iceland, which seems now "crowded" and "urban" - funny how benchmarks change perspectives.
...
We returned flying above icebergs
which i could unfortunately soon not see very well, because of the fog.
With that I said good bye, Greenland. And good luck!
July 22nd
They say that in Iceland whale watching and whale hunting vessels anchor next to each other in the ports. We tried to identify them, couldn't though.
Whale hunting is a hot topic in Iceland, highly political and emotional.
Together with Norway (don't know the status of Japan), I think they are the only countries in the world still hunting whales. For "scientific reasons", they say, and serve whale meat in restaurants. They also say that Minke whales destroy their fishing stock. I wonder if it's not exactly the other way around, humans destroying the whales' fishing stock. Anyway, Iceland is supposed to be one of the world's best whale watching spots, so I went.
Funnily enough, when we boarded the ship, the welcoming person told us "enjoy the hunt"! I wonder if they take tourists to hunts as well...
First stop, Puffin Island. Puffins are a small funny waterbird, like the name, with a big colorful beak, constantly looking for fish.
.
They are millions around, apparently, and Icelanders eat them.
The coolest sequence was when a puffin was chased by another larger bird, which wanted to steal its prey. The puffin made a great avoiding maneuvre and plunged into the water. Cool stuff.
We went on, towards the whale spotting places. They say wherever birds are gathering to feed,
chances are whales turn up for the same purpose as well. And indeed, it seems that bubble came from a whale.
which eventually surfaced, but I only got a glimpse at its wing
I didn't take too many pictures, it was wet, cold, rainy, windy, was afraid the camera might get wet and sea water is supposed to be highly corrosive. Whales came, not as spectacularily as last time in Boston, but nice nevertheless. Managed to capture a bit on this movie.
The second part of the day was dedicated to the Blue Lagoon. Lonely Planet says "it is very touristic, but if you don't go you'll regret it. Indeed, the incredibly turquise lake in the middle of an empty lava field is really impressive.
38 degrees celsius in the water, 12 degrees outside. No rain. perfect for a bath.
Water is 2/3 salty, 1/3 sweet, with bacteria and specific unique minerals, apparently very healthy. Like the "normal" thermal pools, it is not treated with chlorine, so a strict body hygiene is imposed before bathing.
Since it was the last day in Iceland, I took one more walk in Reykjavik, to say goodbye. With that occasion I saw a scene Hitchcock might have found inspirational for his movie "birds" - movie here.
And it became even more intense here.
The secret was this lady, who was feeding them.
That being said, before you know it, the eagerly expected sejour in Iceland and "surroundings" came to an end. Thank you V. for the idea!
Tomorrow morning, up at 3:30. Because it is time again to follow the
Call of the North.
July 23
The first words I heard in Oslo were “stai, ţine asta”.
Turned around - 2 blondes. I thought I heard wrong. But then - “La cât vine autobuzul?”
Come on, that's too much Romanian to be just in my mind. So I turned to them and asked them for the Storgata street - “nu vă supăraţi, unde e strada Storgata?”
They didn't know, but in good Romanian fashion, still pointed at a certain direction, and then hurriedly climbed the bus.
I went in that direction, which turned out to be wrong. After a while I found the street though, and reached the hostel when it was starting to get dark. Around 10-11pm.
I enter "my" room - 4 girls. Oops. Reception told me afterwards that they had promised them to try a "girls only" room for them, if possible. Obviously, I was the one making it not possible, as they didnt have any spare beds. I asked the girls (2 american, 1 german, 1 polish) if it's ok with them for me to sleep there. They said ok, fine. So i left the luggage, took the laptop and went down to check internet and write stuff up. Came back late, went straight to bed.
Woke up late, around 10 am. Just couldnt earlier, was too tired. I sit up - no trace of the girls. Just a...boy who was yawning, waking up as well. Hmmm... it means their "ok, fine" wasn't entirely "ok, fine". Typically feminine? :P. They must have "escaped" last night before I came back.
Went to the railway station, and made the decision to buy an Interrail ticket - the second half of the trip is going to be "on the ground". Advice: buy the interrail ticket from OUTSIDE the country where you will start your journey. You get better conditions. For me it was too late - I had been lazy in Copenhagen, didn't want to stand in a queue - price to pay was not so good conditions for the ticket, (10 days in 22, instead of one full month), but it should do for my purposes. Of course, I needed my passport, which I wasn't carrying with me, so I had to turn back to the hostel to fetch it - not before climbing the tower of the Radisson hotel, with this elevator
to the 33rd floor, where... i coulnt get in. The bar was closed, and the panorama floor too. When I was about to descend, an electrician comes out. "What are you doing here?" "Well, I was hoping to see the panorama". "Come on, I'll show you".
?!?
No further questions asked, I follow him to a spot from where you see the city.
and then another. He says, "i shouldnt let you roam here, but i hope you wont jump." I wont jump.
All the time i thought - there must be a catch. he cannot just "be nice" and break the law just to show a complete stranger around.
But he did. There was no catch. He showed me to the elevator, we went down, said goodbye and went on with his business.
Well, once more, thank you.
On the way to the hostel I took a detour by the new opera house
a cool futuristique place,
which has raised controvercies, of course,
but i liked it a lot.
It also had mermaids in the menu.
On the way "home" I took a peek at Karl Johans gata,
full of rockers with Iron Maiden shirts. I had read that Oslo is sort of a Black Metal capital, so I wondered if this is the way people look "normally". Later I found out there is an Iron Maiden concert that night.
...
After buying the railway ticket I returned on the main street
which feeds into the royal palace.
But till then, I saw this Dar ţambal with skateboard în dotare, one of the most eclectic combinations I've seen.
Did I mention how hot it was, the weather? Unbelievably hot, I found out later there were 25 degrees in the shadow. Donno how many there were in the fountain.
As you look back to KJG, there's a cozy park
with more fountains.
The royal palace & gardens with relaxed people reading,
and serious security.
I feel sorry for these ultra-taken-pictures-of guards, I have apocalyptic visions sometimes how it would be if they lose control one day and start beating up tourists who are harrassing them.
Next, to the harbor, with old ships n houses
and the Anker festing (fortress),
with renaissanceish castle inside
which was closed by now, but I walked on the walls outside
climbed nevertheless for the panorama
viewed by relaxed people enjoying global warming.
This cruise ship was just leaving. Was almost as tall as the fortress on the hill..
So I left as well, by tram, up to Vigelandspark. This man Vigeland, in my humble opinion, had a fair amount of birds in the attic. I mean, was a bit cuckoo. That was probably the reason why he made the spectacular decoration for this parc. Statues showing people in diverse situations. For example, at the entrance
which seen from above looks like this.
But the sweet spot is this mausoleum
which contains stuff like this
very ingeniously expressed emotions
Very interesting.
Walked back to the center, to breathe the city in, and discovered both that it's not too big, and that it has some cool residential areas suggesting a very decent lifestyle.
Back on the main street, before turning left to go home, I stood for a while listening to the cymbal player/skateboarder,
whom I didnt film though. After the Yul episode, I'm a bit reluctant to film people on streets. I just listened. And then called it a day.
July 25-26
The simplest way to see some of the fjords is “Norway in a nutshell”, a package trip taking you to the most famous UNESCO heritage fjords. Train from Oslo to Myrdahl, one of the most scenic train routes in the world, from there bus to Voss, and then by boat to I dont’ remember the name, from where you take the train to Bergen. All in one day, leaving at 8am from Oslo, at 8pm arrival in Bergen
It’s worth it.
Of course, I was tired, and the train effect kicked in - I cannot stay awake in trains, so fell asleep during the first part of the scenic route. When I woke up, I saw stuff like this
The Mirror-Lakes are what I remember most vividly from this region. Something I haven’t seen before.
Like a trip companion said, “I thought this exists only in postcards”.
Another defining element for the area are cascades, big foamy ones
or narrow tall ones.
We “reached the water” and started the boat trip, with seagulls playing with the air currents around us.
I learned that fjords are glacier valleys where the sea water infiltrated. The difference between a glacier valley and a river valley is that glaciers can “dig” till below sea level, which rivers obviously don’t. This way the sea water could enter in these valleys once the Ice age with its mammoths and saber tigers & squirrels melted down. Now it looks something like this
like bit swiss lakes, more complicated maybe sort of large Vierwaldstaedter See’s.
With waterfalls thrown around like by a God’s dice,
This was the scenery for a few hours. Then, by bus we cruised Transfăgărăşan/type valleys,
more waterfalls, more mirror-lakes.
Shortly after arrival in Bergen, the sun set
with a fish and chips with two good friends made on the trip. My friends then left to their “appartments”, while I continued to roam the city
since I had only one night available. Climbed with the last cablecar up to the panorama spot (alone in the car, had it all for myself)
and it was worth it.
The Bergen harbor sunset view is eerie, with a mercury-colored water.
After descending with the last cablecar down, continued roaming the city
a must being the trademark hanseatic houses in the harbor
next to party-full boats.
I felt the place “decadent”, and thought that even though Bergen is sheer splendid, I feel here less “at home” than in a Copenhagen-type metropolis. Guess this extreme partying atmosphere is tiring me. Partly age, partly preference. So I thought of checking out a more quiet place, e.g., the cathedral
and this artificial lake behind some houses in the centre,
before going to bed. In the morning, my bus was leaving at 7:30, when the city was still asleep.
After a little stress with finding accomodation back in Oslo (I had decided to return), I managed and felt much relieved starting the trip back along another fjord, the Hardanger (pronounced “hardanyer”, and Oslo is pronounced “Ooshloo”
take the boat through corners of Nordic paradise
towards Voss.
At the beginning, when climbing the boat,
I thought I heard the guide saying “hi, my name is Adina and I will be your guide today”. Hm… Adina sounds Romanian, and haven’t heard it in any other language. I’ll look into that, I said, and then fell asleep in my chair. Woke up later, coz it was cold at 9am on the water, and went to look for the guide.
She is indeed Romanian, from Tulcea, summer guide in Norway and winter guide in Lapland, Finland. Wow.
We made a stop and at her recommendation I took a trip to some waterfall
in the middle of nowhere, where I found… another Romanian girl working at the hotel.
After a pleasant conversation in mother tongue among fjords and cascades, we went back along more waterfalls
and incredibly green valleys
and - there I was, back to Oslo, in a room with two fun Polish guys who had come specifically for the Ice Cube concert (what a transition in 3 days, from Iron Maiden to Ice Cube). Let’s get some sleep, coz tomorrow is a(nother) long day.
July 27
I couldn't leave Oslo without paying them a visit. I mean, I literally could have, but it would have been a pity.
Train to Stockholm was leaving at 4pm, so I took a boat to Bygdøy, museum island. First stop, at the Fram museum,
specially built to host the famous polar exploring ship.
Started by Fridtjof Nansen and continued by Roald Amundsen, these were the voyages I was amazed by when i was a kid. Had no idea what a huge post-polar personality Nansen got to be, humanitarian work done after the war, with famine in Russia, the Nansen Passport for war prisoners repatriation, with the armenians - he was the only Westerner Lenin and his folks would talk to. He did so many things, and was still surprized when getting the Peace Nobel prize.
But before all that, there was Fram,
with its peculiar egg-shaped body, so it doesn't get crushed by ice, but lifted above. That was the revolutionary idea, to be lifted on ice and drift on polar currents from Russia to Norway. It took 3 years, but it worked. The ship passed closer to the North Pole than any other conventional ship before, or since then (!).
The museum is nice for fans, cheap (~3 EUR, like 0.5L of mineral water), you can climb the bridge,
go to the wheel,
get inside, where it's both austere
as well as with traces of elegance.
I liked it, I learned/remembered about adventures I was once reading about. About Scott, too (Fram had taken Amundsen to Antarctica).
Fore example, I didnt know that Amundsen had disappeared in a rescue mission for Umberto Nobile, who had stranded somewhere on the ice with his zeppelin. Amundsen was asked to help, he said 2 words - “right away” - and those are the last words people know him say. He left on a plane to find them, and never came back. 30 people died trying to save Nobile, who eventually was indeed saved, but his name is on the Norwegian black list...
The second objective of the day was related to a very different, although similarily crazy explorer - Thor Heyerdahl and his Kon Tiki.
The museum displays stuff about several of his expeditions, most notably Kon Tiki itself – this is the balsa wood raft he crossed the Pacific on - rebuilt, as the original one shattered on the pacific reefs
6 people crossed from south america to polinesia, with this
Then the RA II expedition, a papyrus raft
crossing the Atlantic with a multinational crew, to prove that Europeans (even ancient Egyptians) could have reached America before Columbus.
Back to the city
whee I boarded the microwave train. That because it was unbelievably hot, no air conditioning, no reserved seat... Some swiss people had my seat, and their approach was interesting. Whenever someone is sitting on MY seat, I ask a tentative question - do you have these seats on your ticket, are you sure? type thing, always assuming that i might be wrong or it could be a simple mistake. This lady on the other hand told me bluntly - "these are our seats". Period. No doubt. Getout. Now.
It annoyed me. Kids however were very polite, said "thank you" twice, even though, after all, it was their damn seat.
I remembered the Japanese family on the train to Bergen. Parents + 2 kids. Very interesting dynamic. parents were very "japanese", quiet, speaking rarely, and then with their mouths closed, very polite, very "proper". kids, however, seemed raised in a "western" way (indeed I found out they had been raised in Israel, where the family was living), and they were filling the whole train with their crystal voices, loud, laughing, speaking a lot, opening their mouth when speaking japanese - I realized I had never heard this language spoken like this, "with full heart". Enjoyed it a lot
Anyway, back to the Stockholm train, i finally found a seat and kept it for the whole journey.
July 28, 21:13
Live transmission from the deck of the ship Marinella: sunset.
Before getting here though, the highlight of the short visit in Stockholm was meeting Stefan. Very pleasant, ideal for battery-charging before the Final Call of the North. I'm sorry that I haven't spent one more day here.
After a "recovery sleep" till 10am, loading up the previous post on the blog and preparing the luggage, I reached town by noon. Left the luggage at the central railway station - very efficient luggage storing system, like everywhere in these countries - and proceeded in taking the pulse of Gamla Stan, the Old Town (I think Gamla means old).
It's exactly as I left it this spring, charming, with narrowissime streets,
even more tourist-crowded than last time.
Oh, but before I got to take this pictures, i went through a characteristic frustration. I forgot the SD card in the laptop, and the laptop in the luggage, and the luggage at the station. Would have been no problem had I taken the small camera with me as well, as I do ALWAYS. EXCEPT this time, when I said - nnaah, won't take it with me, i wont do any minimovies in 2 hours. So... I had to buy a new SD card, and grunting my teeth I said - no more swedish t-shirt for me. I have one from the previous descent anyway.
There also was a moment of hesitation - what if i DONT TAKE ANY PICTURES? But then I thought - I'll get to Gondolen and will want to.
I got to Gondolen,
and wanted to.
Remembered the black roof phenomenon - trapping heat.
Laziness tax is 10 SEK to go up and down, so after doing that i strolled back to the city, endulged in a pizza and a blueberry pie, then went on to the royal palace, empty now,
where this lady was posing for something, making a very serious face.
when passing by our eyes met, and i suddenly grinned at her, she had to laugh, so the very serious photographer had to redo the picture. Content with the outcome of my actions, i moved on cheerfully.
[I'm lazy, don't feel like getting up to pic the sunset. ok, fine, let's do it...
This is where I'm writing.
The reflection in the window is the sunset I am seeing if i peek above the laptop screen. Like now.
I didn't get to take a picture of the ship we are in, as they told me at the ticket office I have 7 minutes to board! So this is an identical one we met.
Stefan was saying that these people make money almost exclusively from booze, since ships are duty-free, local folks travel mostly in order to get cheap booze and have some fun.
I share the cabin with a Finn, Juha (like Juha Kankkunen), and a Russian. Donno the name of the Russian, as when I reached my hand to greet he looked weirdly at me and started mumbling something. Completely smashed.
It's almost 22:30. We sailed a lot through the islands
till we made it into open sea.
You can already see the Åland islands, the first stop. Good night.
P.S. Lonely Planet about the Stockholm population: “(...) the population is overwhelmingly gorgeous”. And: “Known for its impeccable style and a population as conspicuously beautiful as its surroundings, Stockholm is a thoroughly attractive destination”.
If Lonely Planet says so, so it is.
July 28, 23:41
Announced by a lighthouse
and overtaken by a boat,
We reached the Åland islands around 11pm, the first and last stop on the way to Helsinki.
Funnily enough (or maybe not), the red light had moved from west to north, falling behind the harbor
where another Viking Line ship was anchored, empty.
We docked next to it,
and when turning around, a Silja Line ship was coming, "competition". They are more expensive, and it seems with newer and shinier ships.
It tuuuurned
and parked close to us
so we could exchange waves with people aboard. I don't know where this impulse of waving to unknown people you meet like this comes from, but it's fun.
By the time Silja was anchored, we were already on our way,
drifting apart,
faster and faster, till you could barely see the ships.
Suddenly I saw how the light had stayed only on the left side of the sky, the other was pitchdark, quite clearly delimited.
Not long after that, we were out of the islands, and immersed, a small flicker of light, deep into the night.
July 29
The first target in Helsinki was the railway station, to buy tickets for the next destination. The lady at the counter was called Ms. Ruotsalainen, which I found very cool
When you leave your luggage at the railway station, you should be careful and take everything you need with you. If you forget something and have to reopen, you have to repay. Like I did.
Lonely Planet advised a breakfast at Esplanade or Sindberg, so I did
and then, on the way to the harbor, I take a random look left and see this
What's with the crowd? I had planned the big Cathedral for later, but adjusted flexibly and checked it out to see what's going on with the crowd.
A fanfare was playing, people applauding... I was wondering what it could be, when someone tapped me on my shoulder: "you have the American air, you should know: what's going on here?"
I turned and said - “Ai hev nău aidia! Ai mast ask maiself.”
Confusion. She probably didn't expect that weird accent coming out under a boston red sox hat. "Another converted russian", she must have thought. Many people think my accent is russian, which mesmerizes me.
I finally found out it is a military fanfare festival in town, and this was a "teaser".
3 orchestras, the Whites,
the Blues
and the Riders.
Very enjoyable performance. And again.
It was soon over, so I went on, into the church, since I was there already. Not much decorated inside, but with nice sounding organpipes.
Returned to the harbor, just in time to catch a public transport boat to Suomenlinna. On the way I saw Marinella, the boat that brought me here:
anchored lazily
letting a sailor tickle its bell.
Suomenlinna is a fortress-island, UNESCO heritage, constructed by the Swedes, taken by the Russians, damaged in was, and finally taken by Finns.
Rocky beaches with people sunbathing,
Russian cannons shooting at 8km,
the Vesikko submarine, the only one Finland kept after the war, as a museum
which i visited
to see how submarines lived.
Tough life.
For example, they slept here. And loaded the torpedos as well.
Back to town,
to the Upensky Orthodox church, with a rich exterior
and interior architecture.
Next, after taking a picture called “blue”,
I went to follow my King Kong syndrome, to the highest panorama point in town, the Ateljee bar from hotel Tornio.
On the way back to the harbor I met these creative gentlemen at Kappeli, on the way to see the symbol of the city, the Havis Amanda statue
playing with kids.
Birds
said goodbye, and after a last stop on the steps of the great white cathedra
I hit the road to the railway station, in anticipation of the last major Call of the North on this trip.
July 30
I'm at a terrace in the center of Rovaniemi, surrounded by talkative Finns. I am wearing shorts and a Tshirt. It's 9pm, sunny and warm on the Arctic Circle.
The first impression in the Rovaniemi railway station were the probably American boy in flipflops. Dude, you're on the Arctic Circle!!
Out in the street, though, I realized that the kid was not far from the truth: It was pleasant outside, and it was barely 8am. (excellent conditions in the 12.5 hours train from Helsinki, managed to sleep pretty well)
The most expensive overnight stay on the trip so far, the City hotel is a decent 3-star. I had found it thru booking.com; hostelworld.com didnt have anything free! Or rather a poor database - there are more hostels in Rovaniemi than you would think from their site.
After checking in, I go straight to the tourist office, to ask for help with the next accomodation, and start with the standard question: "where do i find a public phone"?
"There are no public phones in Finland."
After a confusion pause, it rings a bell, and I unwillingly mutter "damn those mobile phone guys". "I'm sorry?" she asks. Before I can say "nothing, nothing" with a little embarrassment, she says "yes, these Nokia people, what can you do". So she heard. Still, she is very friendly and calls up a hostel (from her... mobile phone) to find accomodation for me. Which she finds.
Happy, I hurry to catch the bus, which I obviously miss, which gives me time to change into shorts and T-shirt. Well, it's already 11am and it is... warm outside!
I reach Santa Claus' Village around half past noon. S.C.V. is the main touristic attraction here. It is said that Santa lives somewhere in the North, in Lapland, on the Arctic Circle. Well, this is Lapland, and this is the Arctic Circle.
Napapiiri, în Finnish.
I took a few moments to take it in, made a few calls and sent SMSez marking the moment, got used to the idea of the 25 degrees Celsius I was feeling, and then had a look around the village. First, the building
which hosts
Santa's Office
I could have gone in to meet him, but I heard a kid crying inside and got scared away. Looked at the countless souvenirs and jinglebells instead.
And this was just the souvenirstart. The whole village is full of them. Some are pretty cool - unfortunately (or fortunately), my luggage is not suited for much shopping on this trip, so I move on to Santa's Post Office
which receives apparently around 500000 letters per year, and a staff (elves, of course) help him out to answer almost half. Probably, to kids who have been behaving that year.
There is only one other functional "objective" in summer, the husky camp. Around 200m from the center. So I go, nobody at the gate. I open, get in - nobody. Just a tied up tired sad sick dog. I see/hear others further on, barking. There's a cabin, a small bench and a TV on. No human around.
I go out and in and out and in again, hesitating... about the time I'm about to leave, I hear voices and stronger barking - the guide was returning with some tourists after a small tour. For 6 EUR I also did a small tour, on my own, in a large garden with cages hosting 40 dogs, huskies and some spitz, and a REINDEER.
You can play with them, but since I have a deep respect for the canine race, I just took a few pix.
This guy apparently played a part in a Lordi clip.
Now he was all chillin - well, rock star.
The reindeer
looked sleepy and clumsy, almost drunk. Nice antlers, though. Didn't know that they were covered in fur
and only in autumn the fur comes down to leave the empty bone. Mating is done exclusively on the "antler principle", correlated with "size matters". The largest antlers get the girl. Period, no discussion. They apparently grow twice this size, and after the mating season fall off again, and in spring it starts all over.
At least I learned something. And it was not the only thing. Back in Rovaniemi, I went to the LP-recommended Arktikum museum
which was interesting, informative, interactive. Sami people have fantastic traditional costumes, I had no idea, thought they wd dress all in furs. Nope, only at the beginning, after cloth came to these areas they developed a spectacular dress. I learned more stuff, and saw a simulation of the northern lights. Cool.
I walked back, along the river
and ended up enjoying this cranberry juice at this pub terrace, on the small cobbled stoned street which is the center of Rovaniemi.
The sun is about to set. It is "only" 9pm - sign that autumn is coming. It's almost august, nights start to grow again - the "white" ones are in june.
With this, the utmost northern point of the trip has been reached. 66°32'35” northern latitude. The place starting where, at summer solstice, the sun doesn't set. I recommend a visit in winter, it must be an eerie landscape. 1m snow, all sorts of "safari" activities with much more energetic huskies.
That being said, starting tomorrow, it's all back South...
I really enjoyed reading your journal and seeing all the pictures you took. Thank YOU for sharing.
July 31
I dont know exactly why i expected this trip with so much excitement. Maybe because it's “off the beaten path”, maybe because everything is "on the edge" and has to work perfectly within narrow margins for it to happen, donno, but i was bursting with excitement.
Train was at 7:15am. Well, yeah, had to cross half of Finland. Half awake, managed to catch it. Plan was to see Lapland from the train, so naturally I fell asleep instantly and woke up in Oulu, where Lapland...ends.
From Oulu to Pieksämäki I was at least planning to see lakeland Finland. So I slept 4 hours out of 5 like a log, managing to catch very few glimpses at some lakeish landscapes.
At 15:10, 3 minutes before the expected descent in Pieksämäki, ticket control passes. I ask the guy, just to be safe – Pieksämäki? Joo, joo. I take my backpack, prepare to descende - somebody taps me on the shoulder - the controller. Tells me something I don't understand, seems stressed. Asks around if anyone speaks english. A nice lady offers to translate, says - "we are late, this is Suonenjoki, not Pieksämäki.” My jaw drops. I have a connection at 15:20. "You won't catch it", she says. Damn. "But the company helps you with a taxi to Savonlinna." Oh. Another young fella was listening with interest - was going in the same direction. So he helped me once we arrived in Pieksämäki half an hour late, where after a few kiitos-es (thank you) to the lady, i went with the curly guy and found the bus, which was waiting for us. Had to pay the ticket though - 25 euros. Oh well.
The driver managed to cut some of the slack, so we entered Savonlinna at 17:45. My hostel was far away from the centre, I was worried I don't have enough time. So I asked the driver if he knows the place, and - leaves me 20m away from the hostel! Kiitos!
I quickly check in, change into the best clothes i have with me (i.e. the old jeans unused yet, so at least clean, and the only shirt with a collar i have, bought from Greenland because it was the only model available). No other shoes available but the dusty sneakers - oh well. Small backpack ready, asked at the reception how I can get to the centre FAST. By cab. How much? 10 EUR. That's all I have left cash... Ok, call one.
Where should I leave you? asks the cabby. At the castle gate, or, maybe no, at the tourist office. It's closer, 8 EUR. Where do you get tickets from? i ask. No idea. It's late anyway, he says, you have to get in at quarter to 7. It's 25 past 6 when I get to the tourist office.
"Do you still have tickets?"
"Yees, plenty."
YES!! so it worked out!!
Please give me the cheapest one.
Sure. 78 EUR.
Ouch. the ones costing 29 or 33 EUR are sold out... Dang... Well, since I got here anyway, whatta hell... I'll sacrifice something else. E.g. the boat trip to Kuopio tomorrow, let's see. Gimme one ticket please!
Where do you wanna sit?
No idea. wherever.
We have one spot in front, very lateral, and some very at the back.
So...? I can't make up my mind. Where would you sit?
In front.
OK.
I take the ticket, hurry through the town centre
Towards the "objective". As i was getting closer I realized that there still were quite a few people on streets obviously going to the same event I was, since they looked fairly smartly dressed.
And here we are.
The Savonlinna castle is home of the biggest festival in Finland, an opera festival.
It lasts for one month and it is held here:
I had found out in Rovaniemi that the festival is not over, and tonight they play Verdi's "Othello", which is the closing show as well two days from now. So I thought that is a good enough reason to get down from teh Arctic Circle. Just making it in time was a problem, so I didnt' buy tickets in advance, to leave it up to the destiny. Somebody Up There arranget things so I get in time, and therefore - Opera night tonight!
I mingled with the spiffy crowd
and joined the atmosphere.
The 2 EUR from my pocket were not enough to buy a libretto, or a bottle of water, or a minusculous cookie for that matter. You can do NOTHING with 2 EUR in Finland.
My place was in row 5, and I was seeing this
and i was NOT seeing the translation screen on top of the stage.
Music starts... And all of the sudden, a whole bunch of Chinese people invade the stage. Othello's Chinese Army!
Because it is a production of the Shanghai Opera. Everyone is Chinese, from the Moor to Desdemona. Rodrigo looks a bit like Jackie Chan, I have this surreal expectation that would initiate some pretty cool fighting schemes in the opening scene.
But no. Everybody is serious about business. They sing in Italian, and eventually I manage to read some of the subtitles.
At the break though I went to the back looking for a place, which I found, only to observe that... some structure was obtruding the view to the subtitling board! Damn. After a while I noticed that the structure itself had a subtitle screen on it, so i watched the second part with a "big picture" view.
Waz nais. In spite of the fact that I understood almost nothing of what they were singing, I didnt get bored almost at all, except at Desdemona's song during the 3rd act (neverending!). Music was so-so. Ok, but nothing memorable. At least, not for me. No Nabucco choir, no Aida march. Just the Moor's drrrama and the handkerchief crisis.
And, of course, the sentimental value Othello has for me, since i had to play the bastard at the Shakespeare festival, ages ago. God was that tough.
I also remembered mom saying she saw or heard of Othello in Russian, and he was saying “davai zdreantza, Desdemona!” ”Kakaia zdreanţa, Atielo?”.
These people should have said something like “tígōng shoupà, Des De Mo Na!” “nǎxiē shoupà, O Te Lo?”
Or they could have started to sing Othello's song.
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At the end of the day, everything went according to plan. The rug was a trap, and everything fell apart. Grand applause at the end:
Spiffy people streamed out of the castle
(speaking of spiffy, during the second part I sat next to a guy in a black suit and flipflops. I felt overshoed with my sneakers.
It was not dark yet, so I quickly took some more pictures of the castle.
Looking for a good spot, asking myself if it is ok to step on the grass, i saw these young people
doin a picnic, so i relaxed and stepped on the grass.
Then I hear “hey, guy”. Hmmm... I ignore it. “Hey, guy!”. I turn around - they were talking to me. If i want to take a picture of them drinking, eating and playing poker. Seemed tipsy too. Another one says - "no worries, dont listen to him. where are you from?"
“Romania”.
“Oh, we're almost neighbors, I'm from Ukraine".
“We are indeed neighbors.”
At first, I was cautious - being raised to avoid talking to strangers, especially tipsy ones seeking conversations. But he stood up, came closer and started chatting away. Told me about the castle, about the opera festival, made a download of his point of view about Finland (it's very nice, but people are cold), about his life as a peacekeeper... At the end, he invited me to join them for the poker and drinks, but when i politely declined he just said - "well, good luck then, enjoy Finland!" and returned to his comrads.
I left, a bit ashamed of my early suspicions. I have not found one unfriendly person in the entire Northern trip (except Yul, but he's not nordic). I walked along the lake shore - L.Planet was saying that the evening view of the castle is "dramatic". Let's see how dramatic:
I made dozens of pictures, donno which one to put here. Let's finish with this one:
On the way home, dark clouds were gathering above the horizon. Hmmm... tomorrow, weather will be a key element. Hope no storm.
Back at the hostel, I fell asleep on a thunder-lightning-rainfalling background. Good night.
I really want to visit the place one day...
August 1
The 1000 lakes are actually more than 180000 (one hundred and eighty thousand!), and this morning i didnt know what to do with them. There i was in the middle of Karelia, the Lake District, and i wndt have liked to leave without checking them out, at least a little. One option was a cruise to Heinävesi - about half way up towards Kuopio, and back by bus to Savonlinna (i like this name so much!). The second option was a small cruise around Savonlinna, about 2 hours. The third option was just leaving to Helsinki.
Another question - what to do with the luggage? Stay one more night here? Leave luggage here, but check out? Leave it at the railway station? Take it on the boat?
Eventually I decide to take it "downtown", and see from there. So I walked down to town (no hurry this time), trying to find my way on the map. At first I ignored a car which seemed to want to stop next to me, but then I heard the honk. I look up from the map - the lady in the car was waving.
"You seem to need help"
"Er... yyeaa, I'm trying to find the way to the tourist office, for a cruise." (in my mind i was doubting that she can help me with a cruise from behind the steering wheel).
"Well, i'm driving to the office anyway, and it's nearby, hopp in."
Wow. Ok. I jump in, she takes me there (while I realize that the shortcut i thought i took was a longcut), telling me that she used to be a tour guide and when seeing people in touristic need she feels the urge to help.
God bless.
"Are you traveling wiht interrail? Noo, you are too old".
"Thanks
From the short conversation I find out that apparently "men are driving the good cars in Finland, women - what they get." I think - this old car is perfect, my increasingly heavy backpack makes no discriminations at all.
She recommends to take a cruise even if it's clouded like it is. We arrive at the touristic office, which is closed. It opens at 9am, it is 17 before 9. My patience is up at a quarter to 9, so I say - anyway the Heinavesi boat leaves at 9, so no point waiting here - better go down to the harbor and see what's shippin.
I reach the harbor at 7min before 9. The small cruises leave at 10 or 11, cost between 13 and 20 euros. Well, one of these it is then, i say. Let's just quickly check further down, maybe I can find MS Puijo, which is leaving for the longer cruise, see whats up with that, if i can find it. If not, fine.
After the first corner, i notice MS Puijo. I check it out, look around - there were two men outside, talking. The alledged captain comes out, looks around, goes back in - one of the two men outside calls him back, to see what's with me. I ask out of the blue if they give discount for interrail travelers. no expectations at all in my mind, but doesnt hurt. The trip was ~60EUR, a bit on the expensive side. He says no, but we have student discounts. How much? 54 EUR till Kuopio. But i want only to Kerma and back. Aha. Let me look. He goes back in, but the same guy calls him back and tells him something. So the captain says - look, this man is the owner of the boat, he says you can come for 30 EUR, as an "interrailer" alright.
Last offer.
...mmmmmmok. let's go.
So off we go, immediately. Along the Savonlinna castle,
entering the Lake World.
I'm on board now, writing. Deck is full.
Cold.
It starts to rain.
Everything is blue-grey-ish. The lake, the forest, everything. It's raining in the distance. The lady from the hostel was right, it's not much fun when it's raining. I imagine that on sunny weather, it must me much more colorful.
But the other lady was right to. I'm glad i took the trip. God knows when i'll be back to Lakeland - at least i get a glimpse at what the 180000 lakes are about.
Rain has reached us. I'd better close the laptop.
(...)
Rain didn't last long. And, miracle, a patch of clear sky!
I then had a chromatic revelation - probably one of the main reasons for the "clear sky and blue ocean" is the reflection of the sky in the water! It's a logic thing, but for one who has rarely seen the sea, I never spent much time thinking about it. I just knew that the Black Sea was called that way because the first Greek colonists who entered it found it stormy. And if it was at night too... pretty clear, huh.
On the lake, you could clearly see how the water was blue under the clear sky patch, and grey elsewhere.
Causing general enthusiasm on deck (inhabited only by me at the time), the sun came up in the distance too! Which again changed chromatics
and finally reached us.
That didnt last for long either, we turned towards more clouds
but still. I had prayed for a little sun, just to see how it is, and i got it.
Thank you!
In the meantime we entered more narrow channels, also seeing first traces of "civilization",
finally coming close to the image i previously had about the "land of the 1000 lakes".
The trip went on amidst this kind of landscapes,
cold, but not too cold,
clouded, but with some sunny intermezzos, received enthusiastically.
And with other things learned, for example about the Saimaa seal species, endangered, but with protection they managed to grow the population till about 300. 300, like the last Spartans of Leonidas. I'm afraid they will have the same fate...
Meanwhile, we reached the locks.
making the transition between lakes where you have level differences.
Most of them apparently made by russians, when Karelia was under their rule. Boats were the main means of transport then (even now, not many roads or railroads).
First lock was ~20cm level difference, the second one ~1m, the third one, where I got off, almost 2 metres (!).
Here in Kerma i got off the Puijo
and took a minibus back to Savonlinna. Where it was raining. I realized that I had taken this trip to Northern Europe unprepared for the most likely meteorological phenomenon I was going to meet: rain. I had taken no umbrella. I figured, my rain coat should protect me + camera alright if it rains. What i didnt think of is how it could protect me + camera + 2 backpacks, one of them huge. Luckily, rain was rare during the trip, and even now in Savonlinna it didn't last for long.
So after a delicious salmon soup at the "Red Salmon" restaurant on the lake, on to Parikkala and finally Helsinki, for the last night in Scandinavia.
Time flies.