Had such a cruisy day today. It was nice just chilling at Adam's place. Lovely to meet some of his family. Felt like a teenager - Adam, Jays and me -sitting on the sofa, each with computer, laughing at some rather unusual Swedish soap programs... But it was great. The kids had a heavy night Saturday, Jayllee got to me a few of the locals as Adam arranged a party, which was so nice of him.
But apart from that, we walked down to the village centre and tried to get money out. None of my cards have worked in Sweden, all of Jayllee's have, go figure!
Train booked to Copenhagen tomorrow.... oh, and the weather has been awesome. Lovely and warm - best weather yet.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Sweden.....
We have arrived in Sweden. A country I can't say I thought I would visit for a very long time. It is so great to see Adam. For those of you who don't know Adam, he was an au pair for Chris for a while, a great kid who we really enjoyed getting to know.
Today Adam showed us his home town, or it would be more correct to say we showed Adam a few of the things which he had never seen in Stockholm. It's a lovely town, city. Set on thirteen islands, it has wonderful old buildings. Really, what country in Europe doesn't. But in old Stockholm, we walked up lovely shop-lined cobbled alleyways, wandered in to an old map shop, tried to ignore the tourist shops and had lunch at a fab Italian restaurant called Vapiano's!!!
FANTASTIC food. Oh, I loved it. They have this nifty system where you each get a card - just like your bank card. Then you waltz up to the counter, order what you want, choosing the pasta and extras and then they cook it in front of you. Excellent. I had the Cabonarra - just a touch of garlic, bacon and nicely cooked tagliatelle pasta. Yum. The desserts looked amazing, but everyone was too full to have them. They had free sparkling water, gorgeous tables with fresh herbs at them. The place was a buzz of people. I would love to have one of these restaurants in Bunbury. And to pay the bill, you just went up, they swiped your card, which the chef had programme with your meal, and bingo, you paid your own bill. All in all very easy and fun. And the best thing was the price. Twenty five dollars for Jayllee and me. Excellent.
Then we carried on up the alley way and viewed the castle. Love castles and love them even more when I don't have to walk to the top of them. Went through and viewed everything that was free...you have to do that you know, it gives you a good glimpse of the history without costing the earth. They have soldiers on duty, just like Buckingham Palace, only these guys aren't stuck behind a big fence. These poor lads, who are on duty 24/7 are an arm's span away. Mind you, I don't suggest you touch them, don't think that would go down well. But Jayllee, after analysing their marching, turning and standing at ease, rocked up and got a photo with one, which was fine as long as she stayed on the right side of the black line, which was drawn on the ground.
We saw another street entertainer. These guys have been great to see at every big town. In Scotland we saw a guy, who I think was the best so far. Todd Various. He was so clever, he entertained us without really doing anything much, but picking up on aspects of the crowd. He had us in stitches and we learnt a very valuable lesson: Never ever walk behind one of these guys when they are doing a show, you are just asking for a bit of good-natured heckling. He was so good. Trouble is, when we were in Amsterdam, we walked behind a guy who was just starting his routine... you may not know it, but there is now a crowd of kids who think Jayllee and I are strippers. LOL and the carry on, I was dragging behind us, apparently held all our costumes for a striptease act. Classic! Thanks to Todd, I knew just how to take him. Then today, we came across another guy. He was good, and had a great way of including the kids. They are so clever, knowing how to psyche up a crowd and really get them involved with the show. I'd love to show them to my drama class.
Stockholm has a great mix of very old and new. Once we'd passed the old cobbled alleys, the streets and shopping malls felt exactly the same as Perth, it was quite unusual. We had an ice cream at the end of a lovey long grassed area. There are little bridges and buildings everywhere. You could wander for days here and not see everything. And much to our surprise, the prices here are about the same as Australia's, if not a tiny bit cheaper. After London, Dublin and Amsterdam, we have been totally shocked at the price of things, and figured that the higher up you went, the worse it got. But no, we were wrong! Sweden is the country to visit! It is very, very affordable.
Gotta love Sweden.
Today Adam showed us his home town, or it would be more correct to say we showed Adam a few of the things which he had never seen in Stockholm. It's a lovely town, city. Set on thirteen islands, it has wonderful old buildings. Really, what country in Europe doesn't. But in old Stockholm, we walked up lovely shop-lined cobbled alleyways, wandered in to an old map shop, tried to ignore the tourist shops and had lunch at a fab Italian restaurant called Vapiano's!!!
FANTASTIC food. Oh, I loved it. They have this nifty system where you each get a card - just like your bank card. Then you waltz up to the counter, order what you want, choosing the pasta and extras and then they cook it in front of you. Excellent. I had the Cabonarra - just a touch of garlic, bacon and nicely cooked tagliatelle pasta. Yum. The desserts looked amazing, but everyone was too full to have them. They had free sparkling water, gorgeous tables with fresh herbs at them. The place was a buzz of people. I would love to have one of these restaurants in Bunbury. And to pay the bill, you just went up, they swiped your card, which the chef had programme with your meal, and bingo, you paid your own bill. All in all very easy and fun. And the best thing was the price. Twenty five dollars for Jayllee and me. Excellent.
Then we carried on up the alley way and viewed the castle. Love castles and love them even more when I don't have to walk to the top of them. Went through and viewed everything that was free...you have to do that you know, it gives you a good glimpse of the history without costing the earth. They have soldiers on duty, just like Buckingham Palace, only these guys aren't stuck behind a big fence. These poor lads, who are on duty 24/7 are an arm's span away. Mind you, I don't suggest you touch them, don't think that would go down well. But Jayllee, after analysing their marching, turning and standing at ease, rocked up and got a photo with one, which was fine as long as she stayed on the right side of the black line, which was drawn on the ground.
We saw another street entertainer. These guys have been great to see at every big town. In Scotland we saw a guy, who I think was the best so far. Todd Various. He was so clever, he entertained us without really doing anything much, but picking up on aspects of the crowd. He had us in stitches and we learnt a very valuable lesson: Never ever walk behind one of these guys when they are doing a show, you are just asking for a bit of good-natured heckling. He was so good. Trouble is, when we were in Amsterdam, we walked behind a guy who was just starting his routine... you may not know it, but there is now a crowd of kids who think Jayllee and I are strippers. LOL and the carry on, I was dragging behind us, apparently held all our costumes for a striptease act. Classic! Thanks to Todd, I knew just how to take him. Then today, we came across another guy. He was good, and had a great way of including the kids. They are so clever, knowing how to psyche up a crowd and really get them involved with the show. I'd love to show them to my drama class.
Stockholm has a great mix of very old and new. Once we'd passed the old cobbled alleys, the streets and shopping malls felt exactly the same as Perth, it was quite unusual. We had an ice cream at the end of a lovey long grassed area. There are little bridges and buildings everywhere. You could wander for days here and not see everything. And much to our surprise, the prices here are about the same as Australia's, if not a tiny bit cheaper. After London, Dublin and Amsterdam, we have been totally shocked at the price of things, and figured that the higher up you went, the worse it got. But no, we were wrong! Sweden is the country to visit! It is very, very affordable.
Gotta love Sweden.
Just a Little Torture
Jayllee has added to her water colour collection, so she is happy. And I managed to visit the Torture Museum. Excellent place. I mean anyone can go and visit the wonderful art museums but I thought you'd like to know about this dark little spot in human history. The museum covers around five hundred years of human misery and suffering. Really, in today's age, in Western society it is hard to believe what people did to others. And even though I'm not so naive as to think that somewhere in the world people aren't still dreaming up ways to hurt each other, for the moment, it is nice to think we are beyond that. But, it is so amazing to see what they used to do to encourage people to confess their indiscretions or change their religions.
Really thumb screws, stocks, pillars and body compressions are just so yesterday. Any old witch would confess under the pressure of a whole body press of nasty little pointy things on a big wooden chair. The eye-pluckers and hand-choppers were rather innocent looking when compared to the pyramid which they used to encouraged men to recant their sins. Imagine a two foot wooden pyramid, up on a five foot stool, with the unfortunates posterior positioned over the highest point and his body held there with a nice selection of ropes. And just to make sure they really pressed their point home,very heavy stone weights were strapped to their feet. Yep, would have worked for me. Whatever they wanted - I'm pretty sure I would have told them. The fire grill, which looked pretty much the same as one we use on our bbq, would not have been fun to be on, neither would the plank which people were tied to and then crushed with a big carriage wheel. I was impressed to see that the plank which they tied and burnt witches on, also had a nifty little point which they pressed into the top of a person's neck, basically breaking their neck, before they burnt them.
The chastity belt was a classic accessory. A lovely metal belt which hinged between the legs, with two very convenient openings so one could relieve oneself. Gosh, bet they had a real top of the market seller with this little gem. I was fascinated to hear that this could, and they only state could, have been used in times when communities were under attack. So, it was used to help prevent the women from being raped. Now this is a very acceptable use of it for me. I am, however, trying to imagine a hero in a story doing this.... Castle under attack, heroine about to run for her life, hero comes in swinging a sword in one hand and a chastity belt clutched in the other. "Darling let me strap you in..." The mind boggles.....
The Euro Diet
Alright everyone, I do believe I have stumbled onto the best thing ever. You see, Jayllee and I have noticed that there are very few weight-challenged people over here. Yep, the English, Irish, Scots and the Dutch are all very impressively slim, trim and fit. And I am pretty sure there is a really good reason why.
Since we have been here, I have realised something- there is a fabulous fad diet which I don't believe I have heard about yet. And I think the best name for it is the Euro Diet.
This is how it works:
1. The best thing is you do not need to join up anything. No gym, no shakes, no weighing or counting...nope nothing like that at all...
2. Once you have your head around that, you book yourself a ticket to Europe.
3. You pack a suitcase up to 20kgs.
4. Then you take a tour around each of the towns I have previously mentioned....trust me.... I am confident to say that in a couple of weeks, you will feel different and probably look it.
I honestly cannot believe how many steps there are in Europe. We have trudged up and down multiple flights of steps, it is now not a question of, "Are we going up steps?"... "But how many flights are there?...... Oh, and just to make it fun, you have to lug your luggage with you.
This kills any interest you have in junk food, and has you clocking up the kms in no time flat, just make sure you pack your most comfortable shoes - you are going to need them!!! i can guarantee you a minimum of five hours solid walking a day.
So ladies and gents....any takers ? - one month in Europe to shape up.....sounds good doesn't it!
Since we have been here, I have realised something- there is a fabulous fad diet which I don't believe I have heard about yet. And I think the best name for it is the Euro Diet.
This is how it works:
1. The best thing is you do not need to join up anything. No gym, no shakes, no weighing or counting...nope nothing like that at all...
2. Once you have your head around that, you book yourself a ticket to Europe.
3. You pack a suitcase up to 20kgs.
4. Then you take a tour around each of the towns I have previously mentioned....trust me.... I am confident to say that in a couple of weeks, you will feel different and probably look it.
I honestly cannot believe how many steps there are in Europe. We have trudged up and down multiple flights of steps, it is now not a question of, "Are we going up steps?"... "But how many flights are there?...... Oh, and just to make it fun, you have to lug your luggage with you.
This kills any interest you have in junk food, and has you clocking up the kms in no time flat, just make sure you pack your most comfortable shoes - you are going to need them!!! i can guarantee you a minimum of five hours solid walking a day.
So ladies and gents....any takers ? - one month in Europe to shape up.....sounds good doesn't it!
One Hundred Year Summer
One Hundred Year Summer
Now don’t get too excited, this was the
statement our tour guide gave us in the afternoon. Like we hadn’t already
wondered if there was ever a summer here. But apparently we are lucky enough to
be here when they are experiencing their coldest summer for a hundred years!
Bargain!!
We had a tour which took us to The Hague,
Delft and Madurodam. Places of interest, yep.
I just was so pleased I wasn’t driving – the wrong side of the road caper
would have done me in, I am sure. But sitting in a double decker bus was pure
luxury! First stop was to the Delft Pauw centre, which is one of the few places
where you can view (and buy) the traditional hand painted ceramics. I have a
small collection which I carried home from China in my handbag, and I was dying
to add some Dutch pieces to it! It did not disappoint. They even have a
workshop which you can do, (shane it’s on my list) but we watched them paint,
and heard the spiel about how it is made. Excellent stuff, the biggest surprise
was how small the place was. Just a small two storey building, yep, with more
steps. Do not visit Amsterdam if you are on crutches, in a wheelchair or have a
kid in a stroller. Hell, is what it would be.
But I found one small piece to buy, so I was really wrapped, oh and some
earrings which amazingly enough go with a necklace I bought in Dublin.
Then we trundled off to the Hague. Law
centre, parliament place, think Canberra or Wellington. We were informed that
the people here are more reserved that the Dutch Amsterdamians… as nice as they
have been, relaxed and carefree are not two words which spring to mind to
describe native Amsterdamians….. I’m thinking they probably need a bit of
sedative when they hit Aus, if they think they are relaxed…. Our lifestyle and
attitudes must be a complete shock.
Had a photo shoot stop at the Peace Palace
– the place where if you don’t like your country neighbour you can go and scrap
it out with words, not weapons…. Pity more people don’t use it properly.
Then Madurodam – a place which has
recreated all of Holland’s iconic features in
small-scale replicas. Fabulous little spot, which unless one of my
student’s had not mentioned it in their assignment, I wouldn’t have known
existed. Ethan would love it. Super cool place. We spent an hour here and got the
cutest souvenirs, you put your money in and then a wee pair of clogs drop
into a truck and come out for you to collect. Definitely want to come back here.
I have to say, I am loving eating out twice a day too.
I have to say, I am loving eating out twice a day too.
Bijbel Museum
Bijbel Museum
Day two and we are getting into this
sleeping in caper. We are down in the dungeon of the hotel, the restaurant is
above our heads! Yes we hear the scrape of chairs, and even better we are below
street level. I feel like a below-stairs skivvy. We hear the drag of suitcases
along the footpath at all times of the day and night. But last night, I
crashed. Such a good sleep, I will forgive them for waking me this morning.
Best thing about Amsterdam is these guys
really understand where they live and the market they are catering to. Most
shops open from ten to twelve in the morning, so absolutely no need to hustle
about to get out there. They stay open until ten at night or later, if you are off
to XXX places. So, even with our sleep in,
we had a ton of time to visit our first museum before our tour started
today.
Bijbel museum, I saw this online and
couldn’t wait to visit it. They have a lot of old bibles and lots of artifacts from Egypt. They are beautiful, all the lovely calligraphy and illustrations. I love that you could (if you were famous and rich enough) order your own bible and say what maps and extra info you wanted included. Think I might put my order in. They have a self-guided audio tour for you to do, which lets you ramble around the building at your own pace and order...you know me, I can't do anything like that from stage one through to ten. Fortunately, most of the information is provided
in English as well as Dutch, but the one thing I really wanted to study, which was their very
accurate models of Jerusalem and Solomon’s Temple - all the info was in Dutch,
so that was a bit of a downer. Also, managed to wave my hands around and knock
over the safety ropes, so feeling like a naughty kid, I tucked my hands behind
my back and quietly slunk into the next room.
But it is housed in a gorgeous three storey building. Beautiful
wooden staircases and also, there is an art exhibition, which focuses on how
plants are used in the bible and how you can infer meaning from them. It was
great. Can’t say I’ve given much more than the basic consideration to these
aspects in the Bible. So my lucky students are going to have a bit of fun with
this.
Day One - I am Amsterdam
After a bit of an early rocky start leaving Scotland, we had a great flight to Amsterdam. Jayllee and I both closed our eyes and slept, actually the pilot did the smoothest take off and landing I have ever experienced, so kudos to him. Schipol airport is huge. Fifth biggest in Europe apparently. Pack you comfy shoes to get from one end to the other and follow the crowd closely as you will get lost otherwise. We just managed to keep track of the crowd, then caught the train to Amsterdam, booked and paid for the fast direct train called Fayre, paid an extra two Euros each - bad move - train had been cancelled (no signs saying so), so we just caught the pleb one anyway.
Checked into the hotel - arrived early and they hadn't been given my request for early check in, but kindly gave us a room four hours early, (mind you I am pretty sure it wasn't the superior I booked) but it was fab to take a few mins in a room. I'd only had an hour and a bit sleep and we'd been up since 3:30am for the flight, so I collapsed on the bed for a brief siesta. Oh and caught the cab - $ 45 from say my place to Bunbury Centro or say my house in nz to the wharf. Geeish - scary stuff! And that was just from the train station to hotel.
Then we hit the streets. First impression - crazy roads, crazy drivers and even crazier street layout. Drizzly and chilly, there's nothing new in that, so rugged up again, scarf, brolly and jacket. Jayllee stepped out, "Come on Mum, it's fine!" I"m like, "Yep, Jays, you're looking the wrong direction for traffic." But crazy is good. It is definitely unlike anywhere else I have been. And once you get the hang of the canals, it is great. Just remember the layout goes like this....pedestrian path, BIKE path (only worked that out on the last day, thought it was part of the pedestrian path), very narrow pedestrian space, double tram and car lines, very small pedestrian space, BIKE track then back to the pedestrian crossing. See easy isn't it. Advice is follow the green man - most of the time, if you want to make it alive.
But there are eateries, pubs and cafes everywhere. Our hotel was on the city centre edge, so we had a nice walk through all of these. Jays ordered a pancake from the Pancake Palace - BIG pancake, think twice the size of your plate - awesome, she loved it, couldn't eat it all, and I had ribs - yummo. A great start. There are an interesting collection of shops and fashions. Not being a fashion slave, I was a tad oblivious to it all, but I can assure you I have never seen so many boots, shoes or orange clogs for sale anywhere. Boots, of all shapes and colours, and rainbow platform jandals (thongs for you aussies)! Handbags, which looked as though someone had skinned a mammoth to create, super bright fluro tops, dresses in a rather interesting juxtaposition of 60s,70s and 80s - the 70s I recognised from my youth! The 80s from my teens and the other stuff - was so weird it had to be 60s! If Jayllee had double the luggage allowance, she'd be in heaven. Of course, minor issue the prices!!!! The prices are the same as ours only in Euros! How do they live here? I have no idea! Pizza - $80 - yep they are bigger than ours, but we'd still need one to feed my family... ouch, not happening.
Then we jumped on a canal cruise- loved the no parking signs in the water! And no anchor signs. This is a fab way to tour the main canals. You get to sit back and relax and take in all the gorgeous buildings. They are big into decorative tops, so nice stone buildings with wrought iron decorations and interesting facades. The bike fetish is big in Amsterdam. The only thing is when you look close, I do believe that they really should go round and pick up the abandoned bikes. You think that they are all locked up safely, (goodness knows why anyone would steal them, I think the last design development was during the war) and then when you look closely, you see they are all bent and twisted and have flat tyres. Poor things should be collected up and laid to their final resting place. Had to laugh, me who loves biking, is not keen at all to tackle it over here. We passed a six foot American guy today, carefully perched on his bike, his face was white and he pretty much looked like he was on his way to his execution! I swear he didn't know which way to look first. LOL brave man, I say.
Interesting fact, in Scotland and Amsterdam everyone thinks we are American! Go figure. There are heaps of yanks here, and we have only meet, seen, one other couple from Aus, which has been a surprise.
Checked into the hotel - arrived early and they hadn't been given my request for early check in, but kindly gave us a room four hours early, (mind you I am pretty sure it wasn't the superior I booked) but it was fab to take a few mins in a room. I'd only had an hour and a bit sleep and we'd been up since 3:30am for the flight, so I collapsed on the bed for a brief siesta. Oh and caught the cab - $ 45 from say my place to Bunbury Centro or say my house in nz to the wharf. Geeish - scary stuff! And that was just from the train station to hotel.
Then we hit the streets. First impression - crazy roads, crazy drivers and even crazier street layout. Drizzly and chilly, there's nothing new in that, so rugged up again, scarf, brolly and jacket. Jayllee stepped out, "Come on Mum, it's fine!" I"m like, "Yep, Jays, you're looking the wrong direction for traffic." But crazy is good. It is definitely unlike anywhere else I have been. And once you get the hang of the canals, it is great. Just remember the layout goes like this....pedestrian path, BIKE path (only worked that out on the last day, thought it was part of the pedestrian path), very narrow pedestrian space, double tram and car lines, very small pedestrian space, BIKE track then back to the pedestrian crossing. See easy isn't it. Advice is follow the green man - most of the time, if you want to make it alive.
But there are eateries, pubs and cafes everywhere. Our hotel was on the city centre edge, so we had a nice walk through all of these. Jays ordered a pancake from the Pancake Palace - BIG pancake, think twice the size of your plate - awesome, she loved it, couldn't eat it all, and I had ribs - yummo. A great start. There are an interesting collection of shops and fashions. Not being a fashion slave, I was a tad oblivious to it all, but I can assure you I have never seen so many boots, shoes or orange clogs for sale anywhere. Boots, of all shapes and colours, and rainbow platform jandals (thongs for you aussies)! Handbags, which looked as though someone had skinned a mammoth to create, super bright fluro tops, dresses in a rather interesting juxtaposition of 60s,70s and 80s - the 70s I recognised from my youth! The 80s from my teens and the other stuff - was so weird it had to be 60s! If Jayllee had double the luggage allowance, she'd be in heaven. Of course, minor issue the prices!!!! The prices are the same as ours only in Euros! How do they live here? I have no idea! Pizza - $80 - yep they are bigger than ours, but we'd still need one to feed my family... ouch, not happening.
Then we jumped on a canal cruise- loved the no parking signs in the water! And no anchor signs. This is a fab way to tour the main canals. You get to sit back and relax and take in all the gorgeous buildings. They are big into decorative tops, so nice stone buildings with wrought iron decorations and interesting facades. The bike fetish is big in Amsterdam. The only thing is when you look close, I do believe that they really should go round and pick up the abandoned bikes. You think that they are all locked up safely, (goodness knows why anyone would steal them, I think the last design development was during the war) and then when you look closely, you see they are all bent and twisted and have flat tyres. Poor things should be collected up and laid to their final resting place. Had to laugh, me who loves biking, is not keen at all to tackle it over here. We passed a six foot American guy today, carefully perched on his bike, his face was white and he pretty much looked like he was on his way to his execution! I swear he didn't know which way to look first. LOL brave man, I say.
Interesting fact, in Scotland and Amsterdam everyone thinks we are American! Go figure. There are heaps of yanks here, and we have only meet, seen, one other couple from Aus, which has been a surprise.
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