Stockholm, the land of the Nobel Prize (well, all except the Peace Prize, which apparently was given to Norway as a sign of friendship). Our ship's approach to the city involved about four hours of navigating thousands of islands that surround the city. The Captain opened up the helipad to guests to allow us front row views of the amazing scenery as we ventured slowly through the islands. As always, I'll pass along the disclaimer that there are pictures forthcoming.
Stockholm is made up of the mainland, and 14 surrounding islands, the smallest of which is just big enough to fit a hotel. The "Old City" dates to the 1200s, though the oldest buildings still standing date to about 1400 or so. Its a constitutional monarchy and has one House of Parliament (though, the House of Lords still meets once a year for social functions).
To backtrack just a bit, I should tell you that we were slated to take a Segway tour in Germany (none of us have ridden one before). Apparently, we were the only three people who booked the Segway tour, so it got cancelled. Sad. So yesterday morning, we show up in the theatre, tickets in hand, excited about our Stockholm tour...Sweet Stockholm. It involved a tour of the city, of course, but also a visit to a chocolate shop. Chocolate, people. Best tour ever. When we got up to the table, there were three stickers left. I asked the guy, "Are we the last three to check in?" His response? "You're the ONLY three. We would have cancelled it, but we'd already cancelled your Segway tour and didn't want to do that to you again." The result? Private tour!
So we loaded up the mini-bus, Kent, Margaret, myself, our tour guide and the bus driver, and set off to the city. After navigating through a bit of the city, getting a brief history, and making our way to the first stop: Chokladfabriken. Here, we learned how chocolate is made, including the difference between dark, milk and white choclate, and sampled a good bit of each, as well as six chocolate truffles. Of course, I brought some home.
Next, our mini-bus took us to the Royal Palace, where we walked around the Gamla Stan, the oldest part of the city. We wandered with our tour guide, who obviously was used to having a much larger group, as any time one of us wandered off in the slightest, he'd draw us back in. He shared with us the history of the city, and the Royal Family. Following our city tour, we had a bit of free time to shop, and then our tour guide bought us a delicious Swedish pastry before we made the short trip back to the ship.
Following dinner that night, Margaret and I decided to play some craps (you know me and my love of the game), while Kent played some slots. Just when we had finished losing my gambling budget for the night, we saw Sue, our Cruise Director, walk out of the casino. At this point, Margaret and I literally ran after her, shouting her name. We then invited her and the Hotel Director Julian to dinner, since its just the three of us sitting at a table for eight. Unfortunately, there wasn't a night that the two of them will be able to join us, but they did join us for drinks before dinner one night.
The following day, we arrived in Helsinki, which I'm sure was beautiful, but so far, its the one day that has been a complete wash-out. We briefly walked through the city, walked through the church on Senate Hill, and went back, wet, to the ship. I'm afraid there's not a whole lot I can share about Helsinki, except that, when we were there, it was the beginning of classes at the universities. So all first-year students were being initiated, which meant they were dressed in animal costumes and performing random tasks throughout the city. It was all very odd.
Coming up will be St. Petersburg, though I'm not sure I'll get that post done before the end of the cruise. There's so much to talk about, so many stories to share. And, really, I haven't shared much of anything about the cruise itself.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Stockholm, and a Smidge of Helsinki
Stockholm, the land of the Nobel Prize (well, all except the Peace Prize, which apparently was given to Norway as a sign of friendship). Our ship's approach to the city involved about four hours of navigating thousands of islands that surround the city. The Captain opened up the helipad to guests to allow us front row views of the amazing scenery as we ventured slowly through the islands. As always, I'll pass along the disclaimer that there are pictures forthcoming.
Stockholm is made up of the mainland, and 14 surrounding islands, the smallest of which is just big enough to fit a hotel. The "Old City" dates to the 1200s, though the oldest buildings still standing date to about 1400 or so. Its a constitutional monarchy and has one House of Parliament (though, the House of Lords still meets once a year for social functions).
To backtrack just a bit, I should tell you that we were slated to take a Segway tour in Germany (none of us have ridden one before). Apparently, we were the only three people who booked the Segway tour, so it got cancelled. Sad. So yesterday morning, we show up in the theatre, tickets in hand, excited about our Stockholm tour...Sweet Stockholm. It involved a tour of the city, of course, but also a visit to a chocolate shop. Chocolate, people. Best tour ever. When we got up to the table, there were three stickers left. I asked the guy, "Are we the last three to check in?" His response? "You're the ONLY three. We would have cancelled it, but we'd already cancelled your Segway tour and didn't want to do that to you again." The result? Private tour!
So we loaded up the mini-bus, Kent, Margaret, myself, our tour guide and the bus driver, and set off to the city. After navigating through a bit of the city, getting a brief history, and making our way to the first stop: Chokladfabriken. Here, we learned how chocolate is made, including the difference between dark, milk and white choclate, and sampled a good bit of each, as well as six chocolate truffles. Of course, I brought some home.
Next, our mini-bus took us to the Royal Palace, where we walked around the Gamla Stan, the oldest part of the city. We wandered with our tour guide, who obviously was used to having a much larger group, as any time one of us wandered off in the slightest, he'd draw us back in. He shared with us the history of the city, and the Royal Family. Following our city tour, we had a bit of free time to shop, and then our tour guide bought us a delicious Swedish pastry before we made the short trip back to the ship.
Following dinner that night, Margaret and I decided to play some craps (you know me and my love of the game), while Kent played some slots. Just when we had finished losing my gambling budget for the night, we saw Sue, our Cruise Director, walk out of the casino. At this point, Margaret and I literally ran after her, shouting her name. We then invited her and the Hotel Director Julian to dinner, since its just the three of us sitting at a table for eight. Unfortunately, there wasn't a night that the two of them will be able to join us, but they did join us for drinks before dinner one night.
The following day, we arrived in Helsinki, which I'm sure was beautiful, but so far, its the one day that has been a complete wash-out. We briefly walked through the city, walked through the church on Senate Hill, and went back, wet, to the ship. I'm afraid there's not a whole lot I can share about Helsinki, except that, when we were there, it was the beginning of classes at the universities. So all first-year students were being initiated, which meant they were dressed in animal costumes and performing random tasks throughout the city. It was all very odd.
Coming up will be St. Petersburg, though I'm not sure I'll get that post done before the end of the cruise. There's so much to talk about, so many stories to share. And, really, I haven't shared much of anything about the cruise itself.
Stockholm is made up of the mainland, and 14 surrounding islands, the smallest of which is just big enough to fit a hotel. The "Old City" dates to the 1200s, though the oldest buildings still standing date to about 1400 or so. Its a constitutional monarchy and has one House of Parliament (though, the House of Lords still meets once a year for social functions).
To backtrack just a bit, I should tell you that we were slated to take a Segway tour in Germany (none of us have ridden one before). Apparently, we were the only three people who booked the Segway tour, so it got cancelled. Sad. So yesterday morning, we show up in the theatre, tickets in hand, excited about our Stockholm tour...Sweet Stockholm. It involved a tour of the city, of course, but also a visit to a chocolate shop. Chocolate, people. Best tour ever. When we got up to the table, there were three stickers left. I asked the guy, "Are we the last three to check in?" His response? "You're the ONLY three. We would have cancelled it, but we'd already cancelled your Segway tour and didn't want to do that to you again." The result? Private tour!
So we loaded up the mini-bus, Kent, Margaret, myself, our tour guide and the bus driver, and set off to the city. After navigating through a bit of the city, getting a brief history, and making our way to the first stop: Chokladfabriken. Here, we learned how chocolate is made, including the difference between dark, milk and white choclate, and sampled a good bit of each, as well as six chocolate truffles. Of course, I brought some home.
Next, our mini-bus took us to the Royal Palace, where we walked around the Gamla Stan, the oldest part of the city. We wandered with our tour guide, who obviously was used to having a much larger group, as any time one of us wandered off in the slightest, he'd draw us back in. He shared with us the history of the city, and the Royal Family. Following our city tour, we had a bit of free time to shop, and then our tour guide bought us a delicious Swedish pastry before we made the short trip back to the ship.
Following dinner that night, Margaret and I decided to play some craps (you know me and my love of the game), while Kent played some slots. Just when we had finished losing my gambling budget for the night, we saw Sue, our Cruise Director, walk out of the casino. At this point, Margaret and I literally ran after her, shouting her name. We then invited her and the Hotel Director Julian to dinner, since its just the three of us sitting at a table for eight. Unfortunately, there wasn't a night that the two of them will be able to join us, but they did join us for drinks before dinner one night.
The following day, we arrived in Helsinki, which I'm sure was beautiful, but so far, its the one day that has been a complete wash-out. We briefly walked through the city, walked through the church on Senate Hill, and went back, wet, to the ship. I'm afraid there's not a whole lot I can share about Helsinki, except that, when we were there, it was the beginning of classes at the universities. So all first-year students were being initiated, which meant they were dressed in animal costumes and performing random tasks throughout the city. It was all very odd.
Coming up will be St. Petersburg, though I'm not sure I'll get that post done before the end of the cruise. There's so much to talk about, so many stories to share. And, really, I haven't shared much of anything about the cruise itself.
Stockholm, and a Smidge of Helsinki
Stockholm, the land of the Nobel Prize (well, all except the Peace Prize, which apparently was given to Norway as a sign of friendship). Our ship's approach to the city involved about four hours of navigating thousands of islands that surround the city. The Captain opened up the helipad to guests to allow us front row views of the amazing scenery as we ventured slowly through the islands. As always, I'll pass along the disclaimer that there are pictures forthcoming.
Stockholm is made up of the mainland, and 14 surrounding islands, the smallest of which is just big enough to fit a hotel. The "Old City" dates to the 1200s, though the oldest buildings still standing date to about 1400 or so. Its a constitutional monarchy and has one House of Parliament (though, the House of Lords still meets once a year for social functions).
To backtrack just a bit, I should tell you that we were slated to take a Segway tour in Germany (none of us have ridden one before). Apparently, we were the only three people who booked the Segway tour, so it got cancelled. Sad. So yesterday morning, we show up in the theatre, tickets in hand, excited about our Stockholm tour...Sweet Stockholm. It involved a tour of the city, of course, but also a visit to a chocolate shop. Chocolate, people. Best tour ever. When we got up to the table, there were three stickers left. I asked the guy, "Are we the last three to check in?" His response? "You're the ONLY three. We would have cancelled it, but we'd already cancelled your Segway tour and didn't want to do that to you again." The result? Private tour!
So we loaded up the mini-bus, Kent, Margaret, myself, our tour guide and the bus driver, and set off to the city. After navigating through a bit of the city, getting a brief history, and making our way to the first stop: Chokladfabriken. Here, we learned how chocolate is made, including the difference between dark, milk and white choclate, and sampled a good bit of each, as well as six chocolate truffles. Of course, I brought some home.
Next, our mini-bus took us to the Royal Palace, where we walked around the Gamla Stan, the oldest part of the city. We wandered with our tour guide, who obviously was used to having a much larger group, as any time one of us wandered off in the slightest, he'd draw us back in. He shared with us the history of the city, and the Royal Family. Following our city tour, we had a bit of free time to shop, and then our tour guide bought us a delicious Swedish pastry before we made the short trip back to the ship.
Following dinner that night, Margaret and I decided to play some craps (you know me and my love of the game), while Kent played some slots. Just when we had finished losing my gambling budget for the night, we saw Sue, our Cruise Director, walk out of the casino. At this point, Margaret and I literally ran after her, shouting her name. We then invited her and the Hotel Director Julian to dinner, since its just the three of us sitting at a table for eight. Unfortunately, there wasn't a night that the two of them will be able to join us, but they did join us for drinks before dinner one night.
The following day, we arrived in Helsinki, which I'm sure was beautiful, but so far, its the one day that has been a complete wash-out. We briefly walked through the city, walked through the church on Senate Hill, and went back, wet, to the ship. I'm afraid there's not a whole lot I can share about Helsinki, except that, when we were there, it was the beginning of classes at the universities. So all first-year students were being initiated, which meant they were dressed in animal costumes and performing random tasks throughout the city. It was all very odd.
Coming up will be St. Petersburg, though I'm not sure I'll get that post done before the end of the cruise. There's so much to talk about, so many stories to share. And, really, I haven't shared much of anything about the cruise itself.
Stockholm is made up of the mainland, and 14 surrounding islands, the smallest of which is just big enough to fit a hotel. The "Old City" dates to the 1200s, though the oldest buildings still standing date to about 1400 or so. Its a constitutional monarchy and has one House of Parliament (though, the House of Lords still meets once a year for social functions).
To backtrack just a bit, I should tell you that we were slated to take a Segway tour in Germany (none of us have ridden one before). Apparently, we were the only three people who booked the Segway tour, so it got cancelled. Sad. So yesterday morning, we show up in the theatre, tickets in hand, excited about our Stockholm tour...Sweet Stockholm. It involved a tour of the city, of course, but also a visit to a chocolate shop. Chocolate, people. Best tour ever. When we got up to the table, there were three stickers left. I asked the guy, "Are we the last three to check in?" His response? "You're the ONLY three. We would have cancelled it, but we'd already cancelled your Segway tour and didn't want to do that to you again." The result? Private tour!
So we loaded up the mini-bus, Kent, Margaret, myself, our tour guide and the bus driver, and set off to the city. After navigating through a bit of the city, getting a brief history, and making our way to the first stop: Chokladfabriken. Here, we learned how chocolate is made, including the difference between dark, milk and white choclate, and sampled a good bit of each, as well as six chocolate truffles. Of course, I brought some home.
Next, our mini-bus took us to the Royal Palace, where we walked around the Gamla Stan, the oldest part of the city. We wandered with our tour guide, who obviously was used to having a much larger group, as any time one of us wandered off in the slightest, he'd draw us back in. He shared with us the history of the city, and the Royal Family. Following our city tour, we had a bit of free time to shop, and then our tour guide bought us a delicious Swedish pastry before we made the short trip back to the ship.
Following dinner that night, Margaret and I decided to play some craps (you know me and my love of the game), while Kent played some slots. Just when we had finished losing my gambling budget for the night, we saw Sue, our Cruise Director, walk out of the casino. At this point, Margaret and I literally ran after her, shouting her name. We then invited her and the Hotel Director Julian to dinner, since its just the three of us sitting at a table for eight. Unfortunately, there wasn't a night that the two of them will be able to join us, but they did join us for drinks before dinner one night.
The following day, we arrived in Helsinki, which I'm sure was beautiful, but so far, its the one day that has been a complete wash-out. We briefly walked through the city, walked through the church on Senate Hill, and went back, wet, to the ship. I'm afraid there's not a whole lot I can share about Helsinki, except that, when we were there, it was the beginning of classes at the universities. So all first-year students were being initiated, which meant they were dressed in animal costumes and performing random tasks throughout the city. It was all very odd.
Coming up will be St. Petersburg, though I'm not sure I'll get that post done before the end of the cruise. There's so much to talk about, so many stories to share. And, really, I haven't shared much of anything about the cruise itself.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Onwards to the Ship!
No, none of us won the $5K. Alas, guess I'll have to keep working.
In our last episode, we visited Amsterdam, and left off having just got on the ship. our room is nice, directly beside the Bridge. We have a nice window, and a ton of extra room due to our location on the ship.
Our table mates are two couples from South Africa (three of the four had grown up in Zimbabwe). One of them is apparently a famous opera singer in South Africa; I have a feeling though she won't be belting out any songs at dinner. Since we were in port until midnight on Sunday, they offered a 20% discount at the specialty restaurants, so we took them up on the offer. Dear Lord, so much food. We started off with saffron risotto balls, crab cakes, calamari and beef ravioli. For course 2, I had the Tuscan Onion Soup, Kent had seafood stew, and Margaret had a salad.
Courses three and four were served together. Kent and I both had lobster alfredo, while Margaret enjoyed spaghetti bolognese. We all had steaks for our fourth course (I had a delicious filet mignon), and then moved on to desserts. Creme brulee, chocolate fondue with strawberries, pineapple, marshmallows, brownies and bananas, and chocolate-hazelnut gelato. Needless to say, we were stuffed by the end of dinner.
As I said, Warnemundde is a small town used as the gateway to Berlin, which is a little under three hours' train ride away. We didn't go to Berlin, so we just walked around the town for a bit. Not much to see, so Kent and I ventured by train to Rostock, where we saw a few gorgeous churches dating to the late 1200s, One of them houses a pipe organ housing over 5700 pipes, and an astronomical clock that's been working since the 1400s, and not only displays the time, but also month, day, year, zodiac sign, phases of the sun and moon, and date of Easter (through 2017).
Today's another day at sea, and we've been doing our best to rest up, as we are in port for the next five days in a row! We have Stockholm, Helsinki, St. Petersburg (overnight) and Tallin, Estonia, before our next day at sea. Its a jam-packed schedule, but one well worth it.
In our last episode, we visited Amsterdam, and left off having just got on the ship. our room is nice, directly beside the Bridge. We have a nice window, and a ton of extra room due to our location on the ship.
Our table mates are two couples from South Africa (three of the four had grown up in Zimbabwe). One of them is apparently a famous opera singer in South Africa; I have a feeling though she won't be belting out any songs at dinner. Since we were in port until midnight on Sunday, they offered a 20% discount at the specialty restaurants, so we took them up on the offer. Dear Lord, so much food. We started off with saffron risotto balls, crab cakes, calamari and beef ravioli. For course 2, I had the Tuscan Onion Soup, Kent had seafood stew, and Margaret had a salad.
Courses three and four were served together. Kent and I both had lobster alfredo, while Margaret enjoyed spaghetti bolognese. We all had steaks for our fourth course (I had a delicious filet mignon), and then moved on to desserts. Creme brulee, chocolate fondue with strawberries, pineapple, marshmallows, brownies and bananas, and chocolate-hazelnut gelato. Needless to say, we were stuffed by the end of dinner.
As I said, Warnemundde is a small town used as the gateway to Berlin, which is a little under three hours' train ride away. We didn't go to Berlin, so we just walked around the town for a bit. Not much to see, so Kent and I ventured by train to Rostock, where we saw a few gorgeous churches dating to the late 1200s, One of them houses a pipe organ housing over 5700 pipes, and an astronomical clock that's been working since the 1400s, and not only displays the time, but also month, day, year, zodiac sign, phases of the sun and moon, and date of Easter (through 2017).
Today's another day at sea, and we've been doing our best to rest up, as we are in port for the next five days in a row! We have Stockholm, Helsinki, St. Petersburg (overnight) and Tallin, Estonia, before our next day at sea. Its a jam-packed schedule, but one well worth it.
Amsterdam, the City of Canals, Pot and Prostitutes
Sorry for the lengthy delay in posting. It took us this long to buy an internet package so we could start posting.
If I recall correctly, when we last left off, we had just arrived in Amsterdam, lugged our suitcases through the cobblestone and bricked streets, and set up camp in our houseboat. The only thing planned for Tuesday night, our first in Amsterdam, was a tour of the Red Light District. Guess what happened? Yep, it rained. Poured, actually, and the tour was cancelled. So, we waited out the storm, wandered a bit and called it a night.
Wednesday, we began the day by touring the Anne Frank house. Margaret, being the genius she is, had secured us advance tickets. So instead of waiting in the long line stretching around the block, we rang a bell, were buzzed in, and immediately began our tour.
To give just a bit of history, Anne Frank's father, Otto, owned a business selling spices and pectin for making jelly. The Netherlands had been neutral in World War I, and were unprepared for the Nazis. It took less than a week for Germany to conquer the Netherlands, beginning a five-year occupation. In order to save his business, Otto Frank transferred ownership of his business to an "Aryan" collegue, and sent out word that he and his family were fleeing to Switzerland. In reality, he had prepared the annex of the warehouse for his family's hiding. While the office employees knew of their hiding, those working in the warehouse did not.
After touring the office and warehouse, you come across the secret entrance to the annex, hidden behind a bookcase. Stepping into the annex, you immediately get a sense of how small the living space was for those eight people. Four rooms, none of them large, windows blacked out. And for two years. I simply can not imagine. Despite all of the horrors of WWII, it amazes me that this girl could remain so hopeful. In the end, Otto was the only member of the Frank family to survive WWII and return to Amsterdam.
Having purposefully left most of our time in Amsterdam free, we did a bit more wandering, had lunch, and returned to the houseboat for a rest, and made another attempt at touring the Red Light District.
What can I say about this little part of Amsterdam? Begin with history I guess. Prostitution has long been a part of Amsterdam's history. The prostitutes even donated a cross for a spire on St. Nicholas Cathedral. As it turns out, St. Nicholas is the patron saint of both prostitutes and sailors. Convenient, eh? Anyway, the prostitutes in Amsterdam are unionized, quite effectively. When a law was passed requiring prostitutes be routinely tested for STDs, the union fought the requirement as unconstitutional, arguing that if prostitutes must be tested, so should anyone who regularly comes into contact with body fluids. The Court of Justice sided with the prostitutes.
In an effort to combat the spread of STDs, a prostitute, who is part of the union, that contracts HIV is provided a fully subsidized apartment if she agrees to give up prostitution. In addition, condom use is required, though its basically impossible to enforce. Its estimated about 45% of the prostitutes in the Red Light District are HIV-positive.
As we walked through the RLD, I felt sort of awkward. I mean, here we are, wandering past these women selling their bodies, and we're on an organized tour of it all. I guess its just a part of life in Amsterdam. In fact, we passed by both a daycare and a Christian youth hostel, both surrounded by windows. There is also a theatre which shows 8 different live-sex acts, and apparently encourages audience participation. Eww. Thus ended our day Wednesday.
Thursday, we ventured to the Van Gogh museum, which was quite interesting. I hadn't realized he was only 37 years old when he killed himself, and had only sold one painting in the course of his lifetime.
Margaret and I spend the afternoon following the walking tour in the Rick Steves' guidebook. Amsterdam got its name from the damming of the Amstel River, where Dam Square is now located. As Rick Steves puts it, "Amsterdam is a bold experiment in freedom." Nearly nothing is illegal as long as it doesn't hurt anyone. Historically, Amsterdam was an important center of trade, and had one of the first successful stock exchanges (which originally was more of a commodity exchange, where physical goods were traded). The country had traditionally been a democratic society, but had a monarchy imposed by Napoleon. After Napoleon's defeat, the powers that be decided to retain a monarchy in the hands of a noble Dutch family.
Amsterdam was beautiful, and its amazing how one street can be bustling with tourists and shoppers, and the next street over is as quiet as a suburban neighborhood. There's not a whole lot of vehicular traffic away from the main streets and area around Dam Square/Centraal Station, except for the large number of bicycles. The tram system is fairly easy to figure out, and you never really need a car (or a taxi, for those of you cheap skates).
Finally, on Friday morning, it was time to head to the ship. We'd been travelling for six days already, and had not even gotten on the ship yet! Yes, I was cheap, and insisted we take the tram. The powers that be were against me, however, when a delivery truck side-swiped a tram two in front of ours, and we got kicked off. So yes, in the end, I relented, adn we took a cab to the port.
Boarding was a breeze, and we made it on to the Celebrity Constellation. Both Saturday and Monday were days at sea, with a stop in Warnemunnde, "Gateway to Berlin." More on that later (though, not much more, since we didn't actually go into Berlin). But, its almost time for Bingo...gotta win that $5,000!
I hope everyone is recovering from the earthquake and hurricane. Seriously, if you have any more natural disasters between now and next Thursday when we get home, I may just stay on the ship, or in Amsterdam, or Iceland. Any of the three would be fine.
Stay tuned for tales of fun on the ship, and a few from Germany too!
If I recall correctly, when we last left off, we had just arrived in Amsterdam, lugged our suitcases through the cobblestone and bricked streets, and set up camp in our houseboat. The only thing planned for Tuesday night, our first in Amsterdam, was a tour of the Red Light District. Guess what happened? Yep, it rained. Poured, actually, and the tour was cancelled. So, we waited out the storm, wandered a bit and called it a night.
Wednesday, we began the day by touring the Anne Frank house. Margaret, being the genius she is, had secured us advance tickets. So instead of waiting in the long line stretching around the block, we rang a bell, were buzzed in, and immediately began our tour.
To give just a bit of history, Anne Frank's father, Otto, owned a business selling spices and pectin for making jelly. The Netherlands had been neutral in World War I, and were unprepared for the Nazis. It took less than a week for Germany to conquer the Netherlands, beginning a five-year occupation. In order to save his business, Otto Frank transferred ownership of his business to an "Aryan" collegue, and sent out word that he and his family were fleeing to Switzerland. In reality, he had prepared the annex of the warehouse for his family's hiding. While the office employees knew of their hiding, those working in the warehouse did not.
After touring the office and warehouse, you come across the secret entrance to the annex, hidden behind a bookcase. Stepping into the annex, you immediately get a sense of how small the living space was for those eight people. Four rooms, none of them large, windows blacked out. And for two years. I simply can not imagine. Despite all of the horrors of WWII, it amazes me that this girl could remain so hopeful. In the end, Otto was the only member of the Frank family to survive WWII and return to Amsterdam.
Having purposefully left most of our time in Amsterdam free, we did a bit more wandering, had lunch, and returned to the houseboat for a rest, and made another attempt at touring the Red Light District.
What can I say about this little part of Amsterdam? Begin with history I guess. Prostitution has long been a part of Amsterdam's history. The prostitutes even donated a cross for a spire on St. Nicholas Cathedral. As it turns out, St. Nicholas is the patron saint of both prostitutes and sailors. Convenient, eh? Anyway, the prostitutes in Amsterdam are unionized, quite effectively. When a law was passed requiring prostitutes be routinely tested for STDs, the union fought the requirement as unconstitutional, arguing that if prostitutes must be tested, so should anyone who regularly comes into contact with body fluids. The Court of Justice sided with the prostitutes.
In an effort to combat the spread of STDs, a prostitute, who is part of the union, that contracts HIV is provided a fully subsidized apartment if she agrees to give up prostitution. In addition, condom use is required, though its basically impossible to enforce. Its estimated about 45% of the prostitutes in the Red Light District are HIV-positive.
As we walked through the RLD, I felt sort of awkward. I mean, here we are, wandering past these women selling their bodies, and we're on an organized tour of it all. I guess its just a part of life in Amsterdam. In fact, we passed by both a daycare and a Christian youth hostel, both surrounded by windows. There is also a theatre which shows 8 different live-sex acts, and apparently encourages audience participation. Eww. Thus ended our day Wednesday.
Thursday, we ventured to the Van Gogh museum, which was quite interesting. I hadn't realized he was only 37 years old when he killed himself, and had only sold one painting in the course of his lifetime.
Margaret and I spend the afternoon following the walking tour in the Rick Steves' guidebook. Amsterdam got its name from the damming of the Amstel River, where Dam Square is now located. As Rick Steves puts it, "Amsterdam is a bold experiment in freedom." Nearly nothing is illegal as long as it doesn't hurt anyone. Historically, Amsterdam was an important center of trade, and had one of the first successful stock exchanges (which originally was more of a commodity exchange, where physical goods were traded). The country had traditionally been a democratic society, but had a monarchy imposed by Napoleon. After Napoleon's defeat, the powers that be decided to retain a monarchy in the hands of a noble Dutch family.
Amsterdam was beautiful, and its amazing how one street can be bustling with tourists and shoppers, and the next street over is as quiet as a suburban neighborhood. There's not a whole lot of vehicular traffic away from the main streets and area around Dam Square/Centraal Station, except for the large number of bicycles. The tram system is fairly easy to figure out, and you never really need a car (or a taxi, for those of you cheap skates).
Finally, on Friday morning, it was time to head to the ship. We'd been travelling for six days already, and had not even gotten on the ship yet! Yes, I was cheap, and insisted we take the tram. The powers that be were against me, however, when a delivery truck side-swiped a tram two in front of ours, and we got kicked off. So yes, in the end, I relented, adn we took a cab to the port.
Boarding was a breeze, and we made it on to the Celebrity Constellation. Both Saturday and Monday were days at sea, with a stop in Warnemunnde, "Gateway to Berlin." More on that later (though, not much more, since we didn't actually go into Berlin). But, its almost time for Bingo...gotta win that $5,000!
I hope everyone is recovering from the earthquake and hurricane. Seriously, if you have any more natural disasters between now and next Thursday when we get home, I may just stay on the ship, or in Amsterdam, or Iceland. Any of the three would be fine.
Stay tuned for tales of fun on the ship, and a few from Germany too!
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Journey to Amsterdam
Alas, Tuesday it was time to bid adeiu to Reykjavik and move on to Amsterdam. Both Maggie and I woke up earlier than we needed to (before 4am), because, for one, we didn't want to miss our flight, and for another, it was freaking light outside. Believe it or not, we were ready 20 minutes early for our 5:30 shuttle.
Check-in and security at the airport went smoothly, we got our VAT refund, had breakfast, found Kent the smoking lounge, and boarded the plane. This particular plane was older and not renovated. American airlines would tell you to suck it up. Icelandair, however, apologized, gave us a free snack and personal Sony PSPs loaded with games, TV shows and movies for our flight. Not too shabby, eh?
We land in Amsterdam, figure out we can't use all ATMs because Americans don't have "chip & PIN" cards, hunt down a bank, get cash, buy our tickets to Centraal Station and make our way to the train...or should I say the wrong platform. Of course, being us, we JUST miss the train after we figure out which platform to be on. We wait for the next train, make our way to Centraal Station, figure out which tram we need to be on, and find the office to check in.
After check-in, guess what time it is?!? That's right kids, another round of Chris, Kent & Maggie lugging their luggage through the cobblestone streets of a European city. We wander down the wrong canal, but eventually found our digs for the next three nights...a houseboat! Yes, you read that right. We rented a houseboat on the Keizergracht canal, which is HUGE. Don't worry, I have pictures.
We rest up, find a cafe for lunch, where we people watch for a bit, went grocery shopping, etc. and generally rest up. So far, Amsterdam has been nice, and there are two days of stories to share. One thing I've learned is that, for me, Amsterdam is a lot like Rome, in that you could spend hours or days just wandering the city, finding a bench, and people watching. I'm definitely going to have to return for a less structured trip. Coming up next post: our shenanigans in Amsterdam!
Check-in and security at the airport went smoothly, we got our VAT refund, had breakfast, found Kent the smoking lounge, and boarded the plane. This particular plane was older and not renovated. American airlines would tell you to suck it up. Icelandair, however, apologized, gave us a free snack and personal Sony PSPs loaded with games, TV shows and movies for our flight. Not too shabby, eh?
We land in Amsterdam, figure out we can't use all ATMs because Americans don't have "chip & PIN" cards, hunt down a bank, get cash, buy our tickets to Centraal Station and make our way to the train...or should I say the wrong platform. Of course, being us, we JUST miss the train after we figure out which platform to be on. We wait for the next train, make our way to Centraal Station, figure out which tram we need to be on, and find the office to check in.
After check-in, guess what time it is?!? That's right kids, another round of Chris, Kent & Maggie lugging their luggage through the cobblestone streets of a European city. We wander down the wrong canal, but eventually found our digs for the next three nights...a houseboat! Yes, you read that right. We rented a houseboat on the Keizergracht canal, which is HUGE. Don't worry, I have pictures.
We rest up, find a cafe for lunch, where we people watch for a bit, went grocery shopping, etc. and generally rest up. So far, Amsterdam has been nice, and there are two days of stories to share. One thing I've learned is that, for me, Amsterdam is a lot like Rome, in that you could spend hours or days just wandering the city, finding a bench, and people watching. I'm definitely going to have to return for a less structured trip. Coming up next post: our shenanigans in Amsterdam!
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Southern Iceland: The Day of the Super Jeep!
Picture it. Iceland, late August. The day starts out dreary and slightly rainy. Fortunately, being a Murray/Hart, I'm used to this on vacation. After a quick visit to the bakery across the corner for some delicious pasteries, our Super Jeep arrives for our tour of southern Iceland. When I say super, I mean the tires came up to around my waist. Yes, I have pictures. Unfortunately, its a difficult process getting them online through Maggie's Netbook, so they may have to wait until Facebook.
Alas, back to our tour! We booked this particluar tour because, at most, there would be five of us (plus the driver). As it turns out, it was just us three. Yay private tour! We head back out onto Route 1, which hugs the coast, taking us by the Christianity Lava field, so named because the eruption occurred in 1000AD at the time the Icelandic people were adopting Christianity (without bloodshed, might I add). The lava is now covered in moss, which apparently in time will digest the lava rock to form soil, but this takes a long time.
Our first stop is a waterfall which, while not tall, carries the largest volume of water of any in Iceland. It was certainly impressive. Its also not going to be around much longer, as Iceland is preparing to build a hydroelectric dam over the falls. Next, we travel to Eyjafjallajökull, the volcano that created such havoc around Europe last year. This is where the Super Jeep came in handy, as we raced across streams created by the melting glacier. We finally came to the edge of the glacier which, let me say, was amazing. HUGE. You can absolutely see the hole in the size of the glacier, which could probably fit an airplace, where the water was gushing out during the eruption.
Next, we visited another waterfall, which was 180 meters (around 550 feet) tall, falling over a cliff, allowing you to walk behind. Following lunch, which consisted of Minestrone soup with french bread, we took the Super Jeep to the black sand beach (stopping to play around in a downed U.S. Navy plane). But, perhaps the best part of the day was going to actually walk up to a glacier, and climb around the edge of it. Again, pictures will come.
After getting back to Reykjavik, dinner was had at Hambourgerafabrikkan, where I had a delicious Lamb burger. We then packed up, went to bed, and woke up early early early the next morning for Amsterdam. That, my friends, will be another story for another day.
Alas, back to our tour! We booked this particluar tour because, at most, there would be five of us (plus the driver). As it turns out, it was just us three. Yay private tour! We head back out onto Route 1, which hugs the coast, taking us by the Christianity Lava field, so named because the eruption occurred in 1000AD at the time the Icelandic people were adopting Christianity (without bloodshed, might I add). The lava is now covered in moss, which apparently in time will digest the lava rock to form soil, but this takes a long time.
Our first stop is a waterfall which, while not tall, carries the largest volume of water of any in Iceland. It was certainly impressive. Its also not going to be around much longer, as Iceland is preparing to build a hydroelectric dam over the falls. Next, we travel to Eyjafjallajökull, the volcano that created such havoc around Europe last year. This is where the Super Jeep came in handy, as we raced across streams created by the melting glacier. We finally came to the edge of the glacier which, let me say, was amazing. HUGE. You can absolutely see the hole in the size of the glacier, which could probably fit an airplace, where the water was gushing out during the eruption.
Next, we visited another waterfall, which was 180 meters (around 550 feet) tall, falling over a cliff, allowing you to walk behind. Following lunch, which consisted of Minestrone soup with french bread, we took the Super Jeep to the black sand beach (stopping to play around in a downed U.S. Navy plane). But, perhaps the best part of the day was going to actually walk up to a glacier, and climb around the edge of it. Again, pictures will come.
After getting back to Reykjavik, dinner was had at Hambourgerafabrikkan, where I had a delicious Lamb burger. We then packed up, went to bed, and woke up early early early the next morning for Amsterdam. That, my friends, will be another story for another day.
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