Meaningful Objects

When I moved to Denmark just over a year ago, I realised there were very few valuable inanimate objects (lets call them 'things') in my life. Or rather, very few that really really mattered to me. I came over with a couple of bags, and quickly discovered that the only things of monetary value that I really needed in my life, and which I would be really annoyed with if I didn't have, was my laptop. All $250 worth of it. And I'd only really be annoyed if I lost stuff that I hadn't yet gotten around to backing up - so no big deal. The only other things of value I had were locked up in Australia - there the big, insured things, which really don't matter if they disappear (like a house - insurance will reimburse), but maybe there were some photos and my coin collection stashed away. Otherwise, nothing.

Shortly I realised that apart from my laptop, I had 2 other things of value with me that I cared about - a watch my dad had given me, and a gold chain I wore daily that I received from my grandparents.

After my second trip to the Hittegods - Copenhagen's Lost & Found, I realised my gold chain was gone forever. It's quite sad when there are only a couple of 'things' you really care about, and then you lose one of them! Out of an accident which broke a tooth, bloodied a shirt, made me look like Fat Albert temporarily, has given me a[nother] permanent scar and 'bump' on my chin, destroyed a nice shirt, caused me great pain dealing with stitches, and made my gold chain disappear. The only thing I really care about is the gold chain.

I'm now trying to work out the lesson in all this.... There are very few irreplaceable things in life - one of them is memories.

Dear Denmark

Dear Denmark,

It is time to be 100% open with you - I'm not sure this relationship is for life. That's the short, blunt, story. The long story though, is that I have not given up yet, and I want you to understand what might happen and why...

Diving the Red Sea

The Negev - like the Australian outback, but with hills and cliffs!

My three day trip to Eilat was as much about relaxing at home, as it was finally getting to dive in the Red Sea. With 3 other countries in clear sight, one still feels as if one is clearly in Israel, and not necessarily some international resort. Of course there is no shortage of foreign languages being spoken, but Hebrew still dominates (and Russian isn't that far behind). I don't remember Eilat that much from my previous visit around 20 years ago, just bits and pieces. But I'm sure it has grown and changed quite a lot - the bits I do remember, were the same.

Silence is Golden

I have just returned from a weekend trip with a bunch of friends to Helsinki. We went over there for a birthday party and an all 'round good time. We stayed at one of the Omena Hotels - a chain renowned for the sex trade due to the lack of reception and therefore lack of witnesses. Apart from getting punched in the eye by the guy sleeping next to me in the middle of the night, our hotel stay was rather uneventful. The weekend itself was filled up a really great party, a few hours walking around a city which I don't think has changed that much since last time I was there 8 years ago and a visit to the island fortress of Soumenlinna - a 20 minutes ferry ride from downtown. Of course, there was also an evening in a sauna thanks to our local Finnish hosts. The sauna involved a 20m (literally) ferry ride to the island on which it is located, a lot of sweating and relaxing, and then feeling like my feet were going to fall off my legs after going for a dip in the ice cold (well, not literally, but it felt this way). All in the spirit of good health!

My impressions of Helsinki: well, some of the stereotypes definitely have validity...

• Most people in the street look like they are going either to or from a funeral - smiling at strangers or being talkative (when sober) is possibly frowned upon.

• 

  Looking down the barrel of a canon on Soumenlinna Island
  

  Finns like drinking. I thought Danes liked it, but Finns really like it. Walking through downtown Helsinki after midnight, you struggle to find someone who isn't drunk.
• There are lots of crazies about.
• Food isn't their strong-point. This is perhaps a common theme in the Nordic Countries, and Finland isn't any different.
• The more the same vowel can be repeated consecutively in a word, the better. Bonus points if the vowel has dots on top of it.
• Finnish is impossible to understand, even a little bit.
• Turning the traffic lights off during the night at the less major intersections in the capital is an acceptable way to save the planet.
• The Finns are a damn friendly bunch of people who are very hospitable - it's worth your while getting to know one! (or more...)

The Amazing Human Body

T + 5 weeks

On the positive side, I am amazed at how quickly a a bunchy of atoms stitched together in the form of a human is able to repair itself so well when something goes wrong.

On the negative side, I am constantly astounded by the way it can fall apart so easily in the first place (both mentally and physically). It is for this reason, that certain objects, such as bicycle helmets, were invented.

As it so turns out, this story would not have been much different were said bicycle helmet on my head in the first place, but another story down the track might just be - hence its very procurement...

I'll let the pictures tell the story rather than words, it is that much more amusing.

2 days after - Fat Albert, here I come! Oh, and
now I notice bruising and grazing on my neck and chest

The day after - before the swelling started

T+10 days - I can't take the beard!

So I shave off what I can

3 weeks later - looking nothing worse than
someonewho has had a amateur plastic
surgeon work on him

So the moral of the story: just because you broke your wrist (twice) by falling on it, doesn't mean next time you fall you should land flat on your face in order to save your wrist! Whilst it does allow you to end up with a totally untouched wrist (despite the smashed watch), eating gravel is not fun!

But, as they say, when you fall off your bike, you have to get back on again. And so, after my visit to the ER I returned to pick up my bike and ride home (of course, my bike wasn't locked up so I just didn't want it to get stolen...)

Admittedly, the pain really wasn't that bad - but having stitches put in your upper lip after receiving what must have been saline water as an anaesthetic, is not pleasant. Nor, of course, is having them yanked out through scabs. Ouch!

The Most Beautiful Voyage in the World

Kristiansund - one of the last Hurtigruten stops before Bergen

Or so goes the tagline for the Hurtigruten. Although I can't say I have been on every possible worldly voyage, I can quite comfortably say that it can't be far from the truth. However, I have to admit, that it has some very good competition from the land based transport from Bergen to Oslo - or at least, the first 3 hours of it.


Although we had some super cheap (NOK 199) train fares booked for the 7 hour train ride from Bergen to Oslo, much of the first half of the journey was by bus due to track-works that were taking place. A bit annoying I thought, but in actual fact, the ride really was so absolutely beautiful that I can't say any of us cared too much. The journey along the fjord just outside of Bergen, right up to the point near Geilo provides some of the most spectacular views I can possibly imagine one can see from a bus or a train. Huge mountains dropping sharply into crystal blue ocean, beautiful small villages perched amongst green pastures at the foot of mountains, rocky cliffs, unbelievable waterfalls, and pure, green, clean landscapes. Unfortunately the dirty windows and the constant movement made good photos almost impossible - I guess this is something you will have to do for yourself...


Bergen itself is also a gorgeous city. It is famous for being rainy around 2 out of every 3 days (the statistics vary depending on the source, but no source quotes less than that...) True to form, we were not disappointed and although we had a couple of hours of dry weather, the clouds lowered onto the mountains and the heavens opened up.
Thankfully, we did indeed get to see Bergen in a great light. After arriving in town we quickly dropped our gear off at the hotel and then took the funicular up the Fløyen mountain for a great view of the city. We then embarked on one of our walking tours and despite getting a little wet, saw some interesting sights around Bergen. The inner city has a great little harbour, and this one fantastic little neighbourhood with really narrow cobble-stone streets, old houses, tiny gardens out the front, and like the rest of Norway, lots and lots of bright colours

On The Top of The World

Trondheim - our last major stop

The Coastal Steamer has been running along the Norwegian coast for over 100 years. For the past few years, it has also been known as the Hurtigruten - the name of the most recent company to run the route. Every day, a ship calls in at each of the 34 ports. Each ship takes 11.5 days to sail the return trip from Bergen to Kirkenes. Whilst not designed as a tourist experience, tourists have become an integral part of the journey, I think, primarily, to keep the business afloat. The traditional role of delivering mail and goods, and ferrying locals is apparently not that lucrative. Anyway, we hopped on board the MS Richard With in Kirkenes for a 5 night journey down to Bergen. We didn't really know what to expect - apart from a lot of peace and quiet and some beautiful sights. What we got was so much more...

It's The End of The World As We Know It, and I Feel Fine

Not in the sense of time or epoch, but if the earth was flat, this would be pretty close to the edge. Kirkenes isn't quite the northernmost town in Norway, but I think it could be described as the most remote on the mainland. Past the 'hump' of the northern bit of Europe, north of Finland, and only a handful of kilometres from the Russian border lies a a very sleep, yet seemingly industrial town of around 7,000 inhabitants. This is the last stop of the Hurtigruten ferry - a transport which has been the lifeblood of many of the 34 towns and villages it stops at along its journey from Bergen right up here into the Arctic Circle. At times, especially in years gone by, when roads became impassable and planes had no chance of landing - the Hurtigruten ferries made there way here to deliver goods, deliver mail, and ferry passengers. Today, although still working boats with a practical purpose, passenger cabins have been created for those 'tourists' who want to simply experience the beauty of the Norwegian coastline. This is where my parents and I start our voyage.

Fantastic panorama of Kirkenes thanks to the wall outside the local shopping centre.

Where Two Seas Meet

A not uncommon sight in Denmark, but always beautiful!

Nearly 15 years ago, my uncle took me to the meeting point of the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic and tried to use the "Mayer sense of humour" to convince me that I should be able to see the different shades of blue, and that is precisely where the oceans meet.

After being in Denmark for nearly a year, I figured it was time to go to the place the Danes refer to so lovingly as the where the North Sea and the Baltic Sea meet. Many think (or so they say) that you can see the oceans meet. People say that you can see the oceans meeting because of the way the 2 currents meet - now I'm not oceanographic expert, but basic laws of physics tell me that it doesn't really make sense for there to permanently be 2 opposing currents which happen to meet up at a certain location in the ocean - the tides alone should put an end to that. Lastly, there is the famed light of Skagen. The special luminous effects which have brought many Danish painters and photographers to the location to capture the special lights. Now given that this isn't the only location with a beach at the given latitude, I was a bit sceptical about this too. None-the-less, I'll use anything as an excuse to travel and see something new...

Viva la Revolucion

Traditional dress

Koprivshtitsa a beautiful historic town in Central Bulgaria and was the scene for our second day trip. As there was also going to be a kind of folk festival happening in town, we thought it would be a good time to visit. Although the town was in fact rather beautiful and a fascinating place from an historical perspective, the performances at the festival left a little to be desired. Unfortunately, the singing, which was very poorly amplified by the loudspeakers was pretty ear piercing. The dancing though, at least was something a bit different and got my attention for a few minutes!

Popping Over to Plovdiv

I managed to fit in two lovely day trips during my short stay in Bulgaria (or rather, two day trips were fitted in for me).

The first was to a city in the centre of the country called Plovdiv - described as one of the most beautiful cities in Bulgaria. Well, to be perfectly blunt, with Sofia as my reference point, it wasn't going to be hard to beat. Turns out, Plovdiv really is a rather beautiful city with its own special character, and an amazing old city that has a well preserved Roman and Turkish influenced architectural side to it. Enough for a day trip, perhaps even an overnight trip - but definitely a city you can spend a few hours wandering around aimlessly in...

 

Making A Jewish Mother Proud - Bulgarian Style

This typical train station is indicative of my overall impression of
Communist buildings in Bulgaria...

Well, it seems like Jewish mothers have some competition - Bulgarians! Never would my mother be so proud of the way someone extended hospitality towards me and worried about me so much more than one would think possible, than with my friend and guide in Bulgaria.

Mineral water springs in the centre of the city - the locals are constantly
filling up water bottles to take home so they can enjoy the good minerals.

The warnings I got prior to and during my trip made me think I was entering the third world: Don't cross the street when the green man appears without first checking for cars (only to have my guide cross at a red light instead). Don't go north of this street, it's very dangerous. I wasn't allowed to walk around by myself at night. Warned about getting ripped off left, right and centre. Concerned that there were lots of ugly buildings around. Worried that I would be too busy and get tired. Concerned that there was more to see and do. Very tiring. But wow, what an absolute pleasure! My experience in Bulgaria could not have been better, and despite all the bad things I had heard from my friend, the country was a pleasant surprise for me.

Yet another great photo, thanks to my guide & photographer. This is the old mineral bath house

There are no Kangaroos in Austria

Or so says the famous t-shirt at the tourist shop in Salzburg. Yet again, the shitty weather seems to follow me on my holidays, but is unable to dampen my spirits nor lessen my enjoyment of new places. I flew into Salzburg on a beautiful sunny morning and disembarked the plane (on one of my new, favourite airlines, Air Berlin - due to the fact that you get a chocolate every time you get off a flight) to the glorious sight of alpine peaks surrounding Mozart International Airport. Wow! What a sight! I had seen photos of the airport before, but it really did feel like a scene from the movies seeing the beautiful peaks against the blue sky with a spattering of white clouds about. I couldn't have asked for nicer weather either.

Possibly the coolest toilets in the world - thanks to Red Bull

I was picked up by friend from the Aero Club in Canberra who I had come to visit. And in true Aero Club style, our first stop was Hangar 7, a futuristic building on the far side of the airport built by the founder of Red Bull, who I discovered is probably only second to Mozart in terms of being the favourite child of the town. This guy has money! Inside were a collection of flying machines from all different ages, though mostly modern, fancy planes. All of them in pristine condition. We had an enjoyable stroll around the place, all the while theorising how we could fly such aircraft...

Inside Hangar 7 - notice the conference room hanging from the ceiling

Jinxed In Jutland

I'm not sure if I'll be able to continue the alliteration theme with all future posts, but I'll give it a shot...

Ribe from the top of the cathedral

A rather prettily decorated Ribe Cathedral

In keeping with the theme of missing public transport, the Famous Four from Bornholm embarked on another holiday (using our free DSB ticket we received as a result of our problems getting to Bornholm) to Sydjylland - the section of Denmark near the German border on the European mainland. Despite being super organsied and having the itinerary written down in multiple places, somehow, when noting our time of departure for return to Copenhagen, I noted down the time of the train from a town called Bramming (after which my street in Copenhagen is named by the way) instead of the time the train-bus (this is the lovely name given to buses in Denmark which are running 'instead of' trains when the trains can't run for whatever reason) from Ribe. So naturally, we arrived back in town ready for our train-bus, only to discover we had missed it by 10 minutes. DKK 360 later and a little bit of frustration, we got to Bramming in time for our onwards train...

Munchin' in München

A very cool "map of Munich" for the blind - allowing them to
experience the city in 3D

Following the very 'business-like' city of Frankfurt, I moved on to the hustle and bustle of Munich. Once again I found myself in a hotel smack bang in the middle of the red light district - but the location really was convenient (for touring, not prostitution!)

Munich's maypole

Definitely a more exciting and lively city, Munich has a lot of character, is a great city to walk around, and has plenty of things to keep one entertained. My first day was really a 'walking and exploring' day, though prior to this, I got my first pleasant surprise....

Despite the concept of the EU, commodities and services can vary so significantly in price within the zone. My gold chain required a new clip - a tiny pice of 14 carat gold. In Denmark, this was going to cost DKK 650 (~EUR 85). The chain itself probably cost slightly less than that around 10 years ago. The argument presented to me by the jeweller was the increase in the price of gold over that period. The same component in Munich, EUR 25. Holy cow! So, there I was, off to a good start already with EUR 60 in my pocket...

Hitler Would Turn Over In His Grave (aka Frankfurt Has Left a Sour Taste in My Mouth)

Up until a couple of hours ago, I didn't have much but good things to say about Frankfurt. But having just been ripped off in broad daylight in such a way that I wouldn't expect anywhere apart from when I would be an obvious tourist in a third world country (or perhaps when taking a taxi in Sweden...), I now think differently.

Frankfurt has its very own Maggi Noodles restaurant!

Rockin' Roskilde

OK, so I'm not exactly a heavy metal junkie, nor am I a total music nut. In fact, I don't know many other people (besides the friend I went with) who would quite happily book a ticket to a music festival without actually knowing who is playing on the day you're there. Then, once the schedule comes out, only recognising two of the bands (giving a total of no more than 5 familiar songs). No matter, the purpose of our one day expedition to the four day (plus a few pre-days) Roskilde festival was to enjoy ourselves, experience the Danish festival culture, chill out with some nice music, and hear some bands live that I would otherwise never hear. It didn't fail on any account.

Roskilde, home of the famous Viking Museum, is a small town in Zealand, which once a year hosts a multi-day music festival. Approximately 60,000 guests descend on the camp-grounds for up to a week. Another 15,000 or so day-trippers show up each day. I was one of the latter group.

Walking in Their Footsteps - Part 2

I have an old photo, from 1925 (+/- a year) of 2 of my grandfather's sisters at the grave of their father, Yitzchak ben Shaul HaLevi. The grave is in the old Jewish cemetery in Rokiskis. I know that around 10 years ago, my grandfather returned to Rokiskis but was unsuccessful in finding the particular grave of his father. I had the same quest, but figured it would be nice to find the grave of any one in the Ruch or Bacher family. Apart from the problem I'll mention in a second, I knew this would be hard because firstly the headstones would be engraved in either Yiddish, Russian or Lithuanian. And secondly, many inscriptions would not have family names, but just their Hebrew names (X son of Y). The real problem was the state of the cemetery. I had been warned about it, and a good article I was led to an article turned out to be a very accurate description of the place. Some more information can be found at here and at Shtetlinks (though the photos in those linked sites show the cemetery in a slightly better condition than I found it).

Walking in Their Footsteps - Part 1

For a long, long time, I have wanted to visit the places my family come from. All my direct ancestors left their respective homelands on their own free will, but only when they realised things weren't in their favour, and life would be better elsewhere. A few more years and they would have ben more desperate to leave, or, I shudder to think, would have been caught up in the mess of WWII like so many others were.

My maternal grandfather's family hails from a small town in North-Eastern Lithuania called Rokiskis - it also happens to be the capital of the region by the same name. This is where my grandfather was born and lived until he left for South Arica with his mother and three sisters at the ripe old age of 9, in 1929. His two brothers had already emigrated years earlier, as children.

More Killing Fields

It seems as though Rokiskis (probably like Lithuania as a whole) prefers to forget about its Jewish heritage, and I do wonder whether it is due to a sense of guilt. There is very little commemoration of the Jewish population which was decimated. And I mean that there is nothing around, neither in their memory, nor to commemorate their contributions. When it does come to the massacre sites outside of town, without external help, the lack of signage means it would be practically impossible to locate them.

The Bajorai site from the mosquito infested parking spot.

Paneriai

One of the very few signs leading visitors to the memorial site.

On my way from Vilnius to the northern town of Rokiskis, I took a small detour to the site of the Paneriai massacres. Paneriai can be classified as a suburb of Vilnius - right on the outskirts. In my drive to the site I passed multiple signs telling me I was leaving and then re-entering the city. During pre-Nazi Soviet times, large oil storage facilities were under construction, but the Nazi invasion put a halt to this. When the Germans saw the site, with a bunch of 'pits' already dug out ready for storage tanks, they decided it already fulfilled the criteria of a mass grave. Additionally, there is a railway station right on site, and the whole area was forested in 1940 (and much of it still is today), making a perfect sight and sound barrier from the outside world where executions could take place.

Proud to be Jewish

My brief glimpse of the Jerusalem of Lithuania has made me feel ever so proud to be a Jew, yet ever so ashamed to be a member of the human race. Learning about the Holocaust and WWII is nothing new to me, nor is being in the locations where atrocities took place. But something about my short time in Vilnius has had as much an effect on me as visiting Aushwitz & Birkenau. Maybe it is because I am older and wiser this time around, or maybe because it feels that much closer to home. But why proud to be Jewish? I'm proud to be a part of such a resilient people, and despite the fact that I can't claim any credit for it, part of a people which contributes positively to this world (despite what at times, the world does to it) in unbelievable disproportionate amounts - and it's not just the ~20% of Nobel prize winners who are Jewish, but in the every day things that are done to make this world a tolerable place to live.

No need to read the detail - the overview is clear enough!

Despite various forms of persecution, Jews lived and flourished in Lithuania since the 14th century like in no other European country. The persecution they faced here over the years was probably not nearly as bad as in some of the other European countries, but it seems like for the most part, they were not treated the same as other citizens. Thankfully though, there were times, in the more recent history prior to the Wars, where the Jews were allowed to live fairly independently. This, perhaps, was a priveledge they would have never experienced anywhere else. They were a significant part of the population in nearly every single town throughout the country, and in many, formed the majority of people. An important part of Jewish culture developed here, and now, there remains not but a shadow of what once existed.

~130km by Bicycle in 4 Days

According to Lonely Planet, Bornholm is the sunniest part of Denmark. Not exactly a hard feat to achieve, but impressive none-the-less when our 4 day cycle trip around the island saw nothing but perfect sunny weather!

Bornholm is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea that can be reached by a short 1 hour ferry ride from Ystad, on the Southern coast of Sweden. It's in the middle of the Baltic and its circumference is around 120km. It is a bit different to the rest of Denmark, both in terms of landscape (it actually has hills), architecture (walking through the villages is like stepping back in time) and the people (they are remarkably extroverted towards foreigners - at least compared to the mainlanders).

Nordsjælland

Gilleleje harbour-front

When a friend invited me for the weekend to her family's summer house on the North coast of Zealand (as opposed to the North island of New Zealand), I jumped at the opportunity. It wasn't quite summer weather - if anything, the weather was typical of Perth in the winter - however, that wasn't to deter me.

Danes (and I think Scandinavians in general) have a 'thing' about summer houses. Most family's have one somewhere or other, and there are many towns scattered all over the place (mainly beachside) which are specific summer house towns. In other words, they are zoned for houses which aren't permanent residences. In winter they are all but dead, and on beautiful summer weekends they come alive. The town we went to was Smidstrup, not far West of the more popular town of Hornbæk, As it wasn't really summer yet, the town was still quiet and we got to enjoy the area without the crowds.

The Spanish Revolution

My first real taste of Spain was all I had hoped it would be. I think I got a bit of a whiff of the culture during my travels in South America, and getting to know some Spaniards quite well during my time in Copenhagen imparted nothing but positive impressions, so I was eager to visit. Well, I most certainly was not disappointed. My good friend Carlos invited me and his house-mate Nico, to join him on a trip to his home town, Madrid. We had 4 full days there and did not waste a moment...
Within a couple of hours of arriving in town we were off to the city centre to watch a flamenco show and eat our first of many tapas meals. Amazing! The music and dancing was fantastic, and although put on for the tourists, I can't complain because it was a great introduction to the dancing and the music - definitely lively, definitely entertaining, and put together with quality food and beer, the night was perfect.