A Temporary Home with Marie & Mikael In Espergaerde

I was very lucky to be invited by a lovely couple, Marie & Mikael, to stay in their home for close to a week 40 mins north of Copenhagen in a town called Espergaerde.

It was so relaxing not having to rush about sightseeing, but being able to just unwind & catch up on all those little things you need to do to nourish your spirit, like eating chocolate, & cake, & lots of other yummy stuff too. I cooked some spinach & ricotta lasagne & chocolate mousse one eve - it was nice to be back in the kitchen cooking again (& I was barefoot too).

On the way to visit their son, Christoffer & his girlfriend Sheryl, one day they took me to Frederiksborg Castle for a look around the gardens, which was lovely. And we had a lovely cuppa at Christoffer's place while watching the Tour de France.

I got to catch up on all my little bits & pieces while here, & have even starting motivating myself to work in London, which I'm really looking forward to now.

Overall, I could not have wished for a more peaceful & relaxed stay. Thanks so much Marie & Mikael for your warm hospitaility!!!

The Little Mermaid - A Deeply Spiritual Experience

A woman I met on the bus from Oslo, Maria, met up with me for a lovely day in Copenhagen. Being a native, she was able to show me some of the sights around the city. But, most importantly, & possibly the reason why we met up in the first place (divine intervention), was our pilgrimage to see Copenhagen's most famous landmark, the Little Mermaid.

Over 75% of all tourists flock to see her each year. A statue of a mermaid that obviously holds a powerful spiritual energy that just draws people to her like bees to honey.

Maria & I held a ceremony while there, as well as dancing a jig (Maria did anyway), & buying a pin as memorabilia of the occasion. It was just wonderful! And I thank God, the Universe, or whatever I need to thank for sending Maria to me to fulfill this magical experience.

Around Copenhagen

Well, there is a clash of cultures here in Copenhagen right now. Five Metallica concerts & the international Gay Games are on at the same time.

Thankfully it's a fairly tolerant city...well, at least I thought so. A man standing in front of me in little leather shorts waiting to buy a train ticket told off a young straight couple that were simply cuddling each other (nothing over the top) while waiting. He said they should go f#!%$ each other at home. Gobsmacked, I gave him more than an earful, told him he should be ashamed of himself & get back to the dark ages. So, maybe they aren't all tolerant here.

Copenhagen is lovely, even though it's been very rainy here. I only spent 2 days in the city, & the other 5 days 40 mins north in Espergaerde with Marie & Mikael. It is so nice to have a solid base for a while.

But here are some pics of Copenhagen anyway...

Nightmare Hostel

I called Marie & Mikael who had invited me to stay with them when I arrived in Copenhagen, but unfortunately they were out of town until the next day. So I needed to find a place to lay my head for the eve.
I had a good experience staying in a hostel in Balestrand & so thought I might venture out & try another hostel in Copenhagen. After all, it's so much cheaper than staying even in a budget hotel.
So I checked in to a womens-only dorm the Danhostel Copenhagen Downtown for one night. It was a packed house, mostly young people here to party. At night I went to my room at about 11:15pm only to find that a woman had moved the gear I'd left on the bed & was now sleeping there. Hmmm....
So I went downstairs & had to swap rooms to a bed on another floor. Great! I ended up with a women in the dorm who snored like a chainsaw & kids running around after each other till 3 in the morning. Not a lot of sleep was had.

19th July - O/Night Bus to Copenhagen

After getting back from the fjords, I stopped off at Caffe Engel in Oslo again for a lovely bite to eat before preparing for my overnight bus trip to Copenhagen. It was the first time I'd caught a long distance bus in Europe & over 20 years since I'd been on an overnight bus trip. So, I was expecting not to get too much sleep.
I met a woman called Maria from Copenhagen on the bus & we had quite a few laughs & a good conversation. She filled me in on all the must see sights around Copenhagen, including the landmark 'Little Mermaid'. The trip ended at 6am in the morning & I had to hang out at the central rail station till 9am when the tourist info office was due to open.

Fjords of Western Norway

Decided I wanted to cleanse my lungs after taking in far too much city air for a while now. And so, off to the fjords in Western Norway I go for 3 days of chilling out.
The Norwegians promote this trip concept called 'Norway in a Nutshell' quite heavily. Instead, I did a trip called 'Sognefjord in a Nutshell' with an additional tour that included the Dalsfjord & Gaularfjell mountains. It was bloody expensive (A$530) & not a group tour package either. You could spend whatever time you wanted taking the trip. The cost only provided tickets for the main travel routes, & didn't include accommodation along the way.
The trip started in Oslo with a train trip to Myrdal, a highland country town still covered with quite a bit of snow. Then I took the Flam Railway train with the steepest descent in the world down to Flam. From Flam, an express boat took us through the fjords to Balestrand, where I stopped for the night at a hostel. Balestrand is gorgeous. Quiet, with fresh mountain air & snow-capped mountains surrounding it.
The next day, I caught a bus over the high mountain pass through Fjaerland & Forde to Bygstad. Not many tourists do this route & it was was pristine with spectacular sights. At Bygstad, me & two other couples took a slow fjord boat to Rysjedalsvika, a town that seemed to be at the end of the earth. There we had to wait an hour & a half for an expressboat to Bergen & picked wildberries (raspberries, blueberries & red currants) to pass time & satisfy our hunger.
Finally, after weaving through the many islands on the west coast, we landed in Bergen at 8:40pm.
And the next day, I boarded another train to take me back to Oslo, which took nearly 7 hours but had wonderful scenery.
A lovely couple of days all up!

14-17th July - Out & About in Oslo

After spending quite a bit of money on the Stockholm card, I decided to tighten my money belt while in Norway. Besides, I was exhausted from my Stockholm tourist experience - rushing here & there to see as many attractions as possible to get my moneys worth.
Oslo, while not as pretty as Stockholm, still had a vibrant energy & people were out & about enjoying the sunshine when it appeared. The parks in the area are splendid & many locals bask on the green grass sunning themselves. The parks here are a deep green, quite a few shades darker than in Sydney. And down by the harbour is delightful too, even if it is quite a bit touristy.
I did manage to see a couple of sights that were free for everyone - the Parliament House, National Museum, & the Sculpture Park. I also chipped in a few kroner to view the Nobel Peace Prize Museum which was similar to the one in Stockholm, but with a sole focus on the Peace Proze recipients.
I was feeling like I needed to get out of the city. I couldn't have picked a better country to escape into.

13/14th July - Overnight Train from Stockholm to Oslo

My first overnight train in Europe was booked so that I could save a bit of money on a hotel room. Leaving fairly late in the eve, I'd had a final day wandering around Stockholm before going back to the hotel to pick up my bags.
Sharing a compartment with 4 other women, it was no different from the train rides in China. Being surrounded by strangers, I still felt the need to guard my little backpack containing all my valuables by keeping it between my legs all night.
Sleep just wasn't an option for me. The train was rattling away all eve, the bed rock hard & people walking back & forth all night. I was lucky to have maybe got 2 hours sleep if that.
But I did arrive in Oslo bright & early & ready for new sightseeing opportunities.

Absolut Ice Bar

I was told a place I must visit while in Sweden was the Ice Bar. Made completely of ice & at a constant temperature of -5 degrees, it's a novelty experience, especially for one who has never even seen snow falling (me). I'd heard that it's really cold, even though they give you a jacket & gloves, so I went back to the hotel first & put my thermals on & rugged up over that.
It cost 125 Swedish Krona as I had a juice instead of an alcoholic beverage (would have cost 180). I met Margaret from Glasgow & her lovely family & had a good old chat with her. I also met Alex & his Mum from Philadelphia & found out about where to go in Norway. Love these little chats here & there!
After 45 mins, I'd had my drink served in an ice cuop & was more than ready to head back to the warmth of my hotel.

Djurgarden in Stockholm

On Sunday I planned on getting over to the island of Djurgarden where my Stockholm Card would get me free access to a few sites. First stop was the Skansen Open Air Museum, feauturing over 150 cultural-historical buildings from all over Sweden. It was HUGE! Not only were there all these old houses, barns, shops, etc to look through, there was also an Aquarium (which strangely also had non-aquatic wildlife) & a zoo with all kinds of Scandinavian wildlife. There were also showcases of pottery & glassware making.
Next stop was the Vasa Museum which was centred around this almost perfectly preserved 17th Century Swedish ship that sank after only 25 mins of its maiden voyage because it was far too tall & narrow to keep itself upright. That's the theory anyway.
Next, on to the Nordic Museum which ran through more of the domestic culture of Sweden over the centuries.
By the end of the day, I was buggered. But I still managed to walk all the way back home, with a stop at Gamla Stan for a bite to eat first.
Ahhh...I'm loving Stockholm!

Nobel Prize & a Free Concert

What a lovely afternoon I had today! The Nobel Museum was great, taking you through the various winners in history in the different categories - Peace, Medicine, Economics, Physics, Chemistry, Literature. It also had a section on freedom of speech - how the concept had risen historically & what had happened to silence this freedom throughout history & today. Very inspiring!

Then at 6pm there was a free concert just outside the museum in the square. The Swedish Royal Army Band were playing a range of tunes. I met the General & the Conductor before they started - even got the semi-official handshake. And all for only asking what time they were starting & who was playing! After the show, I got a photo with the General. Obviously I was seen as a very important tourist!

City Hall of Stockholm

These Scandinavians certainly are progressive! The Finns were the first in the world to give women the vote. And the Swedes have a majority of women politicians in the Stockholm government - go Sweden!

The City Hall is quite a building. The 45-min tour was comprehensive & took us through the various rooms including the room where the banquet for the Nobel Prize ceremony is held on the 10th Dec each year. Nobel, the inventor who bequeathed his sizeable fortune to recognising those who promote progress & peace.

The Gold Room is remarkable. Made up of millions of tiny 23 carat gold mosaic pieces, it depicts the history of Sweden in picture form across the room.