July - August 2005
Amsterdam 10:30pm, 19 July 2005
Hello Everyone
It certainly is nice to be back here, after a 19 year hiatus. Firstly, the weather is much drier, the air is cleaner, and the temps are between 18-22. Glad to have left the heat and smog of Toronto.
Anyhow, it was easier said than done. Air Canada, had a mal-functioning plane, and we didn't leave Pearson Airport till 3am, 4 hours late.
Walter was waiting for me, at the bar of the Old Quarter Hotel. It was great to see him after three years, he had flown in from Osaka, a day earlier. We are located on the edge of the red light district, where the display windows are occupied by ladies of the night waiting for a client to knock on the door, then the curtains are closed to transact business.
Many of the coffee shops, many posting "no alcohol" signs, are filled with people, most of them tourists, (who couldn't dream of doing this in their home towns) rolling their favourite cannabis joint, The aroma of the pungent smoke wafts everywhere along the streets, as many are toking on outdoor sidewalk terraces.
I am too tired to partake tonight, as jet lag is catching up, and we have to be ready tomorrow to board the "Century" cruise ship for the Baltic and St Petersburg. We'll be back in Amsterdam in August to partake.
That's about it for now
All the best – Paul
Helsinki Finland
Monday 2005-07-25
HELLO Everyone
One more day before St Petersburg, so far the highlight is Stockholm. A most impressive city, saw the old medieval quarter, and the highlight there was the VAS Museum which houses a 17th century battleship, that sank on its maiden voyage, later recovered and
well preserved.
The Nobel Peace Museum was my Oslo highlight, and the market in Helsinki, my favourite spot here.
The cruise started off on time last Wed, but we hit a gale on the North Sea, throughout Friday. Many got seasick, but I managed to eat the fine food the ship had on offer with no ill effect.
The weather is pleasantly cool around 20, partly cloudy. Not a cruise for sun worshipers.
Time is running out here, have to soon board the boat.
Take care, alll the best - Paul
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Copenhagen
Saturday 30 July
Our first rainy day, not bad for the Baltic.
St Petersburg was most fascinating, highlights such as the Hermitage, the Winter Palace and St Issac's Cathedral will be forever etched in my mind.
Me in the Hermitage
Walter Klinger at NevskyProspect
Winter Palace below
We also went out of the city to visit the Petrehof Summer Palace, summer home of Peter the Great on the Gulf of Finland, as well as the Palace of Catherine the Great.
The pace was hectic, only a taste of what there is to see and do. The Hermitage could take several days to see, a collection of treasure only second to the Louvre. With the demise of communism, St Petersburg is in the midst of renewal and renovations, despite the proliferation of American fast food joints.
Sunset - Gulf of Finland 10:45pm
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On the way to Copenhagen, we spent a day in Tallinn Estonia, with an extensive walled in medieval quarter going back to the 14th century. We will shortly leave here to return to Amsterdam, whereupon I will send some photos via e-mail.
Celebrity Century, in Tallinn and Medieval walls of Tallinn _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Amsterdam, Monday 1 August 2005
The North Sea was up to it's usual turbulence yesterday, but as the evening ended sailing was very calm as our ship entered the canal to the port of Amsterdam. After an early breakfast, Walter and I were on land by 7:30am this morning
It was a wonderful cruise, the multi-national staff were excellent and the facilities were top notch. Throughout the cruise, the dinners contain every variety of haute cuisine, that one reads about, or sees in movies.
At this hour the Celebrity Century is leaving for another 12 day Baltic Cruise, the last for this summer. Even though I have travelled extensively in the past, this was the most northerly point I have reached. Helsinki, the most northern, just above the 60th parallel.
Sunset was just before 11pm, dusk to midnight, plus the northern sky glowed the whole night, therefore no complete darkness. Hours upon hours of twilight. Daybreak usually occurred between 3am-4am. For such northern latitudes,(equivalent to Nunavut/Northwest Territories border with Manitoba, Sask,
Alberta, etc.) the weather was mild, in the low to mid 20s. It was fortunate that it was mainly dry, with the exception of two hours of rain in Copenhagen.
The tours we took sponsored by Red October - St. Petersburg were top notch, considering the short two day stop. We did not need a Russian visa, and there were only 6 of us on the first day, 10 on the second. It made it easy for us to slide through congested traffic, as a mini bus was much easier to handle,
instead of those huge tour buses. We walked on the streets of St Petersburg, whenever the tour stopped at tourist boutiques, technically a no-no without a visa.
Weather was fine and mild during our visit to Tivoli Gardens on Friday night. Scandinavian cities are pristine as far as cleanliness, vibrant as well with the exception of Oslo, where tranquility prevailed. All of these cities have extensive bicycle lanes, all major streets, and care needs to be taken before
stepping off the sidewalk. At Amsterdam Centraal Station there is multi-story parking garage, where the lower floors are dedicated to bikes, and car drivers have to walk further to reach their vehicles.
In Copenhagen most bikes were parked unlocked.
Anyhow, that's all for now. The promised photos that I plan to post will happen, when another web café will allow me to load up my CD -ROM of 800 photos taken so far. The miracle of digital photography. On the ship, I was able to upload the images from my photo compact flash cards on to their server at no charge. They charge me $15USD to burn a CD-ROM, ouch!!! Since memory cards can be volatile, it may be worth it.
We'll be here till Thursday, then we plan to drive to Belgium, for another week. Walter has a cousin in Munster Germany, we have a mutual friend south of Rotterdam, and plan to visit, Bruges, Lille France, & Luxembourg.
Shall keep you posted
ciao
Paul
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Munster Germany Thursday 4 August
We arrived here late this afternoon after driving across Holland for the short 250km distance. Walter has two second cousins here, who have extended their hospitality to us. This is the first time he has seen them since 1973, and my first time back in Germany since 1970.
I thought I would be at wits end of what to do in Amsterdam, since this was my 4th visit, though Walter's first. That city never ceases to amaze me. The Van Gogh Museum was most impressive; however it was the Tropenmuseum that pulled all the stops.
This venue depicts Dutch colonial rule, with some criticism, throughout Latin America, Africa, Asia, notably Indonesia. We were mesmerized by the impressive collection of artefacts, art, newsreels etc, that we ended spending 5 hours there. An ongoing special exhibition was just as fascinating. "All about Evil" depicted from all religious, and socio-cultural viewpoints. I have not had my expectations exceeded by this much, since my visit to the Musée d`Orsay in Paris.
St Petersburg is known for its borscht, Montreal for its bagels & smoked meat, Toronto for its pea-meal bacon etc..., but no place offers what is available in Amsterdam, which is beyond fine Indonesian cuisine.
There are coffee shops proliferating everywhere, where it is legal to purchase up to 5 grams of cannabis. One can also purchase pre-made joints that sell between 4-10 euros, in which I did not pass up. A pleasant two hours passed on a sunny smoking sidewalk cafe sipping cafe au lait and Amstel beer.
We have been fortunate to have mild sunny weather, it did rain once for an hour, while we were inside the Troponmuseum.
That´s all for now, its off to the Rhine valley, Luxembourg, and Belgium.
ciao
Paul
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Arlon Belgium
Walter & I have driven about 800km, since we have left Amsterdam, and tonight we are staying in a country inn, in the middle of no where, in fact just east of the Luxembourg border, and about 40 minutes north of Metz France.
We drove through much of the Ardennes forests and hills between Liege and Arlon. Friday we said good-bye to Walter`s cousins, and headed down the autohahn to Koln (Cologne), saw the huge gothic cathedral that the city is known for, and a major locale for World Youth events next week.
Aachen (Aix la Chapelle) was very impressive, ancient going back to Charlemagne - 800AD. There are several Roman ruins to be found throughout this area.
The weather has been cool, some drizzle yesterday 15-18, more tolerable than the 30 degree + heat and humidity.
All the best for now
ciao
Paul
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Antwerp Belgium
Tues 9 August
Hello Everyone
The trip is winding down, returning to Toronto on Thursday.
We checked in to a gay B & B here, and slowing down. We spent six hours in the medieval city of Bruges, one of the few towns that was not destroyed during both world wars.
Sunday was busy; we crossed into Luxembourg from Belgium, and went to Luxembourg city, very impressive, a fortress city with deep river valleys. After lunch we headed to the Moselle river wine valley, and to the German city of Trier, known for its Roman ruins.
Sunday was the only day we experienced heavy rain for a few hours; which did not stop us from sampling some of the bubbly wine.
Later that afternoon, we filled u p on cheap Luxembourg gas, euro 1.07/litre, blinked through a short distance in southern Belgium, then drove through the French Ardennes for a few hours; then went up north back into Belgium for dinner, and stayed at some God forsaken place in Charleois. Four countries in one day, but these places are very close to each other, border crossings no different than crossing from one county to another, back home, except for the odd language change.
The next day we visited Lille France for a decent French lunch, and later went to Ypres Belgium to visit the Flanders Fields museum; Ypres was on the front line 1914-1918 during W.W. I, whereupon 500,000 lost their lives in a 100 day period of trench warfare; Ypres cathedral and city were fully rebuilt and restored between 1920-1930.
Last night we stayed at friendly country inn; 12km from Ypres;
That all for now
Ciao Paul
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Toronto
Friday 12 August 2005
Hello
For a long time, I am not writing this note from a web cafe. My 8 hour flight home was made comfortable, thanks to a €175 business class upgrade. Needless to say I did pass up on some great bargains at the duty free shop in Amsterdam's Schiphol airport. Hennessy XO grade cognac was available for €79.95, and Camus XO for €59.95. Such a trade off.
For our last evening , Walter and I splurged, yes, €99, (no breakfast) for both of us at posh hotel estate 20 minutes outside of Amsterdam:
http://www.duin-kruidberg.nl/index.html?id=p24l1
Most of the places we stayed on the were much more modest, between €42-€60 (€75 - Amsterdam) for both of us, which often included breakfast. A typical Dutch/Belgian breakfast included, coffee (strong and great! espresso style), juice, yoghurt, croissants, rolls, cheese, cold cuts, jam etc. A great way to start the day.
We did the usual sightseeing in the old quarter of Antwerp, then, drove up to Rotterdam, the worlds largest seaport. This city was flattened by a Nazi blitzkrieg in 1940, therefore no old quarter. To make up for it, Rotterdam has the most stunning modern architecture, which makes it unique among Benelux cities.
There is often a saying that Europe is expensive, true in many respects, such as gasoline prices running from €1.08 to €1.42/ litre. With extensive public rail, tram, and bus transportation, as well as bike lanes galore, cars are an impediment in large urban areas. We did not drive throughout large cities as Brussels ,or Amsterdam. Smaller towns, such as Bruges, with it's medieval quarter, does not allow any parking, (most streets are for pedestrians only) however, there are garages, many of them underground in most urban areas. In Bruges, we paid €2.50 for the whole day, and then took a bus in.
Having the use of a car (Opel Astre 4dr hatchback) gave us the opportunity to drive the back roads, (all great including autoroutes) plus stays at remote country inns. We drove close to 2000km.
Everything went without a hitch, nothing lost, pick-pocketed etc., a great time The weather was great for travelling, 16-22, although, near the end it was often overcast. The locals complained of a cool wet summer, we were fortunate to escape most of the "wet", and were happy with the cool temps, as almost all accommodation was not air-conditioned.
Some places were inundated by tourists, such as Amsterdam, Bruges, Köln, but others were well off the beaten path, such as Belgian towns, like Antwerp, Tournai (first Belgian city liberated by allies, 3 Sept 1944), Ypres, Liège, as well as Lille France, and Aachen (Aix la Chapelle) Germany, are generally underrated, but are real gems.
There no doubt a lot more than I can elaborate, so please do feel free to reply with any questions you may have. As for photos, Walter & I will be posting several photos, at a yet to be determined web site. btw, I took around 1300 pictures, Walter even more, thanks to digital photography.
That's a wrap
bye
Paul
P.S.: €1.00 conversion = $1.52CAD or $1.27 USD
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