A few more photos

I am having a bit of trouble loading phots but will put a few of the UK up anyway

There is a lot of debate about whether these Elgin Marble freizes from the Parthenon in Athens should be returned to Greece. The British Museum which houses them has a compelling argument that not only did they save them from certain destruction/dispersion but over 12 million visitors a year view them for no charge.


Open air opera in Trafalgar Square beamed live from the opera house to over 15 cities thru the UK


had a yummy bruch at JO's Fifteen in London but his is as close as we got to the man himself. I am really impressed witht the wway the lives of these young people are turned around by the opportunities he has given them and so I'm pleaed to support his efforts by eating their nutritious meals. Not a big sacrifice on my part.


The 900 year old Lewis chessmen from Norway found on the hebriean scottish island -

Kimberley and Ginny - For your eyes only!!!

Not many cats around during this trip - probably too cold for them to thrive - but her are a few anyway.


Dutch cat



English Cat - have you ever seen a cat being walked along the High St on a leash??

Belgian cat

Canada

Muskoka
Had a 7 hour flight from London arrivng Toronto at midnight UK time then driving straight up to Bracebridge by Lake Muskoka - a 2 hour drive. I can't remember why I thought it would be a good idea to do this - tired at the end of a flight, driving on the wrong side of the road at dusk in a brand new Pontiac!!! I had a few bad thoughts about this whole plan in the last couple of days in the UK but all the bookings were fixed so i just hoped and prayed it would be OK. I made sure that I slept as much as poss during the flight to the abvious disappointment of the chatty young lady sitting beside me on the flight. It all worked out just fine - the TomTom did an amazing job and we arrived 10pm local time at our B&B on the waterfront.

Such a beautiful part of the world - cottage country the locals call it - i would call it McMansion country. Most of the boathouses are bigger than our home in Canberra. We did a 3 hour boat trip on Lake Muskoka one day - it has hundreds of small islands dotted on it. Some of the islands are family owned with 5 or 6 massive houses on them - each house with 10+ bedrooms. Often only used for a couple of weeks and the odd weekend during the whole year - such a waste of resources. Millionaires Row is just jaw dropping. In the winter the whole lake freezes over hard enough for trucks to drive across so most of the building materials and supplies are delivered that way during the winter.

Spent another day walking several trails in Algonquin National Park which was nice - didn't see any moose but got plenty of mozzie bites.

FOur nights in Muskoka then off to Niagara.

Off to Canada today

St Petersberg - curtain call at Swan Lake

Helsinki

A beautiful small city – very clean, orderly, stylish and VERY expensive. Lots of beautiful people who look rather like the lovely Helena Clark – she will be here soon visiting family but unfortunately our paths won’t cross.

Stockholm
The last 3 hours sailing into Stockholm is spectacular – there are around 20,000 islandsoff the Swedish coast and the ship sails through a narrow passage amongst them. We got up around 5am to make the most of it and it was well worth the effort. Most of the islands are very small and many have little holiday houses on them. It was just so beautiful.






We shared Stockholm with thousands of other visitors who had come for the Volvo Round-the-World maxi yatch race – the boats were all in Stockholm for a few days having a break. It meant that there were lots of special things on around the city which made it very interesting if a bit crowded at times.

We spent most of the day in the old city area around the palace.

Warnemunde, Germany

Most of the tours organised by the ship went into Berlin for the day – it was a very long day –the train journeys took 6 hours all up with a 7am start and a 9pm finish. We had 4 days in Berlin several years ago. It is a great city to visit but we gave it a miss this time and just took the local train into Rostock about 30 mins away. Lovely small city with a University and a lively market in the square. Spent the morning there and went back to the ship for lunch and a rest. Then wandered around Warnemunde where we were berthed – it was such a surprise. The docks were in a very bland area near the railway station but once we walked out of that area we realised Warnemunde is a major seaside resort and a real hive of activity on a warm Saturday afternoon. The breeze was very fresh and the water was absolutely freezing – a few brace souls managed a quick dip but most people were happy to be on the beach and enjoy the sunshine. The ship had organised a barbecue dinner on one of the top decks around the main swimming pool – they can retract the glass roof and they had the Rostock brass band playing. It was really enjoyable and we ate with Bob and Margaret from San Diego = a couple we have got to know this past week.




Aarhus, Denmark

We spent the morning out at a living museum where they have brought old houses from all around Denmark into this park in order to preserve them. It must have been a massive task – some of them a very large. Most of them contain exhibitions which relate to the places they come from.



This was a fantastic photo display in the town square -check www.100places.com

The local band came to welcome us to Denmark along with the Mayor and other dignitaries - i had a chat with the mayor and asked him how our Princess Mary was doing - he beamed and said she was just wonderful. I told him that her mother used to be Phil's secretary at Uni of Tas but he looked a bit sceptical.

Oslo

We had a wonderful day in Oslo in spite of the fact that our friends Nye and Lisbeth weren't there to show us around - they had given us a list of 'must see' places before they left Oz so we didn't waste any time taking a tram out to Vigeland Park to see the amazing array of 192 granite sculptures most of them reflecting the ages and stages of Man. Even more interesting than the sculptures was to watch the way young children reacted to them. Unlike most art installations, children are encouraged to climb all over them and although the are about twice lifesize, children were hugging and kissing them, stroking and reclining in their laps. Will try to get some photos up soon.

Then it was back into town and a ferry across to the Viking exhibition - Such impressive sailors and navigators exploring and settling over enormous distances with euqipment tha looks so unsophisicated to our eyes. ( Later on our travels when we got to London we spemnt time in the British Museum and were interested that one of their top exhibits are the Lewis Chessmen, made in Norway from walrus ivory and thought to have landed on Lewis in the Outer hebrides of Scotland about 900 years ago.)

We then went to the Museum of the Norwegian Resistance - a sad but inspiring insight into the tragedy of German occupation during WW2 and heroic acts of bravery and ingenuity. Does it take war for people to act so selflessly or might we all find it within ourselves to act with courage against the threats of our times?




Rotterdam
The end of our cruise but not much to report - we went pretty much straight to the railway station for our trip to Brugges. The cruise was a delight - very relaxing and lots of fascinating ports - most of them we thought that one or two days was probably enough. The last night we had dinner with a couple from Anapolis near Washington - Mark and Barbara. Lovely couple - we had eaten with them a few days before and hit it off. Hopefully we will keep in touch and might meet up again sometime. Mark's dad was a Presbyterian minister/ seminary lecturer and they worship at a Pres church.

In Brugge

We saw the movie ‘ In Brugge’ last year – great movie if you can look past the violence and bad language – it is a great marketing tool for the town and convinced us to visit. It is even better than the movie portrays – a small medieval town with very few out-of-place buildings. Cherrie recommended a hotel right behind the Bell Tower – a perfect location. The photos will speak for themselves but a few highlights:
-A visit to the Groeninge Museum to see the collection of Charles the Bold – the ruler of this area in the 1500s.
- Climbing the 360 stairs to the top of the Belfry with spectacular views across the rooftops.
- Discovering the Beguinale House – a tranquil convent in the midst of a bustling town


At dinner by the canal on the first night we had 2 Aussies from Brisbane next to us – he is a young boat builder/ marine engineer working in Amsterdam. He worked on a boat for an owner for a year or so and the owner has employed him to oversee the building of a new 43 metre boat which will take 2 years and cost 43 million euros – about $70 million Aus. He says it will cost another 3 to 4 mill euros a year to operate and maintain it. I often wonder who has that sort of money to spend on a boat that they only use for a few weeks a year.




Saturday June 27 – Brugge to London via Brussels

We had a leisurely morning then took the train for the 1 hour ride to Brussels to catch the Eurostar – we love train travel – the checkin procedure is tighter ( and longer) than I remember but I guess times change. There is just 20 mins or so through the chunnel and then you are zipping across the Kent countryside to St Pancras station. Just 2 hours Brussels to London.

We stay at the old County Hall right beside the London Eye – no charm but location is great. The crowds along South bank were phenomenal – a warm summer Saturday had brought huge numbers of street performers and spectators out and we joined them later in the evening. The weather forecast is good for the next week or so for the south east so we should be OK - though the BBC weathermen describe it as ‘ a scorcher’ could even get as high as 32 deg!!!! Oh my!!!!!


Sunday June 28 London

Breakfast by the Thames then off to church at church.co.uk – An Oasis church just near here set up by Steve Chalke who has done some great work over the last 20 years or so.

It was an interesting service – at first I felt rather negative – very casual and laid back – the main floor space set up with coffee tables and chairs then the tiered stalls of the old church at the sides. A 4 piece band with drums led the singing. About 150 people, quite a lot of people of African descent representative of the area. The sermon was first rate –about Jonah and guidance - straightforward, relevant, with some helpful personal examples. Then baptisms of 5 people – it was very moving and I realised that I am missing not being a regular part of our church in Canberra. Also I have just finished reading The Shack by Paul Young – it is described as “The Pilgrim’s Progress’ for our generation. I have found it really inspiring and it has motivated me to try to do some things very differently with my life.

Some other highlights of London
– dinner at Luciano’s – Marco Pierre White’s London restaurant – we didn’t think the food was nearly as good as his Yew Tree Inn out in the countryside where we ate last year.


- Brunch at Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen in north London – really good food in a great setting although VERY tricky to find – if you plan to go there, make sure you have a good map. Then a walk along Regent’s Canal

- With about 10,000 others watching a bit of live opera on the big screen in Trafalga Square – if we had known about it we would have planned to see it all but we were on our way to Tom Stoppard’s play, Arcadia starring Neil Pearson – very very good.

- a day ticket on the Thames ferries took us down to the O2 arena then Greenwich. Later in the day back up to the Tate Gallery – such a pleasant way to travel in a bustling city on a hot day.

- A morning at the British Museum – they have a special exhibition on India at present and Kew Gardens have established a garden of Indian plants in forecourt. Also a wonderful art insta;;ation caalled Tree of Life - here is the description fromn their website -

"The Tree of Life was made by four Mozambican artists: Cristovao Canhavato (Kester), Hilario Nhatugueja, Fiel dos Santos and Adelino Serafim Maté. It is a product of the Transforming Arms into Tools (TAE) project and is made from decommissioned weapons.

TAE was set up by Bishop Dom Dinis Sengulane in 1995 and is supported by Christian Aid. During Mozambique's civil war, which lasted from 1976 to 1992, millions of guns and other weapons poured into the country and most of them remain hidden or buried in the bush. The project is an attempt to eliminate the threat presented by the hidden weapons. Mozambicans are encouraged to hand them over in exchange for items like ploughs, bicycles and sewing machines. In one case a whole village gave up its weapons in exchange for a tractor.

Once the weapons are decommissioned, they are cut up and turned into sculptures by the artists in Maputo. "

The restaurant served delicious Indian food with a glass of mango juice for lunch.

- A morning at the national gallery looking at paintings – fabulous collection

- Just general wandering around a great city and watching LLeyton Hewitt play Wimbledon (on TV) when we had enough


Seaford

Coming back to Seaford is like coming home – we have our own keys and our usual bedroom and all the delights of being by the sea. Although the temps in London were only around 32 deg, it was a hot and sticky so the sea breeze here was very welcome.
Christy is off work now until we leave so that is a treat.
We have been swimming most days – the sea is chilly to get into but OK once you adjust – I reckon you go numb and don’t notice the cold any more. Heaps of people on the beach this weekend and lots of fishermen/ women because the mackerel have come in.

Yesterday morning we walked along the chalk cliffs then back in to Alfriston – a 3 hour walk. We have done this walk many times but never tire of it. Caught the bus back in time for lunch.

Took Andy and Christy out for dinner last night at Moonrakers – a restaurant in Alfriston recommended by The Hairy Bikers. It was one of those rare summer evenings – warm with no wind and we sat out in the garden looking across the village green to the old church. The food was fabulous – the best we have eaten in the last year – they specilise in using local seasonal produce and it was just delicious – cooked to perfection and beautifully presented. We even had a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc from Tamar Ridge in Tasmania to go with it. Just a lovely and memorable evening. We spent some of it planning next year’s holiday. Phil’s Oxford College turns 400 next year so we plan to come for some of those celebrations. Also Andy goes to Borneo for a month July/ August with JOLT so we will spend most of that time with Christy. (He is going to Borneo for 2 weeks next month to check out arrangements for next year but we will be back in Canberra by then )

Just Cruisin´

Just as we expected, internet access on the ship is expensive – 75cents US per minute so we will write up our blog on the laptop and post it at an internet café on land at some stage.

Sunday June 14 - Estonia

We went to a church service on board after breakfast then walked into Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. Beautiful old city surrounded by formidable city walls. Very easy to get around and very quiet on a Sunday morning. We went into one of the many churches where there was a service in progress. One of the groups that meet there is the Independent Baptist Fellowship and it seemed fairly lively with quite a young congregation.

We walked to the upper town, Toompea and called into the Orthodox Cathedral where there was a christening in progress– very ornate decoration. From the walls of Toompea there are great views down over the rest of the town. Also called into the Lutheran Church – that’s my limit for the day – 3 churches!! And all before lunch.

By then it was about 1pm and some of the cafes and small shops were opening up. In the Town Hall Square there was a very busy craft market with lots of lovely hand made things – jewellery, sweaters, wooden items, lots of amber and lots of linen goods – I think they must grow flax around here. The quality was mostly good and the prices very reasonable – we bought a couple of little wooden Christmas tree ornaments.

Lovely people – very friendly and most of the young people have very good English. Phil chatted to one young woman who had just finished Year 12. She is hoping to study environmental science at University and then ‘wants to save the planet’ - if there are enough like her in the next generation we might just make it.

Then it was back on board for a formal dinner – Phil looked VERY elegant in his dinner suit – and then a concert in the Theatre by a flute player from Northern Ireland. He was a brilliant player and quite a character as well. He reminded me of our lovely Richie.

Monday and Tuesday - June 15, 16
St Petersburg, Russia

Wonderful, wonderful city but lots of frustrations. On the first day we did a 6 hour city tour which included 2 hours walking around on our own without our guide. We had been told ahead of time that we wouldn’t be able to go anywhere unaccompanied without a visa so this was a lovely surprise and we used the time to wander through some parks, along the Neva River and in and out of the shopping area –and of course into a few churches. It is a staggeringly beautiful city – our excellent guide, Irina, told us that at some stage ( can’t remember when) a third of the buildings in St P were palaces and it is easy to believe. Just so many large elegant buildings and most of them in good shape until you get off the main routes where it is sometimes in need of a bit of TLC. Irina told us that during the Soviet period buildings became very shabby but there has been major restoration over the past 15 years and it shows. She also said that many of the churches which were turned to other purposes in Soviet times are now returning to places of worship and there is a resurgence of church attendance with many young people also now choosing to marry in church. Interestingly all 3 of our guides told us about the increased church involvement.

On Monday night we went to the ballet to see Swan Lake – a traditional interpretation – quite a contrast to Graeme Murphy’s version that Luci and I went to see at the Sydney Opera House last year – both were wonderful. Even Phil admitted that he enjoyed it very much – the theatre and stage sets were opulent and the music and dancing were lovely although it was a young company – the Kirov is in recess over the summer. When we left the theatre at 11pm it was still light of course – this far north in mid June we get about 22 hours of daylight each day – fortunately our cabin has good blackout curtains so it doesn’t affect our sleep.

Tuesday morning we had a lazy time on the ship preparing for our 4 hour visit to the Hermitage – the fab art collection of Russia- it contains almost 3 million pieces of art – many collected by Catherine II – although only a fraction are on display at any one time. You don’t often see them lent out to other galleries so it was a great opportunity to see lots of finally got into the gallery 2 hours after leaving the ship which meant less than 2 hours for our guided tour – if ever we go again we will try to go on our own and spend time looking at the things that interest us. It is simply amazing – lots of Old Masters and 19th and 20th works that we had never seen before even in print. We had to just walk through these vast galleries without really stopping to look. It was very frustrating.

Wednesday June 17, Helsinki

Have had a wonderful day here today but will write about it later. Enough to say that it is full of beautiful people, many of whom look like just like Helena Clark. Time for bed now – we have just come back from a superb concert by a 27 year old Scotsman in our ship’s theatre. An amazing flamboyant pianist and singer – after his 1st song I didn’t think I would want to stay but after and hour I didn’t want it to end. He was just amazing – Kyle Esplin.

Tomorrow we are in Stockholm and I will look for an internet café to post this. Photos later – sooooooo many to choose from!!!!!!

Actually, it is now Saturday June 20 and we are in ROstock Germany - Happy Birthday Christy!!!! Can,t believe you are 35!!!! We have now been to Stockholm which was wonderful. Off to Denmark and oslo next. Really enjoying our cruise. Will put photos up when we get better internet access.

More Copenhagen

The weather here has been very ordinary but we have really enjoyed our time. Today was a max of 15 with showers - our neighbours at the restaurant tonight told us they had a wonderful spring ...........


The equivalent to our national library is the Royal Library - called the Black Diamond - spectacular both inside and out.

This is for Nicky, the architect in the family. Very clever louvres on the Black Diamond that deflect to allow sun in or block it out.

From inside the library


In the Library was a very confronting photo exhibition recording this event

'In the afternoon of January 16, 1969, the twenty-year old history student walked to the top of Wenceslas Square and set himself on fire. He died in hospital three days later of severe burns. In a letter left at the scene, Jan called on the Czechoslovak people to preserve what remained of democracy in the country and demanded that censorship be abolished. His funeral, attended by thousands of people, turned into a spontaneous demonstration in support of freedom and Jan Palach's grave in a Prague cemetery became a symbol of resistance. Two other men, Jan Zajic and Evzen Plocek, followed Jan Palach's example in early 1969 - despite his protestations for them not to - sacrificing their lives in protest against the occupation of Czechoslovakia by the Warsaw Pact troops. '

We were in this square at the end of last year and were touched to see this photo of so many people there for Jan Paalach's funeral.

People carry allsorts in the carriers on front of their bikes - a couple of children in this case and a pet below.

I really want to believe that alternative communities are a force for good but almost all the ones that I have visited disappoint me. A visit to Christiana today was no exception. It was built on inspiring principles but, like Nimbin, has ended up being a smelly refuse heap with lots of stoned people sitting around. Why does this happen so often. I am sure there must be good examples out there that I haven't found many yet.

No visit to Copenhagen is complete without seeing the little mermaid

Who cares if you can't get breakfast at your B&B when you can have brunch at NyHavn watching the boats go by.

The Danes must be spitting chips. Their local lad, Jorn Utzon, comes to Oz and designs our fabulous Opera house and then when they need a new one this is what they end up with. I am sure it is superb but not a patch on ours.

The new National Theatre

Oooops!! Bad mistake yesterday - my lack of proficiency in Danish meant that I mistook the Danish Parliament buildings for the Palace. Sorry. But we still didn't see the royals altough our dinner companions last night said they could often be seen out and about - just not where we were. So these are the palace.

This is the closest we got to Princess Mary and Fred

This is for Andy and Christy - a water feature with fish.

More beautiful people - they all seem to look like Emily and her children.

The last 2 nights we have eaten at a great restaurant called BioMio http://copenhagen.unlike.net/locations/305793-Bio-Mio It is just down the road from us and has great fresh simple organic food. A really nice atmosphere and the manager and barmen are both Aussies.

We have really enjoyed Copenhagen in spite of the weather. It is very enviro friendly - more than a third of the traffic is cycles and they have a rush hour 'green wave' for bikes so that they can maintain a good speed with green lights favouring them.

http://vodpod.com/watch/1068678-elsewhere-filming-copenhagens-green-wave

It takes me back to our years in Oxford where we had no car (and no TV) for 3 years. Some days it was hard work cycling to school or church in the mornings at sub zero temps with 2 little children but we were very fit.

I've done some extra blogs because we are about to start cruising and if previous experiences are anything to go by, internet access will be prohibitively expensive unless i can find an internet cafe on land. Keep in touch Love from us both K&P