FERRY TO OSLO
THE CROWN OF SCANDINAVIA
This is definitely the largest and most modern ferry we have been on so far. Our cabin, yes we have a cabin this time, is spacious and comes with a good sized bathroom.
There are bars, a theatre and even a disco on board, but after a nice glass of wine in the bar and some dinner we head to our cabin for a goods nights sleep so as to be fresh to meet Adam and Else tomorrow morning in Oslo.
OSLO
The arrival into Oslo by boat is quite spectacular. As you sail up the Oslo fjord, a narrow inlet bordered by high steep cliffs you pass many islands, both inhabited and un-inhabited. Even in the early morning the water was filled with fishing boats, some pleasure craft and of course the car ferries that the people who live on the islands use to get to the mainland.
The harbour terminal where cruise ships, and the ferry we are travelling on dock, is situated at the base of the Akershus Fortress. This medieval landmark, built in the 14th century now houses some government offices, museums, and a military training facility.. The original moat and stone walls still surround the fortress, a once impenetrable obstacle to invading armies. The fortress was however used during WW II by the Nazis, as a prison and execution ground, and there is an excellent museum devoted to the Norwegian Resistance Forces and life under German occupation.
At this time of the year the sun doesn’t rise till well after 8.30am and by 4pm it’s dark, so much has to be packed into the few hours of daylight available. Adam had organized weekly bus passes for us and we made good use of them travelling the excellent public transit system in Oslo. Where else could you take the subway to a mountainous forest complete with ski and hiking trails?
Our ten days passed quickly and in no time at all we were packing up for our three hour bus ride into Sweden, and the final house/pet sit for this trip.
GOODBYE FATIMA
It’s finally time to hand Fatima over to her new family.
Fatima has been our home for over the past year, as well as faithfully taking us wherever we chose. She carried us across the Atlas Mountains in North Africa, crossed the Alps (Swiss, Austrian, and French), she has been to the sands of the Sahara Desert as well as the beaches of the Greek Islands
In all we calculate we have travelled just over 40,000 km in Fatima in the past 15 months, and that does not count the numerous ferry trips. Some only short distances such as the 15 km from Tarifa, Spain to Tangier, Morocco, but many were overnight, like to Greece from Italy. And now we can even laugh at that nightmare of a trip from Morocco to Genoa, 3 days of smelly, noisy truck drivers, and us sleeping on the benches in the lounge as we had no cabin to go to where we could at least get some sleep.
Our adventures have not quite finished though. From Germany we travel to Copenhagen, in Denmark by train, then after spending two days there it’s back on a ferry for an overnight journey (in our own cabin, woohoo) to Oslo, Norway. We will spend ten days with Else and Adam in Oslo, then on to Sweden, in a small village near Skovde, for our last house-pet sit of this trip.
We have added a few pics of our journey with Fatima, hope you enjoy them!
DENMARK-Copenhagen
We leave Munich, Germany in the late afternoon on the overnight train for Copenhagen, Denmark.
Travelling north past Hamburg and Kolding and then through the 24km long undersea tunnel to arrive in Copenhagen’s Central Station early the following morning.
As you walk out from the station the first sight you see are the famous Tivoli Gardens, opened in 1843 it’s one of the worlds oldest amusement parks. However, there are not only rides here, but also beautiful flower gardens, Michelin-starred restaurants and a pantomime theatre built in 1874.
The 1000 year old city centre has wonderful copper spired churches and old cobble-stoned pedestrian plaza’s lined with funky shops and cafés. Also a canal that winds through the city and around the Danish Parliament and Christiansborg Palace, where the oldest monarchy in the world, and our own Crown Princess Mary lives with her husband the Crown Prince Frederick, and children Prince Christian and Princess Isabella live. We had thoughts of paying them a visit and maybe a cup of tea, but just ran out of time.
We did our own self-guided walking tour around Copenhagen, then when we got a little tired, hopped aboard the City Circle bus. The locals are friendly and helpful, one older gentleman on an outing with his young grandson, did a bit of a sightseeing commentary for us as we drove around, then suggested a great place for a traditional Danish lunch.
After Guinness in Dublin, a couple of Scottish whiskey distilleries and of course the wineries in France, the Carlsberg Brewery Museum was a must see for us.
There is a great self guided tour that explains the beer making process, as well as a display of beer bottles from around the world, that has been awarded a certificate from the Guinness people as the “Worlds Largest Collection of Beer Bottles” the count as of 10th Nov 2009 is 18,803. We could also visit the stables and see some of the ‘famous Carlsberg horses’ and the wagons they still pull in parades etc., The admission to the Museum comes with 2 coupons to be used in the brewhouse Bar to sample the beer. As most know, I don’t like beer so Brian not liking to be wasteful, kindly volunteered to take my 2 drink coupons. He managed to sample 3 different kinds from the Carlsberg range, quite a feat to complete before lunch, but he said none was as good as his old favourite, VB
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Nyhavn on the canal is our favourite spot in Copenhagen, it’s an idyllic spot even in the Autumn. It’s colourful houses, many at least 300 years old line the canal sides and it’s also where the famous children’s fairy tale author, Hans Christian Andersen once lived. Today the cities Christmas Market was well underway there, and we strolled the stalls picking up a few traditional crafts, and lunched on hot seafood soup with crusty bread, delicious!
Our two days here flew by, and soon we were heading to the port to catch our ferry to Oslo.
20th ANNIVERSARY of the REUNIFICATION of GERMANY or 20 years since The Wall came Down – November 9th, 1999
We have just spent the past couple of weeks in the former East Germany, visiting cities and towns along the former border, some of which have not recovered from the re-unification as well as Berlin. Also we have been lucky to speak personally to a few people that lived through those turbulent times, and hear their views about the changes that have come about in the past twenty years.
Imagine if you can, waking up one morning to find a wall running down the centre of the main street of your town, cutting your city in half. No one could cross from one side to the other, regardless of family situations, jobs, or school. To do so, would be to risk death. Furthermore, imagine that on one side of the wall people are permitted to do all the normal things that free people expect to do, and they may come and go at will. But on the other side many such freedoms are taken away from the people.
This is what happened in the city of Berlin.
Shortly after midnight on August 13, 1961, police and soldiers in Communist-controlled East Berlin moved swiftly through the streets of the darkened city, taking up positions on roads leading to the West. Within hours, all traffic blocked. Trains had stopped running. Telephone connections between East Berlin and the West cut. Then, over the following weeks and months, a massive concrete and barbed wire barricade rose along the border between East Berlin and West Berlin.
A 4m high impenetrable barrier with a death strip, meticulously raked and smoothed over in order to make footprints clearly visible that was patrolled day and night by armed soldiers with guard dogs divided the city of Berlin, the once proud capital of Germany. The wall was unlike any barrier in history. Instead of being built to keep people out, its purpose was to keep people in. The GDR called the barrier ‘The Anti Fascistic Protective Wall’ and said it was to “protect citizens of East Germany from capitalism.”
As the Wall grew higher and higher, the desire of many East Berliners to escape confinement grew, although the chances of anyone actually getting over the Wall were dismally poor, but those who wanted to be free continued to try. It is still not certain how many people died trying to cross the inner German border. Records show two hundred people were shot trying to cross the Berlin Wall and at least one thousand casualties along the rest of the border, but it is thought many more were killed or injured.
Outside of the City of Berlin trees and brush were cut down along the border to clear lines of sight for the guards, and to eliminate cover for would-be crossers. Houses adjoining the border were torn down or even were split in two, and border bridges were closed. Farmers were permitted to work their fields along the border only in daylight hours and under the watch of armed guards, who were authorised to use weapons if their orders were not obeyed. 1,300 kilometres of new fencing was built to separate the East from the West.
The Fall of the Wall
In early November 1989, more than 500,000 people took part in a peaceful march that ended in East Berlin’s Alexanderplatz, calling for the fall of the wall and re-unification of Germany.
On the evening of November 9, the government abruptly announced that the border between East and West Germany - and between East and West Berlin- would be opened. In East Berlin, people began to go to the Wall to see if that what they had heard was true. It was. Within two hours of the announcement, the trickle of people turned into a jubilant crowd. By midnight, thousands of East Berliners were walking, biking, or driving to cross points in the Wall and entering the western half of the city-something that just a few hours earlier, they could only a dream of. The celebrations continued all through the night and into the morning. People began to dance on the top of the Wall. Others blew trumpets, embraced, and laughed while tears streamed down their faces. The ringing of chisels and hammers was heard as people began to chip away at the once-impregnable barrier.
Reunification although would be no simple matter. The Germans had to unscramble two separate governments, coordinate telephone and rail systems, and understand the entirely different philosophies that had guided East and West. While the West was enjoying a healthy economy and a high standard of living, the East Germans had lived much more modestly. Prices for food and other goods were also radically different in the two Germanys. But for many of the Easterners once used to the benefits of communism such as, the right to have a job and a place to live, supplied heath-care and the distribution of resources, re-unification was very hard, and to this day some communities have still not recovered.
Brian and I remember watching the ‘Fall of the Wall’ on television, although being so far away it was all very surreal. Now after our time spent in Berlin, speaking to people that lived through those turbulent times, and our drive along part of the ‘fence’ it has really bought it all into focus for us, and hopefully for anyone following “Our Big Adventure”
BERLIN
It is hard to believe that just two decades ago this amazing and vital place was still a divided city, split between the communist east and the capitalist west. Today it looks more like Dubai, (although I wish the weather were as warm), with building cranes dominating the skyline.
This city, which stood for so many years as the emblem of divided Europe, now signifies the healing process, not just of Germany, but of Europe as a whole.
Berlin is renowned for it’s diversity and tolerance, it’s alternative culture, night life and affordability, but I believe the best thing about this German capital is the way it continues to re-invent itself and not to be shackled by it’s powerful history.
With it’s gleaming new shopping centre at Potsdamer Platz, just down the road from Hitler’s bunker, and the book stalls across from the site of Joseph Goebbels’ forced book burning in 1933, the old East is now a bustling and busy area. To see the difference in just the past thirteen months since we were here last, is extraordinary.
Again we take another ‘free walking tour’, though this time we have 24 other travellers with us on our walk. The day was frigidly cold, with a biting wind that propelled us along the streets, Leo our guide, originally from the UK was great. His knowledge of Berlin was excellent and he was a bit of a ham as well, doing voice impressions, and managing not to loose any of us, we learnt a little more of Berlin’s history, and best of all, we had fun.
