Go Go Goteborg

August 5, 2010

After the price shock of Copenhagen, Goteborg, Sweden appeared less threatening for sure. I arrived on August 3 by train. Although I did have problem with finding a place to stay near downtown because the FINA World Championship (Swimming/Diving) was happening that week so I ended up at someone’s converted shed/garage in the suburb of Torp.

2010 08 03 - Goteborg, Sweden - Eklanda Private Rooms

To be honest, Goteborg wasn’t really a must see for me, but based on my CAA world map, it was a good pit stop toward my next destination, Oslo. I also tried not to land in a strange city too late in the evening so Goteborg lucked out with my presence!!

The only problem was that none of the ATMs in Sweden accepted my bank debit card (I later did read that in my guide book about the Swedish ATM system not compatible with North American debit cards). So I was forced to take SEK out using my VISA card (but I immediately went online later that day to pay that off because we all know the high rate for cash advances using your credit card – or maybe you don’t but now you do!!). Yes, how I wish these Scandinavian countries would soon adopt the Euro and save the tourists the hassle of having all these different krona/kroner/kroon!!! I still have some DKK from Copenhagen left over (that was a bad mental calculation on my part)!

The town was actually quite pleasant and modern. Because there weren’t any must see for me, it was a refreshing relaxing change as I didn’t rush from one tourist attraction to another, checking off this self imposed mental grocery list. The highlight was actually finding this very avant garde Museum of World Culture outside of the city centre (free admission to boost) with an exhibit on travelling and tourism (HA!) called Destination X, talk about art imitating life! It turned out that I was a borderline Pathological Traveller!

2010 08 04 - Goteborg, Sweden

2010 08 04 - Goteborg, Sweden - Wheel of Goteborg

2010 08 04 - Goteborg, Sweden - Museum of World Culture

2010 08 04 - Goteborg, Sweden - Museum of World Culture

Another bonus was that my self contained converted shed/garage accommodation had a little kitchenette so I actually got some grocery and cooked a little pasta dinner for a change. In addition, I was even able to hand wash and hang my laundry up and not having to rely on a washer/dryer facility in the hostel environment. So I guess a little pit stop wasn’t bad for the soul.

1 On the bus leaving Goteborg
2 Oslo, Norway
3 Quick breakfast this morning in Goteborg with deli meat and orange juice
4 I saw everything I needed in Goteborg, so nothing I needed to go back to for sure

Announcement!!!!

Sadly, my netbook experienced the Blue Screen of Death... still not sure what happened... so I am not able to write my blogs at ease.... hopefully I can find a solution soon and be able to continue with my journey.... in the meantime, I will continue to update my status on Facebook just to keep things rolling....

Dan

Currently in Riga Latvia (awesome place)

The hostel I stayed at The Blue Cows Barracks is like a five star... the best I have ever stayed at so far... it is actually a 2 story condo in the best part of town and the owners (2 Aussie - Jarrid and Ben) are friendly and hilarious... went out for a steak dinner and drinks and had a great time!!!!!!

Coping with Copenhagen

August 3, 2010

I was having a bit of an anxiety attack as I left the comfort of Graz’s apartment back into the hostelling world. More importantly, I was leaving an English speaking country into foreign territory, where every signage, every announcement, and every conversation would be in Danish. I knew everyone could speak English, but the feeling of no longer in control and the reliance of others did give me a sense of helplessness.

My concern was tested immediately after landing at the Copenhagen (Københavns) airport. While attempting to buy a simple airport train ticket to the city centre, the machine was just not spitting out my ticket. Of course, the long line up of impatient passengers behind me did not help matters. Finally, someone who could read Danish came up and explained to me that the machine was not accepting my credit card and instead, I had to buy the ticket directly from the teller. Luckily, the airport train did have electronic monitors announcing all the stops and I was to get off at Københavns Hovedbanegård.

Copenhagen was a beautiful city. The first thing I noticed was how many commuters riding on bicycles everywhere. Every street had car lanes, pedestrian walks, and bicycle lanes, shared harmoniously among one another. After leaving the UK, I had to relearn checking the right way across the street, except now I had to check twice, once for the bicycle lane, one for the car lane.

My hostel, DanHostel City, was close to the train station and the Tivoli Garden/Amusement Park/Entertainment Extravaganza. DanHostel City was the largest hostel I’d stayed at so far, like a skyscraper with modern decors and trendy fixtures. I met one of my eight dorm mates Ben in our room and together we set out to find some dinner. We finally settled on a shawarma place on Strøget, the longest pedestrian shopping street in Europe. The price was more than double what I usually spent on a shawarma back home but it was the 500 ml bottle of water at a 7 Eleven for an equivalent of $3.00 afterward that I nearly had a heart attack. It was at that moment I realized the cost of living in Denmark was nothing like the UK. Even the internet at the Hostel cost $3.00 for 15 minutes. That was not even enough time to plow the fields on Farmville!!!


2010 08 01 - DanHostel City

2010 08 01 - DanHostel City - 8 person dorm room

2010 08 01 - Shawarma on the Strøget

The next day I ventured out as a tourist and tried not to convert the prices in my head. The tourist information centre had a good self guided walking tour which took me to all the great sights. I went to the cathedral and museums and interesting streets and buidlings. I went to the spot where the Little Mermaid would have been, and saw the Little Mermaid on a giant screen at the Shanghai Expo. I even got the picture I wanted at Nyhavn. I also did all my internet usage at the Central Library (free of charge) to plan my next leg after Copenhagen.

2010 08 02 - Carlsberg Museum

2010 08 02 - Gefion Fountain

2010 08 02 - The Little Mermaid in Shanghai Expo

2010 08 02 - Marina near the Little Mermaid

2010 08 02 - Amelienborg Palace

2010 08 02 - Nyhavn

Overall the city was indeed beautiful and the next time I go I would have a better expectation and not be shocked. As a result, I am going to change my question #4 to “What I didn’t get to do during this visit that I would do if I get a chance to go back again?”

1 On the train leaving Copenhagen, Denmark
2 Gothenburg (Göteborg), Sweden
3 The last breakfast in Glasgow… I had pictures of every meal after that, believe it or not!!

4 a) Legoland in Billund (a couple of hours of a train ride from Copenhagen); b) nice dinner in Nyhavn with friends; c) buy a Copenhagen all day access card and visit Tivoli Garden and other museums

Scotland – Part 3 of 3 - Glasgow

August 1, 2010

Glasgow, the largest city of Scotland, held a very special place during my journey. While it did not have the historical feel of Edinburgh or the majestic panorama of the highlands, it did portray the everyday normalcy of the working class Scots. When it was cloudy and grey, which happened fairly often, the dreariness of the concrete city did not make a tourist’s dream. However, I was truly lucky in always finding interesting things to see and do.

2010 07 25 - Glasgow, UK - Buchanan Street pedestrian mall
2010 07 25 - Glasgow, UK - George Square

One of the great experiences was hitting the Merchant City festival during the first weekend I was there. I was immediately enthralled by the performance of a quartet of dancers, weaving in and out of a steel structure resembling a compartment of a subway car in the aptly named Underground. Other street performers were scattered throughout the area, interjected by vendor stalls selling artisan crafts and food items. I had to restrain myself from buying any of these delicacies.

2010 07 25 - Glasgow, UK - Merchant City Festival - the Underground

2010 07 25 - Glasgow, UK - Merchant City Festival - food vendor

Another great feature throughout the UK was the free admission to the majority of the city museums (donation welcome). This made a perfect getaway to spend a rainy afternoon. My favorite in Glasgow was the Kelvingrove Museum, an eclectic collection of nature and art and everything in between.

2010 07 28 - Glasgow, UK - having fun at the Kelvingrove Museum

2010 07 28 - Glasgow, UK - Kelvingrove Museum

But most of all, I was truly biased by fact that I was able to stay and catch up with my friend Graz in Glasgow. I thoroughly enjoyed the fact that I did not have to pack and unpack daily, the delicious home cooked meals, laundry availability, WiFi access to catch up on major planning for the Scandinavia segment, season 2 of Leverage, going to dim sum (my first in UK), reminiscing about the good ole days of St. James, and last but not least, and the play fighting with the adorable Misty, who had to wear a lampshade because her paws were hurt. In the end, it was very difficult to leave my home away from home!

2010 07 28 - Glasgow, UK - traditional Scottish breakfast

2010 07 31 - Glasgow, UK - finishing season 2 and catching up to season 3 of Leverage.

2010 07 31 - Glasgow, UK - dim sum with Graz and Sea Woo Restaurant

2010 08 01 - Glasgow, UK - Misty and I on departure date

1 see previous post
2 see previous post
3 see previous post
4 see previous post

Scotland – Part 2 of 3 - Edinburgh

August 1, 2010

In between excursions, Glasgow and Edinburgh were patiently waiting to be explored. I had planned between two to three days each, depending on how much I could cover each time. It took about an hour travelling time between the two cities so deciding when to visit Edinburgh would mainly be dictated by the availability of the people I wanted to catch up with and the availability of any online bargain train tickets. I was fortunate to meet up with Ellen and Allan on one of the trips but unable to meet up with Shelby. However, I did get lucky on finding a three pound train ticket return for one of those trips. Sweet!

Edinburgh was quite an interesting city. As I emerged from the Waverly St Train Station ramp, I faced a modern landscape amidst a medieval castle backdrop. There were a lot to take in and I opted for the hop on hop off bus to allow me to gather my thoughts while weaving through history with the audio guide as my compass.


2010 07 27 - Edinburgh, UK - City Sightseeing Bus

2010 07 27 - Edinburgh, UK - one of the many shops on the Royal Mile

2010 07 27 - Edinburgh, UK - Front of the Assembly

After finishing the full bus loop (about an hour) I immediately held a meeting in my head, with a mental power point presentation demonstrating the best way to milk every inch of the hop on hop off ticket. I began with exploring the furthest point on the bus loop and visited the abstract Scottish Parliament Building, the Dynamic Earth adventure, and the Queen’s Gallery.

2010 07 27 - Edinburgh, UK - the Scottish Parliment

Next I tackled the highest altitude of the loop near Calton Hill park. The park provided a great panoramic view of the city and had some interesting ruins of former Roman inspired architercture. Free admission was also a big plus.

2010 07 27 - Edinburgh, UK - top of Calton Hill

2010 07 27 - Edinburgh, UK - Calton Hill

The final destination was the Grassmarket, not because it was far, but it had a strip of pubs and eateries, including the White Hart Inn. It was the oldest pub in Edinburgh with part of a cellar dated back to 1516, and Robert Burns was rumored to have stayed there in his last visit. Unfortunately, the strip looked better on the double decker. It was amazing how fast the day passed by. As I got on the return train, vowed to come back once more.

2010 07 27 - Edinburgh, UK - pubs and restaurants at Grassmarket

I returned to Edinburgh two days later to finish my mission. I hit Edinburgh Castle as my first stop and I was a bit disappointed with not being able to fully experience the grand entrance of walking up from the Royal Mile because it was obstructed by these massive bleachers in preparation for the Edinburgh Tattoo. Another strike was that I was not prepared for the huge line ups either. In all the previous attractions in the UK that I paid admission for there was never any line ups. So lessons learned, for Edinburgh Castle, buy the ticket on line first!

2010 07 29 - Edinburgh, UK - setting up for the Tattoo at Edinburgh Castle

The actual main attraction of the Edinburgh Castle was not the castle itself, but what was showcased inside it, namely the crown, the sceptor, and the sword, or better known as the crown jewels of Scotland. There were no photos allowed and everyone squeezed into the tiny crevice of a room to take a peek. The claustrophobic experience left me light headed and thoughts of being trampled to death flashed through my mind, especially after the horrific Love Parade incident fresh from the news. After staking out the best spot for the one o’clock gun salute, I left the castle and wandered the Royal Mile some more and hit the museums as I came across them.

2010 07 29 - Edinburgh, UK - entrance to the Edinburgh Castle

2010 07 29 - Edinburgh, UK - Ediburgh Castle

2010 07 29 - Edinburgh, UK - the one o'clock salute

2010 07 29 - Edinburgh, UK - the National Museum

Later on that evening I met up with Ellen and Allan in Leith, a short bus ride from city centre. I was very eager to have an excuse to explore an area outside of the normal tourist trap. Ellen and Allan explained how Leith had revitalized from the days of Trainspotting (yes, where the movie was filmed) to the now up and coming neighborhood with trendy restaurants and modern flats. After a wonderful dinner at Compass and pints at Teuchters Landing, I had to once again bid farewell and catch my night train back to Glasgow.

2010 07 29 - Edinburgh, UK - Leith waterfront

2010 07 29 - Edinburgh, UK - Ellen and Allan at Teuchters Landing

1 see previous post

2 see previous post

3 see previous post

4 see previous post

Scotland - Part 1 of 3 - the Excursions

August 1, 2010

As I await for my flight to Copenhagen at the Glasgow international airport, I reminisced the great memories of the past nine days. I stayed with my friend Graz near Kelvingrove in Glasgow, the largest city in Scotland with a population of 600,000 (over a million in the urban area), and would use her flat as my base. That evening I was greeted with a home cooked meal of the most traditional Scottish fare: haggis, neeps and tatties.

The next day we left early in the morning and hit the road towards the Trossachs National Park. After days of touring one city after another on foot and/or public transportation, visiting the highlands in Graz’s Honda was a definite welcoming change. We picked up sandwiches along the way and off we went. The highlands reminded me of a combination of the various drives I took in Canada, with luscious greens, small roads, and many little towns and villages dotted along the way. They even had cows and sheep!! The only thing missing were the Timmies.

At our first stop in Luss, the morning sun slowly rose above Loch Lomond, providing some perfect picture moments. With our trusted A to Z map book, we navigated through glens but bypassed bens, visited cairns but neglected invers. After a wonderful picnic at the Crinan locks, we headed off to the Kilmartin stones before checking into Oban. We even stopped at the Cruachan visitor centre, an energy station owned by Scottish Power, the company Graz works for.

2010 07 24 - Luss, UK - Loch Lomond

2010 07 24 - Temple Wood Nether Largie Cairn

2010 07 24 - Kilmartin, UK - Kilmartin Stones

2010 07 24 - Oban, UK

2010 07 24 - Cruachan Visitor Centre

2010 07 24 - Inverarnan, UK - Drover's Inn

Our next road trip was two days later to the Isle of Bute in the Firth of Clyde. We boarded the ferry from Wymiss Bay to Rothesay and followed the perimeter of the island. We stumbled upon a great find – a 12th century ruined chapel of St. Blane’s, a bishop born on the Isle of Bute and died in 590AD. We also drove up the Serpentine Canada Hill in Rothesay, Bute’s version of San Francisco’s Lombard Street.

2010 07 26 - Rothesay, UK - hop on hop off bus for Isle of Bute

2010 07 26 - Isle of Bute, UK

2010 07 26 - Isle of Bute, UK - St. Blane's Chapel

2010 07 26 - Isle of Bute - Graz & Misty

2010 07 26 - Rothesay, UK - Serpentine Canada Hill

In our final outing, we ventured east toward Perth and arrived at Stirling Castle, where Mary Queen of Scot was crowned. Below the castle were the Drummond Pleasure Ground with its Star Pyramid, dedicated to those who were martyred to uphold civil and religious freedom in Scotland. Next to it was the Valley Cemetery, built at the site of the Jacobite batteries in the 1745 Rebellion. The famous Protestant reformer John Knox was buried there.

2010 07 30 - Stirling, UK - Drummond Pleasure Ground

2010 07 30 - Stirling, UK - Valley Cemetery

We next headed off to the picturesque St. Andrews, the oldest golf course in the world and one of the nine links courses where the British Open could be held. The course was also opened to the public, giving great accessibility to everyone.

2010 07 30 - St. Andrews, UK - 18th Hole at St. Andrews Links
2010 07 30 - St. Andrews, UK

2010 07 30 - Elie, UK - picturesque town along the way

These excursions barely scratched the surface of what Scotland had to offer. I felt extremely fortunate to have the opportunity. Thanks Graz and Misty for being such great tour guides!!

1 Glasgow International Airport

2 Copenhagen, Denmark

3 toast with orange marmalade

4 I do miss the discipline from work, otherwise this blog update would be done much sooner