Hi Mele,
8 May 2000 cyber postcard #2
Well, here I am again in Copenhagen and none the worse for wear. As
you know, my original plan was to have left Bornholm last Friday and to be
in Baden-Baden now, but family plans changed that.
Turns out my cousin's daughter was confirmed in her church yesterday.
This is the occasion I stayed for. In Denmark, this is a BIIIGGG deal, thus
it needs a BIIIGG party!. There were more than 50 people, and the party began
right after the 10:30 AM event. It lasted through 2 meals (one a 4 course
affair - VENISON yet!) and of course soda, wine, beer, schnapps, Aquavit
and anything else anyone wanted was served. Rita (Marie's mother) was preparing
for this party for a week.
There was a band (guitar, Accordion), a comedian, and a roast-style affair,
and the caterer had 4 assistants who were there the whole time - until about
12:30 (00:30 for EuroTimers)! Considering the food, I may find Paris a letdown
(not really- but I'm sure I won't eat as much)!
The new fast ferry seems to be the local jinx. I was supposed
to be on one of it's first voyages today, but last week on a practice run
they hit the dock too hard in Rønne and put a hole in the side, so
it went to the yards to be fixed. So now it should go into service next Monday,
if they don't break it again! That will shorten the trip to Bornholm to about
3 hours. After July 1st, the new Øresund bridge connecting Copenhagen
to Malmo, Sweden is supposed to open (it's finished now, but they want
to have a party....). This will mean you can take a train from Copenhagen's
central Station to Ystad, Sweden (about 1 1/2 hours) then the fast ferry
to Rønne, about another 1 1/4 hours.
Bornholm is a
beautiful place to visit. All of the houses there are just like a picture
book. Each town has a small boat harbor which in the summer fills to capacity
- that means you can walk from one side to the other without getting your
feet wet! The people are extremely friendly and warm, and most speak English,
even though they speak more German, and of course Danish. The Bornholm Danish
is different from Copenhagen. In the North, it's a mf Danish and Swedish,
in the south there's more mixture with Jutland Danish. But I found most signs
easy to understand, and always someone willing to translate. They're not
shy here, either.
July and August are the high season. There are lots of hotels, hostels and
pensions here, and lots of rental apartments. Ask me, my cousin has one of
them. These need to be booked well in advance for high season. I am here
in May and tourists are only trickling in now. It has been unseasonably warm
and sunny (60s and low 70s - cold water, no swimming yet). In June it will
pick up, but there will be vacancies.
Tomorrow I leave on the overnight train to Paris. I hope the Deutscher
Kaiser Hotel received my cancellation. I emailed them twice, but no reply.
In paris, I will stay 2 nights at Leveque and the other 4 nights at Republique
Hotel. I'm looking forward to the sights.
I'll email again from Paris. Sorry I haven't sent you as much email this
year, but I found that Internet access is expensive in Denmark (the
phone company charges by the minute even for local calls, so my cousins use
it sparingly). I'm in a cafe now, so I'm paying by the hour anyway.
Well, I'm off for my last night in Copenhagen. I'll check in again from Paris.
Aloha, Jim Swensen kermit@lava.net
Hi Mele and friends,
12
May 2000 cyber postcard #3
Well, I don't really know where to start this post. So much has happened.
The train trip from Copenhagen to Paris was ALMOST uneventful. I found
the schedule online at
DB website,
then my cousin Ole booked train and reservations by phone from the Danish
equivalent of AAA in Roenne, Bornholm. The whole trip cost me 1500 DKK (less
than $200). The couchette reservation was only 190 Kroner (about $20.00!).
The only thing that went wrong was when I boarded the last leg (the
night train) in Hamburg to go to Paris. The car/cabin I was booked into was
jam-packed, and I was in with 5 high school kids. Not only that, but I was
in the even less spacious top bunk. I tried to get to sleep, but without
success. SO I spoke to the conductor, and he moved me to a couchette which
had only 1 other man in it, and that ended the problem. SO much for the "almost"
uneventful trip!
One thing I decided shortly after arriving in Paris is that there
should be a law forbidding tourists to exit Gare du Nord on the street.
They should make you immediately take a metro to a nicer part of town. As
soon as I got one look at the surrounding area, I wanted to get back on another
train and leave Paris! Fortunately, common sense got the better of me and
I decided I wasn't seeing the best of Paris. Boy was that a good call!
I arrived here Wednesday morning about 9am. After strolling the streets for
about an hour and getting a breakfast at McDonalds (BTW, a tip about McDonald's
- everything I got was burned almost beyond recognition. It seems they must
want people to eat better food elsewhere. I'll take that hint and stay away.)
I then went to the Opera metro area and caught one of the hop-on hop-off
bus tours. That showed me Paris was the city everyone has been telling
me it is. This is a gorgeous place. It's as if the French decided to build
a gigantic architectural museum and art gallery, and they called it Paris!
Parisians are obviously proud of their city.
Last night I took the Illuminations tour and the stop at 2nd floor
of Eiffel Tower. That was a treat. The tour was a minivan tour, with 4
passengers. 2 spoke English and 2 spoke Spanish (obviously one spoke both)
so the guide divided his time describing everything twice. The strange thing
is that the two women who spoke Spanish came from Piura, Peru. This probably
doesn't mean anything to most people, but it will to my sister, who taught
English in Piura for a year in the 1960s!
The Grand Hotel Leveque was
everything that was promised.
Rue Cler
is a delightful area and feels s friendly and personal. The market is
lively, with lots of fruit to squeeze, and Tart Julie had delicious pies.
I sampled them twice. One hour photo developing is also here, but it turned
out to be expensive - about 132 Francs for 24 pictures. Still, to me it's
worth it, as I don't want to experience the disaster of coming home with
my pictures ruined by an airport xray machine. This way I also get to make
notes while the subjects are fresh in my mind. Sorry, there's no scanner
here, so you'll have to wait till I get home...
Hotel Republique is
different in that the surrounding area - Republique
square - is not as cozy as Rue Cler. The hotel is basically the same - smallish
room, small WC/shower and an in-room safe. But this elevator is the tiniest
I've ever seen. I had to take the day pack off of my back to fit in it! And
being on the 5th floor doesn't really allow the option of using the stairs
both ways. Oh well, everything else seems OK so far. The desk clerk speaks
English really well, and is inclined to be helpful. He booked a couple of
tours for me and pointed me to a laundromat. That will give me something
to start my day tomorrow.
So far, it has rained daily since I've been here. Wednesday night and most
of Thursday were downpours. There was even some hail, although it really
didn't seem cold. In fact it's been warm for my entire trip.
Financially, I'm doing better than I'd planned. Looks like I'll be
bringing money home again this year. It helps that exchange rates have been
really favorable lately. The Franc is now more than 7 to the $, and the Danish
Krone was about 8.5 to $1 when I left. I stocked up on film in Copenhagen,
they had a 3 pack of 135-36 exposure Kodak film for DKK99 (about $12.50).
So far I haven't found any prices that good in Paris.
Tomorrow it's Montmartre
and Sacre Coeur (after laundry), then a nighttime boat ride on the Seine.
Monday I'm going to
Disneyland. I don't
know about Sunday yet, as I decided that my trip is too short to do
Parc Asterix too. I'm not sure my
legs would survive two theme parks in a row...
Well, I hope I'll get at least one more chance to check email while I'm here,
so there may be yet another post from me. But in the meanwhile, Bonsoir from
Paris. Aloha, Jim Swensen
kermit@lava.net |
