I am sad that it's been a while since I last shared our adventures with you. I had high hopes of writing daily or at least a few times a week and now it's been over a week. You are probably expecting to hear "we are soooo busy and have not time to write" but that is not the case.
Connecting to the internet has been a lot more difficult that I ever imagined. I've learned that internet and cell coverage in China is better than the U.S. While that is true, foreigners without the proper Chinese connectivity devices, or following 'proper potocalls' ;-), are battling snail pace connections and blocked sites.
Here's a picture of my connectivity issues. First I find my computer is dead, so I plug it in with the necessary adaptors. It falls out of the wall! I don't know why ALL Chinese outlets cannot hold onto the electronics I want to put into the socket. A chair leg, a nightstand, trashcan, shoes and backpacks have all been used to prop our plug into the socket.
Second, I plug the CAT5 cable into my computer. I pray for connectivity. In Beijing it worked slowly. In Xi'an it did not work at all. In Lijiang I have not yet tried for fear I will got into fits of rage. I hope I can connect in Tibet but considering they are part of China I am not sure what I will find.
My only option, which I am doing now, is to use Robert's iPad. It works beautifully since he has a China Mobile SIM card. And, since that's what he uses for business I have to wait my turn. Which is infrequent!
So while I wait patiently for use of the iPad or better internet connections along the way, our writings sit on our desktop waiting to be loaded.
Finally, here is a plug for Robert's writings . . . you can find them under Market Updates at www.acminc.com.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
Chinese Friends
Sunday, October 17
We began the day with the most unusual breakfast. It was served in our hotel buffet style therefore, we expected the word “buffet” to have the usual western fare; pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, coffee, milk, juice, etc. Not so my dear friend, instead there was chicken wings, spaghetti, rice noodles, fried rice, weird sautéed vegetables and a sorry version of corn flakes. Coffee and OJ was the only saving grace.
Our adventure for the day was the Panjiayuan Antique Market. There were over 1000 little vendors set up selling all kinds of knick-knacks. We were told to treat any claims of antiquity with skepticism and to bargain hard. Robert was bargaining for some old coins when an adorable older Chinese woman came up behind me and gave me council if the price was still too high. She didn’t speak one bit of English but through hand signals and facial expressions we communicated just fine. She led us around and pointed out good areas to shop and areas to avoid before saying goodbye. We listened to her advice and had a blast exploring the narrow, crowded, cigarette filled, trash strewn, filthy rows.
After spending most of the morning and early afternoon at the market we headed Jingshan Park. The park has a large hill made from earth excavated during the construction of the Forbidden City. On the hill there are five pavilions. Each one had huge a gold Buddha until the 1900’s when four of them were stolen during the Boxer Revolution leaving only the Buddha at the top. OK, enough Chinese history, you can read about that any day but our adventures and antics you cannot.
Upon our entrance to the park we struck up a conversation with two mid-40’s Chinese men. As usual our three boys attracted their attention. “Three boys yours?” is the usual start to any conversation. They told us they were both educators in town for a conference and doing some sightseeing before meetings began on Monday. One was a Chinese history teacher and the other an English teacher. When I heard that, I asked if they would give us a “real tour” of the park. They said they would be honored to.
Fascinating doesn’t even come close to describing the wealth of information they had to share. Being with our boys brought them “much joy” and kept calling Cameron "clever", Taylor "smart" and Ryan "so happy and smart".
Turns out, the history teacher is the keynote speaker at the conference and that this conference is for the “most excellent teachers in China.” Upon learning that, Robert took the opportunity to ask all sort of great questions that delved deeper into Chinese history.
For their time, we invited them to dinner. They took us down a back alley Hutong (neighborhood) for a hot pot dinner. The walk down the alley was surreal, with weird, unusual smells and sounds, neon lights gleaming illuminating the darkness so you could at least see where you are walking. The alley was barely wide enough for two to walk side by side.
The restaurant was what we would call a “hole in the wall.” We were the only English speaking white folk for kilometers around. On our table the server placed a large copper pot with a ring of boiling water on the outside that was heated by a big piece of charcoal on the bottom. Our friends ordered for us and the party began. Four LARGE beers were placed in front of the adults and sprite for the boys. The drinks were poured into small white ceramic glasses about two ounces. Every time one person would say “compay” (incorrect phonetic Chinese spelling, translated, “bottoms up” you would drink the whole glass. When someone would say “e-dare” (incorrect phonetic Chinese spelling), translated, “drink a little” you take a sip or two. This custom got quite lively, as the evening progressed.
Dinner was out of this world delicious. I likened it to Chinese fondue. Beef, chicken, lamb, fish and shrimp dumplings and a variety of vegetables were served raw. Our friends put them in the boiling, seasoned water to cook. At the appointed doneness, we removed the food and placed it into our individual bowls of peanut-cilantro sauce. Taylor really liked it, Cameron, ”sort of”, but that’s the usual response from him, and Ryan lamented the hot dog we denied him earlier. But Robert and I, for the first time ate too much in China. “Compay!”
With a full belly we exchanged email addresses and said goodbye to our new friends. This experience was the insider, locals, tour I had been hoping for somewhere along the way.
We began the day with the most unusual breakfast. It was served in our hotel buffet style therefore, we expected the word “buffet” to have the usual western fare; pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, coffee, milk, juice, etc. Not so my dear friend, instead there was chicken wings, spaghetti, rice noodles, fried rice, weird sautéed vegetables and a sorry version of corn flakes. Coffee and OJ was the only saving grace.
Our adventure for the day was the Panjiayuan Antique Market. There were over 1000 little vendors set up selling all kinds of knick-knacks. We were told to treat any claims of antiquity with skepticism and to bargain hard. Robert was bargaining for some old coins when an adorable older Chinese woman came up behind me and gave me council if the price was still too high. She didn’t speak one bit of English but through hand signals and facial expressions we communicated just fine. She led us around and pointed out good areas to shop and areas to avoid before saying goodbye. We listened to her advice and had a blast exploring the narrow, crowded, cigarette filled, trash strewn, filthy rows.
After spending most of the morning and early afternoon at the market we headed Jingshan Park. The park has a large hill made from earth excavated during the construction of the Forbidden City. On the hill there are five pavilions. Each one had huge a gold Buddha until the 1900’s when four of them were stolen during the Boxer Revolution leaving only the Buddha at the top. OK, enough Chinese history, you can read about that any day but our adventures and antics you cannot.
Upon our entrance to the park we struck up a conversation with two mid-40’s Chinese men. As usual our three boys attracted their attention. “Three boys yours?” is the usual start to any conversation. They told us they were both educators in town for a conference and doing some sightseeing before meetings began on Monday. One was a Chinese history teacher and the other an English teacher. When I heard that, I asked if they would give us a “real tour” of the park. They said they would be honored to.
Fascinating doesn’t even come close to describing the wealth of information they had to share. Being with our boys brought them “much joy” and kept calling Cameron "clever", Taylor "smart" and Ryan "so happy and smart".
Turns out, the history teacher is the keynote speaker at the conference and that this conference is for the “most excellent teachers in China.” Upon learning that, Robert took the opportunity to ask all sort of great questions that delved deeper into Chinese history.
For their time, we invited them to dinner. They took us down a back alley Hutong (neighborhood) for a hot pot dinner. The walk down the alley was surreal, with weird, unusual smells and sounds, neon lights gleaming illuminating the darkness so you could at least see where you are walking. The alley was barely wide enough for two to walk side by side.
The restaurant was what we would call a “hole in the wall.” We were the only English speaking white folk for kilometers around. On our table the server placed a large copper pot with a ring of boiling water on the outside that was heated by a big piece of charcoal on the bottom. Our friends ordered for us and the party began. Four LARGE beers were placed in front of the adults and sprite for the boys. The drinks were poured into small white ceramic glasses about two ounces. Every time one person would say “compay” (incorrect phonetic Chinese spelling, translated, “bottoms up” you would drink the whole glass. When someone would say “e-dare” (incorrect phonetic Chinese spelling), translated, “drink a little” you take a sip or two. This custom got quite lively, as the evening progressed.
Dinner was out of this world delicious. I likened it to Chinese fondue. Beef, chicken, lamb, fish and shrimp dumplings and a variety of vegetables were served raw. Our friends put them in the boiling, seasoned water to cook. At the appointed doneness, we removed the food and placed it into our individual bowls of peanut-cilantro sauce. Taylor really liked it, Cameron, ”sort of”, but that’s the usual response from him, and Ryan lamented the hot dog we denied him earlier. But Robert and I, for the first time ate too much in China. “Compay!”
With a full belly we exchanged email addresses and said goodbye to our new friends. This experience was the insider, locals, tour I had been hoping for somewhere along the way.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Funny Things Happens in China . . .
A funny thing happens in China when I try to log onto my Facebook page. I receive the following message:
"Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage"
I have known that China monitors and controls what their citizens can and can't do on the web and apparently Facebook is off limits. Too many people congregating in one place to share ideas and stories; a direct contradiction to Communism.
So you and I will have to be ok with blog posts for now.
Beijing is absolutely amazing. All of the sights, sounds and smells are a sensory overload for any foreigner, especially five from Alaska.
We have seen a lot in two and a half days and I want to write about them all. For now I will give you a general overview as I am EXHAUSTED and we have an early morning (Monday) adventure to the Great Wall. From the looks of things it may be quite commercial with gondolas up to the wall and toboggan slides down. We are headed to the Mutianyu section which we have been told is not so "touristy".
Our plane landed at 9:30am Friday morning after an 8 hour overnight flight from Stockholm. I was a bona fide wreck. Cranky. Tired. Head spinning. Body aching. All I wanted to do was to get to the hotel and sleep. I certainly didn't anticipate feeling like this since I did get some sleep on the plane.
The remainder of Friday was a recuperation day. We all took a 5 hour nap, got up and did a little exploring. We happened upon a night snack market with all sort of Chinese delicacies. The sort of stuff you find in movies and on travel shows. Everything was on skewers and cooked to order over open flame. Delicious eats such as crickets, snails, centipedes, scorpions, sheep unmentionables, various animal parts plus, chicken, beef, lamb, shrimp and fresh fruit. Guess what we ate for dinner? Yes, we were the less adventuresome Americans who ate the later menu choices. They were delicious though.
Saturday we explored a bit more and this time met some lovely Chinese young ladies who took an interest in the boys. We spent an hour chatting with them as they showed us their artwork. Yes, yes we did walk away with one paid piece of pandas painted on silk for Cameron and one "gift" of the character for "prosperity". One of the gals took a piece of rice paper and drew it for us in person and explained what each part of the character meant. There are three parts to this one character. The first is for clothes, the second is for family and the third is for home. When all three come together in plenty you are prosperous.
They kept telling us we are "lucky" and "prosperous" and must be a "very happy family". This is because we have three boys and boys are very precious in this country. We would be considered royalty with three boys. And, the fact that I work "inside the home", well knock your socks off, we are now Emperor status!!! Once we were told this we noticed that everywhere we went people would comment about our "happy family."
The final thing I will share in this "general overview" that's becoming not so general is that Cameron is a national celebrity. EVERYWHERE we go people gawk and stare at our adorable, tall, handsome, redheaded boy. It's quite commercial actually. I watch them staring at Cameron, then I make eye contact, we smile at each other and sometimes giggle as they walk off saying, who knows what, in Chinese about my boy. I pointed it out to Cameron too and he got a kick out of it too.
Today we met two Chinese educators who desired to be our personal tour guide for half the day. It was a true insider’s tour. More on that tomorrow.
So here we are in Beijing, a happy, prosperous, royal family with no access to Facebook totally enjoying ourselves.
"Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage"
I have known that China monitors and controls what their citizens can and can't do on the web and apparently Facebook is off limits. Too many people congregating in one place to share ideas and stories; a direct contradiction to Communism.
So you and I will have to be ok with blog posts for now.
Beijing is absolutely amazing. All of the sights, sounds and smells are a sensory overload for any foreigner, especially five from Alaska.
We have seen a lot in two and a half days and I want to write about them all. For now I will give you a general overview as I am EXHAUSTED and we have an early morning (Monday) adventure to the Great Wall. From the looks of things it may be quite commercial with gondolas up to the wall and toboggan slides down. We are headed to the Mutianyu section which we have been told is not so "touristy".
Our plane landed at 9:30am Friday morning after an 8 hour overnight flight from Stockholm. I was a bona fide wreck. Cranky. Tired. Head spinning. Body aching. All I wanted to do was to get to the hotel and sleep. I certainly didn't anticipate feeling like this since I did get some sleep on the plane.
The remainder of Friday was a recuperation day. We all took a 5 hour nap, got up and did a little exploring. We happened upon a night snack market with all sort of Chinese delicacies. The sort of stuff you find in movies and on travel shows. Everything was on skewers and cooked to order over open flame. Delicious eats such as crickets, snails, centipedes, scorpions, sheep unmentionables, various animal parts plus, chicken, beef, lamb, shrimp and fresh fruit. Guess what we ate for dinner? Yes, we were the less adventuresome Americans who ate the later menu choices. They were delicious though.
Saturday we explored a bit more and this time met some lovely Chinese young ladies who took an interest in the boys. We spent an hour chatting with them as they showed us their artwork. Yes, yes we did walk away with one paid piece of pandas painted on silk for Cameron and one "gift" of the character for "prosperity". One of the gals took a piece of rice paper and drew it for us in person and explained what each part of the character meant. There are three parts to this one character. The first is for clothes, the second is for family and the third is for home. When all three come together in plenty you are prosperous.
They kept telling us we are "lucky" and "prosperous" and must be a "very happy family". This is because we have three boys and boys are very precious in this country. We would be considered royalty with three boys. And, the fact that I work "inside the home", well knock your socks off, we are now Emperor status!!! Once we were told this we noticed that everywhere we went people would comment about our "happy family."
The final thing I will share in this "general overview" that's becoming not so general is that Cameron is a national celebrity. EVERYWHERE we go people gawk and stare at our adorable, tall, handsome, redheaded boy. It's quite commercial actually. I watch them staring at Cameron, then I make eye contact, we smile at each other and sometimes giggle as they walk off saying, who knows what, in Chinese about my boy. I pointed it out to Cameron too and he got a kick out of it too.
Today we met two Chinese educators who desired to be our personal tour guide for half the day. It was a true insider’s tour. More on that tomorrow.
So here we are in Beijing, a happy, prosperous, royal family with no access to Facebook totally enjoying ourselves.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
LEGOLAND
As I write this it's 10:30pm in Denmark and we have made our way to Billund, home of Lego everything. This is where Lego is headquartered and no visit is complete in Denmark without a visit to Legoland. Well, that statement is only true if you are a family traveling with boys who are HUGE Lego freaks, especially Cameron.
Cameron (9) has enjoyed parts of this adventure so far but most things are "OK". Copenhagen was a bit boring since all we did was "walk around and look up at old buildings". And that, he later told us made his neck hurt. Then we took the metro, a train and a bus to arrive at our B&B in the Southern coastal town of Horne and spent three days there. It was an adorable town with houses that look like they were taken right out of a children's fairytale. Since it's a small town we walked everywhere. We walked to the beach (3km), walked around our neighborhood (2km), walked to dinner at a castle (2km), walked back from the neighboring town of Faaborg (4km) and then a bit more walking.
Cameron thought that was just ok but what he really wanted to do was to "go home and pet Gandalf and Ally". These are the two pet cats that reside at the B&B. Any given chance Cameron would be outside petting, loving on, taking photos of these two kitties. When asked what this passion to pet kitties was about Cameron responds with very moist eyes that he misses his cat Marmalade and that playing with these cats makes him feel better.
About mid-way through our journey to Legoland Cameron develops a skip in his step, a twinkle in his, eye, a cheesy grin on his face, etc, you get my drift. The child is soooooo excited in anticipation of his arrival to "where it all began" he can hardly stand it. This is the most excited we have seen Cameron in weeks. Amazing what a few hundred plastic bricks that you build into a multitude of things will do to a boy.
"This is awesome." "LOOK Ryan, that's totally cool." "No way! That's made out of Legos." And all these shouts of glee were from the bus window.
We arrived at our Legoland Village Hotel, did some schoolwork and then went to the pool. That was the fastest I have yet to see Cameron complete a math and English lesson. He was ready for real fun.
We spent the afternoon at the pool, and riding a cool waterslide then off to the dinner buffet at the hotel and back to our room for some solid rest to ensure we can be at the main gate when Legoland opens at 10:00am Wednesday morning!! Sweet Lego dreams Cameron.
p.s. I am still trying to figure out how to post photos to our blog. For now you can view a bunch of photos on my facebook page.
Cameron (9) has enjoyed parts of this adventure so far but most things are "OK". Copenhagen was a bit boring since all we did was "walk around and look up at old buildings". And that, he later told us made his neck hurt. Then we took the metro, a train and a bus to arrive at our B&B in the Southern coastal town of Horne and spent three days there. It was an adorable town with houses that look like they were taken right out of a children's fairytale. Since it's a small town we walked everywhere. We walked to the beach (3km), walked around our neighborhood (2km), walked to dinner at a castle (2km), walked back from the neighboring town of Faaborg (4km) and then a bit more walking.
Cameron thought that was just ok but what he really wanted to do was to "go home and pet Gandalf and Ally". These are the two pet cats that reside at the B&B. Any given chance Cameron would be outside petting, loving on, taking photos of these two kitties. When asked what this passion to pet kitties was about Cameron responds with very moist eyes that he misses his cat Marmalade and that playing with these cats makes him feel better.
About mid-way through our journey to Legoland Cameron develops a skip in his step, a twinkle in his, eye, a cheesy grin on his face, etc, you get my drift. The child is soooooo excited in anticipation of his arrival to "where it all began" he can hardly stand it. This is the most excited we have seen Cameron in weeks. Amazing what a few hundred plastic bricks that you build into a multitude of things will do to a boy.
"This is awesome." "LOOK Ryan, that's totally cool." "No way! That's made out of Legos." And all these shouts of glee were from the bus window.
We arrived at our Legoland Village Hotel, did some schoolwork and then went to the pool. That was the fastest I have yet to see Cameron complete a math and English lesson. He was ready for real fun.
We spent the afternoon at the pool, and riding a cool waterslide then off to the dinner buffet at the hotel and back to our room for some solid rest to ensure we can be at the main gate when Legoland opens at 10:00am Wednesday morning!! Sweet Lego dreams Cameron.
p.s. I am still trying to figure out how to post photos to our blog. For now you can view a bunch of photos on my facebook page.
Dinner for a Royal
Yesterday we were thinking of places to eat in Horne, Denmark, the town we were staying. The people that owned the B&B said there was a really cool castle that was turned into a hotel and restaurant. Later that day my mom was checking her Facebook and saw that one of my old buddies from preschool's great aunt and uncle own that castle. When we got to the palace there was hardly anyone there because it was a Monday in the off season, We asked if they were open for dinner. Indeed they were.
While our six course dinner was being prepared one of the staff gave us a grand tour of the west wing of the castle. The whole castle was decorated in a Victorian English way and everything was very ornate. We saw five huge rooms. The best one had a huge wooden ceiling that had ornate wood carvings and wood chandlers. We were told it took 2 years to build! We saw the largest room to rent and it had a king bed, a twin bed, a huge bathroom and a dining table. Sadly in the 1900's the danish government turned the castle into a mental hospital and everything was covered up with gray decor including the ceiling and windows. The current owners restored it back to original condition.
For the first course of our dinner we had a locally made smoked cheese with bread, then we had a creamy lobster soup that was fabulous! Next we had a cured meat plate with french onions and asparagus and eggplant. The main course was a tenderloin of beef that was the most delicious and tender meat I have ever had. We passed on the fifth course of a cheese platter and went right to dessert since everyone was getting plumply stuffed. Dessert was a walnut spice cake with pear sorbet and the most delicious white chocolate chunks ever.
When we were finished my Dad gave the server our credit card to pay. It didn't work!! He tried another one. I didn't work either. My Dad apologized a ton and made a deal with the server to come back in the morning with cash. So the next morning my Dad went back with the cash to pay our bill and found out that the restaurant only accepts Danish credit cards and our server didn't know that since she was a new employee.
It all turned out ok. It was the best meal I have ever eaten and had a tour of a really cool castle.
While our six course dinner was being prepared one of the staff gave us a grand tour of the west wing of the castle. The whole castle was decorated in a Victorian English way and everything was very ornate. We saw five huge rooms. The best one had a huge wooden ceiling that had ornate wood carvings and wood chandlers. We were told it took 2 years to build! We saw the largest room to rent and it had a king bed, a twin bed, a huge bathroom and a dining table. Sadly in the 1900's the danish government turned the castle into a mental hospital and everything was covered up with gray decor including the ceiling and windows. The current owners restored it back to original condition.
For the first course of our dinner we had a locally made smoked cheese with bread, then we had a creamy lobster soup that was fabulous! Next we had a cured meat plate with french onions and asparagus and eggplant. The main course was a tenderloin of beef that was the most delicious and tender meat I have ever had. We passed on the fifth course of a cheese platter and went right to dessert since everyone was getting plumply stuffed. Dessert was a walnut spice cake with pear sorbet and the most delicious white chocolate chunks ever.
When we were finished my Dad gave the server our credit card to pay. It didn't work!! He tried another one. I didn't work either. My Dad apologized a ton and made a deal with the server to come back in the morning with cash. So the next morning my Dad went back with the cash to pay our bill and found out that the restaurant only accepts Danish credit cards and our server didn't know that since she was a new employee.
It all turned out ok. It was the best meal I have ever eaten and had a tour of a really cool castle.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
B - Plentiful B - Scarce
While exploring Copenhagen the past three days one of the first things I noticed was that the predominant color of clothing is Black. Black, coats, sweaters, pants, footwear. Not much color around until the Sheldon family walks onto the streets from our daily Metro run, then BAM!, color splashed everywhere. Robert and Ryan in their green, Taylor in orange, Cameron in blue and Marne in Red. A special note for all you fashionistas out there. Although my rain coat was not Black it was the style of choice among Copenhageners. I have to say I enjoyed seeing our rainbow brigade walking the streets on the gray Copenhagen days.
Black boots were the next thing I noticed about the people. Everyone is wearing Black boots in Copenhagen. Men! Women! Children! Of course there is a bigger variety of women's boots but non the less Black boot abound in Copenhagen.
As I was having fun with the color Black I began noticing something else, Blonde's. There are Blonde's everywhere and I'm not talking the kind from a bottle, high lights or low lights or how ever else people "go Blonde" but real, honest to goodness Blonde's with no roots showing. Historically we know Scandinavians to be Blonde, but really, Yes, really!
Now picture this, lots of Blonde's dressed in Black riding Bikes. Everyone rides Bikes everywhere. Men in suits, women in skirts, young people, old people, people with helmets, without helmets, baskets on the front, baskets on the back, towing kids, kids riding in front on handle bars. Bikes are everywhere. Not top-of-the-line-brand-new mountain or road bikes but regular cruisers, noting fancy or pretty but 100% reliable and functional.
We had to ask why. The answer? Cars and gas are VERY expensive. When you buy a car not only do you pay the retail price but a hefty 180% tax of the purchase price is added too. Yes, that's right 180%!!! And gas is roughly $9.00 a gallon! It's no wonder most people own and ride bikes everywhere.
Another observation about the people of Copenhagen is that Bums are scarce. Homeless, Beggars, vagrants or Bums are nearly non-existent. We saw one person that fit this classification. Not what we are used to seeing walking around U.S. cities. I don't know why, never asked anyone but, it was something the boys noticed on one of our strolls through town.
My favorite thing about Copenhagen was all the Bikes. I had a fun time imagining myself as a Copenhagener for a day, riding my Bike with a cute basket on the front (with my red hair and colorful clothes) to go shopping, to do errands, to meet friends for coffee, to get the boys from school and ride home with them. What a sweet day.
Black boots were the next thing I noticed about the people. Everyone is wearing Black boots in Copenhagen. Men! Women! Children! Of course there is a bigger variety of women's boots but non the less Black boot abound in Copenhagen.
As I was having fun with the color Black I began noticing something else, Blonde's. There are Blonde's everywhere and I'm not talking the kind from a bottle, high lights or low lights or how ever else people "go Blonde" but real, honest to goodness Blonde's with no roots showing. Historically we know Scandinavians to be Blonde, but really, Yes, really!
Now picture this, lots of Blonde's dressed in Black riding Bikes. Everyone rides Bikes everywhere. Men in suits, women in skirts, young people, old people, people with helmets, without helmets, baskets on the front, baskets on the back, towing kids, kids riding in front on handle bars. Bikes are everywhere. Not top-of-the-line-brand-new mountain or road bikes but regular cruisers, noting fancy or pretty but 100% reliable and functional.
We had to ask why. The answer? Cars and gas are VERY expensive. When you buy a car not only do you pay the retail price but a hefty 180% tax of the purchase price is added too. Yes, that's right 180%!!! And gas is roughly $9.00 a gallon! It's no wonder most people own and ride bikes everywhere.
Another observation about the people of Copenhagen is that Bums are scarce. Homeless, Beggars, vagrants or Bums are nearly non-existent. We saw one person that fit this classification. Not what we are used to seeing walking around U.S. cities. I don't know why, never asked anyone but, it was something the boys noticed on one of our strolls through town.
My favorite thing about Copenhagen was all the Bikes. I had a fun time imagining myself as a Copenhagener for a day, riding my Bike with a cute basket on the front (with my red hair and colorful clothes) to go shopping, to do errands, to meet friends for coffee, to get the boys from school and ride home with them. What a sweet day.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Second day in Copenhagen
Today is our second day in Copenhagen. Everything is really cool. Yesterday we explored downtown and went to some ruins. At the ruins there was a castle and a palace. The castle was built by Absalon, a Bishop in 1167. The wells that were 900 years old still had water that was oily and disgustingly dirty. The citadel was very well protected down to the secret drains for the toilets. I thought seeing 900 year old ruins was awesome and it was my favorite part of the day.
Danish Breakfast
Today was the first breakfast in Denmark and the most delicious breakfast I have eaten in a long time. It was full with great home made pork sausage, eggs with tomatoes, delicious toast with a chocolate and hazelnut spread called Nutella, hearty cereal called Muslix, and the regular orange and apple juice.
The pork sausage was very different because it was more moist than are sausage in America and it was hand made rather than by machines. The man who makes the sausage comes by oftoen selling sausage to other people to.
The eggs were very moist and delicious I don't know what he does to the eggs but they are delicious! I do know that he puts small red cherry tomatoes and delicious Havarti, gorgonzola cheese into the eggs!
The pork sausage was very different because it was more moist than are sausage in America and it was hand made rather than by machines. The man who makes the sausage comes by oftoen selling sausage to other people to.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
"I Will Not Invite Disaster"
Our departure from Anchorage was a little harried, but beautiful. We found out at the last minute that our flight was leaving an hour earlier than advertised . . . but friends watching out alerted us with calls and texts. Disaster adverted. Our family and friends met us at the airport to say goodbye one last time, the TSA fellows decided to make Robert their pet project (of course) . . . and even though we rushed through the whole process the plane ended up being late to board anyway! After all of this Robert had the boys recite the following. "Today . . . we will not invite disaster." Some of you might have heard that he plans to do this each and every day. The boys giggle their way through it, and it makes us both smile.
The Condor flight between Anchorage and Frankfurt was a nice and comfortable 9.5 hour flight. Robert crashed out most of the flight due to sleep deprivation over the past few days. Taylor, Ryan and I slept a fair amount but Cameron said he just couldn't get to sleep no matter how hard he tried and that was after giving him a sleep aid. He did manage to fall asleep a bit after I told him there was no trying just doing.
We landed in Frankfurt, Germany and had approx 1.5 hours to make our connecting flight to Copenhagen, Denmark. Plenty of time. Or so we thought.
While making the way to our connecting flight we pulled out the e-ticket to show a prescreening ticket agent so that e could get an actual boarding pass. She looked at it with a questioning look and then tells me that the tickets are dated for yesterday, Tuesday October 5. Today is Wednesday, October 6. I BOOKED THE TICKET FOR THE WRONG DAY. DUH!!! LEAVE ANCHORAGE ON THE 5TH, TRAVEL OVERNIGHT AND NOW IT'S THE FOLLOWING DAY. DUH!! Today I will not invite disaster is running through my head. Today I caused disaster!
Bet you all are expecting me to say that Robert blew a gasket and then some but he didn't. We went back to the ticket counter only to find out our tickets are 100% non refundable, non changeable, written in stone. Excellent. Should we expect any different? So the "plastic" was thrown down on the counter and the nice ticket agent charged it a lovely $1100.00 Euro for our new tickets.
The walk to the gate was a quiet one for me. My walk of shame.
My redemption came when I got us all to our B&B via the Metro with perfection. Now we are settled in our adorable accommodations waiting to have Danish meatballs and potatoes. Robert and the boys walked to the beach and watched kite surfers and are now playing cards.
Finally, many of you know that we were supposed to be here way back in August . . . well it turns out that Copenhagen, and specifically the place we are (and did plan for August) staying was flooded. Things seem to mostly work out in the end. This is yet another example for us and the Boys.
Love, from Copenhagen
The Condor flight between Anchorage and Frankfurt was a nice and comfortable 9.5 hour flight. Robert crashed out most of the flight due to sleep deprivation over the past few days. Taylor, Ryan and I slept a fair amount but Cameron said he just couldn't get to sleep no matter how hard he tried and that was after giving him a sleep aid. He did manage to fall asleep a bit after I told him there was no trying just doing.
We landed in Frankfurt, Germany and had approx 1.5 hours to make our connecting flight to Copenhagen, Denmark. Plenty of time. Or so we thought.
While making the way to our connecting flight we pulled out the e-ticket to show a prescreening ticket agent so that e could get an actual boarding pass. She looked at it with a questioning look and then tells me that the tickets are dated for yesterday, Tuesday October 5. Today is Wednesday, October 6. I BOOKED THE TICKET FOR THE WRONG DAY. DUH!!! LEAVE ANCHORAGE ON THE 5TH, TRAVEL OVERNIGHT AND NOW IT'S THE FOLLOWING DAY. DUH!! Today I will not invite disaster is running through my head. Today I caused disaster!
Bet you all are expecting me to say that Robert blew a gasket and then some but he didn't. We went back to the ticket counter only to find out our tickets are 100% non refundable, non changeable, written in stone. Excellent. Should we expect any different? So the "plastic" was thrown down on the counter and the nice ticket agent charged it a lovely $1100.00 Euro for our new tickets.
The walk to the gate was a quiet one for me. My walk of shame.
My redemption came when I got us all to our B&B via the Metro with perfection. Now we are settled in our adorable accommodations waiting to have Danish meatballs and potatoes. Robert and the boys walked to the beach and watched kite surfers and are now playing cards.
Finally, many of you know that we were supposed to be here way back in August . . . well it turns out that Copenhagen, and specifically the place we are (and did plan for August) staying was flooded. Things seem to mostly work out in the end. This is yet another example for us and the Boys.
Love, from Copenhagen
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