My problems are fixed

Zube is now in a new job

Able now, spec close

There are a few things about Brian:
He’s a boss you should keep an eye on!
He’s never in doubt,
He’s not ‘fraid to shout,
And his fro resembles a lion.

The train to Russia was fairly non-descript, until we got to the border.  We got a form -- completely in Russian -- that we were told to fill out.  If there were not a kind man who showed us the example sheet with the English translations, we would have been out of luck.  An hour or so later, a couple of officials in olive uniforms trudged through our train compartment and collected our passports.  Later, luckily, they came back with all the passports stamped and very brusquely handed them back.  We tried to get in a quick question, but the officials just nodded their heads and carried on.

After stopping at the Old Nevsky Hotel, and dropping our packs, we headed out to St. Petersburg main drag, Nevsky Prospect.  On Nevsky Prospect, we caught a bus down to the Hermitage.  The Hermitage was no longer admitting people, but we looked around the courtyard and ate some ice cream en route to the souvenir market.  We felt proud of our bargaining skills as we bought 2 fur hats and a matryoshka (nested wooden dolls).  We also investigated the purchase of a carved wooden chess set, a Faberge egg or two, and a KGB switchblade and lighter.  Needless to say, the former Soviet republic of Russia has embraced capitalism with fervor.

Next stop was the “Church of the Spilt Blood”.  The Church of the Resurrection of Christ was put on the spot where Alexander II, the Emperor of Russia, was mortally wounded on March 1, 1881.  The Church owes it second, popular name, of the Savior on the Spilled blood, to this tragic event.

On May 20^th, we headed to Sweden’s cultural theme park Skansen.  Skansen is supposedly a mini Sweden where traditional Swedish homes from throughout the country have been relocated, as well as some wild animals.  Though it was raining hard, we took the time to see Älk, Björn, and other animals, as well as some Nordic wooden houses and sod huts, representative of the architecture of the region.

          At midday we hopped on the Arlanda Express, that took us to Arlanda airport and then hopped on a plane to Helsinki.

We spent only a night in Helsinki, and ate flatbread Pizza at the store of some delightful Turkish people.  One thing we noticed in our 18 hour stay in Helsinki was how friendly people were.  People stopped us on the street, and asked if we were lost, and when we went into the restaurant, the patrons introduced themselves as well.

The next morning, very early, we got on the train to Russia.

We took a ferry to Vaxholmen, a quaint suburb of Stockholm.  The boat, from the 1930’s was quaint, and took us on several stops throughout the archipelago. 

When we got to Vaxholmen, we wandered to what appeared to be the house of an elderly couple who had their kitchen door open.  This was actually a local business that sold fried herring, caught by the husband that morning.  We enjoyed our herring, and some flat cracker-like bread as well as some “Kondoteri” (desserts) at a little shop in town.

In Vaxholmen, we were sitting by the seaside, when a boat stopped and about 15 women got out.  We noticed that they were all carrying Microsoft bags.  It turns out that there was a Microsoft convention going on a close by island!  You are never far from one of Bill’s Minions!

Another milestone of the day was the consumption of traditional Swedish food.  At a waterfront restaurant we ate Lax (Salmon), Swedish meatballs, Shrimp with a special sauce, caviar, and cracker-bread.

Our second day in Stockholm we went on a walking tour organized by an enterprising hostel manager who spoke excellent English.  We started in the commercial area, affectionately named “Flag Street” (by us) a walking-only street lined with small shops and restaurants.  We continued to the “Modern Area.”  After World War II (during which Sweden was neutral), Sweden was a rich country and wanted to establish Stockholm as a modern capital; they demolished small houses and agricultural plots and built large commercial plazas and multi story housing complexes, then, state of the art.  Next we walked to Kulturhuset, which is a large complex with a fountain in the front.  In the complex is a store where young Swedish designers can sell their wares  -- everything from cheese slicers to chairs – all whimsically adorable.  There is also a “news café” where you can get a bite to eat and read any newspaper you so desire.  We continued on, past the Grand Hotel, and across the bridge to the old city a.k.a. Gamla Stan. 

Gamla Stan was both charming and a little creepy!  Our first stop was a small square in front of the Nobel Museum (which was formerly the Stockholm stock exchange).  Though it looked relatively peaceful, this was the place where Christian, a king of Denmark threw a big festival for the Swedes he had just conquered, and at the end of several days of partying, he surrounded 80+ local people and killed them in the square.

Close by, the Swedish King (his name was either Gustav, or Carl) who liberated the Swedes from the Danes depicts himself as St. George slaying the dragon.

We crossed another small bridge to Södermalm, more of the young-hip area of town.  We climbed up some stairs and saw a breath taking sweep of the city, and then stopped at last at the Fabriken Chocolade (chocolate factory) for some coffee and goodies.

Later in the afternoon we went to the Nobel Museum, which for a museum meant to inspire young people in intellectual pursuits, was actually quite dull.  Posters of different Nobel prize winners and their achievements were up on the wall, and there was a special room where you could browse the museum’s website.  I did, however, learn several interesting things about Albert Einstein, who was the featured laureate:

1. He was offered presidency of Israel, which he declined.
2. He gave his ex-wife his winnings from the Nobel Prize for child support.
3. He figured out the theory of special relativity by age 26, in his spare time.

May 17^th, 2006

Our first day in Stockholm we explored the city by land and by sea.  After walking to the water, we got on a sight-seeing boat, which took us around the 13 island archipelago of Stockholm.  We put on a headset and listened to the narrator tell of the different parts of the city and its history.  Some highlights included:

1. Sighting of the Absolut Vodka distillery
2. Going through the Locks, contraptions similar to an air lock which connect the lake to the sea
3. The story about the “rowing women” who for years had a monopoly on rowing people between the islands of the archipelago. (Supposedly they were pretty rough and surly.)

In the evening we went to the Vasamuseet, a museum showcasing the Vasa, a ship from the war between Denmark and Sweden that sunk in 1628.  Apart from the ship itself, there was a very interesting exhibit on the life of people during the time of the Vasa.  During this time the men were mainly off fighting, and if they weren’t fighting, they were making armaments or supplies for the soldiers.

The Vasa itself is interesting as a time capsule, but was very poorly engineered!  At that time no documentation on ship building existed, leaving ship builders to eyeball measurements.  As a result, the Vasa was very top heavy and sunk on her maiden voyage.  Her cannons were scavenged by the equivalent of scuba divers of the time.  A fit youth would be put under a bell that trapped air, and lowered to the sea floor where he would pick up artifacts and be hoisted to the surface.

It rained all day on May 16^th, and we spent the day wandering the city center, which is the commercial part of Copenhagen.  All the women in Copenhagen wear 80’s style jeans, tight and tapered at the ankle, and I spent some quality time trying to find some for myself (fruitlessly).

We also visited Christiania, a Copenhagen neighborhood known for its “alternative lifestyle.”  Christiania is known for marijuana, communal living, and being the hippie neighborhood of Copenhagen.  The buildings there were all quite decrepit.  The ground was unpaved, and every surface was covered with graffiti within an inch of its life, some of it pretty obscene.   I was interested in seeing an art exhibit at a local gallery, but the others wanted to book it right out of there.

Highlight of the day was going to the pastry shop and eating Danishes, (in Danish, wienerbröd) and drinking coffee before getting on the train to Stockholm.  We arrived in Stockholm in the middle of the night, and after wrestling with the sheets in attempted silence, with other people sleeping, we slept.

The Castle at Frederiksborg

Denmark’s Museum of National History has been housed at the Fredriksborg Castle since 1878.  The Castle itself, which was built during the time of Christian IV (1588-1648), was restored after a fire in 1859.  The Museum was founded by beer brewer J.C. Jacobsen as a separate department of the Carlsberg (yes, of beer fame) Foundation.  In addition to magnificent rooms, such as the Chapel, the Rose, the Audience Chamber, and the Great hall, the Museum contains Denmark’s most important collection of portraits and historical paintings, in addition to a distinguished collection of decorative art.  The museum is chronological and illustrates Denmark’s history from 1500 until present day.

The Rose, a.k.a. the nights room, is reconstructed to look as it did in the time of Christian IV, when it was used as a dining room for lords and ladies of the court.

The Chapel, which dates from the time of Christian IV, was designed and completed by the architect Lambert van Havian for Christian V.  In the rooms surrounding the chapel, there are exhibits from the history of the time that was pre Christian I (this must have been around early 1400’s because Christian I lived from 1448-1481).  Evidently, at this time there was a rudimentary form of democracy in Denmark.  Local noblemen had their own armies and had loose affiliation to the king.  The King was chosen by these noblemen and in times of strife, their armies would join together and fight.  In one such skirmish with Sweden, the noblemen left the King without an army, at which point he got fed up and declared himself absolute ruler.  A few generations of heavy taxation and the monarchy was able to build the Frederiksborg castle.

The castle gardens and grounds are immaculate, and we spent some time wandering them.

The next day we decided to explore the city, from a historical perspective.  Copenhagen has a royal city castle in it, home of the royal family, and we headed from Danhostel in that general direction.

First stop was a beautiful church.  Approaching from the front we saw its high dome and pillars, as well as some statues of plump monks adorning the courtyard.  The name of this church was Marmokirken, or the Marble Church and is over 200 years old.  Apparently it has a copper dome, one of the largest in the world, but I was unable to observe that feature.  The architectural style is “Roman Baroque.”

Next stop, and only about 100 meters away, was the Danish royals Castle, called Amalienborg.  The buildings of the castle surrounded a statue of a man on a horse, who was Frederick the 5^th, depicted as a Roman emperor as was the cool thing to do around 1771 when the statue was built.  Surrounding the area was the Royal Guard in very tall black fur hats – these are the elite of the Danish army.

We also went inside the room which showcased the lifestyle of the royals.  As can be expected, they had a beautiful home, full of memorabilia, like pictures, dresses and fancy furniture.  Favorite room: the sword room.

In the afternoon we continued to walk around the city, seeing the canals with the quaint wooden boats, and stopped to drink some coffee at a local café.  In the evening we went out for drinks, it was Backpackers Night at a local bar, advertised as cheap beer – which when translated into American meant, only slightly expensive beer, as opposed to extremely expensive beer found elsewhere.  The beer was Tuborg, which is made by Carlsberg, which, I found out is a Danish company!

Culture Kǿbenhavn   

First thing you notice about the Danes:  they are very trusting.  Entrance to the Subway system is largely unmonitored, the museum staff will assume you are a student without asking for ID, and for DKK 20 (less than $3) you can get a bicycle to ride around the city.  Bikes are often left unlocked leaning on buildings and fences, and Shannon and Marshall did not have to go through customs to get into the country.

This culture of trust sets the stage for the city culture.  Our party stayed at the “Danhostel” a quaint 5-story affair, filled to the hilt with Danish teenagers, on what appeared to be field trips to their capital city.  Seemingly un-chaperoned, they made the 4 of us look like respectable adults as we negotiated the hostel life for the first time.

Our room had 6 beds, the other 2 occupied by two fellows also backpacking, from Long Island and upstate New York.

Our first day was spent in a jet-lagged haze of art at the Statens Museum for Kunst.  Viewing an exhibit called “Rembrandt?” which showcased the work of the famous Rembrandt van Rijn and his pupils.  I believe the “?” after Rembrandt represents the work that historians at that museum did to determine the authenticity of several pieces in the gallery.

More interesting than the art, however, was the little culture shock items we encountered at the Statens.  First off – Danish people are expected to climb up stairs to a greater extent than Americans.  After a 300 foot ascent to the exhibit, we were abashedly huffing and puffing, while several folks who were the age of my grandparents were gliding around the gallery with ease.  Second, we were immediately exposed to the culture differences in bathing standards, the odor in the room hit us, and reminded us that we were not in America any more.  It’s pretty disorienting to see a well dressed and coiffed gentlemen – then step close and be overwhelmed by the smell. 

The time difference between Copenhagen and Seattle is 9 hours, needless to say, we slept soundly at about 9PM.