Author: pam

Posted on

Copenhagen – Denmark

Copenhagen sparkles in the Nyhavn area. Seemed awesome to get reflections in the canal. Looks very Hansiatic to us — feels like we have come full circle from Bergen!
The Harbor Bus ferry was the most convenient method of transportation for us — one block from apartment, scenic, and went to major spots along the inner harbor.
The Royal Library, 1906, and the new, 1999 — dubbed ‘The Black Diamond’ — was the first stop on the ferry. This was worth exploring as was the adjacent Danish Architectural Center
The Great Viewpoint in ‘The Black Diamond’ library. An intricate floorplan view as well as being able to enjoy a connection to the harbor.
With an equally tantalizing view of the harbor, we enjoyed the Danish Architecture Center. Our swan chair was on display in the upper left — designed by Arne Jacobsen in the Danish modern style in 1958 for the SAS Royal Hotel. We also learned more about Danish architect Jørn Utzon,who designed Sydney Opera House — his sketch upper right.
We enjoyed the design of the Opera House and wandering around the park adjacent to it.
Of course we had to visit The Little Mermaid. We were salmon working our way upstream of all the cruise ship passengers but we waited our turn to get a photo.
We spent an amazing day at the National Museum. Very detailed, organized, well displayed — we appreciated our time there. This room of Rune Stones was good and had the translation of the carving so we could better understand what we were seeing.
The beautiful Carlsberg Glyptotek art museum was another wonderful highlight we visited — with a great French Impressionist collection. We enjoyed the Bronze Dancers by Edgar Degas, cast from the original wax forms.
We like finding these aerial views of the city. We are across the inner harbor from the main center of town, in Islands Brygge. The red dot area being the Royal Library — first stop by water bus ferry.
Our wonderful skyline view just a block from the inner harbor. This is a great apartment.
Tivoli Gardens is THE amusement park — before Disney — and we supposed a must see destination. “A Kind of Magic”…
We enjoyed the lights and the reflections. We wandered around –“Don’t Stop Me Now” — over to the Glass Hall, built in 1946 — for a bit of “Bohemian Rhapsody”…
Our “Night At the Opera” with “Killer Queen”…We Will Rock You — Another One Bites The Dust — Radio Ga-Ga — Under Pressure — We Are The Champions: performed by UK-Queen. An epic ending to our Nordic adventure with “This Crazy Little thing Called Love”.
Posted on

Vikings in Zealand – Denmark

Ready to go Viking! They built such amazing ships — strength for high seas as well as a shallow draft for navigating rivers.
Roskilde was the center of sailing routes. The Vikings founded thriving, wealthy and cultured trade towns. This map also shows what they traded at the different ports. Their journeys extended from Constantinople to North America!
Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde was created after 5 ships — purposely sunk blocking the approach to the town — were found in the Roskilde Fjord in the 1960’s. The ships dating from 1030, have been preserved, studied, recreated, tested and continue to be analyzed.
This workshop is recreating  a small cargo ship using 11th century tools and techniques. Different wood species are used for different parts of the ship and different parts of trees have specific uses. Bark is soaked, then peeled, then soaked, then split to start the process of making rope — very strong sea worthy rope.
These are the 5 ships on display. The films showing the difficult excavation process are amazing.  In the foreground is the wide Ocean-going Cargo ship, Skuldelev 1. Here is a link to more info about the ships and their excavation.
All ships have a 1:10 scale model so you can easily appreciate their variety and size. This one — The Great Long Ship, Skuldelev 2 — carried 70 warriors and was the longest recovered at almost 100 feet:.
The preservation techniques were so important to be able to fit the pieces together — without any shrinkage and warping — as they dried. Each piece was numbered and stored wet in plastic bags until they could be preserved and fitted together. Detail of Coastal Trader, Skuldelev 3.
Roskilde was founded by Harold Bluetooth, Viking King in around 980. It was the capital and seat of power through 1443. It is one of Denmark’s oldest cities — this being the former medieval Town Hall on the main square.
The UNESCO recognized Cathedral has tombs of over 39 Danish monarchs — allegedly also Harold Bluetooth rests here.
We learn more about Harold Bluetooth, the King between Two Worlds in the new 2025 museum at Borgring Fortress. The displays explain the Nordic Gods in great detail — depicted in amazing larger than life smoke images — as well as key Christian figures. It also explains the evolution of how a Viking circle divided into four quadrants evolved into a cross.
Borgring fortress is the most recent discovered of 5 Danish Ring Fortress and have been recognized by UNESCO. They were all built during Harold Bluetooth’s rein and the building precision of the circle and cross axis were unusual for the Viking era.
In West Zealand the Trelleborg Ring Fortress is larger and was excavated in 1934. These fortresses are thought to have been built to strengthen royal power in the transition from pagan to Christianity in 980 CE. At that time, Harold’s monarchy stretched far — to all of Norway, into Sweden and Northern Germany.
Trelleborg had room for 16 long houses in 4 groups of 4. We stood near the edge giving a sense of the enormity of this fortress.
A replicate long house — built in 1946 at Trelleborg — gives visitors a Viking sense of the world.
Imagine what sort of conversations went on here! Where to build the ships, who to trade with next, what areas to expand the empire into, how to connect your bluetooth device! Yes, bluetooth technology is named after Harold.
There are Danish windmills — plus many new electrical generating wind turbines as well. This is near where we stayed in Holbæk. Nr Jernlose Windmill
Posted on

Southern Islands – Denmark

Møns Klint – wow! The island of Møns’ East coast on the Baltic Sea has these UNESCO recognized amazing cliffs.  Featuring a dramatic glaciotectonic landscape shaped by Pleistocene glaciers.
The autumn beech forest drapes over the edges giving a surreal combination of colors. A sensory overload. See the stairs and people on the bottom left before the cliffs…
Some of the cliff faces are 400 feet tall — some areas reveal the intense folding and faulting of the chalk cliffs. The very interesting rocks along the shore include black flint stones that have eroded out of the cliff face.
Møns Island also has several neolithic sites (3000 BCE) that we found fascinating. Notice how the Dolmen’s capstone is resting on a small point of the rock below. Somarkedyssen Dolmen.
Another view shows the size of Somarkedyssen Dolmen.
Kong Asgers Hoj Passage Tomb is how the dolmens would have originally looked as they were covered with additional rock, clay, and soil.
The corridor to the grave under the dolmen makes this more complete. These are huge rocks as you can see. Sprovedyssen Dolmen on Møns Island
A Nature Park on Falster Island had several neolithic grave sites of interest — here is Halskov Vaenge Dolmen.
We enjoyed the enormous beech trees and discovering these ancient sites. The boulder on top is the largest erratic (boulder left by retreating glacier) on Falster Island. Halskov Vaenge Dolmen.
Denmark’s longest passage grave Grønsalen (100 meters x 10 meters) is preserved in the center of farmland, now a peaceful grassy knoll. It is the alleged burial ground of Queen Fane and her husband King Grøn Jæger who lived some 4,000 years ago. The adjacent Fanefjord is named after the queen. Møns Island.
The pristine 1250 church, Fanefjord Kirke — on Møns Island — has an amazing history dating back to the wealthy Hanseatic League. It is whitewashed brick.
Falster Island had quite a few beautiful straw roof buildings. This one in Hesnæs also had straw walls held with wood battens — probably built after the devastating flood in 1872.
We watched in fascination as these craftsman re-roofed with bundles of straw in near by Stubbekøbing — not a nail gun sight!.
A 30 minute walk from our house along the coast to the town of Stubbekøbing on Falster Island. We took the ferry across a strait of the Baltic Sea — Grønsund –to the island of Bogø.
Ferry Ida — one of Denmark’s most beautiful and oldest wooden ferries has sailed this short route since 1959. We sat on the harbor enjoying a slice of Bogøbrød pizza and Italian beer — delicious!
The view from our house for the week — Sunset Lodge — near Stubbekøbing was very peaceful and restful — especially after the last few weeks in large cities. We had a few nights of clear skies for enjoying the milky way and star constellations.
A beautiful beech forest on an autumn’s day to appreciate the colors and cliffs on the Baltic Sea. Hesnæs, Falster Island.
Storm waves 8 feet above average berated this shore 2 years ago — you can see the trees laid on the shore, eroded from the cliff, that this storm surge left in its wake. Hesnæs
Only since 1963 have ferries been connecting Denmark’s Lolland Island to Germany. Now the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel is being constructed, 18 KM long. The reclaimed land — from excavated soils/sea bed — is to be a planned park. There was a ramped observation platform to view the construction site. In the design pavilion we learned more about project and EU’s transportation network.
Posted on

Independent Lithuania

Beautiful sparkling Vilnius, capital of the Republic of Lithuania, along the Neris river. A tributary is the Vilnia river, where the castle was located, so hence the name.
The Gediminas Tower is what remains of the castle. A even an older castle site was on the forest hill in the background — demolished by the Soviets. The forest is now a much loved park in the city along the Vilnia River.
The contemporary Modern District shines with prosperity and commerce.
Vilnius is in total solidarity with Ukraine — the Ukrainian flag is hung along side their own. It has been only 30 years since Lithuania gained their independence from the Soviets. Very prominent on on e of the tallest buildings: “PUTIN, THE HAGUE IS WAITING FOR YOU”
Stebuklas – or miracle tile – was the beginning of a 1989 political protest against Soviet occupation with a 2 million-person  human chain —  stretching 650km from this spot to Tallinn, Estonia. Today the tile is a symbol of hope and inspiration.
Cathedral Square with its distinctive Bell Tower is the center of Vilnius. After the rain there were reflections in the plaza.
Nearby, the National Museum is an impressive collection of Lithuanian history. It is built inside the Palace of the Governors. Four different routes take you on a journey through Lithuanian’s complex history — spanning different topics of its events through the ages. We spent an entire rainy day exploring…
…Excavations of ruins from different eras had glass floored bridges built over the old remains allowing access as it explained life in that century– quite an amazing logistic and engineering feat.
Around 1500 the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (shown in Yellow) was the largest European state — controlling an area from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. Note north of them is Livonia which was Estonia and Latvia combined.
The National Library was the first purposely built library in the Baltic’s . It is a monument to ‘socialist realism’ — constructed by the Soviets in 1958.
It has fun book jackets recreating characters of various famous literary persons. A very nice National Library for everyone.
The Hill of Crosses has been resurrected many times in its 300 year history –after demolitions by the Soviets to squash religious practices. It is a very meaningful place for the Lithuanians, recognized by UNESCO, and even visited by the Pope Paul II in 1993.
We took a sightseeing bus from Riga to Vilnius, stopping in several places including the second largest city Kaunas. But perhaps most interesting was our stop at the old  WWII Japanese Consulate (at the request of our two Japanese co-travelers)…
…It has been turned into a museum for Chiune Sugihara, a Japanese diplomat who served as vice-consul for the Japanese Empire in Kaunas. This is an original ‘Letter of Transit’ issued in 1940 — we had never seen one before!  The dutch ambassador issued  a landing permit to their colonies but the letter of transit was necessary to travel so the two worked together tirelessly. Sugihara issued over 2000 without his governments consent to enable many Jewish families (estimated to number around 6,000 individuals) — stuck in limbo between the Nazis and Soviets — to travel to safer areas.
We enjoyed staying in Old Town, wandering the campus of University of Vilnius, popping into some courtyards and restaurants. A vibrant hilly metro area that was a pleasure to explore.
Posted on

Latvian Experiences

An hour by train, we walked to Kemeri National Park. A beautiful clear morning for the Raised Bog Trail, built in 2000.
Fall colors, detail and highlight the Raised Bog Trail. This is the largest and most accessible bog in Latvia. It is also a very important bird migration area.
This bog started forming about 8,000 years ago. As the peat layer grew thicker the bog started to rise into what is now called a dome. Inner pressure cracks start collecting water into numerous pools.
This is a massive bog as we saw from the viewing tower — basically around 24 square miles.
This gives a sense of scale as we enjoyed the reflections and sunshine!
We got off the train at Majori Beach.  A very popular area on the Gulf of Riga!  About 30 minutes from Riga — nice!
Jurmala means ‘seaside’ and has this extremely long sandy beach — 21 miles! Gorgeous. While Latvia was under Soviet occupation, Jūrmala was a favorite holiday resort and tourist destination for high-level Communist Party officials.
Now everyone can enjoy! We were lucky to get a seaside table for an afternoon FIKA with our own lion sand sculpture.
Amber is found tangled in seaweed in the Baltic — all along the coast after strong storms. And the store windows are so enticing! Made us think about what did happened to Catherine the Great’s Amber room…
The Rundale Palace — in southern Latvia — dates back to the 1700’s. This Russian summer palace was designed by the same architect as the Winter Palace in St Petersburg. Catherine the Great’s brother lived here before Napoleon destroyed the interiors.
We toured the lovely gardens with lots of different “rooms” devoted to tulips or hydrangeas, or roses.
The Salaspils Memorial was built in 1967 by the Soviets to emphasize how bad the Nazi Work Camps were. Renovated in 2018, it now honors the German prisoners of war who died here as well under the Soviets. And explains the complete story of all who perished under the horrors of war and occupation.
The statues are monumental as you can see from the people walking around. Very emotional in their depictions.
Concrete statue “unbroken”. But the country was broken, but has recovered in the last 30 years of independence.
Posted on

Riga Revelations – Latvia

Riga located on the Bay of Riga — the largest Baltic city — has been a trading center since 1100’s: Vikings, Crusaders, Hanseatic League….
The Daugava river and the stylish cable stay Vansu Tilts Bridge. The newer town on the left bank, the older on the right.
The dominate National Library of Latvia, 2014. The Castle of Light design is derived from a beloved local 1909 book titled ‘The Golden Steed’ — only those “clever, purity of heart, and empathy” can get to the top of the Ice Mountain to waken the princess.
Riga was the European Capital of Culture in 2014: On 14 January 2014, thousands formed the ‘Chain of Light’, (2,014 meters long) transferring books one by one to the new library! The first book to pass was the German Chancellor’s 1825 family bible, published in Latvian.
The wonderful and impressive people’s bookshelf holds many special books, such as family bibles and cookbooks with personal messages — all donated by Latvians and visitors.
The world renowned Latvian born American architect, Gunars Birkerts, had his office in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He pioneered expressive moderism with emphasis especially on the use of light. The library had a wonderful exhibit on all the libraries around the world he created as well as many of his other projects.
Riga has a history of great architects and is lucky to have many of their building remaining. UNESCO has recognized the Historic Center of Old town as a Cultural site which deserves protection for the benefit of all humanity.
Most of the buildings are unique in that they are only 5 stories in height.
The House of the Black Head,  — originally built by wealthy Hanseatic merchants in 1334 — was restored in 1999 after WWII bombing. We stayed across the square in a fabulous Apartment Hotel.
There are many faces watching you as the highest concentration of Art Nouveau architecture anywhere in the world is here. Most of Riga’s 600 Art Nouveau buildings date from between 1904 and 1914.
Stylistic influences derived from present-day Austria, Finland and Germany — while the establishment of a faculty of architecture in Riga in 1869 was instrumental in providing a local cadre of architects.
Between 1897 and 1913, the city grew by 88%, reaching a population of 530,000 in 1914 — making it the fifth largest city in the Tsarist Russian Empire.
The Art Nouveau center was in one of the earliest example of buildings in this style and has recreated much of the interiors as they originally appeared. Here is their website with link to buildings, architects.
Fabulous entryways! The buildings are wonderful at the street level and also keep you craning up to see the top adornments.
Very impressive stairway leading up all 5 floors. On Alberta Iela 2 (Art Nouveau Center)  designed by Mikhail Eisenstein, one of the most prominent Latvian architects.