Continued From Previous Blog
Sweden
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| Kerstin and Mia in Vaxjo |
After a fire-drill departure from Kandersteg I spent a lot of time sleeping on the train - all the way to Berne where I picked up my passport and visa - then back to sleep until Basel where we found Mike and Connie's shop Chat Noir. After a bit of shopping we met Mike at 4pm, had another nap, dinner at 8pm (spaghetti followed by creme caramel) and then fully to sleep after chatting with Mike and Connie. It was their 3 year anniversary that night, so we did crash the party a bit, but the upside is that it was a great dinner with Champagne!
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| Mia and Yoshi in Kalmar |
The next day I got up late (finally caught up on sleep), caught the quick train back to Basel to see Mike and Connie for lunch, read a book while overlooking the Rhine, bought a fleece, saw RoboCop (seriously), then arrived at Basel station to spend the next 20 hours on trains - couchette to Hamburg, inter-city to Copenhagen, and another inter-city to Alvestra, where we waited an hour to get a 15 minute train to
Vaxjo where Mia and Kerstin met us. It was fantastic to see them both again - thought certainly out of context from KISC. We spent a couple of days in Vaxjo eating and sleeping, filled in with a few walks.
We arrived quite late to
Kalmar - Mia's brother Magnus picked us up from the station and we headed to Mia's parent's house for dinner, eating with the whole family: Ulla, Karl-Axel, Magnus, Mia, and Johnas. It was a wonderful dinner around the family table. I slept in the next day - Magnus drove Yoshiko and I in to Kalmar where we met Mia for lunch, went to math and English classes and then walked around Kalmar, including the castle. We went for a hike around the Lindblad farm - it is a tree farm and some of it is also used for grazing cattle. The farm is gorgeous - old red and white barns and lots of land - the scout hut for 120 scouts is even on their land.
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| Farmhouse |
Yoshi left the next for the next leg of her adventure, while I had one more relaxing day in Kalmar - spent at the school library, the public library, and then another walk around the town. After her class I met Mia and her friend Anna for a baked potato. I did receive a letter while at Mia's - from Steve and Jan - saying that they were engaged - and had been for a couple of months! The only people who knew where their parents, who had been sworn to secrecy. I called Steve from Mia's house to congratulate them. One final night at the Lindblad's then I headed to see Victoria from '88.
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| Vivecca with Her Parents |
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| Gunnel and Suzanne |
I took the train from Kalmar to
Emmaboda, where after an hour of searching for her came to the stunning realization that I was in the wrong town - I should have been in
Karlskronar. I took the next train there where Victoria was waiting at the station. We headed to her flat to see slides of her most recent trip. That evening we went to a night club with her school friends, then crashed so I could get up and to the station for the 11:07am to Emmaboda, then off to
Stockholm to see Viveca and Christel. Christel met me at the station, and waited around for Viveca who could have been on the next train but was not.
We headed to her boyfriend Michel's house, dropped my stuff, and headed to an Italian restaurant where Viveca met us a couple of hours later (along with Michael). The next day Christel, Michael, and I headed to the
Vasa Museum that had opened this year - where there is a boat that sunk in 1623 and is still preserved today. It was so fascinating that we spent several hours looking around. That evening was a flat-warming party for Viveca - she had been in the place since June but had yet to celebrate. There I met her boyfriend Brian who was a great guy. It was great to meet so many people at the flat, and a heap of us headed to a disco post-party where we met what Brian called "English groupies" - girls who liked to meet English-speaking men. We spoke with tons of people, making a game of inventing different personal stories for every person we met - until we got caught after too much creativity! Viveca's sister Jenny was at the club so I met her. We finally got to bed at 5am, though had to get up at 9am to head to Viveca's summer house in the archipelago.
The cottage was old and quite small, but had amazing character. After a row I helped Viveca's dad take the boat out of the water. We took the ferry back to Stockholm - the islands are gorgeous - I should definitely return some day and sail the area. After a curry dinner with Christel at her house I crashed. I spent the next day wandering all over Stockholm, getting to know the city a bit and then met the girls for tacos and a movie (Dick Tracy). The next leg was to Gothenburg to see Suzanne and Gunnel. I slept and relaxed a lot during the day as the girls had to work. While in Gotheburg I also met Annika. It was a quick few days, and then off to Trondheim.
Norway
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| Marianne Hiking |
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| Marianne in the Cabin |
I was on my way to visit Marianne, who was an exchange student at my high school. After arriving at the train station and changing some money I called Marianne and woke her up! It had been a long night for her so she was wrecked. We went to the student center where she was working, then back to her parent's house. Despite the plans of an early night we ended up going to a party with some of her friends. We called it an early night at midnight as we were to do some walking the next day. I was painfully awoken at 8am for a 9am departure heading south to a cabin 2.5 hours away. While the weather in
Trondheim was gorgeous, by the time we got to the cabin it was cloudy, and 30 minutes into the hike it was snowing hard. We got off track once, but ended up having a great 6 hour hike. Fish soup and grilled cheese was for dinner - excellent. The cabin was super - at just 35 kronar it was a steal - and the payment was even on the honor system. We then headed back to Trondheim for some walking the next day, including goat mountain, a 4 hour hike out and back. The scenery of this part of the trip was just incredible - despite the dodgy weather, it was just stunning.
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| At the Hostel in Flam |
After the days in Trondheim it was time to head to Oslo on the 8:35am train. After arriving at the station I made my way to the
Haraldsheim Hostel - one of the first places I had to pay for an overnight so far into the trip! My roommate in the hostel was David (Australian) who was traveling with two other Ozzie girls - Liz and Alanah. The three of them convinced me to delay my "
Norway in a nutshell" departure until the later time - kicking off with the 10:30am train to
Myrdal. I was easily convinced of this reasoning! We got up the next morning at 7:30am to take advantage of the hostel's all-you-can-eat breakfast that is included in the price. I sat with David and the girls and read/relaxed/watched scenery the whole way.
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| On the Boat in the Fjord |
It was snowing quite hard the whole way - the snow was deep by the time we arrived in Myrdal - which inspired us to have a snowball flight while waiting for the connecting train to
Flam. The snowball fight helped us meet a two Americans from NY and another Australian - and the Americans joined us on the train to Flam. The ride down was fantastic - only 12 kilometers but so steep it took us 1.5 hours. The train stopped a couple of times so we could jump out and take pictures. It took a bit of wandering around Flam to find a hostel - we ended up getting a couple of cabins for 200 krona each (3 people per cabin). We bought a jar of spaghetti for dinner, added some carrots and potatoes, and added to the noodles. Not gourmet, but tasty. We all stayed up until midnight chatting, then woke at 8am to catch the 8:40am ferry. Breakfast of toast, jam, and baked beans was speedy as we did not want to miss the ferry. The fijords we gorgeous despite the crummy weather - I must return some day. The ferry took us to
Gudvangen, then a an hour-long bus to
Voss where we then headed to
Bergen. We wandered around Bergen for a few hours - though really did not find a lot to do. Dinner was lasagne for only 29 krona - what a great deal! We went to the university and just sat chatting in the student center. It was the overnight train back to Oslo and then yet another train ride to Copenhagen - still traveling with Liz and Alanah.
Denmark
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| At Carlsbeg Brewery |
Arriving in Copenhagen I was not really sure of my plans. I ended up going to the same hostel as the girls, though it took 45 minutes of navigating the city to find it. We all had spaghetti and soup for dinner, then played a few hands of cards (oh shit and 500) and crashed around midnight. The next day we tried to check every landmark off the list: castles, national stables, and of course the
mermaid. There were a staggering number of tourists there - all trying to get the exact same photo. We dropped Liz and Alanah at the station and then did some bargain shopping at the supermarket: pasta, onions, and 5 apples - all to last us dinner and breakfast. After dinner we chatted with a couple of Australians before heading to the TV room. We headed downstairs and saw Liz and Alanah - there had been no room on the train so they had come back to the hostel. One of the fun events in Copenhagen was the
Carlsberg brewery tour. It took an hour to walk there from the hostel. The tour was quick, which was good because the real goal was the beer after. I downed 3-4 of them, then a huge group of us headed over to the Himalayan restaurant. I paid for Nick's lunch as he had let me crash in his room one night for free. While the group was at lunch I went to the Student Travel service to coordinate my Russian visa and Trans-Siberian ticket. That was the end of Denmark - it was time to head to Frankfurt!
Germany
I called Russ from Hamburg station at 11pm and let him know I'd be in Frankfurt at 6:30am via the overnight train. The time with Russ was relaxing - we did not do an awful lot. I did get to see the
Babenhausen base where he worked, we saw four movies, and a really good classic car museum. While at his place we got a call from Cynthia who had worked with us at Steak and Ale. Also met his good friend Julia while I was there. Russ and I discussed meeting in Amsterdam after the Irish Reunion.
Switzerland redux
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| Dutch Working Party |
I had decided to make another visit to KISC before heading to Ireland. Arriving at 6:30pm I saw the Dutch working party cars in the parking lot - though they were at the Upper Hut celebrating Petra's birthday the following day. I immediately bumped into Ron and Victoriana. They mentioned that the Upper Hut was going to stay up until midnight to celebrate Petra's birthday so I just threw my stuff in the Nordic room and Ron, Andrew, and I made the 1.5 hour trek up to the Upper Hut. Needless to say there were a lot of surprised faces when we barged in the door, carrying the bottle of Baileys that I had picked up at the German border. The next day Harold, Petra, myself, and another guy hiked from the hut to the Bindercrinde, then over to Bonderspitz, walking home via Allmenalp. Harald and I ran down and made it to the chalet in 30 minutes, actually beating the other two who took the cable car!
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| Petra's Birthday Party |
That night was the big birthday party - everyone in the staff room with lots of alcohol and a huge cake with 50 candles. We kicked off the night with Paradise by the Dashboard Light and it went down (up?)hill from there. We then headed to the High Noon - last night it was open for the season - and had a blast dancing with Wendy, Petra, and two Australian girls I had met on the train and suggested they visit KISC. We came back, made chips, built a fire, and crashed on the floor that night. The following day we hiked to the Doldenhorn hut via the fire hut, then over the back side to Oeschininsee, down to the village for an ice cream, then back to the chalet. The Dutch party left in stages all afternoon, with Harold and Petra heading out at 7pm. My strongest memory of this time is that of "Poems, Prayers, and Promises" by John Denver playing during "mellow night". What an amazing time - just relaxing with new friends, doing nothing but sharing stories.
Ireland
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| At Dave's Cottage |
The trip to Ireland was terrible due to my poor planning. I got the train at 12:30pm and ended up in Paris so late I could not make the connection. With no french currency to my name I ended up stuck at Paris
St Lazare railway station locked in a railway room with a bunch of drunks where I slept on a few seats. The next day I was able to make my way to
Le Havre where I met up with some Americans and split a taxi to the ferry 4 miles away. It was a blast on the 2.5 hour boat ride - full of Baileys and white wine. I picked up a couple more bottles of Baileys duty free - though taking it to Ireland is kind of like taking coal to Newcastle? I took the bus to
Cork where I stayed with the Williams, old friends of my parents Howard worked with Dad in '66 and he and Patricia met at my parent's wedding . The next day I caught the 11am train to Belfast then headed to
Annalong to meet everyone for the "Irish Reunion".
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| The Gang with our Empties |
I arrived at 6:30pm and spent a couple of hours trying to find the cottage but had forgotten the directions. However, finally Warren met me and drove me to the cottage. Steve B, Anne W, and Yoshi I arrived that night and Steve and I stayed up until 6am talking. The rest of the people joining for the weekend included Mark S, Nellie , Warren P, Dave F, Rob J, Kerstin B, Kato, Anna-Mike, Nicolette, Jeroen, Adrian (from the Dutch working party), Jan B, Suzy P, Anne O-B, John B, John M, Marty, David P, David M, Ylva, Damian G, Auden, Roope R, Skippy R, and Sue T. - almost 30 people total. The first day of the reunion (Friday) was pretty mellow for me, just hanging out at the cottage and chatting with people. The next day the whole group hikes up
Slieve Donard, the highest peak in Northern Ireland at 2789 feet. That night was the big pub night - I helped Warren with the orders, collected the money, and got the food to everyone. We had three rounds of "public feeding" then everyone in the pub for singing, followed by dancing and throwing ourselves around. We retired to the cottage for more Guinness and made it to bed at 3am.
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| Warren Teaching Yoshi Archery |
The weather was terrible the next day - rain and wind that even knocked some tents down. I was fortunate to be in one of the rooms, which was warm enough in my sleeping bag. Sunday was spent at the beach - writing stuff in the sand and playing bowls and football on the beach. By the end of the weekend we had finished 16 cases of Guinness, all stacked in their original cases up to the ceiling in the hut. It was a glorious weekend, and generally the last time we'll have this whole group together.
A few of us went up to the Scout Center in Belfast to spend a day - did a bit of archery and then headed to Bangor for a swim in the ocean. Four of then headed down to Dublin - Susy P and I on the train and the two Annes on the bus. It took a while to find Damian's house - the bus system in Dublin was tricky for us to navigate. The Annes showed up and left, while Damian, Susy P, Audean, and I headed out to a pub for a few Guinness. I slept until 10am, then chatted with Damain's parents before heading out to grab the train to
Rosslare where I'd catch the ferry to France.
Netherlands
On the train to Rosslare I met a Canadian (Kim) who I traveled with to the Netherlands. The ferry was not too bad - got about 12 hours of sleep on it. We arrived late to La Havre, but caught the bus and early train to St Lazare, with enough time to transfer via the metro to Paris
Gare du Nord. Getting there early, Kim and I had a quick pizza and a Perrier in an Italian restaurant across the road and to the right of Gare du Nord. Then we headed to
Rotterdam where Kim and I went our separate ways.
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| In Amsterdam |
In Rotterdam I tried calling Wendy, Marcel, Gerald, and Joey - but none were home. I took the train to
Vlaardingen, just hoping to find someone. I got hold of Wendy's mother who said she'd be back later, so I headed back to Rotterdam and wandered around there in the morning and back to Vlaardingen in the afternoon. I was finally able to meet Wendy in the afternoon and grabbed a hot chocolate and apple tart. We went to volleyball practice (Wendy is coach) - I got to play a bit and embarrass myself a lot. After a quick trip to Wendy's place we had dinner with her friend Hanneke who bought dinner. After dinner I took the train via Utrect to
Nunspeet to stay the night with Nicolette. I slept in until noon, then headed to
Zwolle with Nicolette and her brothers to do some shopping. Dinner that night was fondue with a heap of wine, then off to a disco where we danced until midnight. The next morning I had to get up at 7am to catch the 8:10am to
Amsterdam.
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| Petra and Russ at the Beach |
Russ was waiting for me at Amsterdam station. Since we did not know the station we had said to meet on platform one - which we discovered does not actually exist. After dropping my stuff in Russ' car we had a quick breakfast, then went for a walk around the city, including
De Wallen, the Red Light District. In the afternoon we went to
Anne Frank House which was fascinating. The museum not only tells the story we all read in high school, but also includes a part about the new rise of fascism and antisemitism. Dinner was at a little Italian joint, then we wandered around the RLD at night - much different environment than during the day - bizarre to see the counter-culture. Everywhere we went we were offered hash and coke - in the friendliest manner! We stayed the night at
Bob's Youth Hostel - lots of smoking and drinking in the lobby, but the place was clean. The next morning we went to the
Heineken Brewery for the standard tour. We had 7 or 8 beers in the room afterward, then headed to the pub with two Ozzies and two Americans (Bob, Dave, Chrissie, and Maree). We went back for the 2pm tour but it was sold out - argh! So, back to the pub for more beer. Russ and I eventually left, had dinner at KFC, then headed off to
Haarlem.
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| Eating with Victoria and Kato |
It took a while to find, but we eventually found the station and then slept in the car a while. Dinner was in a cute cafe where we had spaghetti and wine. After desert we noticed it was 11pm, so called Petra who met us at the station. We went back to the cafe for a beer, then all headed to Petra's apartment to crash for the night. Since we were wrecked from the day before, Russ and I slept in until noon, wandered around a bit, then met Petra at 3pm - she took off from work a couple of hours early. We headed to the beach at
Zandevoort, had dinner at McDonalds, and grabbed some dessert at a little bakery at the side of the road. After spending some time on the beach we went back to Haarlem and Russ left us as he had to be at work at 5am. So, Petra and I called some of the gang in
Leiden: Victoriana and Jan-Dirk. We met Victo at 8:30pm and got a tour of Leiden before meeting J-D at his work. We all stayed out until 12:45am until Petra and I got the train back. The next morning I slept in again, then headed out to arrange my ticket to Copenhagen before meeting Petra for lunch. In the afternoon I just wandered around Haarlem again, had a dinner of spaghetti, and saw the movie
Presumed Innocent, then just had Mellow Night II at Petra's before falling asleep. The next morning I left the house early-ish and headed to
Utrect. I met Kato at Utrect station, threw my stuff in left luggage, then we met Victoria G. We spent the rest of the day sightseeing and eating and drinking - had dinner at the student union, had a few more beers, then I jumped on the 9:15pm overnight train to Copenhagen.
The Netherlands is indeed a tiny country - so small that I actually randomly bumped into two people I knew. The first was Joey L (KISC '88), who I saw at Haarlem station - I was able to speak with her for a few minutes before each of our trains left. The other was Mike (Kato's friend). It really is a small world - I'd just hate to have to paint it.
Back in Scandinavia
Once in Copenhagen I headed over to Student Travel, met Carina there to get all my stuff for Russia, and then took the train to Kalmar again for a free overnight at Chez Lindblad. Mia picked me up, we grabbed a pizza, then went to see
Days of Thunder before heading back to the house to crash. The next day I took the train up to Stockholm, where Christel met me at 6pm. We had spaghetti at Michael's, then I spent the night and the rest of the next day at her house just relaxing and catching up - Christel had to study. The next evening I took the 6pm to Marsta to see Viveca and Brian - we played badminton and had lasagne before I headed back to Christel's. The next day I packed up, hit the AMEX office for some money, had lunch at Pizza Hut, and got all my paperwork in order. I met Christel again for dinner (Chinese), then made my way to to the
Silja Line ferry for the 7pm to Finland. On the ferry I had a sauna, then met Paul (Oz) so we had a few drinks until 2am - arriving in Turku at 8am.
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| Ferry to Finland |
The first day in Turku was rough since there was close to no sleep on the ferry. I was able to get in a nap - Heidi and I hung out talking - and had a few beers at the pub. The next day we went out to stock up on stuff for the trip: toilet paper, orange drink, spices, toothpaste, paper/pens, and other items I had run out of. I also picked up some books by John Irving and Larry Speaks, as well as a Russian-English dictionary. I spent the afternoon reading a ton of newspapers while Heidi was in class. We met for a pizza dinner then went to the pub again before bed. After Heidi headed for school I packed all my stuff (an enormous amount now) and took the 12:55pm train to
Jyvaskyla to meet Pipsa - the train ride was 4 hours. Frost was all over the ground and it was crazy-cold. We chatted over a home-made pizza dinner then went to a sauna party with her friends - drinking loads of beer. I met quite a few really cool people there and stayed out until 2am. It was snowing hard - really seemed like Christmas weather. I ended up heading to
Tampere with Pipsa and Simo - a really good guy - he promised to take me cross-country skiing some day. We stayed at Simo's parent's house - had a sauna in their basement followed by spaghetti for dinner. We then headed out to a pub where I randomly bumped into Paul, the guy I had met on the ferry. That night I read part of the book
What They Don't Teach You at Harvard Business School. I got the train to
Helsinki the next day, arriving at 1pm. I could not get hold of Heidi, Pavy, or Outi, and Roope and Petter were out of town, so I went to the
Stadion Hostel inside the Olympic Stadium. After an overnight at the hostel, I had my final meal at Pizza Hut, then jumped on the 1:12pm train to
Lenningrad!
Continued On Next Blog
For More Photos of the Irish Reunion:
The next morning I was to get bus 110 to the city, but a cab driver got to me first - 10 rubles to Nevsky Prospect, the main street in Leningrad. I was dropped off at the foot of the Hermitage Museum, but it was closed that day. The first stop was St Isaacs Cathedral - just stunning. I looked around for a while and then went to the observation deck to take pictures (not allowed) From there I wandered around taking pictures of various monuments and went in a few shops - the ones I could find. I ended in a department store - it is quite apparent that no one has taken a class in Marketing. I found a couple of rolls to eat and finally found a place that sold ice cream - so I bought two! As I was taking a picture I was approached by two guys trying to sell me a rabbit skin hat for $10 US. I declined, but then ended up spending the whole day with Igor and his friend, as well as their "friend-girl" Larissa - we went to a cafe for coffee and biscuits and just wandered the city. I took the bus back to the hotel and got some directions from a guy on the bus (Michael) - who ended up meeting me for drinks at the hotel that evening. Michael is from Cheylabensk, a city on the border of Europe and Asia - in Siberia. He then showed me his house, which was just detached from the hotel. We struggled through some broken english, looking at post cards of his home town. I tried to call Larissa and Igor at 10:30pm (as they asked me to) but never got through - the phone just rang.
