Pearl's Birthday Season

Stage one of Pearl's birthday season--a cherry picking party.  We picked far more cherries than I thought we could eat, but since we only get them these two weeks out of the year, we might as well go cherry crazy.










Stage two of Pearl's birthday season: birthday party with friends.  The Greek mythology theme worked out well, but wasn't I thrilled when Pearl said she wanted chocolate icing and I could give up fretting over what Greek god I was going to have to draw in frosting.  The boys are trying to create togas.

We had our birthday Olympics, a myth themed scavenger hunt for Pandora's box, lessons on Greek letters, and some time to just play (the kids used it to choose Greek god roles and there was much debate over who was more powerful). I thought our educational theme might fall flat, but it really was a hit.

Birthday fun stage 3: head to the beach.

With so many little ones to watch, Jasper's sand castles have been toned down, but he still manages to throw something together.

This was Ruby's first beach encounter, and she just stepped into the sand as if she had done it all before. We held hands a lot the first night we walked on the beach, but soon she was lugging her little sand bucket around all by herself.

Pearl wanted to bike ride every day, so we made time to do that and wound our way around Cape Henlopen's trails. The two little ones munched snacks in the 'princess' carriage behind my bike.

Nana came for a night and Pearl's birthday dinner at a Mexican restaurant.The next night we went to a Chinese buffet, which suits our wiggly children well. Here Ruby contemplates how to consume this crayfish. Her daddy helped her figure it out.

We climbed the WWII watch tower as well. Pearl counted all 114 steps. The weather was great for the beach, though it was also pretty good for the biting flies for two days. The last day the flies had evacuated, and we played on a playground then made a late afternoon beach visit that lasted into the evening. A perfect beach day.

Days 14-16 & Home

I'm writing this from home, but wanted to share the fact that I did make it home safely, and I saw a few neat things I wasn't able to write about earlier. 

We left Oslo by an early train that took us through the countryside, basically from the south eastern tip of Norway to the old capital of Bergen on the west coast of the country. We went above the treeline, and I scanned the farms we passed for signs of the picturesque sod roofs I've come to love.

One of the many many waterfalls from glacial melt

We changed the train for a smaller train and then a ferry that took us through the fjord. I lost count of waterfalls we passed during the journey--dozens. At the largest waterfall we disembarked briefly, and two swirling dancers popped up and danced to music broadcast over the crash of the falls.  The ferry was pretty crowded, which was a little annoying.

We got into Bergen at night, but of course the sun was still up. Our B&B host heard the suitcases rumbling down the cobblestone alley and jumped out to help us up the two very narrow staircases to a room in the attic of this early eighteenth-century house. The custom door to the room would have suited Sapphire perfectly, but we had to duck pretty seriously to get inside.  I'm not complaining--this was the only reasonable place to stay in Bergen other than a hostel, and it was cute, uncluttered, clean, and had a pile of Norwegian waffles on the breakfast table.

The Bryggen, or Hansiatic Quarter of Bergen, Norway

Bergen was the center of Hansiatic business for 400 years starting in the 1400s. The Norwegians invited the German traders in when the plague took half their population and they needed help, but soon the locals came to resent the cod-trading Germans and their special set of rules.

Bergen's obsession with fire is pretty evident from the city's history and architecture. The wooden buildings were so close together, and they had so many city-leveling fires, that they made rules that row homes could only have fire in a separate, slightly safer building. This made for chilly winter nights.

The Rosencrantz Tower in Bergen

We also saw a fortress built by the Dano-Norwegian kings. This one, like most of the harbor-area, was partially destroyed when a Nazi armaments ship exploded in the harbor in 1944.  They are pretty sure it was an accident. 

A random impression: Norway is expensive. A regular sized Snickers bar was $4 (not that I bought any). Sandwiches you grabbed from the 7-11 store (which they had there) were $12 to $20.  Regular cups of coffee were $4.  I really enjoyed shopping at the Shur-Fine market today! 

The final day was a long 20 hours in transit.  This was bearable because of the interesting people I met and chatted with along the way, as well as a viewing of "The Hobbit."  I reminisced over a spot near the Dulles arrivals area where Ruby had her first tantrum on American soil 10 months ago. I got home at what felt like 4:30am to me, but was just 10:30pm Eastern time. 



Ruby was still awake, and we had a sweet reunion. The other girls welcomed me this morning, and it has been a very sweet day, both because I'm back home with my family, and because it is Pearl's birthday. 

Day 13--Oslo

The sun here always seems to be up. We cannot remember when we last saw the dark. This morning we were blinded by the sun and out of the hotel   looking for something to do around 7.30am, but it turns out nothing opens here until 10am!

The sculpture park was open though, so we took a tram and explored the larger than life stone statues. The artist worked a sweet deal with the city--if they supported him and gave him a nice studio, he would create art just for the city for the rest of his life.

We walked into the Town Hall just as the morning tour started, and it was more interesting that we had expected.  I am not a fan of Norwegian frescos, but they certainly fit a lot of history into them.  We saw the hall where they award the Nobel Peace Prize.  All the other Nobel prizes are awarded in Stockholm.

Cheryl and I split up because I wanted more history, so I went to the Norwegian Resistance Museum and the Ankershus Castle.   The Resistance Museum proudly chronicles how the country fought the Nazi invaders who were in charge here for 5 years.  I found an anti-Nazi  Christmas card I hope to include in my book.

the fortress

The medieval fortress, like many castles, has been renovated many times as needed. It sits here overlooking the harbor.  They had it decorated the way Christian the Fourth, the Dano-Norwegian king had it done. In Denmark they just call him the Danish king, so it is interesting to see different perspectives of history.  This fortress also served as the Nazis´  headquarters, but that did not get any mention in the museum.  

I ate a very traditional but very smokey and bleh smoked salmon open face sandwich with a huge helping of cold scrambled egg on top.  Lots of protein at least.  I have to say I was a little homesick as I walked around the city after lunch.  

Cheryl and I met up to view the cathedral, which we found a little garish with the Norwegian frescoes on the ceiling.  Then we took a relaxing ferry ride around the islands in the harbor.  Osloers go there for sun bathing and hiking, but we just ferried around them and enjoyed the gorgeous clouds.  We are having such beautiful weather here.  I hope it lasts tomorrow, since that is our chance to see some scenic beauty in the countryside.

Finally we took the subway to see the Munch Museum.  They pronounce it ´Munk´.  I saw The Scream, but it was not the highlighted piece. In fact, he really did much more with the female form and self portraits than the iconic Scream image that was simply painted on untreated cardboard--not even canvas!

Sorry girls, no animals today.   I look forward to being home soon, to celebrate Pearl´s seventh birthday with a series of celebrations, starting with a cherry picking party the morning after I get home.  

Day 12--Oslo

We spent 17 hours on the ferry, but it was pretty pleasant.  Cheryl and I found a nearly empty  wine bar on board, and the guy who ran it really knew his wine.  He refused to serve us the red that Cheryl picked out because it would not go with the cheese tray we wanted.  We enjoyed his devotion to his craft, and the wine he selected for us.

This morning our cruise ship chugged up the 60 mile Oslo fjord, which got very pretty as we neared the city.  We disembarked with the Oslo card in hand, which means we do not have to stop to figure out tickets or pay anything else, but we can explore whatever we want.  This is a relief after trying to figure things out in Copenhagen.

We dropped off the bags and headed down to the harbor for a quick local ferry to the Viking Ship museum.  You can see how grand this Viking Ship burial is above.  The ship was built in the 800s, then used as an elaborate coffin,  and they dug it up in 1904.  Some of the smaller wooden carts on board were originally  in 1000 pieces, and they are struggling to find a new way to preserve the old wood which is being eaten from within due to the 1904 preservation techniques.

We then went to the Folk Museum, which I loved.  I cannot upload photos here, but you can see the absolutely beautiful old stave buildings with turf roofs at this web site.  So pretty!!   The time just flew as I peered into these old farm houses from the countryside which had been moved here.  The turf roofs last for 50 years and help insulate.  I also had a chance to eat a traditional Norwegian Christmas bread baked by a wood fire.  A troupe of young folk dancers gave a sweet performance of the folk dances in their national dress.   This place just made me happy.  Now I wish I had Norwegian ancestors.

Next came the Fram Museum, a tribute to Norwegian exploration of the polar regions.  This caught my interest because the study Pearl and I did of Antarctic exploration two months ago.  I knew some of the stories, and here I had a chance to walk aboard the Fram, the ship that was designed to get trapped in the ice of the North Pole and drift close to that pole. That ´trip´took three years.  After that,  Amundsen took the Fram south to help explore the South Pole, and we saw artifacts and images from the race to that pole, and the Englishman Scott´s tragic failure of getting there days after the Norwegians, then dying before reaching safety.  Amundsen made it home and became a hero, and the ship now has a home in Oslo.

We took the ferry back to the harbor and hoofed it to a restaurant recommended in our guide book.  It was a traditional meal of Norwegian meatballs, potatoes, and mushed peas with gravy and lingonberry sauce.

Happy Fathers Day to all the dads! Love to you all.

Day 12--Copenhagen and Ferry to Oslo

 We walked to the National Museum and browsed through the cases explaining an overview of Danish history.

Then we found the Christmas store and I did a little research and shopping.  These guys on the left are nisse, or Christmas gnomes. 

The thing below is a Swedish Christmas goat. 

Now we will head for the ferry that will take us to Oslo.  There is no wifi, so I will not post again until tomorrow.

Bye!!

Day 11--Elsinore Castle and a bit of Sweden

Today we made our way up the coast of Denmark to the moated Helsingor Castle, which was built in the late Renaissance by a king who wanted to tax all the ships going through the Oresund, the narrow sound between Denmark and Sweden.  Back in the 1500s the Danish king owned Sweden too, so it was no problem. This practice put gold in the Danish kings' pockets until the 1850s, when one American ship refused to pay. That broke the whole system!



This castle was very satisfying, and we had neat tours of the damp and low-ceilinged casemates, or where-to-hide-from-Napoleonic-canon tunnels, as well as the Renaissance wing of the royal residence.

The name Helsingor sounds an awful lot like Elsinore from Shakespear's Hamlet, and he did set the play here. That was sort of like setting a play about George Washington in the DC White House (which wasn't built yet), because the original Hamlet myth comes from another part of Denmark and several centuries before this castle popped up. They have record of two London actors giving entertainment at 'Elsinore' a few decades before the same guys worked with Shakespeare, so they imagine he learned about this big fancy castle from them and figured it was older than it really was. 

We took a short ferry across to Sweden, along with a large group of Swedes who had come over for the cheaper liquor in Denmark. That is about the only deal in Denmark.








The Swedish countryside looks more like rural PA than Denmark's farmland, but the cows are all greyish white. We got off the train at Malmø, which was a special thrill because it sometimes features in the nordic noir (Scandinavian crime fiction) I like to read. 







We walked around this city, saw it's extremely ugly fortress, and sat down for a fish dinner, complete with herring. 

We have enjoyed finding swans in many moats and ponds in this part of the world.

And since it is my husband's birthday, I wanted to send him a special thanks and happy birthday wish from Denmark!

Day 10--Copenhagen

I do well with continental breakfasts. It usually means I get to spread brie and Nutella on bread. They have fruit and cereal and salamis too, but I rarely try those.

This morning we got to see what it is like to live in rainy, dreary Copenhagen.  I decided to walk to the meeting point for our guided tour, but my abysmal sense of direction led me briskly walking in the wrong way. When I stopped to ask for help, I found I was on the wrong side of the canal. 

During my long walk I noticed that the commuting Danes did not seem to notice or mind the downpour, so I tried to be like them.  I did get soaked, though. I had plenty of time to make my way to meet our guide, who was dressed in a top hat and asked us to call him Hans Christian Anderson. 

kids ride up front in the big grey carrier

He took us to several Anderson sites, the town hall, the cathedral, and through Copenhagen neighborhoods.  We learned about the life of normal Danes, and it explained some of the things we were seeing.  They have to fight off the dismal long winters, so they like to light candles, even at breakfast, and I had seen that here. They also are very into biking, and there are various ways children ride along with their parents. Danes can more easily find bike parking than space for cars, and the bikes do line the streets.

With some help from H. C. Anderson, we ordered smørbrod, or open faced sandwiches that are common lunch items. These were tastey constructions of bread, then a slice of roast beef, topped with horseradish and water cress.  We ate these in a cafe that served lovely danishes.  They actually have a mister to keep the sweet treats from drying out, so it looks a little like a sauna on the danish shelf.  Food is expensive here, as we had heard, and I sort of miss the easy, cheap, recognizable sandwiches on good bread you could get anywhere in Germany.

In the afternoon, as the rain abated, we walked through garden and into the Rosenborg Palace. This museum commemorated the life of King Christian IV, Denmark's favorite king of the past. While his life was not as eccentric as that of the Bavarian king Ludwig II, he did have big personality. He fought in several battles, and when cannon shrapnel took his one eye, he had the fragments of the bomb made into earrings for his girlfriend. We saw them--probably the oddest love gift I have ever seen.

We saw the crown jewels of the Danish royalty too, then made our way to see the palace where the current queen lives.  She was not home, though I believe her son and his family were in their palace next door.  We saw the guards standing at their posts. 

Then walked further north of city center to see the small but famous Little Mermaid statue.  Lots of people were getting their picture taken with her, and I think it was a very pretty statue. 

The Danes are very proud of their few famous countrymen like Anderson.

On the way we also saw this swan family, which made me think of another H. C. Anderson story, the Ugly Duckling. 

We are back at the hotel now, and here is our view from the hotel.  

Day 9--Lubeck, Germany

I guess not many English speaking tourists go to Lubeck in northern Germany, but they should. We stuck to the one mile square old city, which sits on an island and used to be encased in medieval walls. It was the capital of the Hansiatic League, a group of city states run by merchant interests that clubbed together to defeat the pesky pirates and make money in trade, especially in salt. 






There are seven lovely spires on the skyline of the tiny old city.  We walked around enjoying them and the narrow old streets with their roses and other flowers. The Germans love blooms, and the pack flowers in wherever they can.


All the main churches here were destroyed in the bombing raid that happened on Palm Sunday Night in 1943.  It must have been a horrible night. The Lubeckers eventually rebuilt the churches along their original lines, but much of the old decorations were lost.






Some, like the one here, were repainted in the old fashioned way.  I enjoyed the fact that these are all brick, and they are known as brick neoGothic buildings.

Here you can see that the bells of the old St. Mary's fell on that night, and they left them where they lay, on the broken stones.

Another memorial of that time are these stumble markers. I had read about them before, and I found them here in front of the synagogue.  They are placed in front of buildings that once housed people removed by the Nazis. All of these peopled died. They are slightly raised so that you have to think about them as you walk over them.

Here is one of the medieval towers with a house built right into it. It made me think of Rahab's house in Joshua. 

We took a boat tour around the old city too. 





Then we eventually made our way to the train station for a 4pm train to Copenhagen.  Our train went right onto a ferry for a 45 minute crossing over the Baltic Sea to mainland Denmark.  It was a nice chance to relax after a busy few days. Cheryl is very good at figuring out metro systems, so we got to our hotel speedily and were pleased to find it right on the historic old harbor with many historic ships and colorful houses right outside our window. 

Day 8--Hamburg and Lubeck

After our tour yesterday, we had some time before lugging the suitcases to the main train station and finding our cabin in a sleeper car.  We were pleasantly surprised by the cleanliness and comfort of the tiny compartment.  There was a lot of giggling as we searched for light switches hidden around the walls. We were riding first class with our own full bathroom with shower, though it was the size of a broom cl

oset.  Our porter brought us some first class treats, and we were very happy. The 10 hour train ride was probably as pleasant as possible, and I slept very well, considering we were on a train.



City Hall



We arrived in Hamburg and would have gone straight into town, except I accidently got stuck on the train as it pulled out of the station. As I banged on the door, hoping it would open, I was a little worried that I was on my way to Berlin, but Cheryl calmly made her way to the tourist information center to wait for my return. The conductors took pity on me and let me off 1 minute later, and I stole a ride on a returning train, so all was well. 

We walked into downtown Hamburg, which boasts several spires on its horizon. This is Germany´s second biggest city, and we certainly noted a more businesslike attitude, plus much less beer on the streets.  Many of the sites we saw had been damaged in the war, especially in the firestorm that swept through the city after an allied bombing attack in 1943. It is very hard to recognize what is original and what has been restored, and of course we´d like to appreciate the original parts.





a very elaborate pulpit in Hamburg´s St. Michael´s



We saw the neo-gothic Rathaus, the City Hall that is also the home of the local state parliament. We walked through the very impressive St. Michael´s Lutheran Church, with white walls decorated with golden roccocco shapes. It is the city´s landmark church, rebuilt after a fire in 1906 then again after the bombing. 



St. Nicholas Memorial



St Nicholas´s church was not rebuilt after the bombing, but left as a memorial to that event and the persecution of the people in the region bz the Nazs.  The WWII memorials here walk an interesting rhetorical line between commemorating German loses and Nazi involvement.  Sometimes they just ignore it. For example, yesterday I asked our guide at Neuschwanstein to tell me about the Nazi occupation of the castle during WWII.  She dismissed it altogether, although things I have read explain that the Nazi´s used this secluded location to store their horde of stolen art. 

Also, there were few if any other American tourists here. It turns out it is not a very easy city to navigate for English-speakers, unlike Munich where half the population in the historic section were either American or Chinese.



We walked to the harbor and waited for an English language boat tour, hoping to hear more history of the city. Instead the tour showed us a metal mangrove forrest of container cranes that run the modern harbor, one of the largest in Europe.  I think I saw thousands of those 20 foot containers.  We hope tomorrow´s boat tour here in Lubeck is more medieval in focus.

Arriving at Lubeck after a 1 hour train ride was a big shift from the busy, cosmopolitan Hamburg.  Here people live in houses dating from the 1200s.  We rested up in our cozy, brightly painted room before venturing out into the narrow streets. Some of the houses are even built into fourteenth century city wall towers.  It is very lovely, except I see a good bit of graffitti marring the streets. 



We walked into the peaceful Lutheran Cathedral, which is whitewashed inside with a few ornate chapels and tombs. It too was damaged in WWII, but really I think most big structures around here were.

I find Lubeck to be much more my speed, and I am looking forward to exploring it tomorrow, once my feet have had a rest from today! We had a lovely alfresco dinner full of herbs--this is potatoes with goat cheese and honey and a salad with a strawberry syrup-basalmic vinegrette (I want to recreate that at home). 

I said Tchuß yesterday, but I learned that it is really a northern Germany expression, so Tschuß!



(Sorry girls, no animals today in the city! You would have liked sleeping in the train, though.)

Day 7--Neuschwanstein and Hochschwanstein

I have been learning more than I thought possible about the Bavarian kings, the folks in charge in southern Germany for several hundred years.  They need to make a Masterpiece series about these guys. Yesterday I saw the homes of some of the earlier Wittlebachs, and today we headed 2 hours out of town on a bus to see two more 19th century homes. When you see the pictures, they look older, but that was because the kings wanted that look.   

Our first caslte was Hochschwangau, or Highland Swan Castle.  The main character we followed, the star of Bavaria, is ´Mad´King Ludwig II.  His father added this yellow castle to the family collection in the early 1800s, and I have to say it is the most livable castle I´ve seen.  Small rooms, pretty homey. Nearly everything is decorated--the walls are painted with scenes from legends and inspiring words--and I saw lots of the four leaf clovers common at the Forks of the Brandywine. That´s because both are neoGothic style buildings. 

Ludwig II grew up without much parental affection, even living in a separate building from his parents, rarely seeing them or other children.  When his father died, he became king at 18 and pretty much devoted the country´s taxes to building neoGothic castles.  His ministers had had enough 22 years later, and they had him declared insane, and then he died mysteriously.  He had workmen building his famous Neuschwanstein for 17 years, and he lived in it for only 172 days before he was committed to an asylum and murdered {most likely} 2 days later. 

We hiked up to the castle through a gorge. This is a shot from halfway up the hike. We then hiked the rest of the way up to that bridge for an amazing view of the castle. 

 

It is very picturesque from the outside, but the inside didn´t thrill me quite as much as the smaller castle. It did have a pretty, enclosed outdoor garden and reading chair on a balcony perched at a startling altitude, and a surprising faux grotto with fake stalagtites.  The interior is supposed to channel Wagner´s operas. 

Then we walked down the mountain and drove back to Munich. This is our last night here.

Lunch today was a filling pork mushroom dish (they love pork and ham here) and spaetzle, or noodles. 



Some other neat sites from our hike are below.  Tscuß!