Cruising on the slow boat to Oslo

It should hardly be surprising that travel between the Scandinavian countries is very much a nautical affair. The coastlines are enormous and water is truly integrated into the daily life of the vast majority of folks in the region. And so getting between Copenhagen and Oslo can be done either by hopping on one of the many daily flights between the two capital cities or by cruising with DFDS Seaways on one of their ships plying the waters between the two countries. There is a daily sailing in each direction that takes about 16.5 hours. It is certainly not the fastest way to get between Copenhagen and Oslo, nor is it necessarily the cheapest or the most luxurious. But it is probably the most relaxing and certainly it is an enjoyable way to cover the distance.

The amenities on board the ship are typical of most cruise liners, albeit not quite as involved as the mega-ships of the Caribbean. Yes, there is a sun deck, duty-free shopping, a night club, a discotheque and a few restaurants. But there are no swimming pools, ice skating rinks, rock climbing walls or midnight buffets. The ship carries cars in addition to people which limits the number of passengers a bit but there are still about a thousand folks on board enjoying the crossing. And they seem to be a typical distribution that you’d find on any cruise (at least the few I’ve been on). There are families, a slightly higher percentage of older folks and the random collection of guys that seem to be straight out of central casting as “Jersey Guidos” though I’m not entirely sure where they find those guys in Denmark. There was even the random guy who just walked by at 8am with one open beer and about four more rolled up in his shirt; I hope he realizes that they won’t go bad if he doesn’t drink them all this morning.

The ship sets off at 5pm from the ferry terminal in Copenhagen, plenty late that you get a full day for your last day in Denmark. And it arrives in Oslo at 9:30am, just after the morning rush. In between the coastlines of Denmark, Sweden and Norway are the views off the deck of the ship, scrolling by at about 20 miles/hour. Yes, it is a much slower means of transportation than flying, but it is worth it to take a bit of pause in a hurried life of travel.

The arrival onto the coast of Norway is a rather stark change from the Danish coastline. Sure, most of Denmark that you see is part of the capital city area while the Norwegian coast is decidedly unpopulated a a similar distance from Oslo. And that is also part of the allure of this region of the country. Shrouded in a morning fog there are small islands and towns with a few dozen homes carved into the wooded hills of the coast. Truly rather beautiful.

We’ll arrive in port in another hour or so, back to the hustle and bustle of city life for a few hours before heading back out of town and off to the west coast of Norway and the centerpiece of this trip – the fjords.

A decidedly craptacular photo of the moon and its reflection on the sea.

Hmmm…interesting juxtaposition.

Note: This post is showing up a couple days later than it actually happened because I’m off in the middle of nowhere enjoying the fjords but didn’t want to leave the blog empty all week.

The love of the hotdog in Copenhagen

One of the bits of advice I received in my planning for the trip to Copenhagen was to “try the hotdogs.” I was assured that they were a great way to get a relatively inexpensive meal (though it truly is relative – they are $5-8 each on the street). And it was suggested that they were really quite delicious. Well, I’ve had the hotdog, and it was definitely less expensive than most every other meal option. But I’m not entirely sure that “delicious” is the word I’d use to describe them. Maybe it is my fault because I ordered the wrong one. But at that price I wasn’t going to try the full range of choices they had. Or maybe it is just that the hotdogs are strange there and I had no business ordering one in the first place. Perhaps I’ll never know.

The hot dog carts are scattered about in the touristy areas of town but not on every street corner or even in most of the squares that we passed through. Perhaps that should have been a hint that it wasn’t meant to be. In fact, I had to eat an extra meal that day and go out of my way to find a hotdog cart because there weren’t any around each time we went to eat. Or, perhaps I should have taken the closure of one of the more written about hotdog options – the Grill at Nimb in Tivoli Gardens – as a hint; even the relatively expensive $10 versions there weren’t enough to keep them in business using quality ingredients so how good could the cheap ones be?

Still, when I showed up at the kiosk near Nyhavn I was reasonably impressed with the selections available on the grill and forged ahead with my plans to dine on these delicacies.

The guy in front of me in line ordered and was served and then it was my turn. I certainly could say the name of the version I wanted in Danish – it was “Frankfurter.” The woman working the cart asked what I wanted on it and I went with the “everything” approach. Perhaps a mistake there, but I was trying to experience the true Copenhagen hotdog and toppings didn’t seem like a place to skimp. I handed over my 30 Kronor and I received back this behemoth, virtually impossible to eat without making a complete mess of myself, especially since I was trying to do so while walking.

I found a quiet place to stop and try to eat this thing. That only helped a tiny bit in the mess department. The dog was twice as long as the bun and the bun did nothing to contain the toppings on the sides. The skin was a bit crunchy – I actually like that in general as it shows the grilled nature of the dog rather than boiled like one gets in New York City – but that also made it harder to eat because it “bounced back” each time I bit in, shaking a few of the toppings loose.

I made it through about half the dog before finally giving up, licking my wounds (and fingers, hands and forearms) and making my way back to the hotel to grab our bags and head to the ferry terminal for the ride to Oslo. I had most certainly been defeated by the hotdogs of Copenhagen and there was nothing I could do about it.

Hanging out with Hamlet in Helsingor

One thing that Europe doesn’t struggle with is castles to tour. From the heart of Prague to the chateaux in France to the ridiculous number of fortified structures in the Irish countryside, there seems to always be a castle available when you’re looking for something historical to see. Denmark is no different with well preserved castles all over the country. There are a few right in and around Copenhagen that make for great visits when in the area. One of these is Kronborg Castle at Helsingør, home of the King, Queen and – in Shakespeare’s mind – Hamlet.

The courtyard of Kronborg Castle

Hamlet does not really exist in history so claiming that the castle is his home is rather off. But there definitely is a royal castle there and it setting works quite well for telling the tale. Plus, it makes for good business with drawing tourists to the site. The Danes have readily adopted Hamlet into their lore and are happy to tell his tale in Helsingør as long as you’re willing to show up.

Helsingør is about 40 kilometers north of Copenhagen, an easy ride of about 55 minutes on the train from one city center to the other. The castle Kronborg is just a short walk outside of downtown Helsingør and is easily accessible to take a tour or simply to wander around the grounds and bask in the glow of royalty. In fact, large parts of the castle grounds do not have any access controls or admission charges. There were a large number of folks simply taking advantage of the well groomed lawns as a site for their picnics and other summer fun. Certainly it is possible to get a good feel for the castle this way, but to truly experience it takes buying in for at least one of the three tours that they offer.

Of the three tours offered the most enjoyable and focused on the history of the castle is that of the Royal Apartments. As it would seem, the tour covers the residential areas of the castle including the royal chambers, guest facilities and the great hall that is still used even today for some royal events. It is also available to rent if you’re throwing a party, though I have no idea just how ridiculous the rates are. There are occasional guided tours of the Royal Apartments and we were fortunate enough to stumble onto one. Having explanations of the history certainly was better than simply walking through the rooms and seeing old furniture and whatnot.

There are plenty of placards around if a guided tour doesn’t seem to be in the cards, but the guided tour is definitely recommended. Taking the guided tour exposes you to such details as the fact that King Christian IV had “seven children by his first wife, eleven by his second wife and five on the loose.” So maybe half the fun of the guided tour is the translations but it was still rather useful information about the history of the castle.

A close-up of one of the tapestries. The level of detail is truly amazing.

The highlight for me of the Royal Apartments tour was the tapestries. They are incredibly detailed and ridiculously large. Some took four years to produce while others were made with threads of silk, silver and gold (that one is rather smaller). The fact that 500 years later they still show much of the same vibrancy and color is truly impressive.

Another impressive bit from the Royal Apartments was the globes they had on display. There are a couple that are about 500 years old and are not completely accurate but certainly give a great insight into how the sailors of that era navigated. Even with the less that perfect maps they seemed to do a pretty good job.

One of the 500 year old globes that they had on display. Truly amazing!

Looking down on the courtyard from the tower in the Maritime Museum.	Looking out through one of the leaded glass windows in the tower stairs.

In addition to the Royal Apartments there are two other sections of the castle that require a paid admission. One is the maritime museum. There is a bit of older history there but most of that museum seems to be a display of random models of ships. They are pretty neat but not all that compelling, particularly as many of them are from the modern shipping era. But the Maritime Museum tour does include access to one of the towers of Kronborg. I’m actually convinced that the only reason to pay for admission to the Maritime Museum is to gain access to that tower – the views from up top are pretty amazing. That, or you’re a big fan of Maersk and their history as a shipping company.

The statue of Holger, the basis of the Casements tour.

The other – and most strange – tour available at the castle is of the Casements. The Casements are essentially the damp, dank, dark basement of the castle. The folks running the show have purposefully kept the casements dark. As in black-out level. I actually used the flash on my camera to light up various areas along the way or I don’t think I would have been able to make it through. Of course they are happy to sell you a flashlight/torch as you enter the basement but it is very, very dark without a light. More than just dark, it is really rather strange. The entire area is set up as a tribute to the legend of Holger the Dane. The walls contain messages written in silver paint that tell the story of Holger, a great defender of Danish life and tradition. Still, without a light it is almost impossible to figure out what the hell is going on or otherwise enjoy the exhibit. Even with a light it still seems a rather strange way to experience the Casements, an area that has housed hundreds of soldiers at various times throughout history.

Beyond the Kronborg Castle there is really little else to recommend Helsingør. There is the church and a few other shops. And there is their single largest industry – selling booze to Swedes who come across to save money on the taxes. But otherwise Helsingør is pretty much just the town that holds Kronborg. Not a bad thing by any stretch, but don’t plan on seeing a lot of other things during the visit unless you head over to Sweden, too.

Note: This post is showing up a couple days later than it actually happened because I’m off in the middle of nowhere enjoying the fjords but didn’t want to leave the blog empty all week.

Random bonus country time – Sweden!

Our trip to Scandinavia was supposed to only really cover two countries – Denmark and Norway. Still, when I learned that we were going to be visiting a friend of my wife’s up in Helsingør, Denmark – just a 20 minute ferry ride across the way from Helsingbor, Sweden – I became somewhat hopeful of adding that to the trip.  That hope was realized yesterday as we headed over to Sweden on the ferry for lunch and to wander around for a couple hours.

One of the many ferries serving the Helsingborg/Helsingor route.

The ferry ride between Helsingør and Helsingbor is quick, cheap and easy, with three different companies plying the route and ferries running several times per hour.  And at less than $10 for a return ticket the ferry is actually one of the more affordable things in Denmark.  We hopped on Scandlines’s ship Hamlet (cute, right?) and cruised across the sunny calm waters and docked in Sweden about 20 minutes later.

Entry into Sweden consisted of just walking off the boat.  No immigration checks.  No customs.  Nothing.  Even if we had wanted someone to check out our passports or if we had taxable items on which we needed to pay duty that would not have been possible as those desks were not manned at the terminal.  So we successfully invaded Sweden.  We then set off to wander about downtown Helsingborg and grab some lunch.

Locals enjoying the beach near the ferry terminal in Helsingborg, Sweden.

Helsingborg, Sweden is a much prettier town than Helsingør, Denmark so wandering around was rather more enjoyable.  The shopping areas seemed to be a bit more upscale rather than focusing entirely on selling alcohol to Swedes who cross over to Denmark to avoid taxes on their booze (truly the backbone of Helsingr’s economy).  There are also the typical tourist sites, including the 500 year old church and remnants from an old castle.  Both are quite well done, actually, and worth wandering over to see.

The only remaining bit from the castle at Helsingborg.	A rose out in front of the medieval church.  Lots of roses all over the region.

One of the many shops in the shopping area of Helsingborg

We also dropped in to the local Italian restaurant for a surprisingly good lunch.  My preferred choice was not available and so I ended up with a curried shrimp over pasta, decidedly un-Italian but still rather delicious.  And the carbonara was pretty delicious.  As an added bonus, I also got to sample the local beer, a lager by the name of Spendrups.  Nothing to write home about, but it certainly qualified as cold, wet and beer, three things that I needed at that point.

Overall I must say that Helsingborg is definitely worth the visit.  It is a fun, quaint town and has more to offer than Helsingør, assuming that you’re not looking for Hamlet’s castle.  Plus it meant that I got another new country on this trip which is always a good thing!

Another failed effort to grow my passport

With my rather increased international travel schedule (10+ countries
so far this year) my passport has filled up quickly. I'm down to only
one fully blank page now and only about 10 total blank squares. But
that shouldn't be too much of a problem to resolve since getting extra
pages is a simple process. At least that's what folks would have you
believe. I'm now on my 4th different US embassy and have still not
managed to grow my passport, with the latest setback coming this
morning.

It used to be that having pages added while in the USA cost money
while doing it at an embassy abroad was free. The fees no longer exist
for doing it in the USA but it still requires that the passport be
mailed off the Philly, processed and mailed back. And if you want it
handled quickly there is an expedite fee involved. Otherwise there is
the potential to be without passport for weeks rather than just a week
with the expedited service. Getting it done at an embassy makes a ton
of sense since it usually is completed in about 30 minutes and has
always been free.

And so I've tried to get additional pages at the embassy. How hard
could it be? Fill out the form from the State Department website and
just head over to the embassy first thing in the morning to get it
done. Sadly, it just hasn't worked out that way for me. A number of my
international trips this year have been over weekends so those were
immediately disqualified from contention, but I've had plenty of
eligible trips that have simply ended in disappointment.

First was the trip to Panama back in March. I contacted the embassy in
advance, got all the details and paperwork and then realized that I
had no chance. They require a full day for processing according to
their email and I only had about 3 hours on Monday morning to deal
with it. I suppose I could have just shown up and asked but it didn't
seem likely so I didn't bother. Plus, we were busy seeing Casco Viejo
that morning anyways.

Next up I tried for Bermuda. I had plenty of time on the island - two
full weekdays. And still no love. Their policy is even worse than that
of Panama, with all requests taking a full week to process. Apparently
they mail them back to the USA for processing rather than doing it
locally. Plus, they don't have any parking at the consulate there and
it isn't exactly in the middle of town. So that one was out, too.

I had a glimmer of hope for this visit to Copenhagen. The consular
services office would be open one of the days I was here and there was
no reason I could think of why they wouldn't be able to quickly add
the pages for me this morning. Well, they managed to invent one. I was
in the door at 9am, right when it opened for citizen services. I
presented my paperwork and passport and was told that it would be
ready on Monday. Since I'll be on a kayak in a fjord on Monday that
wasn't going to work so well. I asked for immediate processing
instead. The guy wandered off for about 5 minutes and came back with
an offer for maybe having it done at 3pm today. Only maybe and no
promises at all. Since we're headed to Helsingor now and won't be back
until late this afternoon that just won't work. I explained my
situation again and pretty much begged him to process it immediately
as I know can be done. I received a very polite "no" in return. And so
it was that I finished the visit to the embassy in 10 minutes, just
like everyone says it takes, but I managed to do so without my extra
pages.

We won't be near the embassy in Oslo while it is open so that is out
as an option. I might have to actually give in and mail my passport
off to be processed. I hate the idea of not having it available just
in case a great fare pops up and I definitely need it back by
mid-August with more international travel planned. But thus far the
embassies haven't been able to help me so I may have to give in on
this one.

--
Where am I going today?
www.wanderingaramean.com

Playing Viking for a day at the Vikingeskibsmuseet in Roskilde

That really long word is simply Danish for Viking Museum and a visit to the Vikingeskibsmuseet is the cornerstone of a visit to Roskilde, just 20 minutes west of Copenhagen.  The museum serves as both a research facility and as a display for some of the artifacts that have been recovered over the past several decades.  And they even let you play “Viking” if you want!

This boat is over 1500 years old and surprisingly well preserved.

The ships that they have recovered are nothing short of amazing.  There are at least seven that we saw, ranging from a sixty-person warship that was originally built around 1022 to an eight-seater built around 450.  Yup, a 1500+ year old specimen.  The ship from 450 is actually so well preserved that we looked at it several ties and assumed it to be a replica before finally being convinced that it is the original thing.

The reconstructed pieces of one of the five ships recovered in the 1960s.

There was a major find in 1962 of five ships at the bottom of the channel leading from Roskilde to the sea.  The five were intentionally sunk by loading them with rocks.  They were scuttled as part of a defensive effort to blockade the channel, allowing the Danes to control access to their port and slow any advancing navies that might attack.  A rather impressive amount of those ships was recovered and they have been reassembled and placed on display in the museum.

One of the recovered ships was actually recreated by the museum starting in 2004.  The Sea Stallion of Glendalough was built using tools and methods of the Viking style and era and using similar woods that the Vikings had available.  This 30 meter long reconstruction was completed in 2007 and sailed from Denmark to Dublin, Ireland as part of their research.  The exhibit and movie that they have on the reconstruction and the journey to Ireland is quite impressive.

There are also a number of workshops and other research facilities that are open to the public.  Almost all of their reconstruction efforts are performed using only the tools and methods of 1000 years ago meaning that the progress is slow but quite amazing to watch.

 

In addition to the many ships that they have on display there are a few that are kept in use, allowing visitors to experience life as a Viking.  We were able to take a ship out for about a half hour and experience a bit of the life on the water.  We got to row the boat out from the docks and then help raise the sail and cruise under wind power for a bit before heading back to the docks.  Unfortunately the winds weren’t particularly strong today but it was still quite an enjoyable experience.

Beyond the Viking Museum there isn’t much to recommend Roskilde.  The town was actually somewhat overrun today with folks settling in for the annual music festival which meant huge crowds.  And the main streets were mostly full of vendors selling what would politely be called “junk” in most other places.  There is a small city museum various other excavations around town.  But overall not a ton to see there.  Still, at only about 20 minutes out of town on the local trains a trip to Roskilde is definitely a great opportunity if you’re in Copenhagen.

Half price from Gogo

As part of a promo with Delta Gogo has introduced a promo code good for the next three weeks to provide a single half-price session on their in-flight internet service.

Save 50% on a single Gogo session (except segment pass and 24hr pass) until 7/19/2009. Use code 156FLYDA.
To Use your discount on a wi-fi session:
1) Select 'gogoinflight' as the wireless network and launch you browser
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3) On 'Payment Info' page, enter promo code in space provide (code is case sensitive)
4) Click 'Update Total'
Thank you! And Happy Travels,
Gogo Inflight Internet

This almost makes the cost of the service reasonable.