Scandanavia, Netherlands and a bit of Germany

Well I've found an internet cafe in The Hague and I'm typing away with 50 or so Africans who seem to be communicating with those left on that continent. A sign on the wall is telling said Africans that if they send unwanted emails again, the police may shut down the whole internet cafe and the owners will take legal proceedings against the culprit. So yes, the place has a nice vibe.

Now where were we on our tale of our recent happenings? My post of 3 May 2005 had one flaw. I didn't comment on our night in Bamburg. I'll quote from Lonely Planet "Magnificence is a by-word for Bamberg". We didn't really know what that meant until we saw the city for our own eyes. An amazing collection of 14th to 18th century buildings that survived the war. I cannot recommend this town for a one night stay highly enough. And we slept upstairs in a brewery. This is not unusual in Bamberg which has more breweries than any other city in Germany (including Munich). It was however disturbing to roll up to breakfast at 8:45am on the Sunday morning when the German pope gave his first mass and find 20 or so Germans (men and women) downing their first 500ml frothy beverage of the day. We stayed clear of that and stuck to the meat and cheese that Germans love to have to start the day.

After Berlin we made a run to the border to catch a ferry to Sassnitz in Sweden. This town is next to Malmo which is connected to Copenhagen by a bridge. All was looking good for the 1:00pm ferry until we left the autobahn and tried to take the "most direct" route. Anyway to cut a long long drive short, we missed the ferry and had to go on a stand by list for the 5:45pm ferry. We made that ferry and spent an enjoyable trip with 500 Swedes who had stocked up on cheap alcohol in Germany. Let me paint the picture. Spirits in Sweden are 200 kronors or so. In Germany, the same bottle is 90 kronors. ie less than half. Swedes can legally carry in 20 litres of spirts, 40 litres of wine and 90 litres of beer. Scandlines (the Ferry company) charges 1800 kronors each way per vehicle. So if you put 4 Swedes in a vehicle as big as a Toyota Tarago you can carry back into Sweden 80 litres of spirits, 160 litres of wine and 360 litres of beer. And you can sleep tonight assured that each Swede had achieved his quota. It was the most unbelievable shopping that I have ever seen. Cars weighed down to the point where the rear suspension no longer worked were rolling onto the ferry and rolling off the other end. Hope there was no speed humps on the way home.

Malmo, Sweden had a couple of things going for it:
(1) It was in a country where we had never been and thus added a point to our country count.

(2) It had windmills, canals, swans and now Europe's tallest building - the Turning Torso. An amazing thing that is rotated 90 degrees from top to bottom so you think it will fall over.

(3) It is connected by a bridge to Copenhagen that takes about 20 minutes to cross as it passes over the sea separating the two countries.

Copenhagen was amazing. We did not see Mary but we did go to the Tivoli Gardens. It has the rollercoasters and the crowds that go with it but it also has theatre, big bands and about 20 restaurants. A fine Saturday night in Scandanavia.

We then made our way to Kolding Copenhagen for the night after visiting a number of traditional Danish villages. Everybody knows Scandanavia is expensive but as we rested our head in our single beds in a youth hostel costing the equivalent of about 140 Australian dollars, we made sure that we maximised our sleeping time.

You obviously need to marry a Prince to be able to afford to sleep in this part of the world.

We made our way back into Germany and back on to the autobahns. Everything you have heard about the autobahs is true. You can set the cruise control for 150kmh and be one of the slowest cars on the road. The fastest cars on the road are, without exception, black Audi wagons. We thought it would be Porsches or sporty Mercedes but these are quite measured in their approach next to the black Audi Wagons. We were passed by numerous of these vehicles doing a minimum of 200 kmh. If you are not in the way, its an awesome sight. If you are in the wrong lane, they sure approach quick in the rear-view.

A night in Bremen was great and then to Amsterdam. We took the canal bus across almost every canal and did all the typical tourist things, including wandering through the red light district. The highlight being the group of 70 somethings on a tour being offered a tipple of alcohol to stiffen their nerves before they embarked on their walk.

We watched the VE Day Commemoration and the Queen of the Netherlands laying a wreath to honour those who have died in wars and peace keeping. It was a moving ceremony which we felt compelled to watch after we have spent so learn in Germany and other countries learning about the war. The Dutch have a real affection for their Queen which was completely foreign to Cathy and I. The Prime Minister on the other hand looks a bit like Harry Potter .

Today however was a real highlight:

1. We found some working windmills crushing peanuts and making peanut oil. Sure it was set up strictly for tourists but we are on tour and it was fantastic.

2. We visited the Keukenhof Gardens and saw the tulips. The gardens are open for 8 weeks a year and attract about a million visitors. The gardens were great, the carpark reminded me of a big Saturday afternoon at VFL Park when the Pies were playing Carlton and you had to try and work out how to get out of the carpark!

The next couple of days will see us in Leidon, Delft, Rotterdam and then off to Belgium.