Denmark, land of Danes

I’ve left Norway after a nice long visit. There is still so much to see there but my bank account can’t handle an extended visit in that country. Now I head to Denmark which is almost as pricey.

My plan for Denmark is to start north and then eventually end up in Copenhagen. My itinerary started busy with many city changes but I do eliminate at least one overnight location because I very much need to start scheduling more downtime. After my friend who never sleeps left me in Norway I joke that I took at least four naps the next day (two of them were on flights but I never nap like that back home). Not getting a full night sleep for multiple days hits me hard….but I did have fun.

Now I’m in Aalborg, a quiet town in northern Denmark. Right before I get off the airport bus I slam my leg into something. I am always smashing into things but this pain is so bad it debilitates me for a second, luckily the driver doesn’t take off right away because it takes me a second to get my composure and bags. As I hop off the bus a bike almost runs into me. Apparently part of the sidewalk is a bike lane. I am loving the bike friendliness but I just am not prepared. I drop my bags and take a couple more seconds to breathe through the pain. This is going to be a huge bruise later (note: the bruise resulting from this injury stays with me months later – no exaggeration).

I find my hotel on this unseasonably HOT day and there is no AC but they do include a fan in the room. Bonus points for them. I have no real plans within the town only a day trip tomorrow but the front desk is very helpful with suggestions.

After my bag drop at hotel I go out to explore and eat lunch. All the places I had picked to eat at are either empty or not open yet. I settle on a place that has smørrebrød, a thick heavy dark bread topped with any number of ingredients. I order the eel because someone says eel is good in some online review. There is bread, some sort of aioli, cold eel and topped with tomatoes, chives and dill. It is good but I find myself eyeing my neighbors plates instead. Smørrebrød is popular throughout Denmark so I am sure I’ll try it again.

I walk down to the water to admire the action down there. It is Saturday and beautiful and many are out enjoying it. A DJ plays techno music in a park while people sip on beers they can purchase from a trailer.

Also nearby is a very large USA coast guard ship. It is available for touring but I have missed the visting hours. After chatting with my cousin he tells me that it was docked in London years ago and he learned it used to be a German ship that USA acquired in WW2.

I walk down the party street Jomfru Ane Gade. I am not in the mood for partying but I do come across this interesting tapas chain on the corner of the street. My smorrebrod from earlier didn’t quite fill me up so I head in for a snack and a drink. The food isn’t too exciting but I am able to get some vegetable tapas to fill my veggie quota for the day (although the asparagus is swimming in bacon, not quite as healthy).

The next morning after breakfast I take the train to Skagen. Google somehow had the times wrong and I had to wait an additional half hour – perhaps I was looking at Saturday times and today is Sunday. Anyway the train runs every hour most days and is about a slow 2 hour ride to Skagen. It is slow because there are a few stops where it just sits and waits for about ten minutes. Without those waits I believe the route could be faster.

After I get off the train I head first to a bakery. I walk down a shopping street and am tempted by all the adorable sundresses on the racks outside. At the bakery I try a very large danish (but it is technically a half serving). I can tell you what we get in the USA should be embarrassed be called a danish. It is nothing like what I’ve been getting in the Nordic countries.

I head over to the bike rental place closer to the water. I realize later there is one right outside the train station but because I didn’t walk by it I never realized it was there until I caught the afternoon train back. The bikes are rented for the day which is fine because I have no idea how long I will need the bike anyway. I head in the direction of Grenen. I stop to admire the ocean views along the way.

When I get to the parking lot for Grenen there is a large area for parking bikes. Luckily these bikes have locks built in. I make sure the bike is locked and take the key with me.

It is a 3km walk to and back to the tip of the beach that contains the point where the two oceans collide into each other: North Sea and Baltic Sea. You walk past old German bunkers used by the nazi’s in WWII when they occupied Denmark. I then walk along the beach where dozens of jellyfish are pushed onto shore by the waves. I try to avoid them but do end up stepping on one when I am on my phone and not paying attention. Luckily there are no stingers involved since I am barefoot and enjoying the cold water. We are told no swimming is allowed because of the strong currents but I do occasionally let the water cover my feet.

I get to the tip of the peninsula where the oceans meet. You can see the waves occasionally head toward each other. I think the effect is more pronounced at low tide but now it is closer to high tide. There is a crowd at the tip as well as unclothed children running around. It is my understanding that Denmark is pretty liberal with its stance on nudity but I am struggling to get pictures without these kids in it. Thankfully they soon get clothed and leave.

I enjoy the view for a bit and then walk back to my bike. Except for the high tide I timed my visit correctly because it seems like it is going to start to rain soon. I get on the bike and head back to Skagen. I ride around a bit and get a seafood lunch. I order a plate of peel and eat shrimp and Norwegian lobsters (similar to langostinos).

It does start to rain a bit while I eat but I decided to ride around town a bit anyway. I return the bike and head to the train station to take the 2 hour ride back. When I arrive in Aalborg I take a quick stop at the singing trees. There is a park behind the train station that has boxes in front of rows of trees. Each box represents a musical artist that has visited the city. You can push a button and listen to samples of their music. It is a very unique art installation. The park seems safe enough but toward the edge of this exhibit there are some people sitting at a picnic table acting erratically (drugs maybe). Every place I’ve been in my recent travels has been very safe but I also have good instinct so I get far away from the group…..no need to chase trouble.

I fortunately bought snacks this time and decided I wasn’t hungry enough to go eat dinner somewhere tonight. This might be a good time to catch up on some much needed rest again.

Tomorrow I head to another city in Denmark.

Stavanger Norway

I fly from Budapest (Hungary) to Oslo (Norway) and then Oslo to Stavanger. During my layover I eye some sushi rolls. They are pre-made but taste good all the same. The fish just tastes fresher here.

I also stock up on some snacks at the airport store since I didn’t have any during my last flight. I seem to always forget to bring snacks.

After my short flight there is no wait at all to catch the bus into Stavanger city. I can easily pay on the bus by credit card. The flat I have rented is about a 7 minute walk from where the bus drops me. I am staying in the historic part of town distinct because of its rows of old white wooden houses. As I walk to the flat a group of seagulls scream by me, drop a piece of bread near me and they scream to pick it up again. It scares the crap out of me. They fly away but I should have taken that as an omen. More about that later.

It is 4:30 PM and it seems like all the attractions close for the day at 4:00PM if they are open at all; in fact some attractions only open days cruises are at port. The only thing to do at this point is go out to find something to eat. As I walk by the water a notice a very large cruise ship in port. I stop for a few minutes to see it leave the harbor.

Choices in food seem to be limited due to it being Sunday, in fact the grocery store that is supposed to be open at this time is even closed. I walk by the colorful district of Fargegaten. It is a lively area (relatively since Norway seems to be subdued) but it is filled with mostly coffee shops or bars so not a great choice for dinner. I’ll have to return for a drink another time.

I settle on a pizza place across the street from a very lively Irish pub. A group of football supports are having pre-drinks and chanting supporter songs loudly while they wait for their upcoming local match to start. I order a “pepperoni” pizza and salad and settle on a space outside to enjoy the cool but very sunny weather (Note: pepperoni sausage in the USA is rarely the same thing as you get in other countries. It is sausage but is a different flavor). My pizza and salad eventually come out and I watch a seagull occasionally stop at the the abandoned table next to be and loudly bang his beak on the plate. I am about one piece into my pizza and the bird is back. I fumble with my phone to get a video and within seconds the bird flys over and picks up my entire pizza and drops it to the ground while I scream “NO!”. The people next to me look at me with concern, the guys across the street are laughing and concerned as well. It is comical. I feel kind of stupid for leaving my pizza unprotected. The server at the restaurant is very kind. They make me a new pizza and I decide to move inside for part two. Before I move a guy from across the street approaches me to comment on the bird. We chat for a few minutes on how he regularly works at a bar down the street. He was intrigued on why there are so many more Americans visiting now when it was not common in the past. I didn’t have an answer for him. Maybe Americans in general are just traveling more.

Pizza, thrown on the ground unceremoniously

It’s hard to go to bed at a decent time since the constant sunlight is messing with my circadian rhythm. My flat is cute but black out curtains in the bedroom don’t really black out when it is still light out until 3:00 AM and for some reason the front windows have no curtains. Also I had lots of naps on the airplane on the way here.

You have to pay for public restrooms, by credit. This one cost less than $1 USD. They are always clean.

There are a handful of museums to see in the town but many of them seem to be closed on Mondays so Monday is the day I pick to hike Pulpit Rock(Preikestolen) where I am supposed to get some spectacular views of the fjords. I book a bus to take me to the trailhead which is little over an hour bus ride. I could do a cruise plus hike option but I already have some cruises booked later in my travels plus I really don’t want to rush my hike since I am a slow hiker. The bus ride is scenic with a drive through a long tunnel that has a beautiful blue lighted area about halfway through it.

The trail to the main attraction is about 5 miles roundtrip. It is certainly doable from my fitness level but I am coming into this knowing there will be a good amount of up and down that will make this trail more challenging than I am used to in my flatland. Just as I suspect there are many ups and downs (but most of the downs are on the return trip which may be considered worse depending on your perspective). The trail goes from steep switchback incline, to well formed stone steps, to randomly scattered stone steps which I have to almost do some scrambling to get over due to my short legs. In between there are some beautiful spots of large stone fins and wooden bridges in open areas. It is truly a beautiful hike. It is chilly at about 55 degrees Fahrenheit but between the intense sun and the physical effort in climbing, most are comfortable wearing short sleeved shirts during the trail effort, I know I am.

I finally get to Pulpit Rock and it is busy but the crowds don’t seem to annoy me as they normally do. Maybe all the fresh air and exercise has filled my body with extra serotonin. People are picnicking around. I take out the carton of coffee I purchased this morning and enjoy it along with the view. And speaking of the views, they are very nice. It is worth the effort to see the beauty. I take some pictures, relax and then head back. So far the trail as taken the amount of time it was estimated to take (it is estimated 2 hours each way and it took me just slightly over 2 which is notable in itself since I am generally much slower than the estimates say). I want to make sure I have plenty of time to get back to be bus at 4:00 PM since sometimes going down the rocks is much harder than going up – which I can say this is the case today. I feel the pressure on my joints, my knees and lower back. I will be hurting later. Many have walking sticks and while I usually have them when I travel for hiking trips in the USA, I never take them on international adventures. A guy on the trail tells me I should have rented some at the trailhead ….. I had no idea I could do that.

Because my circadian rhythm has been off I am determined to not sleep on the bus ride back but nature takes over with the soothing of a bus putting me to sleep multiple times. I do wake to admire the long tunnel again.

Thoroughly exhausted I get a quick fast food dinner, get some groceries for the morning and then go back to shower and rest for the night. I lather up with bio-freeze and topical pain cream to prevent whatever might ail me in the night from this day’s hike. Luckily museums open later tomorrow so I can let myself slowly awake into the day.

Norwegian Petroleum Museum (Norsk Oljemuseum)

One of the big museums in town is the Norwegian Petroleum museum. The museum visit starts with a movie called Oil Child. Oil Child is an artsy movie about living in the region with the development of oil rigs shown through the perspective of the son of an oil worker.

The rest of the museum is the history of petroleum in Norway and especially this region. Oil has brought lots of money to this country and the decision of the government to nationalize part of its profits has provided many things to the citizens of its country: infrastructure development, medical care, and pensions. Still the museum is honest about the dangers of the industry and promotes alternative forms of energy that you can learn about through interactive exhibits. A visit to this museum gave me a different perspective of an industry I am indifferent to (at best) or suspicious of (at worst). I also learned that oil is not from the remains of dinosaurs (laughing) but it is from millions of years of time and some algae.

Norwegian Canning Museum plus graphic museum (IDDIS Norsk grafisk museum og Norsk hermetikkmuseum) starts with a printing museum visit that to be honest I didn’t find that interesting until it got to the section of can printing and the special artwork that was made for the canned fish such as sardines. We are told how the fish are caught, smoked and canned (by hand!). We also learn about how child labor was very prominent in the industry during earlier times. Then we learn about the collapse of the industry and then consolidation. I really enjoyed looking at the artwork on all the cans.

I think about visiting the history museum but it closes today at 3 as do all the other museums. To really appreciate this city you need a multiple day visit because the museums have such limited hours.

It is almost time for my dinner reservation anyway at a fish restaurant where i am determined to order some crabs. King crabs is what they have available today and they are served cold with pickled onions and this very delicious creamy chili crab dipping sauce. The sauce reminds me of the chili crab I had in Singapore.

You would never know by the level of sunlight but it is getting late and I have a very early flight tomorrow so early that I’ll have to call a cab instead of taking the affordable bus. Tomorrow I start the road trip part of my Norway adventure.

Afternoon on the water Dubrovnik

I wake up early and take a short walk and get a coffee. Finally I am able to find coffee to-go, rare in the Balkans. It’s not great coffee, but at least I am not required to sit at a cafe. I also get a cheese and spinach burek and make kitty friends as I sit on the steps to eat.

M wakes up and we decide to walk and get some snacks while we wait for our kayaking tour to start.

It’s finally time for our kayaking tour so we head out. We are both are experienced kayakers but I’ve only been ocean kayaking a little. We decide its for the best that she’s in the back of our tandem kayak since she the more experienced out of the two of us. Initially the tour is nice and easy. The guides decide to split the group into two: one for a shorter route and one for a longer route of about 8km. We decide on the longer route that takes us around the island of Lokrum. As we paddle toward the island we look back to admire the walls of the city.

We paddle around the island and reach a cave. Right outside the cave there is a ledge where we are to attempt a cliff dive. I plan on skipping the cliff dive but it seems the rest of the group is doing it so I guess I must too. The only problem is climbing up on the rock initially; between the sharp edges and the slippery parts I am a mess but with help I get up. There are two jumps to do, the high jump and the lower jump. The lower jump is high enough for me. I eventually do my jump into the very cold water and hang around on the lower rocks while I wait for everyone to finish their jumps – there is no way I am going to attempt to climb back up. The girls with wetsuits have it much better since they easily climb the rocks. I could have shimmied my way up if I had something protecting my body from the sharpness of the rocks.

The guide loads us back into our kayaks 2 by two and we head out a bit to wait and a quick look to the left gives us the vision of at least 3 naked men sunning on the rocks. Yes we were warned about this but it is no less jolting than seeing it for yourself. We giggle and make jokes about wieners and balls because we have the sense of humor of ten year old boys. Now it is time to paddle to the next cave for a little rest and swim.

Our views of the city from here are a little obscured from here due to the haze and the lowered sun. The cave is nice and cold. We do a quick swim and head back towards the starting point.

Our arms and shoulders are already pretty tired at this point but the paddle back uses all our energy reserves. We curse the kayak and waves a little bit but in time we make it to the calmer cove to exit our kayak. Despite the workout, it is a lovely tour. We will most likely be in pain tomorrow.

Our day isn’t over yet since we still plan to walk the city walls this afternoon. At close to 40 euros the cost is pricey but the money is used to maintain the walls that are pretty impressive. We have two hours to get around before they close. We make it all the way around and even stop at two of the bars up top for a drink along the way.

We stop for dinner to end the evening. My stomach gets upset from dinner or the physical effort or the alcohol so that night and the next day are a little rough for me.

We take the ferry to Lokrum island mid-day the next day. The island is nice and calm and big enough to escape the crowds. We see the place on the island where game of thrones is filmed and the associated throne. We also see some peacocks that are residents on the island. And we take a hike uphill to get a nice view of the city.

We try Buza bar once again. It is open this time but the Buza bar we find is the one that does not have full view of the sunset. It is nice regardless.

Our final morning in Dubrovnik we do some store browsing, visit an old pharmacy, eat ice cream, and seek out a naughty looking statue. We are catching a ferry to Hvar this afternoon but we do a visit to Cave Bar More and Love Bar. Both are lovely bars to stop at for a drink but I suggested not ordering food at the Cave Bar since it is disappointing. Come to think about it, most of the food in Dubrovnik has been disappointing. Hopefully things will get better in other parts of Croatia.

One of the few non disappointing meals I had Taj Mahal (Eastern European)

Howth

I have one more free breakfast at my hotel since I am still enjoying the rate my friend booked. My friend is out the door when I am still half sleeping and I am sad to see her go. I have one more day in Dublin and today I am taking a day trip to the peninsula of Howth. It is supposed to be pretty out there and worthy of a day trip.

I leave at 8:30 and walk 30 minutes to the Dart station (Dublin Pearce). On the way I walk through a park I have yet to walk through. I definitely need to spend more time in Dublin. I will return.

When I get off the train I consult the trail map and admire all the boats in the water.

I pick a trail that walks the coast and go on my way. The trails are color coded and most follow the same path for a long while but mine suddenly disappears. I follow one of the other ones for a while until I get near the lighthouse and then there is a visible exit to a parking lot. I decide to head back that way. I follow the roads back into town. I want to head in to catch some fresh crab and lobster for lunch.

I am disappointed to find that I can find no fresh crab or lobster anywhere today. I am assuming they are not in season. I decide to get lunch at King Sitric Seafood Bar, the place I had picked out for today anyway. I enjoyed a snack of oysters and a cheese crab dish thing (not fresh crab apparently).

I walk around the rest of town. Noticing no crabs available anywhere. I am still a little hungry and intrigued about the half and half fish and chips (half traditional fish and half smoked fish). I wouldn’t say it tastes bad because under normal circumstances I would like it but I am absolutely sick of greasy fish and chips. I have a very hard time eating it. Unfortunately I end up tossing most of it.

After already getting the most out of the town for the day I head back by train to Dublin.

At the start of the day I had planned to come back from Howth and see the Epic museum and go see an evening Celtic show. None of that is happening. The most I can do is walk back through town, get ice cream and get another look at St Patrick cathedral.

The next morning I find my flight already delayed so I switch my itinerary to fly into a different airport in the USA.

I have one more whisky at the airport. I realize I have already gone through customs here in Dublin so I don’t need to do so in the USA. I could have carried on some bottles from duty free all the way back home if I really wanted too. I am not sure why I didn’t pick up some bottles of local whisky.

I going home for a month or so. I have a music festival, a friend coming into town, a grand birthday to celebrate in New Orleans at the French Quarter Fest, and hope to catch up with some friends and family back home before I go out to travel again.

After two months what have I learned?

I am heading home after two months of traveling.

What have I learned from this go around of traveling, because really for me traveling is about learning and growing and not necessarily relaxation.

I can no longer stay in moist climates or moldy/moist lodging for too long or I will have sinus issues.
Some people’s idea of paradise can be hell for others – Bali. There are plenty of good things about Bali but for me the bad outweighed the good.
Even with my broken body and advanced age I can still do many things with time and patience (surfing). Imagine what I could have accomplished if I didn’t get sick during my surf week!
I value my alone time but I also don’t mind much having travel companions. In fact it is quite nice.
I am amazed of how friendly and accepting people can be outside of the USA. At home I feel invisible most of the time outside of my friend group or network. While traveling people see me and are generally interested in me. It is a good feeling and makes me try to come out of my shell to reciprocate.
Many of my “issues” are due to the standard American lifestyle and diet. Over the weeks of traveling I noticed my need for over the counter anti-acid medicine and topical pain cream lessened and almost disappeared. I hope I don’t go home a return to like it was before.

Catch up with you soon when I am back on the road.

Penang Heritage food tour

As usual I started my visit of Penang with a food tour. This particular tour is given by a Boston native that moved to Penang and married a local. He used to be a chef and loves sharing his knowledge of food with others. We meet in little India at 10:30 am in the UNESCO heritage zone – George Town. This part of Penang, an island, is named after King George III. You guessed it, it was part of the British empire at one point of time. Penang was strategically important for spice trade. It is culturally diverse here now; you will see Chinese, Indians, Malay, and others. As expected there are parts of town with concentrated restaurants and businesses that represent different ethnic groups such as Chinatown and little India.

We start with a dish eaten by locals all hours of the day (but mostly breakfast) Char Kway Teow (also spelled different ways). This style is Hokkien dish of stir fried rice noodles with sausage, prawns, egg, chili paste, fish cake, chives, and bean sprouts. I can see how this is a comfort food for locals. I crave it now. At the hawker cart (Hock Poh Lye Kopitiam) we sampled this and I also tried the local iced coffee – Kopi coffee with condensed milk. It is sweet so something I probably would only occasionally drink.

Next stop is at stall for Indian-Malaysian Chicken Curry Samosas, at Penang Special Samosa . I am not usually a fan of Samosas but this one was good. Not too spicy and you don’t get the heavy feeling like most fried foods.

It is a Friday and we end up at a Muslim restaurant. Luckily we arrived early enough because it will be closing in an hour for prayers. We sample Muslim-Indian Malaysian food at Tajuddin Hussain: nasi biryani (spiced rice) with ayam rose (“rose” chicken), kambing kurma (lamb kurma), dalca (veg curry with meat stock). I love curry so much. We also try some teh halia ais (iced ginger tea) which reminds me of a chai.

We stop next at Moh Teng Pheow kueh factory, we tried some of Penang’s signature assam laksa—mackerel based broth with noodles, lemongrass, tamarind, chili, polygonum leaf, and torch ginger flower, topped with cucumber, chili, pineapple, and mint—and a spoonful of heh koh (prawn molasses). I really wanted to try the pandan tea on the menu but they were out for the day .We also tried some sweets here.

We tried some classic Penang Peranakan dishes, prepared by Girlie and Joey Chua @Bibik’s Kitchen: her signature fried chicken (inche kabin), the rose apple kerabu (refreshing rose apple salad with mint, torch flower ginger, chili, and shallots), as well as her telur belanda (sweet and sour “Dutch egg”), and sambal kacang botol (wing bean sambal) in a spicy sambal, over a portion of 4-colored rice (pandan, blue pea flower, turmeric, and white). I got to try another nice refreshing tea – I am starting to love sweetened teas; you would never catch me ordering cold tea in the USA. This tea is partially colored with a blue flower, I think I’ve seen it before in Thailand – Butterfly Pea.

A couple things I learned today….

Gula melaka or Palm sugar in Malaysia is popular. You will find a myriad of things made of this. Stores will sell the sugar in chunks for tourists to buy and take home. Palm sugar is supposed to have a lower glycemic index and has all these health benefits. I am not convinced it is healthy but I am trying a large amount of it in Malaysia.

I learned there is a three day holiday starting today. I guess at some point i need to check out the street action here and down by the Chinese Jetties (more about them later).

Next week there is a Hindu holiday that I need to read up on for my visit to Kuala Lumpur.

I learned what a torch flower is and that it is a staple in many southeast Asian dishes.

My tour guide mentions nutmeg genocide but doesn’t go into specifics so I have to google it. Side note, I am obsessed with anything flavored with nutmeg lately. The history is that nutmeg originated from this island called Banda. The Dutch got ahold of the island in the 1600’s. Apparently the local people wanted free trade agreements but the Dutch were not having it so they basically massacred a great number of the local people. There is more to it but read up on it yourself. It is sad to hear of the origins of some of your favorite things.

I am full and I read somewhere that you go watch the sunrise at the Jetties so back to my room for the day to relax for tomorrow.