personal experience travel – Page 11

September 15, 2019

The Baltics: Latvia

Ever since one of my brothers married a lovely lady whose parents had fled Latvia during World War II as the Soviets were returning, I had wanted to visit Latvia. The tour I took in 2012 to the Baltics allowed me to do just that.

My sister-in-law’s family was part of a Latvian community here in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis & St Paul, so we had the pleasure of meeting and becoming familiar and friendly with several other people of Latvian heritage. Along with that, we had been able to take part in some wonderful meals with some traditional Latvian foods. So I was not a complete novice on this trip when it came to Latvian cuisine and was looking forward to having some great culinary experiences.

Not too long after crossing the border from Lithuania to Latvia, we came upon Rundale Palace, where we had lunch and a tour. It was a large, beautiful place and had been designed by the same architect who designed the Winter Palace in St Petersburg. It was begun in 1736 for the Duke of Courland.

In the 1790s, the area was absorbed into the Russian Empire and Catherine the Great gave the palace to the younger brother of one of her favorite lovers. When he died, his widow remarried and the palace passed to her new husband’s family.

Rundale Palace suffered quite a bit of damage during the 1919 Latvian War of Independence and then became a school for several years. In the 1960s, a local historical society acquired the palace and started restoring it in 1972. They did a great job. It is an absolute treasure house. They let visitors take photos inside, so I took a ton of them. Just a tiny sampling is shown here.

On to Riga, where we spent the night at a Radisson Blu. Across the street from the hotel was Pareizticigo Katedrale, a Russian Orthodox cathedral. We were on our own for dinner that night. So some of us walked over to the cathedral, which is Nativity of Christ Cathedral in English. It was built in the late 19^th century. During the Soviet Occupation after World War II, it was converted into a planetarium. Since the Soviet Dissolution in 1991, it has been restored to its past glory.

We walked around the area to explore the neighborhood. There was a victory monument – the Freedom Monument, built to commemorate the 1919 Latvian War of Independence – a short distance from the cathedral. There was also a large park by the monument. We found that we were actually walking distance to both the Old Town and the diplomatic district where most of the embassies were located and nearly all of the buildings were in the Art Nouveau style.

Since we had eaten a fairly large meal for lunch, we decided to pick up some lighter fare for dinner. We had a lot to see and do the next day, so we were all of a mind to eat lightly and turn in early.

Riga was founded by the Teutonic Knights in 1201. During its history, it has been part of the Holy Roman Empire, the Lithuanian-Polish Commonwealth, and both the Swedish and Russian Empires. During the Middle Ages, it was also part of the Hanseatic League. This was a group of merchant cities on the Baltic which were very prosperous.

After the 1919 Latvian War of Independence, Latvia managed to remain on its own until World War II, when it was taken over by the Soviets and tens of thousands of its citizens (mostly male) were either executed or deported to Siberia. Then the Nazis took over and conscripted most of the remaining men into their army. As the Soviets were returning in 1944, many of the Latvians who were part of the Twin Cities group with whom my family interacted fled. I can’t imagine what it would be like to have to flee from my home.

The next morning after breakfast, we set out to take a look at all of the gorgeous Art Nouveau buildings and embassies. The French and Russian embassies were closest to the hotel. Riga has the largest collection of Art Nouveau buildings in the world.

We watched the Changing of the Guards at the Freedom Monument and walked through the park to the Old Town, passing the National Opera House on the way. Suddenly we left a combination of the 21^st, 20^th and 19^th centuries and found ourselves in a mostly medieval era.

The first part of the Old Town that we encountered was a tower and barracks used by the military back in the Middle Ages. The Powder Tower is now used as a military museum. The barracks have been converted into homes. The Swede Gate, which is one of the original gates, was built into the city wall in the 1600s to provide better access to the barracks.

Within the city walls was the Latvian Parliament and a nearby church with a memorial to the barricades that existed in 1991 when Latvia was trying to separate from the Soviet Union. The church, named St James’ Cathedral, was built in the 13^th century.

Outside of the trio of 17^th century houses called the Three Brothers, a couple of men were playing a tuba and a French horn. One of the houses was originally built in 1490, but was refurbished in the 17^th century when the other two houses were built. The middle house, which is the fanciest of the three, has the date 1646 on it. The legend is that they were built for three brothers and have always been called the Three Brothers throughout the centuries.

Riga Castle is the third structure to have that name and was built over the remains of an earlier castle back in the 17^th century. It is currently the residence of the President of Latvia. Here and there around the Old Town are bits and pieces of earlier castles.

The Doma Baznica (Basilica Dome) is the oldest church in Latvia and also in the Baltics. It was built beginning in 1211. Several roosters are mounted on the spires of the cathedral and are considered to be symbols of Latvia. The main tower of the cathedral was in scaffolding to clean it when we were there.

The cathedral was next to a large square with some beautiful houses on it. A short distance away were several guild houses. Within a convent courtyard, was a white building that had been part of the original Riga Castle.

We came across St Peter’s Basilica with the tallest tower in Riga. Originally built in 1209 as a small church, St Peter’s was completely renovated in the 15^th century.

The Town Square was very medieval with statues of knights and of St George slaying the dragon. The jewel of the square was the Melngalvju Nama or House of the Blackheads. Although the date on the building is 1334, the building was totally destroyed during World War II and had to be completely reconstructed.

The Blackheads were a society of banquet caterers to the upper classes. They chose as their patron saint St Maurice, who was traditionally depicted as a black soldier in knight’s armor.

After some of us went for a late lunch at a self-service called Lido about two blocks from the hotel, we took the tour coach out to the Latvian Ethnographic Open-Air Museum. They had a roadside inn, a peasant homestead, a windmill, a church, and several other homesteads from various parts of Latvia dating to the 18^th and 19^th centuries.

I love visiting these types of museums since they preserve a way of life that pretty much no longer exists in these countries. When the Soviets took over, they mostly moved everyone out of their small farms in the country into apartment blocks in cities and towns and put them to work in factories. I especially loved seeing the interior of a very small, plain church. The interior was beautifully painted and had some wonderful carved pieces – altar, pulpit, pews.

That night we had dinner at a restaurant called La Boheme, which was a short walk from the hotel. The dinner was delicious and we were serenaded by Latvian folk music. It was pouring rain on the way over to the restaurant, but it was done when we needed to return to the hotel.

On our way to Estonia the next day, we had a morning break in Sigulda. There were two castles close to one another there. One had been built in the 13^th century and the other in the 19^th century. The older castle was in the process of being restored after sitting in a ruined state for a few centuries. We could only see a little of it as most of it was a construction zone. The newer castle wasn’t open to the public, so we walked around in the gardens outside.

Next time — Estonia with its authentically medieval Old Town in Tallinn, which wasn’t destroyed by bombs during World War II.

Rundale Palace
A bedroom
Another room
Freedom Monument
View from hotel
Cathedral near hotel
Cathedral interior
Art Nouveau building
Riga Old Town
The Three Brothers
Beautiful houses
House of the Blackheads
A Latvian homestead
Another homestead
A windmill
Interior of church
New Sigulda Castle
Old Sigulda Castle

September 8, 2019

The Baltics: Lithuania

Once we crossed the border from Poland to Lithuania, we were officially in one of the Baltic States (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia). We had skirted around a tip of Belarus. Andrej told us that Belarus was not part of the European Union and had a pretty intense and expensive process for entry. So we waved as we went by.

Amber was an extremely valuable commodity throughout most of the history of the Baltic States. This made the area very wealthy and very desirable for conquer by others. In the 13^th century, Lithuania formed the Kingdom of Lithuania and became the largest state in Europe by the 14^th century as the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, and parts of Poland and Russia were the territories of the Grand Duchy. In the 16^th century, Lithuania and Poland formed a Commonwealth that was dismantled in the 18^th century.

During World War II, all three Baltic States changed hands between the Soviet Republic and Nazi Germany several times and become part of the Soviet Union after the war. Lithuania declared its independence in 1990 – a year before the dissolution of the Soviet Union. At one point, the Soviets rolled into Vilnius (the capitol city) in tanks, shooting and crushing unarmed Lithuanians.

According to legend, in the 14^th century, Grand Duke Gediminas was out hunting near the Vilnia River and had a dream about a wolf howling up on a nearby hill. The dream was interpreted as meaning that he should create his new capitol at that location. So he built a castle and created the city of Vilnius.

Our first visit was to the Church of St Peter & St Paul, which was a 17^th century Baroque masterpiece with an amazing chandelier shaped like a boat. This represented St Peter as a fisherman. The altar was missing. It was moved to another church and ended up being destroyed while in its new location. It was never replaced.

On our way from the Church of St Peter & St Paul to the Gate of Dawn, we passed the Hill of Crosses. Andrej told us that the first people to try to convert the pagans to Christianity were executed on that hill. Once the Lithuanians were Christianized, they began to place crosses there. During the Soviet Occupation, the number of crosses began to surge. So now, thousands (over 100,000 have been estimated) of crosses are clustered on the hill.

We entered one part of the town through the Gate of Dawn, built in the 16^th century. Above the gate is the chapel of Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn, which contains an icon of the Virgin Mary that is said to have miraculous powers. Visitors weren’t allowed, but I was able to zoom in with my camera and get a fairly decent photo of the icon through the window.

Not far from there was a beautiful peach-colored church built in the 17^th century and dedicated to St Casimir. We walked as far as the Town Hall and then headed back to the Gate of Dawn to get on the tour coach to visit the castle that Grand Duke Gediminas built. It looked very modern and had a very interesting and modern-looking statue of Gediminas himself. The castle was white with black trim and the statue was black.

On the same square as the castle was the Cathedral and a tower that we came back to after lunch to visit. In the meantime, we went to the Presidential Palace and by the University.

Heike, Debbie and I decided to have lunch at a traditional Lithuanian restaurant that wasn’t too far from the Cathedral Square. It was very old and very cozy. The food was homemade and delicious.

Back at the Cathedral, the main attraction was the chapel dedicated to St Casimir. It was gorgeous, with loads of marble and eight statues of rulers of Lithuania plated in silver. It also contained St Casimir’s tomb, which had a marble altar with a silver sarcophagus on the wall above.

On Lake Galve outside of Vilnius was Trakai Castle. This was the residence of the Dukes of Lithuania prior to Duke Gediminas moving the capitol to Vilnius. It covers an entire island on the lake. After a guided tour, we had loads of free time to explore. Although built on an island, the castle was a sprawling place with several courtyards and buildings. It was built in a combination of stone and brick. Parts had been rebuilt over the centuries after various battles and after World War II. As we were leaving, a storm was gathering and I managed to get a pretty good shot of a sailboat going by with the castle silhouetted against the darkening sky.

Back in Vilnius, we went to a Lithuanian Dinner and Folklore Show that night. It was a very good meal, but not much of a show. The building it was in was quite old, so had a great atmosphere.

I was really looking forward to heading to Latvia the next day as the parents of one of my sisters-in-law were from Latvia.

Church of St Peter & St Paul
Church Interior
Boat Chandelier
Hill of Crosses
Gate of Dawn
Icon in Chapel
Church of St Casimir
Vilnius Town Hall
Gediminas Castle
Presidential Palace
Restaurant for Lunch
Vilnius Cathedral
Tomb of St Casimir
Trakai Castle
Part of Trakai Castle
Another Part of Trakai Castle
Inner Courtyard
A Drawbridge and Gate
A Storm Coming Up at Trakai Castle

September 2, 2019

The Baltics: Poland Revisited

When Mom and I visited Poland as part of a tour of Central Europe in 2008, we had lunch in Poznan before heading on to Warsaw. On the 2012 tour of the Baltic Region, our group had an overnight in Poznan. After dinner, Andrej guided those who wanted to go on a walk into the City Center of the Old Town. It was starting to get dark, but I managed to get some decent photos before it got too dark.

Existing for several centuries before the Christianization of Poland in Poznan in 966, Poznan is considered to be the oldest city in Poland and was a stronghold of the Polan tribes. It was the Polans who formed what became the Polish state.

Although a tad fuzzy, I liked the way the Statue of Neptune was silhouetted against the sky in the photo I took of it. The Town Hall dates to the 13^th century and was used as the town hall all the way to the 1930s. It is now a museum. The town square in front of the Town Hall is pedestrian only and has loads of outdoor seating for the various restaurants lining the square. Mom and I ate at a restaurant in a red building on the square when we were there four years earlier (you can see the red building in the included photo). That trip had taken place in March, so we didn’t sit outside.

Heike wanted to visit the camera shop in the shopping mall by our hotel, Stary Brower, so we decided to head back that way before the place closed for the night. Most of the rest of the group stayed in the square for a drink or two. We took a wrong turn at one point, but were set right by a young man who spoke English. We had been told by Andrej that those who were younger than 30 most likely spoke English, while those older than 30 most likely would not.

We made it to the camera shop while it was still open. The fellow at the counter was under 30, which made us happy. He was waiting on an older couple from France, who did not speak Polish. The shopkeeper spoke both Polish and English, but not French. I had taken French in high school and understood some of what the couple was saying. With a combination of the couple’s French, my attempts to translate what I could understand into English, and a lot of hand signals, nods or shaking heads, we finally got them what they wanted. Hugs all around before they left the shop.

After getting Heike what she was looking for, we headed back to the hotel and stopped off at the bar there for a drink before bed. So we had a little adventure and still got a nightcap.

The next day, we arrived in Warsaw around lunch time and were given some free time to get settled into the hotel and have lunch before heading out on a tour of the city. Heike (from Perth, Australia), Debbie (from Reading, England), Charmaine (from Vancouver, Canada), and I had made plans to go to a traditional Polish restaurant situated on the ground floor of the building in which our hotel was located for dinner, so I went for a relatively light lunch with a salmon and avocado sandwich in a restaurant inside of the hotel.

After lunch, we were taken around to see the sights of Warsaw: the Palace of Culture and Science (built in 1955 by the Communists); a Statue of native son Copernicus; the church with the heart of another native son, Chopin; the house where Chopin lived; and the Presidential Palace before we got to the Old Town (Stare Miastro in Polish). That was when we got off the tour coach at the Palace Square and began our walking tour.

Mom and I had taken a tour of the Royal Castle when we were there together, so I didn’t feel too disappointed that we didn’t have time (with just an afternoon to see Warsaw) to tour it on this trip. Normally I would take any chance I could to tour any castle or palace I encounter. This particular castle was originally built in the 14^th century as a Ducal Palace, becoming the Royal Castle for the Kings of Poland in the 1600s. It was pretty much destroyed during World War II and was reconstructed after the war. Most of the contents of the castle had been saved and hidden away by the citizens of Warsaw. So, although the building itself is a reconstruction, the contents are original.

At the center of the square is Zygmunt’s Column, which was erected by King Wladyslaw IV in 1644 to honor his father, King Sigismund III Vasa. We walked from there past the Cathedral of St John to the Market Square.

The last time I had been in the market square, it had been very cold and had snowed the night before. The Mermaid of Warsaw had been under repair and enclosed in a wooden case. This time, there were cafes on the square and the Mermaid (which has a fountain at her base) was in her glory. We were shown a film in one of the buildings on the square about Warsaw’s destruction and reconstruction.

We were taken to an amber shop and then given some free time. Since I love amber (which is prominent in the Baltic region), I did buy some jewelry. Then I had plenty of time to roam around the square, where I also picked up a Polish dagger and a small knight in armor (who stands on a table in the corner of the bedroom I use as my library – I have always wanted a suit of armor in the corner of a library).

On our way back to the hotel, we passed by the Tomb of the Unknowns. Then Heike, Debbie, Charmaine and I met up just outside of U Szwejka for our authentic Polish dinner. If we had been aware of the size of the meal, we probably would have ordered two meals and split them. But we ordered four meals, consisting of a half of a baked duck, baked apples, beets, coleslaw, and stuffing. The photo included here is from the restaurant’s website, since I didn’t have my camera with me. The platter in the photo looks small than what I remember. The platter was more the size of a platter that would be used for the turkey at Thanksgiving and/or Christmas. The beers were also gigantic. One glass was nearly the size of a pitcher at most places. I was relieved that dessert was not included. If it had been, I might have exploded.

We waddled out of the place about an hour and a half after we were seated. We had taken our time to get through it all. Instead of immediately going back to the hotel next door, we took a walk to settle all of that food down in our stomachs. Despite being full to brimming with food, we stopped in at a grocers and picked up some supplies for the next couple of days.

Our last stop in Poland was the town of Augustow, where we stopped for lunch. Heike, Charmaine and I wanted a relatively light lunch after the prior night’s dinner, so we stopped in at a cafeteria, where we could see what we were getting and just get small amounts. I tried a Kratocze, which was a potato dumpling with a minced meat filling. It came with a small side of coleslaw. I selected a fruit drink that ended up being quite thick and very, very sweet (which I couldn’t tell before drinking it). I left most of it behind. We found Debbie after lunch and explored some of the town before we needed to leave. There was a small park with a statue of the founding king (Sigismund II Augustus) and a war memorial.

Next time – Lithuania.

Neptune Statue in Poznan
Poznan Town Hall
Town Square of Poznan
Warsaw Palace of Culture and Science
Warsaw Palace Square
Zygmunt’s Column in Warsaw
Warsaw’s Market Square
The Mermaid of Warsaw
An Amber Shop
Barbican and City Walls
Hotel with restaurant on ground floor
Traditional baked duck dinner
Statue of founding king of Augustow
War Memorial in Augustow
Augustow

August 25, 2019

The Baltics: Berlin, Germany Revisited

I had been to Germany and Poland on a previous 2008 tour of Central Europe with my mom. Both countries were included in the 2012 tour that I took to the Baltic Region, so I had the chance to visit them for a second time. We took a ferry from Gadser, Denmark to Rostock, Germany, and then drove to Berlin, where we spent the night in a hotel in the former West Berlin.

On the 2008 trip, we had spent several days in Germany touring all over the country. This time, we had just one full day in Berlin. We picked up our local guide across from the zoo and headed out for a guided tour, starting at Potsdamer Platz, which has the largest concentration of newer skycrapers (and corporate headquarters) in the city.

Our first actual stop was at the Topographie of Terror, which had not yet existed in 2008 (opened in 2010) and was located on the former site of the torture chambers of the Gestopo, next to a still standing section of the Berlin Wall. It has displays regarding the horrors of Nazi rule.

Our next stop was Checkpoint Charlie – the US manned crossing between East Berlin and West Berlin. In 1961, there had been a very tense standoff between US tanks and Soviet tanks. The US Attorney General at the time was Robert Kennedy. He and a KGB guy managed to talk it out and de-escalate, despite both sides having about 10 tanks each pointed at the other side.

Then we went to the Holocaust Memorial (Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe) and explored that. It is located on what had been a “killing zone” of the Berlin Wall and is near both the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag (German Parliament Building). Although it is right in the middle of the city, when you are walking around among the slabs, the large blocks muffle a lot of the surrounding sound and it seems very quiet and peaceful.

Our next visit was to the square containing the German Dome, French Dome and Theatre, before we drove by the Ephraim Palace and the Town Hall on our way to Museum Island. The Berlin Cathedral (Berliner Dome) was next to the Altes Museum. The Cathedral was originally built in the 15^th century, but this version was finished in 1905. Sometime when I have more free time in Berlin, I want to spend a day on Museum Island. It has some amazing museums with some incredible art and historic objects. One of the pieces in the Neues Museum is the very famous bust of Nefertiti.

After leaving Museum Island, we saw the Kronprinzenpalais, which was the Crown Prince of Germany’s palace in the 18^th century. For a while, it was used as an annex of the National Gallery and is now used for exhibitions.

A very short distance away is the Opera House on Bebelplatz. This was the main site of the Nazi Book Burnings in the 1930s. There is a memorial on Bebelplatz set into the square.

The first time I had been to the Brandenburg Gate, it had been snowing (we were there in March, not one of our best decisions). This time it was early September and a beautiful day. The gate had been built in the 18^th century to represent peace. It was later used as one of the symbols of the Nazi party and was also a symbol of Berlin during the Cold War. Although it survived the bombings of World War II, it was pockmarked in several places.

The Reichstag was built in 1894 and was destroyed by fire in 1933. It didn’t get fully restored until after the reunification in 1990. The decision was made to reconstruct the dome out of glass, which not only provides a lot of natural light to the parliament below, but also allows visitors to have some spectacular views from the ramps and platforms inside.

We went by the President’s Palace, Schloss Bellevue, on our way back to the zoo, where we were dropping off our local guide as well as being released for lunch and some free time. Heike and I found a place to eat nearby. We also briefly stopped in at a souvenir shop where I bought a small piece of the Berlin Wall.

We wanted to explore the Kaiser Wilhelm Kirche, which had been severely bombed during World War II and left as it was as a memorial. Built in the 1890s, what remains of the interior is pretty cool. It is very traditional in style – kind of a Victorian era version of a medieval style church. It is quite a contrast to the new church that was built in four buildings surrounding the old church and connecting to it. The new church is mainly of glass and very, very modern. We both thought it was quite beautiful.

After visiting the church, we returned to the zoo to see some of the animals. There was a baby elephant which was quite fun to watch as he or she was really adorable. We also spent some time with some llamas before we needed to join back up with our group to head to Poland.

Next time – revisiting Poland with new adventures in a couple of places I have been before.

Topographie of Terror
Berlin Wall
Checkpoint Charlie
Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe
Berliner Dome
Opera House on Bebelplatz
Brandenburg Gate
Reichstag
Another view of Reichstag
Schloss Bellevue
Kaiser Wilhelm Kirche
Inside Kaiser Wilhelm Kirche
More of Interior
Interior of New Part
Entrance to Zoo
Piece of Berlin Wall (with little piece of plastic on it to protect it)

August 18, 2019

The Baltics: Denmark

In the fall of 2012, I took a tour to the Baltics. Although the Baltic States are officially Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, the Baltic Region also includes Denmark, Germany, Poland, Russia, Finland, and Sweden, which all rim the Baltic Sea. Nine countries; nine languages; nine cultures; and seven currencies (not all were using the Euro). I had been to Germany and Poland before, but not to any of the other countries.

I flew from Minneapolis to Toronto and from there to Copenhagen. It was kind of a misty day. There was a grocers near the hotel, so I bought some food for lunch. The entire group would be getting together to meet each other and then have dinner at 6:30pm. There were about 22 people. Only a couple of us were from the US, the rest were from Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand.

Right away, I met a woman named Heike, who had been born in Germany, but had moved to Australia when she was a child. We immediately hit it off and are still friends. Our Tour Director, Andrej, was originally from Russia. He had managed to leave Russia while it was still under official Communist control and eventually made a new life for himself in the US after spending a few years in some of the other countries we were about to visit. He was a very interesting person to talk with about all sorts of things.

Officially the Kingdom of Denmark, Denmark was once ruled together with Norway and Sweden. Its people have been referred to a Jutes and Vikings (along with Norway) as well as Danes. Copenhagen had originally been a Viking fishing village (beginning in the 10^th century) before becoming the capitol of Denmark in the 15^th century. I have both Viking and specifically Danish ancestry, so was very happy to be in Denmark.

The next morning, we began our tour of Copenhagen at the Borsen (built in the 1600s), which was the old stock exchange. It is currently used as the Danish Chamber of Commerce. I thought it was a very unique looking building. It was along the waterfront, with gables that looked similar to some I have seen in the Netherlands and a steeple with entwined dragon’s tails.

Nearby, on its own little island, is Christiansborg Palace, which was built in the 18^th century on the site of an earlier castle. It is the home of the Danish Parliament, Prime Minister’s Offices and Supreme Court, as well as several Royal Reception Rooms (including a Throne Room), a library, the Palace Chapel, and the Royal Stables.

On our way from this area to a 17^th century waterfront called Nyhavn, we passed by a statue of a knight on horseback that I really liked and managed to get a pretty good photo of as we passed. Nyhavn was a colorful area with restaurants and townhouses and loads of boats. Some of the boats were an older type called “lantern boats”.

At the mouth of the harbor is the famous Little Mermaid statue. Unveiled in 1913, the face of the statue was based on a Danish ballerina who portrayed the Little Mermaid in a ballet based on the story by Hans Christian Anderson.

Amalienborg Palace is the home of the Danish Royal Family. They moved there from Christiansborg Palace after Christiansborg suffered a severe fire. It is really four identical palaces situated around a courtyard. We watched a changing of the guard ceremony, which I managed to video as well as photograph. I enjoyed watching the lead guard yelling at tourists to “get out of the way” (in English) as they performed their maneuvers.

The Royal Life Guards march from the nearby Rosenborg Palace (which dates from 1606) in order to have the changing of the guard ceremony. The palace was built in the Dutch Renaissance style and was used as a royal residence until around 1710. This palace still contains the crown jewels. The photo I took as we went by is a little off kilter and fuzzy, but still gives an idea of what the palace looks like.

We also saw the Opera House, a copy of Michelangelo’s statue of David, the 1626 Kastellet military buildings, and the 1740 marble Fredericks Kirke. Then we had our lunch stop by the Tivoli Gardens. This was a large, famous, 19^th century amusement park in the heart of the city. Its many rides include four roller coasters.

After lunch, I visited the City Hall Square where I watched some musicians and took photos of the surrounding buildings. I also visited the Radhus (city hall). It was built very much like a palace. Just outside was a statue of Hans Christian Anderson. His lap was highly polished due to all the children who climb up on it. Just across the street in my photo of the statue is the Tivoli Gardens.

Once we left Copenhagen, we drove through the countryside of Denmark to cross the border into Germany.

Next time –Germany & Poland revisited.

The Borsen
Christiansborg Palace
Another view of Christiansborg Palace
The square in front of the palace
My knight
Nyhavn
A lantern boat on the right
More of Nyhavn
The Little Mermaid
Amalienborg Palace
Another part of Amalienborg Palace
Changing of the Guard
Rosenborg Palace
Tivoli Gardens
Radhus
Courtyard of Radhus
Hans Christian Anderson statue

August 11, 2019

Return to Croatia

After a fascinating and sobering visit to Bosnia & Herzegovina while on a 2012 tour to Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia, we returned to Croatia to visit its gorgeous Plitvice Lakes National Park. Located in a very mountainous area, the park consists of roughly sixteen lakes connected by rivers, streams and loads and loads of waterfalls. The waterfalls mostly flow over travertine and they are every place you look. Although humans have lived in the area for thousands of years, the park was never fully conquered by them.

We rode in our tour coach to the edge of one of the lakes and then took a small ferry boat that was pulled across the lake (no motors allowed). From there, you walk on dirt paths next to the rivers, lakes and falls until the paths disappear and you are walking on suspended paths of wooden logs over the water.

At one point on the wooden path, the waterfalls were cascading down towards me on the one side and dropping way below me on the other. With railings being somewhat intermittent at this point, this made me a tad nervous. But I took a deep breath, said a few prayers and kept going. The whole park was incredibly beautiful. I kept taking photos and videos as we continued moving ever further down into the valley.

Finally we reached the valley floor where we were completely surrounded by the mountains, the waterfalls and the pools of water that then dove underground. How did we get out? A switchback trail up one of the mountains. It rose gradually, so it wasn’t too difficult to climb. We also stopped at several points along the way for more photos. At the top, we were met by our tour coach and taken to our hotel, which was located within the park. Unfortunately the restaurant within the park had burned down that morning, so we needed to leave the park to get some dinner.

The next day we headed for the capitol of Croatia, Zagreb. Settled by the Romans, Zagreb has been continually inhabited ever since. It was quite far inland in a mountainous region. In 1094, the settlement was named Zagreb and its Hungarian ruler began building its cathedral.

We took a walking tour of the Old Town. As we reached the Stone Gate, we found a lovely statue of Saint George and the Dragon. We continued up hill to Saint Mark’s Square. The centerpiece of the square is the 13^th century Saint Mark’s Church. The south portal contains several Gothic statues. The roof is decorated in colorful tiles.

The Croatian Parliament building is also located in the square. A short distance away is a plaque dedicated to Nikola Tesla, who was born in a small town in what eventually would become Croatia.

Now we were going downhill again. As we neared the Tower of Lotrscak, we encountered some girls dressed in the Croatian national costume selling flags and other souvenirs. I bought a flag for fun. It was May Day, which is like Labor Day in Europe. The tower dates to the 13^th century and was part of the fortified walls that once surrounded the part of the city that was at the top of this hill, including Saint Mark’s Square. A cannon is fired from the top of the tower at noon daily. This was a real cannon, not a recording of one.

From the wall at the foot of the tower, we had a great view of the lower part of the city. Going down some stairs from the wall, we found restaurants below to have some lunch. Then we went on to Jelacic Square where a political rally was taking place. The square was laid out in the 17^th century and was the main square of the city.

We spent the night in Zagreb and then headed back to Ljubljana the following morning. That was our last day of the tour.

Next time – the start of another 2012 trip – this time to the Baltics and Scandinavia. 2012 ended up being my last year of taking multiple trips in the same year. I changed jobs at the end of the year and the amount of vacation time I had coming to me each year also changed.

Ferry to main part of park
Some of the waterfalls
More waterfalls
On one side of floating wooden path
On other side of wooden path
View from switchback
Zagreb Cathedral
Interior
One of the squares in Zagreb
St George near the Stone Gate
St Mark’s Church
Gothic statues
Croatian Parliament
Plaque celebrating Nicola Tesla
Looking back up the street
Croatian national dress
Tower of Lotrscak
View from wall of lower part of city

August 5, 2019

Bosnia & Herzegovina

On a 2012 tour to Slovenia, Croatia & Bosnia, once we left Dubrovnik, we drove to Bosnia. Bosnia traces its first human settlement back to the Neolithic Age. At that time, its population was mainly Illyrian and Celtic. Then the Slavic people populated the country from the 6^th century to the 9^th century. Bosnia was finally established in the 12^th century and became the Kingdom of Bosnia in the 14^th century. At this point, it was annexed into the Ottoman Empire and became a Muslim country with strong Turkish influences. Even after becoming part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Bosnia remained Muslim.

It’s very difficult to summarize the Bosnian War (1992 – 1995), but the way it was explained on the tour was that Serbia wanted the territory that Bosnia occupied and felt that they were entitled to take it because Bosnia was Muslim. So Serbia waged several bombing campaigns and sieges against Bosnia, seriously devastating the entire country and attempted to carry out an ethnic cleansing.

Mostly mountainous, although the country’s formal name is Bosnia & Herzegovina, it is informally known as just plain Bosnia. The Neretva Gorges were the first part of the country we encountered. The Neretva is a major river running through the country.

Only a small part is on the Adriatic. It bisects Croatia, but gives Bosnia a tiny port. The rest of the country is landlocked and still had loads of landmines throughout as of 2012. There were signs all over the place warning people not to just go walking out into the countryside. There were still lots of properties that were abandoned. Not sure if the people just left for better parts and never returned or if they were killed.

The first larger settlement we encountered was Mostar in the region of Herzegovina. There were a lot of pockmarked and bombed out buildings in town. A public park had been turned into a cemetery when the city was under siege (normally cemeteries are outside of town). The year on most of the graves was 1993. This was so sad, as was the fact that so many of the people in the graves were relatively young.

We visited a Turkish house dating to the 1600s. The entrance was through a very plain, unassuming gate into a lovely courtyard. Some of the upstairs rooms were open to the elements and the courtyard. After leaving the house, we visited the Karagoz Bey Mosque – a relatively small mosque built in 1557.

The Stari Most, literally “old bridge”, also dates to 1557 (when it replaced an earlier wooden bridge). It looks like a smaller, plainer version of the Rialto Bridge in Venice. It was damaged during World War II and destroyed in the Bosnian War, but it had been fully restored by the time we saw it in 2012. People would dive from the middle. During free time, we had lunch in the area next to the bridge. I also explored a nearby bazaar.

On our way to Sarajevo (which means “palace in the park”), we saw a bridge that had been blown up in World War II and left as it was when it collapsed. We also saw several teepees made of hay. These were used by shepherds and/or farmers when they sometimes stayed overnight out in the fields.

We had a walking tour of the old town of Sarajevo, which was founded by the Ottoman Turks in the 1400s. The old town is dominated by a very large bazaar. I ended up getting a single-handed Turkish-style sword with a curved blade, a horse-head pommel on the handle, and a red tassel. It currently hangs above the built-in glassware cabinet in my dining room.

We visited the Emperor’s Mosque from the 1400s. It was the first mosque to be built in Bosnia after it was conquered by the Ottomans.

Although Muslim, Sarajevo became home to a number of Sephardic Jews who were invited to relocate there after being expelled from Spain at the end of the 15th century. They had a thriving community in the part of town near where the bazaar is located up until the Nazis overran the city during World War II and sent 85% of the the Jewish population to their deaths in concentration camps.

We also visited the place where Archduke Ferdinand and his wife were killed by a 19-year-old Bosnian Serb in 1914, beginning World War I. There were a couple attempts with bombs by some of the other conspirators while the Archduke was on his way to the City Hall to give a speech. But one bomb didn’t even go off and the other damaged the wrong car. It was on the way back from City Hall that the car containing the Archduke and his wife stopped to turn around (it was going the wrong way) when the assassin stepped onto the running board of the open car and shot them both point blank.

The hotel we were staying in had been destroyed during the Bosnian War and rebuilt. At dinner time, we visited a “han”, which is the city version of a caravanserai (a Middle Eastern roadside inn), built in the 16th century. It could accommodate 300 people and 70 horses at one time back in its day. It had a restaurant where we had our dinner.

When leaving town the next morning, we went by the Olympic Park from the 1984 Winter Olympics. Very sadly, it had been turned into a massive cemetery during the Siege of Sarajevo.

Next time –we return to Croatia to see Plitvice National Park and Croatia’s capitol city, Zagreb.

Bombed out buildings in Mostar
Cemetery in former park
Courtyard of Turkish house
Upstairs room in Turkish house
Mosque in Mostar
Inside of mosque
Stari Most Bridge
WWII rail bridge
Hay teepee
Old Town of Sarajevo
Part of the bazaar
Oldest mosque in Bosnia
Plaque marking assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
16th century han
Olympic Park

July 28, 2019

The Kingdom of Dubrovnik

Fans of “Game of Thrones” might recognize Dubrovnik as King’s Landing, a stronghold of the Lannisters. However there are many, many reasons for someone who has never seen “Game of Thrones” to love Dubrovnik. Founded as Ragusa in the 7^th century by Greeks, what eventually became Dubrovnik was under Byzantine rule, Venetian rule, and Austrian Hapsburg rule (as part of the Kingdom of Dalmatia) before Croatia became part of Yugoslavia.

Somewhere in there, it was briefly the Kingdom of Dubrovnik. In addition to its own city walls, it also built what was the second longest wall in the world after the Great Wall of China as a territorial wall out in the country. I managed a photo of that wall as we left Dubrovnik after spending a couple of days in that beautiful, old city.

We arrived in the afternoon and checked into our hotel a short distance from the walled old town. After touring the larger city of 42,000 that comprises Dubrovnik now, we went on an optional dinner to a farm up in the mountains. Everything that was served to us was grown on the farm, including the brandy and wine. They had what was known as a “black kitchen” which was separate from the other buildings and had an open fire in the middle. The smoke would go up through the thatched roof. We ate our dinner in a 200 year old stone cellar.

Our walking tour of the old town, the next morning, began at the Pile Gate. Parts of the walls surrounding the old town date as far back as the 8^th century. In the 9^th century, the city survived a 15 month siege by the Saracens, which showed how well fortified they were.

The Pile Gate is really a series of gates with twists and turns. The idea is to make it not entirely easy to just walk into the city. We encountered Big Onofrio’s Fountain just inside the final part of the gate. It was built in the 15^th century as an outlet for the water from the aqueduct. From there, we visited the Franciscan Monastery Museum, which included one of the oldest apothecaries in the world (in use since the 13^th century). They had some pills on display that made the giant pills that we have now look almost miniscule. I didn’t see how anyone could have swallowed them.

The monastery was on the Placa, which was one of the main streets. We took a side street (called Od Puca) to see Saint Blaise Church, built in the 18^th century. Next was Gundulic’s Square with a smaller version of the Spanish Steps in Rome.

The Rector’s Palace was built in the Venetian style in the 13^th century as the offices and residence of the Rector, who was the ruler of Dubrovnik. We weren’t allowed to take any photos inside of the palace, but I managed a photo of nearby Assumption Cathedral through an open window and one of the courtyard of the palace from the walkway above. We finished up our tour with the 15^th century Bell Tower, the 15^th century Orlando’s Column, and the Old Port before having about three hours of free time.

It was a very hot day and most of the group immediately headed for food and drink. I wanted to make sure that I did a boat ride and the wall walk. So, since we were at the Old Port, just steps from the ticket office, I bought a ticket for a boat ride for a panoramic tour of the Old Town and a nearby island. Then I bought a gelato to cool me down until we could get on the boat (which had another group on it and would be back in about five minutes).

There was a nude beach on the far side of the island. Interestingly enough, there wasn’t a single decent body in the group. They definitely weren’t there to show off, unless they had seriously flawed images of themselves. When I got back to the port, I didn’t see any of the group around, so I picked a place in the harbor that had seafood and settled in for a light lunch that had been caught in the vicinity of Dubrovnik.

It turned out that, due to the heat, most of the group had opted to return to the square with the replica of the Spanish Steps and had spent most of their time having a long meal and drinks while not moving around much. There were a few others who did the wall walk for a short distance, mostly downhill, and only one couple that did a boat ride. I was determined to do the wall walk, so I just bought some extra bottles of water and paced myself. I also started with the part that went uphill so I would get the worst part over first.

There was no shade on the wall either. Fortunately I had my archeologist hat, long-sleeved, gauze shirt and tan-colored jeans. I also slathered extra sunblock on any part of my body that might see the sun – such as my face, neck, ears, and the backs of my hands and fingers. Didn’t want to take the chance on getting any nasty sunburns.

I mounted the steps up to the wall at the Old Port, paid the fee and was on my way. All the way to the round Minceta Tower was uphill. The views were amazing, however, so every time I stopped to catch my breath, drink some water, etcetera, I also took some photos and marveled at the beauty of the city. The tower was built in the 15^th century at the height of the Turkish threat. The interior provided some much needed shade (even though it meant I had to climb even more stairs to get inside), so I lingered there for a while, eating a couple pieces of melting chocolate and drinking a few swigs of water before making my way back downhill toward the Pile Gate.

I went about three quarters of the way around the circumference of the walls. The trip was about half way uphill and half downhill. I was really glad I went uphill first. I checked my watch periodically to make sure that I wasn’t running late and could continue to pace myself in the heat. I had allowed plenty of time, taking in to account the need to stop every once in a while to take in the gorgeous views and take photos in addition to keep from passing out in the heat.

After descending at the Pile Gate and leaving the old town of Dubrovnik, I stopped off at a place that served fresh-squeezed orange juice. I was actually about fifteen minutes early for our rendezvous with the tour coach, so I sat down at a picnic table in the shade and had a chat with a local whose dog highly resembled my Miniature Schnauzer/Miniature Poodle mix at home. The human knew English quite well. The dog acted as if he did too, but was likely just reacting to my tone of voice. He was quite open to being petted by a stranger speaking a different language who was a little homesick for her own dog.

Once we reached the hotel, I stopped off at the mini market next door to buy some food for dinner. Then I took a long bubble bath (without wine as alcohol and heat don’t work that well together when a person is already on the edge of dehydration). Then I watched a movie and had dinner before turning in for the night.

Next time – we venture in to Bosnia & Herzegovina, which still had lots of war damage.

View from hotel
Black Kitchen
Dining Cellar
Big Onofrio’s Fountain seen through final part of Pile Gate
Monastery
Version of Roman Spanish Steps
Venetian Rector’s Palace
Assumption Cathedral seen from Rector’s Palace
Courtyard of Rector’s Palace
Boat ride
Another view of city from boat
Old Port seen from wall
A house along the wall
Minceta Tower on wall
Downhill from tower
Approaching Pile Gate while on the wall
Second longest territorial wall in the world

July 21, 2019

Croatia

After leaving Ljubljana on a 2012 trip to Slovenia, Croatia & Bosnia, we drove along the Adriatic Coast in Croatia to get to the town of Zadar. I had been intrigued by Croatia because it was mostly along the coast and had a long history which was pretty much intact.

Although the area had been inhabited since the Paleolithic Age, the Croats themselves didn’t arrive until the 6^th century. In the meantime, prior to the advent of the Croats, the area that became Croatia underwent both Greek and Roman rule. When faced with possible Ottoman conquest in the 16^th century, Croatia asked Ferdinand I of Austria to come and be their king. Shortly after World War I, Croatia became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats & Slovenes. Then, after World War II, it became part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. In 1991, came the Croatian War of Independence.

Founded in the 9^th century BC and located in the part of Croatia known as Dalmatia, Zadar is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia. At different times it had been under Roman control and then Venetian control. The traces of both can still be seen. During its Roman era, the town was fortified with walls and gates, which are still partially there. The Venetians did quite a bit of building. Several of the houses and other structures they built are still there.

Our walking tour began at the 12^th century Cathedral of Saint Anastasia. Just outside of the church some children were using inline skates. The tour director made a comment about Rollerblade being a US company. Their headquarters originated in Minneapolis. Although the cathedral seemed kind of plain to me on the outside, but was quite lovely inside.

Nearby were the remains of a large Roman Forum. Some of the columns were still standing. But some of the columns had been incorporated in the base of the 9^th century church of Saint Donatus. It is a tall, circular church which is the largest pre-Romanesque church in Croatia and very simple in its design. Once upon a time it had a dome.

We came upon a house with a Venetian balcony on our way to the Sea Gate. Venetian-style balconies tend to jut out from the building and are fairly ornate. At some point, owners of this particular one had it enclosed.

We spent the night in Zadar and then left the following morning for Split. On the way to Split, we passed a very old castle perched on top of a rather steep mountain.

The second largest city in Croatia, Split was originally a Greek colony in the 3^rd or 2^nd century BC. Roman Emperor Diocletian built a palace there in the 4^th century AD. It later became a Byzantine city and still later a Venetian city.

Although called a palace, Diocletian’s residence is much more of a fortress. Originally it was right next to the Adriatic. But it is now set back a bit with a lovely beach between and a few restaurants. We began our tour by entering through the Coppur Gate (which used to be on the sea) and immediately went to the cellars of the palace, which were completely original. Other parts of the palace had some changes made to it over the centuries. Some of Game of Thrones was filmed there.

Diocletian had been a major persecutor of the early Christians and had put many of them to death. When he died in 312 AD, he was buried in a mausoleum in his palace in Split. We weren’t allowed to take photos in the mausoleum, which was quite tiny. I did very much enjoy the irony that his body was still there and that the mausoleum was turned into a church not too terribly long after Diocletian died. So, for centuries now, Christian services have been performed right in the presence of his body.

We exited through the Golden Gate. There was a dramatic, modern statue (1929) of Bishop Gregory of Nin (who lived in the 10^th century and was quite the revolutionary) outside of the gate in a park. A tower in the northeast corner of the structure is the most intact from Diocletian’s time. Over the centuries, people moved into parts of the palace. There are still multiple apartments in existence in the walls, towers and other parts of the building.

Walking around the outside of the palace, we saw the Iron Gate with a clock tower that I really liked. It was such a mix of original, medieval, and several other periods. The gate is still being used. Originally it was the military gate.

We walked to the 14^th century Narodni trg Pjaca (square), which looks very Venetian. Another nearby square, Vocini trg Pjaca, was 16^th century. In our free time, one of the Australian couples and I wandered through the market and bought some items for lunch. Then we sat next to the sea in a shaded area and ate lunch before we needed to get back on the tour coach.

Next time – beautiful, medieval, walled Dubrovnik.

1st view of Adriatic Coast from Croatia
St Anastasia Cathedral in Zadar
Cathedral interior
Cathedral altar
Column in Roman Forum
Roman columns used for base of St Donatus Church
St Donatus Church
Venetian balcony
Sea Gate in Zadar
Croation castle
Diocletian’s Palace in Split
Original part of palace
Statue outside of Golden Gate
Golden Gate
Looking towards oldest tower along palace wall
Iron Gate with clock tower
14th century Narodni trg Pjaca in Split

July 14, 2019

Ljubljana, Slovenia

In spring of 2012, I took a tour to Slovenia, Croatia & Bosnia. Wence, the tour director Mom and I had back when we were on the Central Europe tour in 2008 (which ended up being her last tour) was from Croatia and talked about his country with great fondness. So, once we got home, I started researching what there was to see in Croatia. My usual tour company (Globus/Cosmos) had this trip to Slovenia, Croatia & Bosnia. It looked perfect to me, so I booked it.

One of the things that appealed to me was that, although all three countries had once been part of Yugoslavia, they were very different. Bosnia was Muslim and highly Turkish in style. Croatia was much more Mediterranean as a very large percentage of the country bordered the Adriatic. Their influences were Venetian. Slovenia, on the other hand, was mostly mountainous, with an Alpine feel – more like Austria.

The tour was to begin in Slovenia, so I needed to learn how to pronounce the city into which I would be flying (since they always ask where you are going when you check in at the airport). I found that Ljubljana was pronounced along the lines of LOO-blee-aw-nah. I was quite pleased with myself when Ljubljana, Slovenia slid easily off of my tongue. Not that it made any difference. The person on the other side of the counter responded, “huh?” So I still needed to show them my boarding pass so they could read the destination from that. Oh well.

My first flight was from Minneapolis to Paris. I then had several hours in Paris before my flight to Ljubljana. The Charles de Gaulle Airport has numerous terminals with buses that travel between them. So a couple of hours between flights can be very helpful to allow for going through the European Union passport entry and getting to whatever terminal is needed for the next flight. I think this time though I had about four hours between flights.

There was a couple from Woodbury (a Twin Cities suburb) who sat next to me on my flight to Paris. We had stayed together through the entry process and on the bus to the next terminal, so we had lunch together before going off to our separate gates to catch our next flights. After lunch, I still had over an hour, so I read a book until boarding the plane.

On the plane, I sat next to a very nice woman from Peru. Although her destination was the same as mine, she was not going on the tour. At the airport, I met two couples from Australia who were on my tour. We were all picked up by our tour company and taken to our hotel. Mindful of the time difference, I gave Mom a call and repacked for the tour itself. I met the tour director and the rest of the group for drinks at 7pm and dinner at 7:30pm.

Slovenia has had people living there since prehistoric times. They have bounced around a lot between various ruling entities. After the Romans and some Germanic tribes (such as Huns and Lombards) the Slavics appeared in the 6^th century and Charlemagne conquered them in the 9^th century. It changed hands many more times with the Slovenes (some descendants of the early Slavics) eventually emerged as the main group. They joined with the Serbs and Croats to form Yugoslavia in 1918. This was short-lived and the Slovenian portion was annexed into Austria. During World War II, they bounced back and forth between Germany and Italy and ended up as a Nazi puppet state. After the war, Yugoslavia was re-established and became socialist under the Soviet Union.

The following morning, we headed out of the city to the Postojna Caves. These are natural caves, carved out by a river. When the caves were “discovered “ in the 17^th century, there was graffiti found dating to 1213. We took a small train two kilometers (1.24 miles) into the caves and then walked another kilometer (0.62 miles) in. Here and there we had some pretty decent light to get a good photo. But there were a lot of people in there, so getting a good photo without other people’s heads and such was a adventure for a vertically challenged person like myself. I have to say it was quite the cave – very expansive. On the way out, I was on the correct side of the little train to get a photo of the river and some waterfalls inside of the cave.

In the city itself (which became the capitol after World War II), the main square was called Congress Square. It was built on the ruins of a Capuchin monastery and is used mainly for ceremonial purposes. Ljubljana Castle overlooks the city. The promontory it sits upon has evidence of being settled as far back as 1200BC. In fact, the marshes upon which the main part of the town sits have signs of settlement as far back as 2000BC. The oldest wooden wheel in the world was discovered there.

The castle was built originally in the 11^th century and has been rebuilt and refurbished several times since. Ljubljana University (originally founded in 1810, dissolved and then re-founded in 1918) is centered around Congress Square.

The city straddles the Ljubljanica River with the older part of the city (mainly 15^th century) on one side of the river and the newer part (mostly 17^th & 18^th century) on the other side. The Town Hall is on the older side. It was built in 1484 with a major renovation in 1717 to 1719. Just outside of the Town Hall is a lovely fountain call the Robba Fountain, which was built in 1751. We took some time to explore inside of the Town Hall, which is now a museum.

One of the coolest bridges over the river is the Dragon Bridge, which was built in 1819, but needed a major renovation after a severe earthquake in 1895. The dragon is the symbol of Ljubljana. It is based on a legend that says that Jason & the Argonauts founded the city after slaying a dragon there.

In Preseren Square, which was laid out in the 17^th century, sits a lovely Franciscan church, which was built in the 17^th century and then had a Baroque façade added in the 18^th century. The square was originally named for the church, but was later renamed for 19^th century Slovenian poet laureate, France Preseren. A statue of him sits in the square, which acts as a gateway to the medieval part of town.

Next time – we venture into Croatia.