Journeywoman

Home again Home again Jiggedy Jog

copperowl — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 03:56:00 GMT

And so back to Oz.

They were filming "Border Security" at the airport and all the Customs people had their best smiles on. Even the Beagles were smiling. Mercifully they didn't want to trawl through my dirty washing, and I didn't have a case full of food or illicit substances, so chances are you won't see me.

I've been home 3 days now and I'm over the "never travelling sardine class on a plane again" feeling and, well, I have to confess.... The thought HAS crossed my mind.. Where to next?

As Susan Sontag once said: " I haven't been everywhere yet, but it's on my list!"

Thanks for travelling with me!

Hong Kong

copperowl — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 02:17:00 GMT

The trip back to Hong Kong was ... well it's over. I was "lucky" enough to be sitting in front of a group of young Russian men who were determined to prove that the word "yob" applies equally to all nationalities. Russian men seem to have deep booming voices and these had obviously been sampling the vodka. Alarmingly they would sometimes lapse into a sentence of english and one of these consisted of "we go up and boom come straight down again". Followed by giggling. Then in the middle of the next russian sentence was obviously the international word "martyr" and "Stalin". More giggling. Naturally the other passengers (me included) were alarmed. So they sent over the youngest prettiest female flight attendant to talk to them. This provided a diversion while they all ignored her questions and tried to get her phone number. Turns out these descendants of Cossacks were afraid of flying and thought that joking amongst themselves (and sharing the panic around) was the best way to deal with this. They sobered up quickly when the attendant told them we were already ten minutes late leaving and the pilot was waiting to see if they needed to be put off the plane. After we took off, the relief and the vodka kicked in and they all went to sleep and snored loudly. Till about half an hour before landing..

We arrived in Hong Kong and it was raining. The airport bus driver told us that it would clear up shortly (it did) and that we were lucky we missed the typhoon.

I'd forgotten the dance you have to perform on the corner of the streets in Hong Kong. This is the "evade the tailors" dance. They assume that every caucasian in Hong Kong is in need of some made to measure clothes and that if they follow you down the street harrassing you that you will obviously realize that this is your big opportunity. Of course they never recognize you when you pass the same corner - we probably all look alike, and give you another chance. One keeps telling me "I make you blues". I thought he was saying that blue is my colour, but I realized he means "blouse". If I don't want "blouse, trousers, skirt, suit" he also sells watches.

All this aside,I like Hong Kong. But this is just a stopover this time and tomorrow I arrive home.

Mama Mia! Land of Ikea

copperowl — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 12:59:00 GMT

If you didn't know better, you could think that Ikea and Nokia are two Norse Goddesses. Maybe they were...

Our last port on the Cruise is Stockholm and I've been looking forward to visiting Sweden for some time. Partly because one of my great grandfathers was a Swedish sailor and his part of the family is responsible for the gene that I contributed to Emma's red hair. And mostly likely the gene that has given me the lifetime affliction of wanderlust! Mind you he didn't come from Stockholm - he was from a town on the other side of Sweden, not far south of Oslo.

Stockholm is a lovely city built around a very pretty harbour with wide tree-lined streets and dignified buildings. The water is very important to Sweden - after all, Sweden and Norway spawned the Viking Culture. One of them was waiting to greet us as we got off the ship, although he was suspiciously dark skinned and looked a little like one of our crew. But I'm not one to make judgements...

Again there's not enough time to do more than get an impression. There were some interesting looking museums - Norse Mythology and Viking History and so on that we didn't get time to see. I saw some spectacular museums in Oslo a couple of years ago and would love to have checked these ones out. But another time!!

I was talking to an Australian couple I met on board. They are 50 ish and have upped the ante on a tree-change by moving to the UK for 2 years. They both found work easily (it helps that they both have British parents)and take off for Europe as often as possible. They described Stockholm as "cultured" which describes it beautifully - and while in port they had rented out a flat for later in the year to come back and see all the museums!

Two days at sea and then back to the White Cliffs of Dover. Then a couple of days in Hong Kong and back to reality. This time next week I'll have said goodbye to the sun and warm weather in Europe and be back in the cold of Sydney. That doesn't really sound right, does it?

Land of Nokia

copperowl — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 10:48:00 GMT

In contrast I really do like Helsinki. It's calm and peaceful and just seems sure of itself. And it has a church that I really like - called "The Rock Church". Originally it was a hill of granite and the hill was hollowed out. The grantite was cut up and used to fill in walls and a glass and copper roof added. Inside you can see the rock striations, which are alsmost vertical in some places. It's like a giant cave but filled with light. The central part of the roof is made from copper wire folded around in a spiral (and you can guess that I love copper) and the whole effect is natural and peaceful. We also visited an interesting monument to Sibelius made of metal pipes (that apparently the wind blows into and it makes "music"). Helsinki is set on numerous islands all connected by bridges and the effect of the white buildings and the water is lovely. We have had lovely weather and beautiful blue sky and the sky doesn't get completely dark at all. Not quite the midnight sun, but near enough for me. Marrimekko to you all.

Babushka

copperowl — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 10:36:00 GMT

I'm going to be a spoilsport and say that I wasn't overly fond of St Petersburg. There are amazing buildings and museums and castles full of paintings and gilded things and furniture, but it somehow feels like someone has bought a whole lot of stuff and then locked it up and didn't use it. Take the Hermitage Museum for instance: they say that if you spent one minute looking at each exhibit it will take you 10 years to get around the museum - that's without eating or sleeping. Who needs that much stuff? I wonder idly whether a couple of African countries could have their world debts paid off with a small portion of the stuff there. (Not that I think it's Russia's responsibility to fix Africa.I have the same thoughts about a lot of Catholic Cathedrals, too.) People are still living in small one bedroom apartments and the traffic jams are constant because there aren't enough decent roads. The queues are endless and the paperwork is crazy. It's like they don't want anyone (local people incluced)to share any of this vast wealth.Our guide told us that the main street is four miles long and you can walk it in about an hour - or two hours by car. It was very frustrating. On the positive side, St Petersburg only has about 60 days of sunshine a year, and we had two of them.

Nevertheless, I did spend some time at the Church on Spilled Blood - the one they all photograph with the "onion" domes. Which was amazing although again, wildly over decorated. Who decided that god needs all that decoration? And we saw a fabulous folkloric show at night which was great.

Maybe I need to come back some time when we are not so hurried as everyone else seems to love it. Maybe I'm being a bit harsh. But there's a sense that still the local people aren't getting their share of whatever the place has to offer. It's for tourists and whoever is in charge.

Medieval Treasure

copperowl — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 10:57:00 GMT

The highlight of the Cruise for me so far would have to be Tallinn - about which I knew almost nothing. But the "Old Town" here is an exquisite Medieval Town with turreted walls and medieval houses, churches, restaurants and even a Pharmacy that has been continuously operating since the Middle Ages. The streets are cobbled and wander aimlessly in all directions like old goat tracks. There was not enough time to see it all, and I would put it on my list of "must returns".

We also saw a beautiful ruined abbey - a Birgitta abbey (which I guess is Brigidine). Now it's an empty shell and a rock band was setting up inside it for a concert. Wasn't Bridget a patron saint of music? Or is that Cecilia? Never mind, it didn't seem incongruous!

The next four days are in ports - 2 days in St Petersburg, 1 in Helsinki and 1 in Stockholm. Not enough time for anything more than a nibble at these places.

Life is a cabaret my friends

copperowl — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 10:42:00 GMT

I'm writing all this on the same day but splitting it up so that I can add each country separately.

Next destination was Germany. We docked at Warnemunde which is about 2 - 3 hours by train from Berlin. I know because the ship hired a train and took us all there.

I've been to Berlin before, four years ago. And a weird thing happened. In 2005 I was about to photograph a statue when the camera battery ran out. I didn't have a spare, so I was unable to photograph a lot of what I saw, including the wall and Checkpoint Charlie. This time I went to photograph the same statue and the camera said "Battery Depleted". The SAME statue! But I've learned my lesson so I now carry spares.

This time we spent most of our time in the former Eastern part of the city and the buildings there are really spctacular. We did visit the remains of the Wall - now called the East Side Gallery as they left some of the wall and invited artists to paint on it. I noticed that Berlin has a serious graffiti problem as obviously people now think that any and every wall should also be painted. Luckily noone seems to deface the actual buildings or monuments.

To my amusement Checkpoint Charlie now has a "pretend" American soldier on duty - with a very thick German accent, and he charges 10 Euros to have your photo taken with him. And the stalls around sell Russian and American Army hats and other "mementos". Ah, the tourist industry!

Me and Princess Mary

copperowl — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 10:25:00 GMT

I hope everyne appreciates the effort I'm going to to keep this up to date as I'm on the "Norwegian Jewel" and they charge an arm and a leg per nanosecond for the slowest service possible! So I'm typing really fast while I still have my hands.

First stop on this Cruise is Danmark - which we spell Denmark. I'm not sure why we are so stubborn about this little vowel because they call their country Danmark and we call the people Danes and the pastries Danish! First stop in Copenhagen was of course The Little Mermaid. The guide told us that the sculptorer modelled the statue's head on a famous Danish ballet dancer but she was too shy to model the rest so he used his wife's body for the rest of the statue.Lucky he had a mermaid for a wife, I reckon. I was the only one who found this funny - but then the ship is full of Americans and they don't laugh at the same stuff as I do. (And they keep calling me "Ma'am". I feel like the queen mother).

We then did a bit of a tour around to see the Royal Palace and it was here that the guide (who did actually say sculptorer) asked if there were any Australians on the tour. Only me. So she thanked me personally for letting them have Princess Mary. I said it was my pleasure.

Photo stops followed at all the other tourist sights and Copenhagen was, of course, "wonderful, wonderful". Very pretty city. We finished at an Ice Bar - where the whole bar is constructed of ice (from Sweden, for some reason!) and we had to dress in fur-line ponchos and mittens. Everything in it was ice including the tables and chairs and the glasses that we drank from. We all took photos of each other in our trendy gear and looking through holes in the ice and so on.

Cheese and Chocolates

copperowl — Mon, 6 Jul 2009 07:52:00 GMT

The flight from London to Geneva is about 1 hour 20 minutes. Security and check in plus immigration adds another 2 hours; the train to the airport outside London adds another hour or so and the Tube to the train station ... Add that the Internet tells us to go to Kings Cross instead of St Pancras (same tube station, different overground station) and the ticket machine at St Pancras only sold weekly tickets. You get the picture! At the other end the train into town was quick and spacious and our hotel was right near the station.

Geneva is in the French speaking part of Switzerland and is famous for its lake and its Convention. The lake is very pretty and it is fed by the melting snow from the mountains around. All through the city there are fountains - both ornamental and drinking fountains that are fed by the lake water and even in mid summer - (with temperatures of 33 degrees)the water was cold. The headquarters of the United Nations are in Geneva and the number of people having photos taken at the gates of the building in colourful national dress indicate that all over the world people believe in the UN ideals - if not always happy with the performance.

On Sunday we took the train to Lausanne, which is also on the same lake. Lausanne is much more hilly than Geneva and the lake is downhill (not surprisingly) while the Old Town,where you find all the old buildings, cathedral and so on, was uphill. We walked down to the lake to a lovely old fishing village called Ouchy. Walking uphill is not my forte, so we caught the local bus up to the old town. We still then had to negotiate about 50 steps to get up to Notre Dame Cathedral. I felt like having a T-shirt printed when we finally got to the Cathedral. Most of the Cathedrals used to be Catholic but are now Protestant. In this one we saw the chair that Calvin used to use. I'm not sure if he liked all the stained glass,(which was beautiful) as I'm sure he preferred simple churches. Later in the day we found a smaller church dedicated to Mary Magdalene that apparently he liked better. So did I - it was more peaceful and simple (still had stained glass). However it had a neon sign on the front wall advertising "OPEN" which seemd a little incongruous.

We had a good 4 days trip and it was lovely spending this time with Luke. I'm now in my final days in London and leave on the Baltic Cruise in a few days.

Searching for Avalon

copperowl — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:10:00 GMT

I've just finished my Celtic Pilgrimage to Devon and Cornwall. If there is such a thing as past lives, I'm sure I've lived one in this part of the world. The standing stones - Stonehenge and Avebury as well as the hundreds that just dot the landscape have an energy and a mystery that brings me back time and time again. The gorgeous little villages around the coastline - many of which used to be the haunts of smugglers and pirates (when they were considered to be romantic figures and not people who get caught on "Border Security".) We visited Tintagel, too. Tintagel is where King Arthur is supposed to have been born. Or should I say, one of the places.. We parked our bus in the King Arthur Car Park, so I guess they win!

Along the way we ate Cornish Pasties and scones with jam and clotted cream (ignore the gluten) and drank Cider and Mead. One town we stopped at - Clovelly, is built into the side of a cliff. The town is privtely owned and it consists of a single, very steep cobbled road with little lanes going off on one side. You have to walk, or ride a donkey, but the donkeys were elsewhere. That left walking. Luckily someone has built a road nearby so that a 4-wheeled drive can bring you back up if you can't face the return journey on foot. I visited Clovelly in 1969 and I don't remember a 4-wheeled drive - or perhaps I just didn't need it then.

One of the highlights for me was Glastonbury. Any other fans of "The Mists of Avalon" will know why. Glastonbury is gorgeous, but it is also a town that has embraced all forms of alternate religions - sometimes combining them all. Shops called "Celtic Dreams" will also sell Buddhas, and African Carvings. As well as Celtic Crosses. But the whole town has a buzz. While we were there the Glastonbury Music Festival was on - (in fields out of town), and since rain is traditional for the Festival, we had Misty Rain. All very atmospheric.

The trip also included time at Bath, where they have now opened the excavations beside the Roman Baths of the roman temple to Sulis Minerva. Minerva was, of course, a Roman Goddess who was the counterpart to the Greek Athena. (I like them both because their symbols were owls). Sulis means sun, so these baths and temple were dedicated to her role as a sun goddess.

Luke is taking a couple of days off work at the end of the week and we are spending 4 days in Switzerland together. Our base will be Geneva. So something quite different to the previous week.

Thanks for following my progress. By the way, the plants that were indoor plants were succulents, marantas (Prayer plants) and other coloured leaf plants.

Lovely Old Buildings

copperowl — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:17:00 GMT

Just a quick update before I head for the wilds of Devon and Cornwall. In recent days I've done some day trips from London - one to Winchester and one to Cambridge.

I went to Winchester specifically to see The Old Mill. In 1969, my friend Marg and I were hitch-hiking around Great Britain (yes, hitch-hiking) and towards the end of the trip we stayed in The Old Mill which was a Youth Hostel at the time. Then Marg got sick and had to spend some time in hospital so I stayed in the Hostel for a week or so. The Mill was built over the river and the water rushed underneath - right through the ladies' washroom. I wanted to see it again. It's not a hostel any more (probably occupational health and safety issues!) but it has been restored as a demonstration Mill and it's open to the public. And it was just as gorgeous as I'd remembered. Funnily my memories of the Mill were quite vivid and accurate - but I had no visual memory of any of the rest of Winchester - not the Cathedral which is one block away (and is the only Cathedral in the world to have had a pop song written about it. It starts: "Winchester Cathedral, you're breaking me do-own.." They don't write songs like that any more - Generations XYZ eat your hearts out!). Not even the gorgeous Pub across the road where we MUST have eaten or had an ale or two. Not even that the river is called the river ITCHEN, which must surely have amused me then, as now. But I know all that now, and paid my respects to Jane Austen who is buried in the Cathedral.

On the weekend Luke, Kerstin and I went to Cambridge and checked out the University which is beautiful. Lots of famous people including Prince Charles, Prince Edward and John Cleese were ex students, as was Lord Byron, who, having discovered that students weren't allowed to keep domestic pets got himself a bear. (And, if I recall, most of the other Monty Python people, as well as Peter Cook and Dudley Moore). We took the Hop-on Hop-off bus and the commentary must have listed them all. We walked around and took heaps of photos and then had a Sunday Roast at the pub looking out on the glorious architecture.

I promised to check out how they motivated and engaged their students and this is what I found:

Students are not allowed to bring their cars into town and so most of them ride bicycles.

They are not allowed to sit for exams unless they have attended certain sessions with their academic advisers and done the required work. So they could spend their time there and leave with nothing.

I'm sure there's more but these two things seem to work as 90 or so of their ex-students have won Nobel Prizes. Food for thought.

Out in the Country..

copperowl — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 09:51:00 GMT

I've just returned from 5 days of relaxed living out in Buckinghamshire where i stayed with my friends Helen and Chris. I've known Helen since Teachers' College (way back before Noah's flood) and we travelled to England together 40 years ago on an overland trip from Calcutta to London. Now she and Chris live in a lovely cottage in a quiet village in Bucks. The cottage dates from the 1600s,and it has been lovingly restored and the little garden behind is beautiful and lush - the quintessential English cottage garden.

So a very civilized 5 days I had - with lazy breakfasts in the conservatory and lunches in lovely local Pubs with beams and wood and loads of character. A glass of red before dinner. I helped at a plant sale for the local churches - not that I was a great deal of help because most of the plants on the "indoor" table were plants I grow outdoors and I kept putting plants in the wrong place. I was mildly rebuked by one lady whose own plant contributions looked a little, say we say, tired. It was set in the lovely large grounds of a local house. The next day was Open Garden Day so we got to look at a variety of gardens in the village - all lovely in different ways. Of course the rain that I complained about previously is the reason these gardens are so lush and green.

Helen and Chris took me around many local towns and each one was charming and picturesque. On the final day I revisited a second hand bookshop which occupies a whole cottage. There are over 65 000 books arranged in (to me) seemingly random order, two deep on shelves and stacked on floors. A book-lovers paradise. Did I find any books to buy? Is the Pope Catholic?

Talking of Paradise, could you come closer than a garden seat in a lovely English Garden, sun beaming down (Yes),a book to read, and Aussie the ginger cat at your feet? I love this life! Thanks Helen and Chris - and Aussie.

Mother England

copperowl — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 10:16:00 GMT

When I was younger (so much younger than today...) I lived in London for 2 years. And it has such fun memories for me that I love it despite its peculiarities. So I'm forgiving it for the two things about today that I'd forgotten are so much part of London - rain, rain, rain and TUBE STRIKE!! So I'm walking up to Highgate Cemetery - with many stops (like this one) along the way.

Londoners, being Londoners don't seem to be phased about the strike. Kerstin is walking to work; Luke is working from home and everyone is on the buses. Even the papers are giving it minimal coverage - except that it might prevent people from getting to Wembley to see the Soccer (sorry Football) tonight.

The papers have been taking great delight in Australia's ousting from the 20-20 Cricket and it's taken the focus off their loss to that powerhouse of Cricket - the Netherlands. Now they are suggesting that England might win the Cricket. And the 2010 World Cup Soccer too. Although by today the papers were speculating that Australia might gain the advantage in the Ashes with the extra time off. So if anyone asks I'll say that that was the plan all along. Sneaky Australia - DELIBERATELY losing both matches. Only other Australian news is the stoush between Gordon Ramsay and our (often unnamed) Prime Minister.

The UK seemingly has no worries about swine flu either. No tally, no questions at Immigration or Customs coming in. In Japan I had to fill in a form which asked if I'd EVER had a cough or a fever. I interpreted ever as being in the previous week and said no. Penalty for lying was 5 years jail. Funnily the UK (but not Australia) is on Japan's list of suspect countries. And Japan's on everyone elses.

Jenni.I haven't learned to put photos on yet. Maggie - love yur poetry. Love the comments - they keep me connected.

Where was I up to?

copperowl — Mon, 8 Jun 2009 10:57:00 GMT

Tokyo is a very busy city and a very efficient one. The bus from the airport was very chatty. First it told us to fasten our seatbelts. Then not to use our mobiles as it will "annoy the neighbours". Go bus! Then it told us as we arrived at each hotel and "hoped to see us again". The train system was very efficient too. The gap between where you put the tickets in the machine and where they pop out was somewhat longer that we are used to and you have to run between them so that the machine doesn't eat up the ticket. This is designed to get people through the barriers fast as there are 12 million people in Tokyo and I think they all travel on the trains. Almost everyone seems to speak English, which puts us to shame. Except, apparently the previous Prime Minister who had been trained to ask Bill Clinton "How are you?" and reply "Me too" when he said he was fine. However he asked "Who are you?" and Bill replied, "I'm Bill, Hilary's husband", to which the PM said "Me too". A good story whether it's true or not.

There are lots of Buddhist temples in Tokyo and I found one in Shiba Park that was just the most peaceful place. I've learned the differences between Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines and know how to pray in both. And did. I light candles in Christian Cathedrals and incense in Buddhist temples and ask for blessings for all my web of family and friends.

I am cheating a little counting Finland in my country toll, as I only sat at the airport for an hour or so. But about 15 hours in a Finnair plane should count. Highly recommended airline. But the man next to me spent the time squirming and twisting and checking out what movie I had on. It was like being trapped for 14 hours with the most ADD kid in Year 8.

An uneventful arrival in the UK and by the time I got to Luke's place I'd been awake for 24 hour. Tiredness but no real jet-lag (they are different) and all's well by morning.

Tokyo Rose

copperowl — Sat, 6 Jun 2009 10:12:00 GMT

Today i was at a temple in central Tokyo. Two little girls, or little women walked past - dressed in full Geisha outfits. This afternoon we had a small earth tremor. The full Japanese experience.

Yesterday i visited Mount Fuji. Mt Fuji is regarded as a sacred mountain and it lived up to its reputation. Because it's the rainy season (remind me to check that next time) it was completely fogged in. We couldn't see it at all. We drove up it, without really seeing it. Then when we got to the highest point that can be driven to, the fog lifted. The summit just hung above us, complete with snow! It was magical. And cold. Tip: When going up to the top of a volcano, take a jacket! I learned that in Hawaii.

The trip back was on the Bullet train. It "only" got to 230km/hr! But it is so smooth that you wouldn't realize that it is anywhere near that fast. Later I negotiated the Tokyo subway system and didn't get lost.

"Birds of a Feather": Thanks for the comments! I know who you are!

Off to London tomorrow.

Two weeks to go

copperowl — Sat, 23 May 2009 05:04:00 GMT

It is assumed that when you travel, your mind and body move at the same time. Not true! About two weeks before the body is due to leave, it is necessary to get the mind active. Send it on ahead. Most people won't notice of course, but you can send them signals. Time to get out the old "I climbed Mt Druitt" t-shirts and all the other souvenirs. Talk about your up-coming trip constantly at work - people love that! The mind is already travelling, but the body is still there, doing every day stuff.As the eskimos say: "Glorious it is when the wandering time has come"