Travel Journal Copenhagen 21 Amalienborg Palace

Today we took a Hop-On, Hop-Off bus to Amalienborg Palace. Actually, it is a complex of 4 palaces in a diamond shape. One is occupied by the queen when she is in town, one by the Crown Prince, one is for guests, and the 4th is part museum and part a residence for another member of the royal family.

We got back to our drop-off point, and I went into the Visitor Center to get more information, then we started looking for a place to eat. The clerk at our hotel recommended a place with Danish food, so we walked about 4-5 blocks, only to find it closed. So we went to Rio Bravo, across the street, which was in the style of the Old (American) West, but we ordered fish dishes that I think were fairly Danish. Both had plaice (steamed or fried), white asparagus, small shrimp and caviar. Larry’s had both fried and steamed plaice, and toast. Mine was just steamed plaice, and also had small boiled potatoes. The steamed plaice was pretty boring, but the meal was otherwise okay. We had draft Tuborg Special beer with it, and that was good.

After dinner, it was still raining, so we just came back to the room and hung our coats and hats to dry. Will work on the journal and plan for tomorrow.

(to be continued)

Travelling by airplane

From the chapter: Travelling by airplane:

 overzelaous travellers will often tell you that the only real way of travelling is the so-called surface travel (by earth, water) in contrast to air travel. The real traveller, you will be told, has to be prepared to endure all the difficulties and trouble included in travelling and not act as an unworthy turist who has everything served for him.

 I don't object - it is true that one will experience the countries better and deeper travelling always with one's own vehicle or using the same transportation as the natives - but one is only able to do that providing he has loads of energy and time. To reach the Fillipines or Peru one will have to "take a really long walk" on the surface and the travel will cost much more than the plane. It is also doubtful that one will find the two-week trip by transsyberian rail for the fourth or fifth time as delightful as for the first time.

To be continued

Janin 

Travelling By Public Transport 3

Also the rhythm and timetables are sometimes pretty exotic. In some places the bus will not depart until it is full ("full" meaning stuffed to the last space, seated with passengers on the roof and at least three people hanging from each door), elsewhere the bus will depart before the anticipated time if it is full already. One will be irritated by the conductors tirelessly jumping around the people on the street and inviting them into their bus. If there are two or three buses destined for the same direction, the first to leave is the first full one. Get ready to be dragged into different directions by several conductors. The one with a foreigner on board becomes more attractive for other passengers…

To be continued

Janin 

Travelling By Public Transport 2

Get ready for merengue music playing non-stop with a loudness that verges on pain, and get ready for watching your own breath clouds in a freezing cold in a tropical country.

Get yourself ear corks and warm clothes before the drive!

 These buses mostly have their regular stops every three hours when you can eat and get refreshment. However, the stops are usually boring and situated outside settlements. Unless you are hungry, you will have nothing to do with yourself during that time.

 The regular buses are exceedingly less comfortable of course, but much more genuine and interesting. It is a good idea to enquire a bit before the drive: such buses sometimes stop at every village by the road, which means arrival at a considerably later hour.

To be continued

Text & photo: Janin 

Travelling By Public Transport:

From the chapter: Travelling By Public Transport:

…However, "luxurious" buses do have their disadvanteges. The drivers, very proud of the technical achievement built in their vehicles, are trying to get the most out of them. The passengers as well are eager to take advantage of the luxury gadgets they paid for, demanding the television to work even if the driver only posesses one videotape, the music to play really loud and the air-condition to work with full power. Get ready to watch HongKong films, sinchronized into Malaian, with chinese subtitles, which you will have the oppurtunity to see at least five times in a ten-hours drive.

To be continued

Text & photo: Janin 

Hitchhiking 2

In Great Birtain a much older signal is often used: the middle and forefinger pointed aside. If the hand is raised, the meaning of the sign is "peace on earth" or "victory". But if the hand is raised and turned towards the observer with its back side, it means, "go to hell!". One can send this message into the rearview miror simply by raising the hand.

    In Africa, in Greece and in some other places, the raised thumb means an obscene gesture, similar to a raised middle finger. Therefore, it's better to stop the car by waving one's hand towards the ground as if trying to make the driver slow down in these countries. This is done by the natives in all third world countries…

To be continued

Text & photo: Janin Klemenčič

From the chapter: Hitchhiking

There are two established methods in Europe - using a thumb and using a destination placard. The thumb stops everyone driving on the road in your direction. It is not a problem if one is using an interurban road. But it is better to use a sign with the direction of one's travel if one is standing on the drive to the motorway or by the bypass which leads to numerous different directions…

Thumb hitchhiking was established in the sixties. The first to use this sign were presumably the Romans: a thumb pointing downwards meant they wanted the gladiator to die, a thumb pointing upwards meant they wanted him to live. The meaning of the simbol later expanded: it means approval, best wishes or appeal to something positive, "do me a favour and give me a lift".

To be continued

Text & photo: Janin Klemenčič