Oslo

August 23, 2006- Sailing
(photos:How many blonds does it take?,
Vigeland)

Almost as soon as we pulled away from the dock we were greeted by the walls of the Citadel built in the 13th century. There’s still a military presence. Christian IV of Denmark is also a presence. There were fourteen fires in 1624 and he ordered that all wood buildings be destroyed and only stone ones erected. The trouble with that was he took the stones from the local churches. The older structures still standing from the 1800’s are full of character. I’m sorry to say that the rest of the city is quite unattractive and reminds me of Wellington, New Zealand. The buildings are boxy and unimaginative.

The PA system on the ferry woke us at 7 AM. We had a restless night. I thought the engines would lull us to sleep but the A/C froze us. When Danes have a chance to use air-conditioning they turn it into human refrigeration. Before docking in Oslo at 9:30AM we sailed down a narrow and shallow fjord past bays, inlets, and picture book villages with the requisite sailboats and marinas dotting the shore. It’s worlds apart from Denmark. Norway is craggy and hilly. It’s considerably to the north. They do have similar but cooler weather (low 60’s-high 70’s) in that skies are frequently gray and it rains intermittently. Sun showers are common.

This Grand Circle Tour will be more like independent travel now. We have lots of free time and some optional tours but most meals are on our own. Breakfasts are included but food is unbelievably priced. A Whopper at Burger King is $11.50 and the medium pizza we had for lunch was $33. We’re staying in better hotels than we would have if we booked separately. One reason for the high cost of living here is that the government wants to encourage people in rural areas to stay there. It’s very costly to transport goods to them so it was decided that all Norwegians would pay extra for each item in order to help defray that cost. It hasn’t worked. People are still coming to the city in droves. Evidently everyone here agrees not to be part of the EU. With all the oil they have their economy is booming.

Our city guide was Jan, a Dane. Yves joked that we had a Danish guide to help with a slow transition to his world. Remember, Yves is half Norwegian. As soon as we came ashore he started talking about “us and we” when referring to Norwegians. He’s still under the weather and lapses into French due to exhaustion. That’s his other half. I hope he recovers before we have to learn Thai.

Docking

There are 525,000 people in Oslo and of course there is a traffic and housing problem. Tunnels are being used to keep traffic off the surface roads and preserve land for housing. Our housing is fine. We’re at the Clarion Royal Christiania Hotel. We have re-entered the world of two-ply toilet paper. Don’t be confused by the name “Christiania.” It has nothing to do with the hippie community in Copenhagen even though this is called a Bohemian city and the Romanians are here in droves for the “season.” They earn enough begging and pick pocketing in three months so they don’t have to work the rest of the year. Yves did warn us that smoking is totally prohibited indoors. Smoking is permitted only on the street. He cautioned that there’s a huge heroin problem in Oslo and it’s right across the street from us at the train station. He said he would wash his hands of us if we became involved in any way. Does he remember we’re old folks?

People have been living in the area since the year 1000 and the city was officially founded in 1048. April 4, 1940 was the first time their Citadel was conquered. That’s when the Nazis entered the scene. Norway gained independence from the gentle take-over by the Danes in 1905. They voted to re-establish the monarchy after 500 years but had no royals on Norwegian soil. They sent to the U.S. for Prince Karl who was married to an English princess, Maude. Their son was the first king born in Norway in 500 years.

The monarchy is all-powerful but has no power. There can be no law without the signature of the king, but if he refuses the next thing he will sign is his abdication. The royal family also cannot vote in elections.

Vigeland

We were unprepared for the beauty of our next stop. Gustav Vigeland was a sculptor who lived from 1869-1943. His lifelong project was an outdoor sculpture park started in 1914 and financed by the city. When he died he gave it back to the people of Oslo. The only Vigeland sculpture outside of Norway is in Fargo, N. Dakota. Norwegian-Americans purchased the statue. The entrance is a bridge with fifty-eight bronze statues on either side that draws you into the grounds and up to the fountain. Gardens are interspersed as the paths lead from wonder to wonder. The sculptures are of people and are realistic. They’re erotic, violent, tender, playful, and poignant. They’re of old and young depicting life from birth to death. Symmetry is important and the circle of life is the theme. A granite monolith towered over it all. It illustrated Vigeland’s feeling that death creates life. On the bottom of the pillar were the dead. As the eye rose there were forms of people climbing one over the other with babies topping it out. The granite was hand polished and felt as soft as velvet. It took his assistants thirty years to complete the monolith alone. We wanted to photograph each and every one of the statues but my favorite was a man juggling several children in the air with one bouncing up off his foot. It really showed the feeling a parent has trying to do it all.

Beyond

We drove up a mountain to the ski area of Holmenkollen where the 1952 Olympics took place. We gawked at the ski jump and agreed to the insanity of skiers who would attempt it. Our city orientation walk took us up Karl Johans Gate (street), the main drag. Stores selling trolls lined the way. Yves told us that troll stories were for adults, not children. Trolls reflect our own fear and imagination especially when we see things in the dark that aren’t there. Ancient stories harken back to days when people would walk in the forest at night and imagine that a tree stump had moved. They’d go home and the story would grow. A troll picks its person when its eyes twinkle, not the other way around. I don’t see a troll in my future.

We left the guided walk and climbed over student vendors to get to the National Museum. University has begun and students lined the streets selling their used books. The museum is in an unpretentious building and has a modest collection of Norwegian and international artists including a few Impressionists and Munch. Munch is best known for his work The Scream. There’s an entire museum devoted to his work but I do not think we will get there. We got dinner tonight at a vertical mall across from our hotel. Prices there seem only moderately horrendous. But true to form, Yves had words of wisdom about this expensive country. He advised us we should enjoy ourselves for the five days we’ll be here and save when we get home.

Why us?

We were minding our business and finishing our sandwiches when a man came over to ask if we wanted Christian literature. David declined. The man said that was why he asks. David said that we were Jewish. The man asked if we were from New York. We told him we were from Ohio. The man was from California. He’s an Iraqi who had lived there thirty years. He was going to university in Oslo now at age forty and was a Seventh Day Adventist.

Toby

In Transit

August 22, 2006-History on the Fly
(photos:Kronenberg Castle,
Thatched cottage-Gilleje,
"bath" & toilet)

The stolen purse didn’t arrive, but the passport did. Yves is trying to find out what really was recovered. Ida joined us again as our city guide, but today we headed up the coastal road and to the countryside. Ida told us a bit more about her family. She has a son in L.A. who is studying to be a rabbi. According to her he’s outdoing the Chabadniks. Even his children wear sheitels (wigs). She’s not happy about his fundamentalism.

She enlightened us with more information about life in Denmark. There’s 180% tax on automobiles and boats. Many Danes would prefer to have a boat than a car if they cannot afford both. A middle class two-bedroom apartment costs $650,000. There’s a 13-year wait for rentals and it costs $100/year to get on the waiting list for each building.

Danes have brewed beer since the Vikings lived here from 800-1100. Tuborg and Carlsberg are the biggest with Carlsberg fighting the new microbreweries to keep the lead.

In 1972 Denmark joined the EU. They aren’t sure it was worth it but cannot quit now. They hate the regulations and red tape imposed by some nit-picking standards. Apples must measure a certain circumference or are discarded. The amount of fish taken from the sea is likewise limited and surplus is thrown back. They voted not to adopt the Euro and the krohn is stronger than ever. The Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish krohn is the oldest in Europe. One denomination of coin has a hole in the middle reminding them of the time Vikings wore their money on thongs around their necks.

Unions are very strong but not compulsory, although getting a job without being a union member is near impossible. Union dues are $200 a month; there’s a thirty-seven hour work week; after one year at a job vacation is six weeks (not cumulative); the average wage is $18 /hour: minimum wage is $13/hour; people retire at age sixty-five and get a taxable state pension of $3,000/month; university students are given a $500/month stipend; new mothers get one year paid maternity leave; new fathers get six weeks paid leave. Surveys say Danes are the happiest people in Europe.

The royal family gets a salary of thirty million a year that includes the queen, her consort, and the prince. It’s not taxable and they don’t pay a VAT tax on purchases. The royals are responsible for upkeep on the palace interiors and the state pays for the exterior. It’s like condo living.

Our travels today took us past the home of Karen Blixen , author of Out of Africa, and Victor Borge. Borge was a Danish Jew who couldn’t afford passage out of the country when the Nazis entered. He bartered his way on board a ship in exchange for playing the piano every day. His wife preceded him in death and was cremated. He kept her ashes at home with him in Connecticut. He too was cremated and their ashes were mixed. That’s how they rest, half and half in Connecticut and Denmark.

We went by the American Embassy, which for some reason unknown to Ida is located in a cemetery. It was in a neighborhood far from the other embassies surrounded by glamorous private homes that had been turned into offices. As we got farther from Copenhagen summer homes appeared. There are no private beaches in Denmark so it’s conceivable that someone living in a million dollar ocean front home could wake up to a family having a cook-out on the beach in front of their house.

Shakespeare’s Dane

We arrived at Kronenberg Castle in Helsingor the alleged site of and inspiration for Shakepeares play Hamlet. We call the town Ellsinore. Scholars are now pretty sure that Shakespeare, traveling as a storyteller, did in fact visit that location gathering inspiration for more tales. There’s a yearly Hamlet Festival and there were no restrictions on the license allowing the productions until a nude ballet was presented outside on the ramparts in the rain. The dancers were slipping and sliding and it closed in two days. All the old black and white movies of Hamlet were filmed here. The newer ones had to be shot in Great Britain due to cost.

The Kronenberg Castle is only a mile and a half from Sweden and was a formidable fortress when built in 1584. It’s a four-sided stone castle/fortress built around an enormous courtyard. The castle controlled the waters of the sound and charged tariffs to passing ships. Ida explained that a castle is more basic and is for men while a palace is for showing off and parties.

King Fredrick who built the castle was 45 years old before he married. He was a carefree bachelor until he was told he had to choose a bride. He didn’t want to bother so one was chosen for him. She was fifteen-year-old Sophie, a German princess. They had a rocky beginning but eventually grew very fond of each other and produced six children four of whom lived. One of them was Margaret I. She was widowed early but convinced the church that she would be a caretaker until her young son assumed the throne. He never did but while in power she acquired half of Sweden and all of Norway for Denmark. She was called the “king without pants.”

There’s nothing new under the sun and bulimia was alive and well among the aristocracy of old Denmark. Women were expected to have huge wardrobes of glamorous gowns and were also expected to attend frequent banquets where they were served twenty pounds of food. How did they keep their girlish figures? The solution was disgusting. Unlike Romans there were no vomitoriums. Women were served ten pounds of food, given feathers to tickle each others throats, given bowls in which to vomit, and fed ten more pounds of food. In order to impress the commoners the purged material was fed to the pigs. In this way royals showed the hungry peasants they had enough food to waste. The royals were totally revolting in their habits and expectations of their servants. They did not use chamber pots but used a corner of the room as a toilet. Servants were expected to clean up after them. Even dogs can be paper-trained.

That aside, the tapestries commissioned in the 1500's that still hang in the halls were impressive. Then we learned that the king made the Flemish women he had imported work around the clock in his rush to have the tapestries completed. That resulted in many of the women going blind.

Maritime Culture

We continued along the Baltic looking at Sweden and passing through forests. When settled 10,000 years ago Denmark was covered with trees. The forests are depleted now and serious re-forestation is taking place. Ida said there were deer in Denmark but only the occasional moose that wander over the ice or swim across the water from Sweden. They usually got lonely and returned home.

Our objective was Gillelje. On April 9, 1940, Hitler invaded. Denmark wanted to stay neutral to preserve its buildings and save its people, but they were unprepared and were overpowered. The resistance grew strong and everyone participated in it, even children who carried messages in book bags. The Nazis took fuel, food, and clothing, but the Danes wouldn’t let them take its citizens. All Danes wore yellow Stars of David.

In 1943, in a desperate move, Hitler issued orders to round up all Danish Jews in Copenhagen for transport to concentration camps. The plan was to arrest them on Oct. 1 and 2nd on their way home from High Holiday services. An aide leaked the plot and the Danes intercepted the Jews and hid them in their homes. The Jews were transported out of the city to the summer homes then hidden in church attics until it was safe for them to go aboard fishing vessels and be taken to Sweden. Some were hidden under fish. Of the 8,000 Jews in Copenhagen, 500 went to concentration camps. Of that number 472 lived. Five thousand were saved from Guillelje alone.

The Swedes housed and schooled the Danish Jews for three years before they could return. When they came back to Denmark they found that their homes and all their belongings were intact. The names on their bank accounts had been changed to sound less Jewish but were still theirs. Ida explained that Danes don’t care about religion. It’s a private matter. There was no way they were going to capitulate to a power coming into Denmark and singling out Danish citizens because they talked to God differently.

We walked past the church that had hidden the Jews and through a cemetery along the path the Jews had taken to the boats. To us there seemed to be a lot of men named Fred buried there. Fred is Danish for “peace.” Cemetery plots are free. Families pay for the gravestone and maintenance. Coffins are wood and graves are re-used every hundred years.

Our walk took us through the fishing village where thatched roofs were common. They last fifty years and cost $17,000 to replace. When moss starts growing on a roof it’s time to start saving for a replacement. They cost more to insure against fire but are perfect insulation for all weather. Bugs aren’t a problem since they claim to have none here. I don’t know what those flying things were that we killed in our room.

We did a drive-by photo-op at the queen’s summer palace built in 1722. There was no queen in residence. She’s having knee replacement surgery. All forty-five of us marched off the bus, dutifully took our photos, went potty, and climbed back on. We’re a well-oiled machine by now. All we need is a rope to hold onto as we march along behind our guide and we could pass for an over-sized pre-school class on the move.

On the Ferry

Lunch was fish cakes eaten under a gray sky at picnic tables overlooking the sea. It was cozier than the dinner we shared on Pearl of Scandinavia, the 2,600-passenger luxury ferry taking us to Oslo. We had what we call a grand buffet. Here it’s called a smorgasbord. I fell in love with curried herring and David loved it too. Who would have imagined? Unfortunately wishful thinking left him with not a plate of fried onion rings but with fried calamari.

We celebrated Yves 55th birthday and he bought us wine. He sat at our table for dinner and piqued our curiosity as to his background. We think he’s from a prominent French family. He won’t tell us what the family business is.

We land in Oslo tomorrow morning and immediately start a city tour. No rest etc…

Toby

Copenhagen once more

August 21, 2006- Yves
(photos:Christiania,
police presence)

I got to sleep late this morning. David woke up early enough for breakfast and fought an old lady for the last banana. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Yves isn’t feeling well. I think he caught David’s cold since David doesn’t have it anymore. We learned a bit more about Yves. When he was twelve his parents sent him to live with friends in North Carolina. There had been lots of correspondence about the arrangements but the North Carolinian family had never seen Yves. When Yves landed there was no one there to meet him. He was in tears until an airport employee put two and two together. There was a couple waiting for a little girl named Eve who hadn’t arrived on the flight as expected. To their relief it was all sorted out. When Yves arrived at their home he was shown to the newly redecorated pink bedroom they had for him.

The next time he was in North Carolina he was at Duke University. His parents paid his fees and set up an account he could draw on for living expenses. He hated it there especially the drug culture on the campus in the 60’s so he left. He traveled all around the U.S. for six months before Duke returned his parents check saying they had no student by that name. When he was busted his parents told him he was welcome to wander but it had to be on his money. He held odd jobs and paid his way until he decided to return to Norway and get a free education in anthropology courtesy of the state.

During his excursion in the States he made it to North Dakota. He walked into a store, greeted the clerk, who said to him with that Minnesota/Dakota singsong twang, “ How may I help you?” He was incensed that she would make fun of his accent until she explained the area had been heavily settled by Scandinavians & that was how they spoke English. His English intonations were exactly those of the area.

Happy Hippies

Yves took us by Metro, the newest underground in Europe, to visit Christiania, a hippie section of town. We saw that people here travel with their dogs and the dogs ride the escalators. People frequently have two bikes so they don’t have to drag them on the trains. They ride one bike to the station and pick up their second bike at the end of their ride and pedal to work.

On the way to Christiania we toured the Church of Our Savior a 400-year-old Lutheran church with a 400-step spiral tower with a magnificent view of the city. We took it on faith and didn’t climb. It’s famous for its ornately carved wood organ and is quite “gilt” compared to the simplicity of Lutheran churches in the States. David noticed the Hebrew for the name of God “yod-hey-vav-hey” over the pulpit. We pronounce it “adonai” but if sounded out it is “yahweh.”

The canals and buildings of Christiania were constructed in 1650 by King Christian IV as a buffer against Sweden. The military occupied the site and buildings until 1969 when they abandoned them. In 1971, four hundred squatters organized and took over the land and buildings. They cleaned up any chemicals in the soil the military might have left and sent the bill to the government. There are now nine hundred people living there. Communal living is rare but they live as a community. It likes to think of itself as independent from Denmark and has its own economy and its budget of about $3 million a year. But they pay taxes and are subject to Danish law. Buildings have been added since 1860 but the government realized it sits on some of the most valuable land in the city. They’ve forbidden any additions to existing buildings or the building of new structures. They want to freeze them out. The right wing Danish government wants to be able to sell the land. The problem is that most buildings in this prime waterfront community were declared historical treasures and cannot be torn down. That means there can be no building for speculation. It will not become a subdivision. The community has lived there long enough so that they own it by adverse possession. There’s talk about the government taking it by eminent domain but the cost would be astronomical. Even though the residents are aging hippies they have an understanding of reality. If the worst happens and they have to sell, they’ve collected $50,000 to start a Christiania Foundation.

It’s an aging community but even if young people want to move back after university there’s little room for them. The community votes on who can live in any vacancies that occur. Water and sewer sanitation is still an issue with more indoor plumbing being installed daily. Electricity isn’t used regularly. Streets are poorly paved and we leaped over puddles as rain and sun alternated keeping us busy juggling sunhats and umbrellas.

As we entered Yves pointed out a pair of tennis shoes hanging from electric lines outside the arched entrance to Christiania, a universal sign that drugs were available nearby. Hashish is sold openly on what is called “pusher” street in the market square. No photos are allowed in that area and Yves warned us that the locals would take our cameras and there was nothing he could do about it. Police make frequent sweeps to ferret out those who smoke or otherwise ingest hemp products. In fact, there was a police presence when we were there. They rarely make arrests since residents announce their presence. One man follows them around with a video camera to be sure they don’t unduly harass the locals.

There are hard and fast rules in Christiania: no selling stolen goods, no gang symbols, no bulletproof vests, no weapons, no violence, no cars, no hard drugs. In 1979 gangs moved in and were tossed out for selling hard drugs. The only punishment they use is expulsion. In the case of users of hard drugs they’re sent to rehab and will not be readmitted to Christiania for six months after they complete treatment.

The few independent businesses pay a fee to Christiania’s coffers. They prefer not to call it a tax. Several residents work outside the area and some residents of Copenhagen work in Christiania. There are no schools in the community because they want their children to mix with the outside world. We visited the women’s blacksmith shop, an antique auto restoration company, an antique stove restoration company, stables where horses are kept for lessons and pleasure riding, a bike factory that makes custom bikes, and a grocery. There are pre-schools, bakeries (we were warned not to eat the brownies), cafes, and an auditorium. There’s a local post office. If mail is to be sent within the community only one stamp is needed. To send mail outside the community the stamp of Christiania is required and a Danish stamp as well. It seemed to me like a third world country in a first class city. There was no temptation for me to stay. I treasure my porcelain conveniences. As we left we laughed at the inscription on the arch. It read, “You Are Now Entering the EU.” For those who are interested try christiania.org or christiania.org.dk

After leaving Christiania we crowded into the bakery we’d visited yesterday before walking back to the hotel. We sat by a huge open window and ate sandwiches while thunder and lightning criss-crossed the city. The woman seated at the counter next to me asked if I’d purchased my salad there. At first I thought she was going to report me or ask me to leave if I hadn’t. One of our group was not permitted to eat a sandwich at a café where he ordered coffee. Sharing meals is also not permitted. It seemed that the lady just didn’t realize salads were available in the bakery.

Down Home Danes

Our home-hosts were a couple in their 70’s and are well traveled retirees. Their adult son joined us. Their home sat in a lovely garden and consisted of three bedrooms upstairs with an apartment on the third floor where their son had lived as a teenager. The main level had a living room, dining room, den, and small but modern kitchen as well as a lovely enclosed porch where the table was set for our dinner. The home is heated from steam generated from a central trash recycling plant. Recently a hot underground body of water was discovered under all of Copenhagen and will be tapped for heat as they do in Iceland. They entertained with panache and used their finest china, silver, and glassware. This was unlike our usual hosts where they opened their homes to augment their income. They were used to entertaining foreign guests and were financially comfortable enough to travel to the U.S. yearly.

I mentioned that the U.S. was in the midst of a debate on immigration and asked Ib about the immigration situation in Denmark. He said that they were getting fed up with the population from Pakistan, Iran, etc. who came with nothing, took from the government, didn’t learn the language, and now was a danger to the country.

The husband spent time in Fiji as a young man and learned Urdu to communicate with the Indian sugar cane workers there. When he returned to Denmark to work with SAS they frequently called him in to translate for Indians stranded in Denmark while in transit to England for schooling. He brought them home until things were sorted out. His open-home policy was how he met an ophthalmologist from somewhere in Ohio. The young man was nineteen and an exchange student who got off at the wrong Metro station late at night. Our host was twenty-nine and took him home. They corresponded for many years but lost touch with each other until recently when some Danes went to a wedding in Washington, D.C. The Danes were asked if they knew our host. They didn’t but looked him up when they got home. Ever since then our hosts have been visiting them at their vacation home in Salt Lake City. a

We have an early morning tomorrow and a hectic day ending up at the ferry for a nighttime crossing to Oslo.

Toby

Copenhagen

August 20, 2006- And Counting
(photos:Tivoli entrance,
Tivoli at night)

So yesterday was 89 and sunny; today was in the 70's and drizzly. As Yves tells us no matter what the weather is doing it’s sunny for us because today is the only day we have to count on. The Danes, however, can count on 75% tax. It’s unimaginable.

We played dodge ‘em with a UNICEF walkathon sponsored by ECCO shoes. Our huge bus was re-routed and wove among the walkers to join the hundreds of other buses maneuvering through narrow streets and into tiny parking spaces.

Ida, our city guide, had unaccented colloquial English. We found out why. She was married to an American and lived in New York for twenty years. He died eleven years ago and she returned to Copenhagen with her five children. The children are grown and one has already returned to New York She thinks they all will at which time she’ll move too. She’s Jewish and said that even she couldn’t get us into the synagogue mid-week. There are 3,000 Jews who are members of either the orthodox or upstart Reform congregations. The Reform meets in a home and flies a rabbi in from the States monthly. There might be an equal number of unaffiliated Jews. Being self-consciously egalitarian, Danes don’t count people by religion, but somehow she knew that 95% of Danes were Lutheran. They attend church three times in their lives: birth, marriage, death.

Landmarks

As we drove past the Citadel on our half-day tour, Ida mentioned it was built to fend off the oldest enemy of Denmark, the Swedes. Swedish POW’s dug some of the canals here. In the old days Denmark was a world power. They had many colonies and owned the Virgin Islands. Selling it to the U.S. was one of their biggest mistakes. The sun-starved Danes would love to have an island holiday retreat in the tropics all their own. Another regret is that they participated in the slave trade. They ‘ve tried to make up for it ever since.

We got off the bus to take pictures of the Little Mermaid statue that sits forlornly on a rock near the cleanest harbor in the world. The water is fit for swimming and the Danes are proud of their hard work and achievement. If only they’d clean their streets as well. This town reminds me of Amsterdam in more than canals and building style. It’s as messy. The mermaid is tinier than I thought and unfortunately had a lap full of bird poop this morning. Hans Christian Anderson told the fairy tale about a mermaid who fell in love with a prince. She asked a witch to change her tail into legs. The witch warned that she could do that but the mermaid would feel like she was walking on glass the rest of her life. The mermaid insisted and the witch complied. As fate would have it the prince had fallen in love with another. Ida said the moral of the story is that’s what happens when a woman loses her tail. Many think that Hans Christian Anderson was telling his story and he too suffered unrequited love. Actually, Mr. Jacobson saw the story danced in a ballet and fell in love with the ballerina. Since he was already married he identified with the mermaid. He had the ballerina pose for the life-size statue and commissioned it. As if a lovelorn life wasn’t enough vandals have twice cut her head off and once tried to blow up the rock thus beheading her again.

At 1,000 years Denmark is the oldest monarchy in Europe and has numerous kings and queens for school children to memorize. One of them is playfully called the Great Dane. Christian IV fathered twenty-seven known children and many unaccounted for. They think of him as the true father of the country. It’s now a constitutional monarchy with the royal family being figureheads. Despite that they are beloved. Queen Margaret (aka Daisy) is rumored to smoke four packs of cigarettes a day and at sixty-six seems fit. When the younger prince divorced his Chinese wife everyone was shocked but the prince is in disfavor and the wife and children stayed. It was rumored that the prince is gay. I guess the monarchy talks the liberal talk but cannot walk the walk.

We piled out off the bus to watch the changing of the guard at Amalienborg Palace, the residence of the queen, and were warned not to get in their way. They don’t stop and have been seen walking over photo-obsessed Japanese tourists with their steel-toed boots. The guard is the cream of the crop. They are on twenty-four hours and off twenty four. They stand guard at two-hour intervals with two-hours break. They aren’t as strait laced as the Palace Guard in England and will pose for photos, but are armed with real guns holding real bullets. The prestige of being a royal guard lasts a lifetime and opens doors. There’s a compulsory draft and lottery. Only one-third are drafted each year.

There was a $3,000 reward for the winner of a contest for the best name for the new opera house. We crossed the canal once again to see that marvel of modern architecture. The flat roof is cantilevered over the water and seems to want to soar into the sky. The three chandeliers in the lobby were made in Iceland and even on a dreary day refract the light into beacons of rainbows. The marble walls are hollow and we thumped them playing music as we walked downstairs to the rest rooms. By the way, the winning name for the structure was Opera House.

On our way to the next stop we passed summer gardens. Danes who moved into the city from farms missed getting their hands dirty and growing things. The government gave them small plots that have evolved into a community of the tiniest most charming array of one-room cottages. There are no facilities and the people may only stay overnight on weekends but the area is a bit of the country in the city.

I asked about the many flat roofs we’d seen and was told there’s little snow here. They mostly have wind and ice. Ida said that aside from not getting snow Denmark is flat so Danes are excellent sailors, great bikers, but abysmal failures as skiers. But they are great bakers. We visited a bakery where we were permitted to indulge ourselves and buy to our hearts content. There’s a fantastic ice cream place nearby as well. We’re in hog heaven. The ice cream is the best deal in Scandinavia at eighty-five cents for two scoops.

On Our Own

We wandered along the waterfront until we found an outdoor café that was appealing. They’re open all year round and have heaters and blankets for their customers comfort I had lox (the Danish word for salmon is lochs) and David had an open-face roast beef sandwich with horseradish sauce. We should have gone to the pizzeria.

The afternoon was free and stores are closed Sunday. We were going to walk to the grave of Kirkegard, the philosopher, but it was way too far. We stopped at the halfway point at Rosemborg Castle. We turned into the wrong gate and were asked to “HALT” by an armed guard. We did and he directed us to the correct entrance. The main attraction was the crown jewels. They are all real, all in a vault, and you dare not sneeze. I mean that literally. Yves told us that a woman on one of his tours sneezed and activated the emergency gate. It’s timed not to open for an hour and they were locked in. When I saw so many jewels and gold and glimmering glittering baubles it looked unreal. It was so much paste to me. I’d never say it to a Dane since they revere the monarchy but I’d have it all melted down and re-set.

The castle was built in 1606 by King Christian IV as a summerhouse. It’s small and cute but the dark wood, marble and stone floors, Flemish paintings, and lack of light made it seem dreary. Plaster Cherubs drip from the ceilings like so many stalactites. We saw no large tour groups. They would overwhelm the place.

We went in search of bananas on the way home and realized why they stick a Danish flag in the box when they have them in stock. Good bananas are rare here. The ones we saw were either small and green or yellow and bruised. I’ll have to get my potassium elsewhere.

We ate a simple dinner with people from our group at the Hercegovina Grill in the Tivoli Gardens and enjoyed goulash and salad. When I went to the ladies room I saw a mother changing her babys diaper and heard her singing O Susanna. I was fine until the two words I recognized turned into Danish. Tivoli is a miniature old European amusement park and was more interesting to me than the crown jewels. It’s illuminated at night and transformed into a fairyland. It’s where hoards of Danes assemble and where the real diversity of the country can be found. I found it to be the anti-Epcot.

Tomorrow is free all day until our home hosted dinner. We have tentative plans to go to a hippy area with Yves. I assume he knows what he’s doing and we will not be arrested for hanging with druggies.

Toby

Good-bye Finns

August 19, 2006- Bad Karma in Helsinki
(photos:Suomenlinna,
Copenhagen trash)

A woman in our group had her purse snatched at breakfast. When we arrived in the dining room the police were there. It was the second snatching of the day. The hotel workers and police looked more upset than Lorna. It reflected badly on the Finns. She pretty much knew what she’d lost and it included her passport, a credit card, and traveler’s checks. Calls were made to the consulate, card company and AmEx so she felt secure about not losing huge amounts or ID theft. We found out that Finns don’t use checks anymore and haven’t for years. There are young people who’ve never seen one.

That hurdle jumped we boarded the bus where Yves asked us to direct our energy to finding the purse. The thieves would most likely dump it after they took what they wanted. They usually only took cash since everything else would be cancelled and come up “stolen” if they tried to use it.

Sea Fort

We boated over to Suomenlinna Sea Fort, a UNESCO site. It took forty years to build in the 18th century and was to protect all of Sweden. Finland was part of Sweden at that time. It’s located on four islands and the walls cover five miles. France designed the fort and contributed barrels of gold to the construction effort. The fort was an abysmal failure. Its guns couldn’t reach far enough to even defend Helsinki. It was a foreshadowing of the Maginot Line. Nonetheless it had parks, concert and lecture halls for the officers and a Russian Orthodox Church built when Peter the Great was in power. When Russia retreated the onion domes were removed, a plain cross was placed on top, and the steeple was turned into a lighthouse. The island is still inhabited and there’s a waiting list to live there. Young families with children are preferred and the governing board of the island chooses who gets in. In 1980, a service tunnel was built through which water and electricity is provided and emergency vehicles gain access. Icebreakers make it possible for the ferry to the mainland to run year round.

We had time to kill on the ride to the airport and as Yves was counting our heads someone asked if he’d ever left anyone behind. He said that he had. They’d stopped at a rest area and an hour after leaving it he had a sinking feeling that something was wrong. He’d asked if everyone was there and since they were all couples and no one spoke up he assumed they were. He noticed an empty seat next to a man and asked if his wife was elsewhere in the bus. The man replied she was not. Yves asked when the man last saw her. He told him it was at the rest stop. Yves asked the man what he wanted to do about it and the man said he didn’t want to do a thing. Rather than become a therapist or referee their issues, Yves did nothing. The wife turned up at the next town. She’d taken a taxi and was on a plane home the next day.

Good Karma in Helsinki

The purse was found! We don’t know all the details but it will be delivered in Copenhagen in two days. The tour director of the GCT tour behind us will deliver it. Our group energy worked.

Yves joined us for lunch and confided that he thinks the reason he took this trip was to meet us. Maybe he’s getting in touch with his Jewish roots. He doesn’t have a wife in Bangkok as I thought but was briefly married to a woman in Boston. He met his adopted son while studying in a Buddhist monetary. His son was nine and an orphan When Yves went to adopt him he realized the boy was a non-person whose existence was recorded nowhere in Thailand. If he didn’t exist he couldn’t be adopted. Yves turned to the American Embassy since we’re known for falling for sob stories. He was able to get the boy American citizenship and then adopt him. His son is now 22 and training to be a pilot.

In preparation for entering Denmark we were warned that Copenhagen isn’t pronounced as Danny Kaye did in the movie Hans Christian Anderson. It’s a long “a” sound that’s used here. We were also told that what we call Danish pastry at home is called Viennese pastry here. During the flight Yves presented David with champagne courtesy of Finn Air as a way to celebrate his birthday with the group

Copenhagen

As we were landing the man next to me pointed out that we were looking at Sweden. Copenhagen is that close. Windmills set in the Baltic Sea line the shore and provide 10 % of the power used in Denmark. Danes refused nuclear energy years ago. Denmark itself is comprised of 450 islands and is often referred to as the smallest country in Europe but if you take into consideration that the Danes own Greenland, the statistic doesn’t hold. Queen Daisy and Prince Henri are beloved even though Henri is a “two-step” prince. He isn’t Danish but is French and has to walk two steps behind the queen. Their son, the crown prince, may walk alongside his mother.

We were cautioned that after their love of eating, Danes love to smoke. Even the queen smokes. Yves told us that we shouldn’t criticize their habit since we’re guests in their country. He also mentioned that in 1989 Denmark and Sweden granted equal civil rights to gay men and lesbians including marriage and adoption. The Finance minister of Denmark is gay. Finland is twenty years behind. He warned us not to be surprised if we see two men eating together and when one leaves he kisses the other good-bye. Many in the group basically shrugged it off and said it was not different than Washington DC, New York, etc. and was not big deal.

There are 1.5 million Danes and they all ride bikes. Bikes have the right of way. Danes bike all year long. They say that there’s no bad weather just bad clothing. We passed several single-family homes but as we got closer to the city apartments prevailed. Entire areas look like Amsterdam and there are canals here too. That is mixed with fantastic modern buildings like their new opera house. It’s sold out for two years. Seen from a distance the skyline of Copenhagen is low-rise with just church spires jutting over the city.

We’re staying at the Admiral Hotel, a 300-year-old converted warehouse. It’s a dramatic old building with huge wooden beams that unfortunately bisect the rooms. We were warned about the danger of nighttime visits to the bathroom. We’re located between a re-gentrified red light district, Embassy Row, and the Palace

Our group walked to dinner and ate at Told and Snaps, a well-known restaurant by a canal. We’re also very close to the best ice cream place in town. We were surprised to find Copenhagen dirtier than Helsinki and St. Pete. It’s the weekend and trash was overflowing onto the streets and cigarette butts crunched underfoot. On our orientation walk after dinner we detoured through the palace complex, which is virtually unguarded. The four buildings making up the palace were originally owned by wealthy merchants who gave them to the royal family when the original palace burned. I’ve noticed that lots of those old palaces caught fire.

Tomorrow we do a driving tour of the city. It will be time to relax and try to stay cool. The temperature today was 89 degrees. There’s no air-conditioning.

Toby

Helsinki

August 18, 2006- Foreign Birthday
(photos:Rug washing,
Synagogue)

Today is David’s birthday. He has celebrated it all over the world since we tend to travel during the summer. I asked Yves if he could get a little something for the occasion. He had the hotel send two pieces of cake with candles and a bud vase of flowers to our room. We were on our own for lunch and dinner so there was no opportunity to share with the group. Those of you who know about our trip to S. America know how David wanted to see Lake Titicaca because he liked to say the name of it. The card I got him said, “See? There really is a Lake Titicaca! Happy birthday to a suave and sophisticated guy.”

About Suome?

Christina led our morning city tour. Yves was along for color. Just when we thought we had a handle on things he told us that Finland in Finnish is Suome. Christina pointed out that there’s nothing old in Finland. It was established in 1550 and although it had a fondness for art nouveau architecture it now has a love affair with modern. It was convenient to transition from style to style since they seem to have a major fire every century. The population is 560,000 but it seems more cosmopolitan. Greater Akron is the same size. Because there are two official languages there are two theaters. One is Swedish and one Finnish.

There are only 1500 Jews and 1000 Moslems in Finland. Religious studies are compulsory in school but if your religion is not represented you may study privately. Comparative religion is also offered. Pre-school through grade nine is free. After that there is a charge for books and lunch. One-third of the students are accepted at the university of their choice. The others must settle for alternative schools. Most want to go into professions creating an extreme shortage of skilled labor.

As far as medical care goes people are assigned a doctor by their address. You have the freedom to change but it’s unusual. Each office visit is $13 up to three visits in a year. Then the visits are free. Doctor visits for children up to age eighteen are free. Hospitals charge $28 a day. Emergency surgery is done immediately. For elective surgery there’s a wait.

Timeless Briefs

Our first stop was to watch carpet washing by the sea. Tables, rollers, and drying racks were set up at dockside. It’s a summertime ritual for families to lug their rugs for an annual washing. They use pine soap and rinse with seawater. Yves said the scent lasted all year.

We moved on to the Church in the Rock built along organic lines. In 1969 architects dug a cave into natural rock and sunk the church inside. The walls are rock and the dome is made of concentric coils of copper wire. Looking up from inside it appears to be a giant kepah (yarmulke/beanie). There’s only one small removable cross and the sanctuary would be comfortable for any religion. While we were there a Japanese choir sang. The acoustics are marvelous. Vertically hung windows placed under the dome circle the room affording wonderful light.

We paid homage to John Sibelius, the national composer. His monument looks like frosted stainless steel organ pipes. His bust is to the side like an afterthought. If it had been in aluminum I would have thought that Akron artist Don Drumm had a hand in it.

As we drove towards the Olympic stadium we thought we’d gone far into the country. We rode through thickly wooded areas where trees were already losing their leaves but we were only 1.5 miles from the city. Finland was to have the summer games in 1940, but the war intervened. They finally got them in 1952. We noticed that several commemorative statues around the stadium and the city in general were naked. Yves said that when you dress a statue it dates it. This way it is timeless.

Finding Shabbat

The bus dropped us at the hotel and we walked across to the synagogue to see if we could get in. This would be an “only in America” story except it happened in Finland. A rabbi was entering as we waited to be admitted. There was no problem with getting inside. In fact the young men who were at the gate spoke such good English we thought they were Americans. We introduced ourselves to the rabbi and when I saw that he wore tzitzit I though he might be a Chabad rabbi. On a lark I asked if he knew the Chabad rabbi in Akron, Ohio. It's his cousin! The rabbi invited us to come to the 7:00pm service (it ends at 7:30pm) and to dinner at his house. We accepted. The rabbi is not the rabbi of the synagogue. The official orthodox rabbi comes once a month from Sweden but this rabbi holds a small service for the intervening weeks.

The synagogue was built in 1906 and was recently refurbished. It includes a grade school and old-age home. The domed interior has pale green and white walls a central reader’s stand, and gilt and blue designs on the bimah (pulpit). They have acquiesced to girls becoming bat mitzvah but they’re not allowed to read Torah. Being Jewish in Finland has not been a problem even when the Nazis came. The greater community never gave up its Jews and there was a Jewish military unit with kosher food that served with German troops. The Nazis must have been desperate by then.

The Jewish community of today is aging but even though numbers are shrinking there’s a renewed vibrancy by young people. An organization of Scandinavian Jews meets periodically but the inter-marriage rate is at 90%. Conversion is more common than not. Finnish Jews originally came from Russia with Peter the Great. More recently they come from Poland and from Israel when Israeli men marry Finish women.

More Wanderings

We ate lunch in the Kampi, the bus station mall, and wandered the Esplanade, through Stockman’s Department Store, and Marimieko. In one mall we needed a toilet card to enter the facilities but when we went to the store to get them there was no charge. Why the card? The fashions are as good as any in New York, the designers are familiar and some not so, but the prices are outrageous. Everything is on “ale” now, Finnish for sale. Even at that I will not pay $60 for a book or $40 for a childs t-shirt.

Our TV turned itself on and told us we had a message. It was from Yves. He was going to meet the gang at 10:15pm and walk to a viewing spot for the fireworks. We probably will not make it. It’s a shame but we’ll miss the annual national fireworks competition of Finland. We were told it could last as long as three hours. There will be lots of drinking. That brought up the alcoholism problem again. At one event 80,000 people gathered. The next morning police were out loading drunks into their cars and an ambulance bus was taking them to the hospital. A street-cleaner was working to rid the streets of broken glass. The second most popular sport here is beer bottle kicking.

We’ve once again messed up our return stay in New York. We thought we were off not one but two days and checked into extending our hotel yet again but as it turns out we were doubly wrong. We erroneously thought we were leaving Stockholm on Aug. 30 and it’s Aug. 31. So now we’ll have only one extra day in New York. You’d think we’d never traveled.

We told Yves of our plans for Shabbat and he shared with us that his 94-year old mother was still an Orthodox Jew. He seems fascinated with our quest. I will not be able to take notes at the rabbi’s house tonight but I’ll do my best to remember and write tomorrow.

Post Chabad

I decided to write about Shabbat with the rabbi even though it’s late. Tomorrow will be busy too and I’d rather organize my thoughts while they’re fresh. Services were held in the library since the crowd numbered only twenty-five adults and four children. I was the only woman until the very end when a lady joined me behind a gauze mahizah dividing the men from the women. I sat on a wobbly bench with my back to the wall. Whenever I stood up my head brushed the underside of a hanging bookcase and I couldn’t quite stand straight. When wine was passed out for Kiddush I was included. The familiar typically Ashkenazic service was a half-hour long as promised. They managed to race through the service minha (afternoon services) and maariv (evening services) in that time. We walked to the rabbi's apartment for dinner. Seven other physically fit people joined us for the ten-block jaunt. I cannot imagine doing it in January. When we got to the building we were joined by the wife of one of the men who was with us. The Wolffs live on the 6th floor. There was an elevator but we didn’t use it since it was Shabbat.

The rabbi & his wife are very young. I’d guess still in their twenties ( David thinks they may be in their teens-ha). He’s been in Helsinki for three years and it’s his first pulpit as a married man. She was raised in Bogota, Columbia by an American Chabad family. She was educated in New York and Israel. The rabbi’s sister made the match. They have two daughters. One is about 2 ½ years and one is ten months. She's a very attractive woman who dresses in a more modern style than I’ve seen among Chabad women. She wore nail polish and her dress barely covered her knees. Her sheitel (wig) was pretty awesome. They’re a gracious couple and enjoy opening their home each week. The other guests were several Finns and two American men who work for Nokia. One Finnish woman who was married to a Jewish man was hoping to start learning Hebrew this year.

The rabbi's wife is a marvelous cook and everything was homemade. The challah was so good I almost made it my main meal. Her gefilte fish was to die for. The rabbi kept the conversation going by raising philosophical questions that were typical Jewish mind games. When the subject of keeping kosher came up David raised the old argument that if the restriction was originally that an animal could not be cooked in the milk of its mother then chicken should be pareve (neither milk nor meat.) With that, ice cream was served. We joked that it had to be made of chicken milk. We were surprised that even non-dairy ice cream would be acceptable since the appearance to the eye is important. I was also surprised that the toilet paper in the bathroom was on a roll and not pre-torn for Shabbat.

We excused ourselves at 10:15pm and started to make our way down the dark staircase. I finally realized that they wouldn’t turn on the hall light but we could. The hall lights abroad are frequently on timers and must be turned on for each use. We managed to make it down the six flights safely and were out the door when we realized we’d left our umbrellas upstairs. The outer door was locked and the only way in was to buzz the apartment. Of course they wouldn’t buzz back. I tried buzzing other tenants like you see in the movies but it didn’t work. I think everyone went to watch the fireworks. Finally some other guests came downstairs and I ran up for the umbrellas. We did see some fireworks on our walk back to the hotel but decided that July 4th was enough. We’re flying to Copenhagen tomorrow afternoon and have to pack tonight. We have a tour before we leave, of course.

Toby

Leaving St. P

August 17, 2006-One More Thing
(photos:Sun worshippers,
Helsinki)

David is a hero. At breakfast this morning some of our group came over to thank him for standing up for us at the Hermitage yesterday. The guide with the group behind us was shouting in Russian for our guide to hurry up and keep things moving. David turned to the offending guide and told her that we couldn’t hear our guide over her shouting. She came back at him saying that he couldn’t understand what she was saying since it was in Russian. He told her that noise was noise. There ensued a debate and she toned it down and behaved.

We just had to get an activity in this morning before going to the airport. Our lecturer on Contemporary Russia was a young professor of political science. He was articulate and knowledgeable. He based his lecture on news he gleaned from the BBC, CNN, the Internet, and local periodicals. That alone is an indication of change. One article was entitled Do You Feel Sorry for the Dollar? The world perception of the U.S. has been tarnished. We are no longer seen as invulnerable after 9/11 and the weakening of the dollar is disconcerting to those countries that linked their economy to ours. People used to hoard dollars in Russia. That is no more. Even with 10% inflation a year they’re developing pride in the ruble. The cost of living keeps rising but they’re thrilled to be able to spend their money freely. Even tickets to see Madonna perform in Moscow sold out. The discrepancy between economic levels causes jealousy between the have-it-alls and the hard workers who have little. Crime has resulted from this inequity. Alcoholism and drugs remain a problem. AA is available in the cities but liquor is sold in post offices. Alcohol is used as their psychologist. With the formation of an open economy came monopolization of businesses. It’s a closed community of a few who control the business world with bribes and corruption. He didn’t say “Russian Mafia” but I was thinking along those lines. This group is called Social Caesars. As a result of the poor economy the birthrate has dropped dramatically. Putin has proposed giving a $9,000 incentive to those who have a second child. It would be deposited in the name of the mother to be used for education, medical needs, or services related to child-care.

He said that Russia is still behind in technology. This adds to its sense of inferiority. It was a world power at one time and wants to return to that position…in a good way. They were thrilled to be host to and part of the recent G-8 and have decided it is better to be a small part of the world than to go it alone.

Helsinki

Our Finn Air plane had a camera that showed the view from the cockpit for take-off. Once we were airborne it shifted to a ground view. It’s a cute toy. On our approach I saw many single family homes. This will be much different than the Russian blocks.

Yves, our tour director for the rest of the trip, met us at the airport. He just flew in from Bangkok where he lives. There’s a story there. He’s half French and half Norwegian. English was the fourth language he learned to speak and it’s flawless. He’s 50ish, blond and wears his hair in a ponytail. This should be interesting. Evidently he comes in only during the summer to conduct tours. He’s gotten used to living in warmth. He and his wife, a Bostonian, moved to Bangkok fourteen years ago. She’s an artist and he dabbles. He teaches, I am not sure what, and does some non-guiding work in the travel industry. He adopted the philosophy of Buddhism and it was reflected in his orientation talk. He asked us to be aware and to be present each day. There’s no opportunity in the past and living in the future produces worry about what might be. He wants us to use our energy positively to achieve harmony in life. He reminded us that we paid for this trip not for guilt trips. By giving us choices he makes us responsible.

Stereotypes

He defined Scandinavia as only Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. The’re more Germanic while the people of Finland are part of the Nordic countries and are from the Urals. The Finnish language is closer to Hungarian and Estonian than European tongues. It sounds like Hungarian but Hungarians cannot understand it. Estonians have a better chance of identifying similar words. Most anyone under sixty years old understands English. They start studying it in 3rd grade. Ninety percent of the people are Lutheran. It will be handy having a retired Lutheran bishop with us. Scandinavia has the highest standard of living in the world and they pay for it. It’s a very expensive place to live but poverty is almost non-existent.

We’re staying at the SAS Radisson Royale a four-star hotel in the heart of the city. It’s furnished in a “Danish” modern style with lots of wood floors and sparse modern lines to the furnishings. Hotels have no air-conditioning here and we can ask at the desk for someone to open our window. We’re across the street from the synagogue and a kosher deli. It’s difficult to get permission to visit synagogues in Scandinavia. Here it may be easier. Yves needs a week to clear us for a visit in Oslo and has to contact an American rabbi to authenticate who we are. Who would have thought that we’d have a half Jewish guide here? Yves mother was a French Jew who was in S. Africa during WWII. Her family was gone when she returned to France. He was raised with no religion at all.

Crime is low except for the pickpockets who come from Romania to work the tourists during the summer. We may not even see any police during our stay. There are an average of eight murders a year in Finland. They’re proud they were the first country to grant women voting rights and they’re the youngest country in Europe. Swedes occupied Finland but as was the custom in this frigid climate wars stopped for the winter and everyone went home. Russia saw an advantage, walked across the ice, and voila, Peter the Great had more territory. Fortunately Russia left it intact when they did pull out.

Yves said that this is the season of melancholy and white nights. Things are starting to die and winter will soon come. He claims that Finns drink as much as most societies but they save it up for Sat. night. The countrymen joke back and forth and stereotypes abound. Finns show their happiness by being silent. Danes are all about food but with a population of five million there are eleven million bikes. That’s how they must stay in shape. Swedes are arrogant. Norwegians are closed-minded and negative. They say “no” first possibly followed by “I agree.” It’s like nodding your head no and saying yes. Icelandic people are rebellious having been settled by a redheaded renegade.

Real Life

He invited us to join the locals in their laid back way of coping with the impending end of sunlight. They are a “hang out” society. Finns and Scandinavians spend hours at cafes with no pressure to leave, pay, or order more. He hoped we’d join in the national sport of people watching. He explained why they could spend idle hours during the workday. They’re starved for sunlight and warmth. No matter the season, when the sun comes out they leave work and go outside. They call themselves “sun lickers.” They sit outside with no sunscreen and burn and peel repeatedly with no thought to skin damage. During the winter they work one extra hour a day to make up for their sloth in summer. Schools spend one day a week outside all year round.

The group walked the streets with Yves to familiarize us with where goods and services were. ATM’s are called OTTO’s here. We walked through a new huge multi-storied mall built above a bus station. Part of the complex was new high-rise condos that were for sale for two-three million dollars. For that money people would live over a bus station.

We went all the way to the waterfront and were told we’d just walked the city. It’s very small. We were turned loose on the way home and stopped at a self-serve restaurant for lunch. David had a large bowl of potato-leek soup, which came with the most delicious bread. I had a large buffalo mozzarella salad, which also came with bread. We both had diet cokes. It cost about $28. We enjoyed using real napkins once more and eating hot soup. We didn’t indulge but the desserts were stunning. There’s little tipping here. It’s catching on as people have more disposable income and can show off their affluence, but socialist roots go deep. Finland was being hassled by the Soviets in 1940. When Hitler offered to help they accepted and he stayed until 1945. By then Finland was a bombed ruin. No one had anything. They adopted socialism where all were equal. There were no restaurants since there was no food. They helped each other and as things improved could not get used to the idea of some citizens “serving” others.

We perceive Finland and the Scandinavian countries as having high taxes. Someone earning the average wage of $50,000 a year in Norway is taxed at 38%. That includes all taxes (VAT as well) and they don’t have to pay for health services, etc. In Finland there are state casinos that pitch in adding to government coffers. They are a service economy with no factories. They send their manufacturing to China so the Chinese can pollute their air. Products are then sold.

The group is happy to be out of Russia although it wasn’t as bad as we thought it would be. There’s a lot of free time on this leg of the trip and several extra tours to sign up for. I’m not sure I realized that when we decided to come. We’ll see how it pans out.

Toby