Tag Archives: Home Exchanges

Stockholm – Hustle & Bustle

Let’s start with a travel tip. I’m always a little leery of package schemes and deals aimed at visitors, but the Stockholm Card is the exception and a great deal. This is a real godsend, which, if you keep busy, offers significant savings. It is also hugely convenient to not have to dig for cash or use a credit card everywhere you go. Besides giving you free passage on all of Stockholm’s public transportation you also get free access to over 75 major museums and major historical sites.

Our public transportation map after 6 days.

Stockholm is a big and busy city, not big and busy in an otherworldly sense like Hong Kong, New York or London. There are no skyscrapers and the church spires are still the tallest structures in town. There are no giant cloverleaf overpasses like arteries in some huge beast, but Stockholm is spread out over 14 islands with a complex overlapping transport system that incorporates ferries, buses, trams, subways, bridges, walkways and roads that tie the whole thing together.

The City Food Market

The City Food Market

Shopping on Drottninggatan

In Blasieholmen

On the ferry to Djurgarden

In Blasieholem

On the ferry to Djurgarden

On the dock in Skeppsholem

Hotorget Square

Across the water towards Ostermalm

Across the water towards Ostermalm

Kiosk in Djurgarden

Clock near Kungstradgarden

Old Tram Sign

Building in Ostermalm

Walking in the old city.

Near T-Centralen

Outside T-Centralen

Gamla Stan

Gamla Stan, or “Old Town”, is our favorite part of the city. It is situated on the island of Stadsholmen and is one huge warren of narrow medieval streets and heritage sites. The Royal Palace, museums and 17^th century churches are just steps from each other. The entire atmosphere is of a bygone era.

Stortorget was the site of the old Stock Exchange is now a lively square in the heart of the old town but in 1520 it was the site of the Stockholm Bloodbath when the Danish King tricked the Swedish Regent and beheaded more then 80 Swedish noblemen in this very square.

Stortorget

The Hotorget Flea Market

No trip would be complete without a flea market. The square at Hotorget is a flower and produce market all week but every Sunday it transforms to a great little second hand market. Just try to keep Wendi away. I dare you.

Sinking Expectations or The Very Short Voyage of the Vasa

When the Vasa was designed by two Dutch brothers in 1628 it was the largest and most heavily armed war ship in the world. With this vessel the Swedes hoped to strike fear in their enemies and control all trade on the Baltic Sea. Unfortunately, there was no engineering, as we know it, at the time and all construction was essentially done by trial and error. The massive ship proved to be just a whisper too tall and slightly too narrow. It was a lovely sunny day on August 10^th in 1628 when the Vasa set out on it’s maiden voyage. In a slight breeze it listed a little to starboard, took in water through the gun ports and sank to the bottom of Stockholm harbor where it lay until being rediscovered in 330 feet of water in 1956. After a complex salvage operation and a 17 year conservation project the Vasa now sits proudly in it’s own especially designed museum.

http://www.vasamuseet.se/en/The-Ship/Life-on-board/

Vikings With Spray Paint

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So, a Viking walks into a bar with a can of spray paint…….

Graffiti Beginner Kit

I was a little surprised with both the volume and quality of graffiti we’ve seen in Scandinavia. Reykjavik has a huge amount of young people, so I get that, but Norway is a very squeaky clean country, with strict rules on driving and public behavior, and people like it like that. We have discussed the very large quantity of graffiti, wall paintings and assorted art stickers plastered about with a couple bartenders and have been informed that it is not really thought of as graffiti, but more “Street Art”. Which is kind of cool, it raises the bar a little and opens it up to a variety of media, i.e. paint, neon, stickers, posters, etc. Let’s walk around a little.

Bergen

Stavanger

Bergen

Stavanger

Bergen

Reykjavik

Bergen

Peek A Boo – Reykjavik

Bergen

Dockrws – Reykjavik

Bergen

Reykjavik

Acorn – Reykjavik

Bergen

No Lost Generation – Bergen

Bergen

Beer in Bergen

Good People In Bergen

Bergen

Reykjavik

Stavanger

Bergen

Stavanger

Haugesund

Bergen

Gallery Window in Bergen

Karmøy & Stavanger

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Besides being Norway’s largest island, Karmøy is commonly referred to as the “Homeland of the Viking Kings – Norway’s Birthplace. We began our visit in Haugesund, now a shipping and fishing port, it has many historical connections and was once the stomping ground of Harald Fairhair, the first King of Norway, who lived from 850 to 932 AD and was reputed to have between 11 and 20 sons who couldn’t get along with anyone, not even each other.

Haugesund

Olav’s Church

Olav’s Church is at Avaldsnes, a beautiful setting and the historic site of Harald’s Royal Farm and burial mound.

Olav’s Church

Virgin Mary’s Needle stands on the north side of Olav’s Church. The Sagas warn that Doomsday will occur if ever the needle touches the church wall. It is rumored that the clergymen of Avaldsnes have snuck out at night and chiseled off pieces to save the world. Apparently the end is a mere 9.2 cm away.

Virgin Mary’s Needle – Olav’s Church

Skudeneshavn

Situated at the very southern tip of Karøy, Skudeneshavn is a traditional fishing settlement filled with whitewashed houses from the early 19th century. Old Shudeneshaven is considered one of the best preserved small towns in Norway.

Skudeneshavn Harbor

Skudeneshavn

Lady in the Park

Skudeneshavn

Skudeneshavn Harbor

Skudeneshavn Warehouse

Skudeneshavn

Back On The Road

We are back on the road and headed for Stavanger which is just across Boknafjorden. On the map it looks close, but it isn’t. Getting there involves two ferries and two of the deepest tunnels I have ever been through. They recommend chewing gum to help your ears.

Stavanger

Originally a traditional market town, first herring, then canning and eventually oil have transformed Stavanger into Norway’s fourth largest city.

Stavanger

Stavanger Harbor

Norsk Oljemusem – Stavanger Harbor

Stavanger Harbor

Gamie “Old” Stavanger

The houses along the terraced narrow cobblestone streets of this district were slated for demolition after World War II when local citizens stepped in and called for their preservation. Once the homes of sailors and tradesmen, Gamie Stavanger now has 156 lovingly restored whitewashed cottages.

Gamie Stavanger

The Borgund Stave-Church

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Borgund Stave-Church

This church is located at Borgund in Lærdal beside the Sognefjord and is the world’s best preserved stave church.

Borgund Stave-Church

These medieval wooden Christian church buildings were once common in north-western Europe. It is believed, that at one point, there were between 750 and 1000 stave churches in Norway. Today there are only 28 remaining. In the Middle Ages, when people in Europe were building great cathedrals in stone, Norway developed similar construction techniques with timber. Norway had a very long tradition of wood construction for buildings, art and the production of ships. The roof structure is essentially an inverted ship hull.

Come On In

The North Door

The decoration of stave churches is a fascinating blend of Christianity and Viking era symbols with several runic inscriptions on the church walls and the distinctive “Dragon’s Heads”, similar to those found on Viking ships, jutting out from the gable peaks. The main doorway has vine-scrolls on the pilasters and serpents and dragons on the side panels and lintel.

The Main Doorway

Runic Inscriptions & Animal Masks On the South Door

Medieval Stone Altar. The Altarpiece Was Painted In 1654.

The timbers used to construct this church were felled in the year 1180. There are two factors that have accounted for the church’s longevity, it is constructed entirely on a stone foundation so that none of the wood touches the ground and also the timbers were “seasoned on the root” which draws the tar to the surface thereby preserving the wood beneath.

Root Seasoned Wood

More Useless But Interesting Facts

St. Andrew’s Cross:

St. Andrew’s Cross

The diagonal cross-braces are named after St. Andrew who was crucified on a diagonal cross, supposedly at his own request, as he deemed himself unworthy to be crucified on the same type of cross as Jesus had been. Who knows? But one thing is clear, the whole idea captured people’s imagination. The symbol has been used on the flags of Scotland, England, Grenada, Jersey, Logrono, Vitoria, Amsterdam, Breda, Potchefstroom, Kateijk, Valdivia, Tenerife, Galicia, Jamaica, Burgundy, the Imperial Russian Navy, the state flags of Florida and Alabama, as well as, the former Indian princely states of Khairpur, Rajkot, and Jaora, just to name a few. And of course, there is the much debated Confederate flag. Although the original designer, Willian Porcher Miles, insisted he changed it from an upright cross to a saltire so that it would be more a heraldic device then a religious symbol.

Vestlandet – Gateway to Norway

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I should begin by saying that to call Norway beautiful is an understatement on the magnitude of referring to Angelina Jole as “kind of attractive”. This place is crazy beautiful. If you like vistas of verdant forests and unspoiled tranquil inlets with villages and towns huddled on the water’s edge this is the place for you.

Our Exchange

People are always curious where we end up when we do these exchanges. We are very lucky to find ourselves in a lovely traditional Nordic country home.

We are situated on Radoy, a relatively small island just north of Bergen in the county of Vestlandet.

The Neighborhood

Walking distance of the house.

On The Road

The whole region consists of a plethora of small and medium sized islands. As the crow flys, nothing seems that far away, but unlike the birds, we are bound to the earth. Driving around means relying on a hugely circuitous network of very narrow country lanes, an assortment of bridges, both large and small, and a system of ferries that range from big ocean going vessels to tiny tow barges. The whole area reminds me of a joke we would hear as kids about an old farmer from Maine explaining to a lost tourist, “you just can’t get there from here.”. To hurry is futile. It’s all very exciting as the teeny weenie lanes wind up, down and around, past incredibly picturesque farms and homes perched on impossibly steep hillsides and tucked into snug little coves and harbors.

Rich or poor, it’s nice to have your own little island!

The Most Beautiful Village In Austria

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We asked our new Austrian friends, Hans & Angelica, if there was anything we had missed. They told us that we must see Hallstatt. In their estimation, it is one of Austria’s most beautiful villages, so off we went.

Hallstatt

A very small town with a population of less then 1000, Hallstatt is situated on the southwestern shore of Hallstättersee. There is evidence that people have lived here and mined salt since 800 BC. The world’s first known salt mine is located on the hill above town. Hallstatt has been named a World Heritage Site and is amazingly idyllic.

Hallstatt

Hallstatt Town Square

The Hallstättersee

Hallstatt

Funicular to the salt mine, ice caves and observation point.

Hallstatt

Another Useless but Interesting Fact:

Chinese Hallstatt Stock Photo

“A family walks in the Chinese replica of Austria’s UNESCO heritage site, Hallstatt village, in China’s southern city of Huizhou in Guangdong province June 1, 2012. Metals and mining company China Minmetals Corporation spent $940 million to build this controversial site and hopes to attract both tourists and property investors alike, according to local newspaper reports.” REUTERS/Trrone Siu

Check it out

The Wendi Files – Austro-Hungarian Version

The Bavarian Shuffle

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Munich

The first stop on our swing through southern Bavaria was Munich. It’s a big place, Germany’s third largest city, with a population of around 1.5 million. Although it’s an old city, 1158, it feels very young and is presently undergoing a huge facelift with new construction and restoration everywhere. Munich may be one of the most prosperous and fastest growing cities in Germany but it’s not all business, people are having a pretty good time here.

An afternoon beer garden

Construction is everywhere.

The Lowenbrau Beer Garden

Candy Shop

The plaza was full of huge rolls of plastic straws. Art?

Ice Cream Vendor

Walking Men

The Olympiaturm was built for the 1972 Summer Olympics.

Marienplatz

The Rathaus at Marienplatz

Marienplatz is the central plaza in the old town and like most everything in central Munich it is overfowing with tourists.

Marienplatz

The Rathaus in Marienplatz

Probably the largest tourist attraction in Munich is the Glockenspiel located on the Rathaus in Marienplatz.Every day at 12 p.m. and 5 p.m in the summer mass crowds of tourists and locals fill the plaza to watch this low-tech marvel chime and re-enact two stories from the 16th century. Consisting of 43 bells and 32 life-sized figures, the whole show lasts somewhere between 12 and 15 minutes. At the end of the show, a very small golden rooster at the top of the Glockenspiel chirps quietly three times, marking the end of the spectacle.

Glockenspiel

Urban Surfing

The Grandstand

Despite being many hundreds of kilometres from the nearest ocean, Munich has a reputation as a surfing hotspot, offering one of Europe’s best waves. The Bavarian capital is the birthplace of river surfing and has been the center of surfboard riding on a stationary wave since the early 70s. Up to 100 surfers daily hit the Eisbach wave in the city’s Englischer Garten. Munich has produced the best river surfers and has around 1,000 active surfers, while 10,000 people have tried it at some point. An annual surfing competition is held on the standing wave.

Urban Surfing In Munich

Hans der Kunst

Hans der Kunst

Hans der Kunst – Closed Christmas & New Years

Hans der Kunst was constructed from 1933 to 1937 as the Third Reich’s first monumental structure of Nazi architecture and as Nazi propaganda. The museum was opened on July,18 1937 as a showcase for what the Third Reich regarded as Germany’s finest art. The building’s original purpose can still be seen in such guises as the swastika-motif mosaics in the ceiling panels of its front portico.

Hans der Kunst – 1937

Opening Night

We were there to see a great exhibition called “Mise en scene” by American photographer and filmmaker Stan Douglas.

Lenbachhaus

Lensbachhaus

The Lenbachhaus is a great museum with outstanding art and a terrific cafe. It was built as a Florentine-style villa for the painter Franz von Lenbach between 1887 and 1891. The building has been remodeled, modernized and expanded many times over the years but some of the rooms of the villa still have kept their original design.

Lensbachhaus Courtyard

If money is what we use to keep score then Gerhard Richter is an MVP. He held the auction record price for a painting by a living artist at $37.1 million until last November when the Balloon Dog (Orange) by Jeff Koons sold for $58.4 million at Christie’s, and knocked Richter off his perch. The museum has 8 large scale Richter abstracts and up close, they are amazing.

Gerhard Richter 7′ x 7′

Ludwig’s Houses

Further south near the Austrian border we stopped by three of Mad King Ludwigs most popular castles.

Neuschwanstein Castle – Disney’s Inspiration

Hohenschwangau Castle

Alpsee from Hohenschwangau Village

King Lugwig of Bavaria was an enigma. Even before he died, the king was already somewhat of a legend. He once told his governess, “I want to remain an eternal mystery to myself and others”. With his palaces the king built an ideal fantasy world and refuge from reality. He conducted no matters of state and strangers were barred from his palaces during his lifetime. Called the Moon King, he stayed up all night reading alone and slept during the day. Although engaged twice, Ludwig never married or took a mistress. His hugely expensive and eccentric interpretation of his role as king was ultimately his downfall. From 1885 foreign banks threatened to seize his property. The government viewed Ludwig’s actions as irrational, had him declared insane and deposed him in 1886. The very next day both he and his psychiatrist died under mysterious circumstances at Lake Starnberg. The shy dreamer palaces have been visited by over 60 million people since his death. Due to tourist revenue over the past thirty years these properties are now firmly in the black. It seems that tales of craziness, murder, deception and an obscene amount of money will work every time.

King Ludwig II

Linderhof Palace

Schloss Linderhof

Construction was completed on Ludwig’s Schloss Linderhof in 1878. It is the smallest of the three palaces built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria and the only one which he lived to see completed. We took the tour and enjoyed every minute.

Schloss Linderhof

Plansee

Further south to Reutte, Austria we passed by Plansee, one of the lovelest lakes anywhere.

Plansee

Spent the night at the Kroll Gasthof – Hotel in Wangle, Austria. A family institution since 1731.

Kroll Gasthof – Hotel.

Good Food

We finished the whole thing off on the top of the Höfener Alpe with apfelstrudel and a small dollop of whipped cream!

Höfener Alpe

Coffee and apfelstrudel with just a little whipped cream.

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Salzburg – “Mo” Town on the Salzach

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The View From Museum der Moderne Mönchsberg

Salzburg, “Salt Castle”, is old, really old. People have been living here and mining salt in the region since the fifth century BC. The Romans expanded the settlement in about 15 BC but ultimately abandoned it when the Empire was collapsing. It wasn’t until Saint Rupert took over in the 8th century that things really started to happen. Rupert reconnoitered the river, chose the old town for the site of his basilica, ordained priests, built a house, named the city “Salzburg”, started evangelising the pagans and the rest is history. Today Salzburg has one of the best-preserved city centers north of the Alps and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.

Wolfie & the Missus

Being the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Salzburg will forever be linked to classical music and high culture. It’s charms are undeniable, but like anyplace that both profits from and suffers under an unrelenting crush of tourists, it is, at times, a strange mix of class and crass. This is, indeed, an exclusive haven for high end classical music lovers who come from all over the world to listen to outstanding performances of Armadeus’ greatest hits. Unfortunately you may have to wade through some trinket and cheap t-shirt vendors to get to them.

The City From Mönchsberg

Mirabellgarten

Mirabellgarten

Mirabellgarten

Dreifaltigkeltskirche

Sketch Bar at the Bristol Hotel

The stairs up to Hettwer Bastel

Galerie Ropac Thaddaeus

Appliance Store

A vintage Citroen at the Bristol Hotel

Sebastianskirche

Domplatz

The Sound of Music

Yes, indeed, the hills are alive with the sound of music. The region around Salzburg is the setting of the 1959 musical play and 1965 Hollywood film musical starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. The film went on to win five Academy Awards and solidified Salzburg in the minds of people worldwide. There are all manner of Sound of Music Tours available. You can quite literally follow every footstep a Von Trapp took while in Salzburg and the immediate vicinity. Wendi was like a doe caught in the headlights.

“Doe A Deer A Female Deer….”

Salzburger Land

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Exploring a little closer to home.

We are staying in Neumarkt am Wallersee, a town in the district of Salzburg-Umgebung in the state of Salzburg in Austria. The town was established in 1240 and has a population of about 5,700. It’s located about 25 km northeast of Salzburg near the northern tip of the Wallersee (Lake Waller). The area is a mix of bedroom communities and family farms, all amid rolling hills and small lakes. We have spent a fair amount of time wandering along small country roads.

Wallersee

Mattsee on the shores of the apt named Mattee.

The town of Mattsee on the shores of the aptly named Mattsee.

Mattsee

The Seeham Ferry

Wallersee

The Little Chapel on the Hill

If memory serves me, when I was little we used to sing a hymn about the Little Chapel on the Hill. An Austrian must have written it because every hill seems to have a small chapel or devotional altar on it. Even working in the fields you’re never far from a quick prayer.

A Little Further Afield

We spent a rainy day in Sankt Gilgen, a picturesque village by the Wolfgangsee in Upper Austria.

St. Gilgen, Austria Stock Photo

St. Gilgen is also designated as a “Mozart Village” which is a bit of a stretch as the Big Guy never even visited, although Mozart’s grandfather did work in the town, his mother was born here, and his sister Nannerl moved here after her marriage.

The Rathaus – Town Hall

Ice Cream in the Rain

The Ferry to St. Wolfgang

The Parish Church of St. Giles has a very old cemetery behind it with some interesting art. I’m not big on religious art, but this stuff is pretty surreal.

St. Giles Cemetery

St. Giles was founded in 1376, but it wasn’t until 1873 when shipping on the Wolfgangsee started that tourism took hold and many rich Viennese began to build summer villas here including the surgeon Theodor Billroth.

Theodor was a pretty interesting guy whose first love was music, but his parents forced him into the medical profession. He is generally regarded as the founding father of modern abdominal surgery. Although legend has it that Billroth was nearly stoned to death in the streets of Vienna when his first gastrectomy patient died after the new procedure. It’s all trial and error, right?

Theodor Billroth at work

BruceWPeterson Photography

Explore The World

Tag Archives: Home Exchanges

Stockholm – Hustle & Bustle

Vikings With Spray Paint

Karmøy & Stavanger

The Borgund Stave-Church

Vestlandet – Gateway to Norway

The Most Beautiful Village In Austria

Check it out

The Wendi Files – Austro-Hungarian Version

The Bavarian Shuffle

Lenbachhaus

Salzburg – “Mo” Town on the Salzach

Salzburger Land