The trip ends

On our final night in Reykjavik, we did see a wonderful display of the Northern Lights.  We had gone on two Northern Lights tours.  On both trips we saw the lights, and on both I was a bit disappointed.  What we saw were white streaks of vertical light in the sky.  They were interesting, but not at all what I was expecting.  Wednesday night, after a freezing cold Lights excursion, we were in our hotel in downtown Reykjavik, and suddenly from our balcony, we saw the most amazing Lights display.  There were large dancing curtains of green and white lights.  The display lasted about five minutes.  I tried to get some pictures, but had no success.

Earlier that day we had taken a day excursion on the Golden Circle, to see the famous geyser, the lava fields, and the main national park.  The North American tectonic plate and the European plate meet in Iceland.  The big crack diving the paved path opened up last year.   Here are some photos from that trip.

Thursday morning we flew to Oslo, and had a nice afternoon wandering about the city.  Thursday and Friday before Easter are national holidays in Norway, so the city was rather quiet.  We did enjoy coffee at an outdoor cafe.  It was cold, but so sunny that the patio was full of people trying to soak up sun.  Norway is still covered in snow.  It was just a 24 hour layover in Norway, and then a long trip home.

Where the European and North American plates meet

Reykjavik

This is a wonderful city.  It is the northern most capital city, and one of the smallest, with just over 100,000 people.  It is very compact, with narrow streets and houses blending easily with commercial property.  It was a province of Denmark until the middle of the 20th Century, and has a very Scandanavian feel.  In fact, they consider themselves one of the Nordic countries.

It is an incredibly friendly country, and it seems that most everyone speaks English, which makes it an easy city to wander.

The climate was milder than I expected, with temperatures in the forties, but when windy, it was bitter.

Since it is a volcanic island, the city taps into underground thermal springs for their water supply, and they use it to generate electricity.  But, as with all the cities we visited, Reyjkavik is very expensive.

The little red house is pretty typical of the single family homes we found in the city.  It was right across the street from our hotel.  The city view is of the down town area, also taken from the balcony of our hotel room.

Iceland & the Northern Lights

We arrived in Reykjavik yesterday afternoon.  Our reason for coming here was to try to see the Northern Lights, which are particularly active this winter.  So, the first thing we did after checking into our hotel, was to book a 'Northern Lights tour' for last night.

We were picked up at our hotel about 7:30, and then loaded onto a large GreyLines tour bus.  We then drove 90 minutes out into the country to get away from the city lights.  A well know Icelandic record producer has opened a restaurant and campground out  in the country, and he has added Lights tours to his offering.  So you can go out there and have hot beverages and restrooms while you hope to see the lights.  We arrived about 9 or so, and stood out in the cold until close to midnight.  No Northern Lights.  A couple of experienced watchers saw a glimmer on the horizon. 

The ticket allows you to return the next night if there is now viewing.   So, the five buses packed up and headed out.  We were one of the last two busses to leave, and we got about 15 minutes down the road, when the Northern Lightes appeared.  So, the driver found a place for us to stop, and two bus loads of us got out and were finally able to see the lights.

It was a 'mild' display.  They were not near as green as I had hoped, but they certainly 'danced' in the sky.  In a way they looked like clouds moving about.  But different.  They were certainly unusual and beautiful.  I tried to get some video, but just got dark sky.

We had wanted to go out again tonight, but the sky is clouding, so no viewing.

Red Light District

I can hardly write about Amsterdam without a word or two about the Red Light District.  This area of the city center is full of restaurants, bars, shops, and, of course, prostitutes.  As you would expect, it is full of tourists as well.  I have to admit, I was expecting something more flashy, like you would find in Las Vegas. 

Amsterdam has a wide streets, with very narrow lanes connecting them.  Most of these lanes are for foot and bicycle traffic.  Most, but certainly not all, of the prostitutes are on the lanes.  You can look down a lane, and see rows and rows of doors with red lights above them.  As you walk down the lane, you find that the doors are glass fronted, and lead into a small room.  If the lady is available, the curtains on the door and window are open.  If she is not, there are red curtains pulled across both.

Each room is a tiny cubicle, with a vinyl mattress covered couch or platform, a small sink and a chair.  Many buildings will have several cubicles, which  have adjorning doors.  The women stand or sit in the window or doorway, inviting customers. Sometimes you will see two or three women talking, with the adjorning doors open.   Many of the women appeared to be enjoying themselves.  Some were decidedly surly.  It made me wonder.  I know this is legal, but I have to ponder if all of these young women have chosen to do this.

It was a fascinating experience.  And from what I could see, the vast majority of the people walking the streets were curious tourists.

Now, off to Iceland, with a long layover in Oslo.

No

Anne Frank

The Anne Frank Museum is located in the building where the Frank family hid from the Nazis from 1942 until their capture in 1944.

Otto Frank's business was in this building.  Four of his employees agreed to hide the family there, along with the Van Pels and Fritz Pfeffer.  There was a secret annex on the top floor, in the back of the building.  The eight of them hid in these four rooms for more than 2 years.  In the summer of 1944 an unknown person alerted the Nazis to there whereabouts.  All of them were sent to concentration camps.  Only Otto survived the war.

This is one of the most moving museums I have been to.  The four rooms are dim and rather dank.  They had to use blackout curtains, so they did not feel the sun for two years.  During the day everyone had to be quiet, because the workmen in the building were not aware of their hiding place.

We waiting outside, in the fierce wind, for nearly an hour to get into the house.  The crowd was so long, that it was a very slow trip through the various exhibit rooms, up the four very steep, narrow staircases to the top, back rooms. 

The last exhibit room had a video interview of Otto Frank, late in life (he died in 1980) talking about Anne's diary, and how surprised he was by many of her thoughts.  It too, was quite moving.

This was our only museum visit in Amsterdam.  Both the Van Gogh museum and the Rijksmuseum are closed for renovations.  We spent the rest of our time touring the city, by foot, bus and boat.

Building on water

Amsterdam is actually below sea level.  For centuries, the Dutch have had the ability to build dikes and canals, and to pump water off the land they want.  The well known windmills were built to run pumps.  Because the land is soft, and wet, buildings are built on pileings.  Today they are concrete, but for centuries they were wood.  The wood rotted, and the buildings leaned.  It is common to see a row of leaning houses.

Most buildings are still built with a hoist hook at the top.  Stairways are narrow, and many buildings do not have elevators, so furniture is hoisted up and through windows.

We found a number of buildings with interesting plaques in the walls.

There are several types of cornices on buildings, which can be helpful in dating the construction.  The simple triangle was indicitive of a warehouse, and used for centuries.  Most of these lovely old buildings have businesses on the  ground floor and apartments above.  Seventy percent of the residents of Amsterdam rent, rather than own their homes.

Amsterdam

First stop on this trip is Amsterdam.  What a beautiful city.   Unfortunately they are experiencing an unusual cold spell.  And is it ever cold!  Highs are in the thirties, but the wind is fierce, making you feel awful.  It really is difficult to be outside for long.

The cold doesn't stop people.  Residents bike here.  It is amazing how few cars you see.  There are trams and busses, which are certainly used, but bikes are the main form of transportation.  As a result, the city seems quiet, and there is little air pollution.  This all makes for a very nice city.  We took a canal tour today, and heard that there are more than 1million bikes in the city, but just over 800,000 people.  Bike parking lots are everywhere.

Two short days here.  Later I will write more about the architecture and Anne Frank.  Now it is off to Iceland, with a long layover in Oslo

Early Spring

It is time to get back to the garden, and back to this blog.

Over the Christmas holidays, we had a family workday.  A dozen folks worked with me in the yard for two hours.  What a huge difference it made.  My months of inactivity, due to the shoulder surgery last year, took a toll on the yard.  After all the help, I felt like we were a bit on top of things again.  Since then, I have tried to get a little bit done each week.  But it has been a wet winter, so my days outside have been few.

We are now seeing the first signs of spring.  Here are a few samples.