Last month, Oprah and Obama were in Copenhagen to push Chicago’s failed Olympic bid. Obama arrived and returned home on the same day; Oprah stayed in the exceptionally pricey Karen Blixen suite at D’Angleterre. Fortunately, Oprah has money to burn in what Mercer’s Cost of Living Index cites as the world’s 7th most expensive city. [...]
Last month, Oprah and Obama were in Copenhagen to push Chicago’s failed Olympic bid. Obama arrived and returned home on the same day; Oprah stayed in the exceptionally pricey Karen Blixen suite at D’Angleterre. Fortunately, Oprah has money to burn in what Mercer’s Cost of Living Index cites as the world’s 7th most expensive city. You don’t.
What then are the implications for you on Baltic cruise pre/post stays in Copenhagen or Stockholm–the two main turnaround ports in northern Europe? How can you avoid emptying your wallets in these two must-see capitals?
The Avid Cruiser visits Swedish Lappland, where reindeer and elk (called “moose” in North America) are still herded by the local Sami people (also known as Lapps).
The Avid Cruiser visits Swedish Lappland, where reindeer and elk (called “moose” in North America) are still herded by the local Sami people (also known as Lapps).
The Avid Cruiser visits Gammelstad, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that represents the best-preserved example of a “church village.” Villages like Gammelstad were once found throughout northern Scandinavia. The 424 wooden houses that radiate from the early 15th-century stone church, were used only on Sundays and at religious festivals to house worshippers from the surrounding [...]
The Avid Cruiser visits Gammelstad, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that represents the best-preserved example of a “church village.” Villages like Gammelstad were once found throughout northern Scandinavia. The 424 wooden houses that radiate from the early 15th-century stone church, were used only on Sundays and at religious festivals to house worshippers from the surrounding countryside who lived too far away from home to return on the same day. Gammelstad is fewer than 20 minutes by car or bus from where the cruise ships dock in Luleå.
Clearing security four times, as I wrote in an earlier post, when, in fact, I only entered one airport from the outside was quite enough to test any traveler. But today on Delta, there were also two mechanical issues. The first, from Amsterdam’s Schipol, caused only a delay. The second, from Atlanta, caused a delay [...]
Clearing security four times, as I wrote in an earlier post, when, in fact, I only entered one airport from the outside was quite enough to test any traveler. But today on Delta, there were also two mechanical issues. The first, from Amsterdam’s Schipol, caused only a delay. The second, from Atlanta, caused a delay and then a disembark after we were comfortably seated, and then another delay. I still don’t know what the outcome will be. It’s possible that we’ll be delayed again. As is often the case from Atlanta, I will arrive home hours late, today, at least three hours beyond what was scheduled. And I pay good money for this!
I realize that the airlines must put safety first, and I applaud them for that, but with so many delays and so many people on delayed incoming flights running through Atlanta’s airport to try to catch connections only to find that the connections too are delayed – well, clearly, something is wrong with the system – you might say one big mechanical issue in need of repair.
Posted from my Blackberry.
After clearing security three times (once in Copenhagen, twice in Amsterdam) – removing shoes, belts, liquids, laptops and any pretense of dignity – I am now on board Delta flight 39 to Atlanta. Air travel is one of those experiences that makes other painful endeavors, such as wisdom tooth extraction, more pleasurable by comparison. In [...]
After clearing security three times (once in Copenhagen, twice in Amsterdam) – removing shoes, belts, liquids, laptops and any pretense of dignity – I am now on board Delta flight 39 to Atlanta. Air travel is one of those experiences that makes other painful endeavors, such as wisdom tooth extraction, more pleasurable by comparison. In Atlanta, I’ll clear security yet again, as will those whose final destination is Atlanta. Yes, to leave the Atlanta airport, those arriving on international flights must clear security. Enough already?
Posted from my Blackberry.
Nearly two decades since the Iron Curtain opened, this metropolis of 3.4 million embraces modern life on the cutting edge. The city’s free-spirited ambiance is flush with constant change and an exciting appeal for visitors.
Nearly two decades since the Iron Curtain opened, this metropolis of 3.4 million embraces modern life on the cutting edge. The city’s free-spirited ambiance is flush with constant change and an exciting appeal for visitors.
Nothing speaks more to Berlin’s cultural division than the words intoned by my guide: “She is so East Berlin,” complained Andre Sommerfeld (pictured), responding to the stern woman who had barked at us for running a red light on bicycles.
There was no traffic to hinder us, no cars to run us down, but that didn’t matter. East Berliners grew up learning to follow the rules, and even though things have changed dramatically in the past two decades, many Ossis (as the East Germans are colloquially called) still have an inherent sense to always obey authority. They wait at crosswalks, they stand patiently in lines.
Many of them, Andre says, still have the “Mauer im Kopf” or “the wall in the head.” To get a sense of what they’re like, think of the Italians and imagine their opposites.
