Denmark and Beyond

 Feb 24 Amsterdam home to many vices and lots of bikes. We arrived into Amsterdam and jumped onto the last bus for a couple of hours from the Airport into Amsterdam. A country wide strike by the drivers was in effect and only limited service was available. Fortunately  the bus also stopped out front of our hotel where a bunch of people were getting there weed buzz on for the night. Smell of pot is generally everywhere, we didn’t participate but may be had the effects of second hand smoke. Bikes are everywhere so your head has to be in a constant swivel  when crossing streets as bike lanes are everywhere. They say the people of the Netherlands are the fittest in the world because of there biking culture. Friday night in Amsterdam is full of tourists (Brits)coming into party for the weekend. We walked down to the Red Light district and saw many aspects of the sex industry. The area along the canals was absolutely packed with bars, strip joints and the ladies of the night st...

 Feb 21 We arrived into Oslo via train on Tuesday afternoon from Gothenburg at the Oslo Central Train Station, which was very busy. We head out of the station straight up the Main Street towards our hotel. As compared to other European cities we have seen there was way more modern buildings with still a mix of older buildings. We got checked into our hotel and then headed off to look at some of the sights and stopped in to the National Museum of Norway. A very large museum with artifacts from the early ages to contemporary art. Norway needed to do a lot of trading over the past 1000 year as many resources were limited. While trading in other countries they also brought lots of antiquities from many other countries so there was a wide array of old items that they brought from all over the globe. One thing that will amaze people is how expensive everything is here from a Canadian viewpoint. Two beers  and an order of Nachos will run you about $40.00 about the same prices as Roge...

 The title of this Blog may sound like a play list but it pretty well sums up the last 5 days of our trip. I have been deficient in my blogging but with a bit of a very blustery, rainy and cold day her in Gothenburg Sweden it’s time to get everyone caught up in what’s been happening. February 16 Herning and Jelling After the game in Herning Gordie had a team meeting and then came back to join us on a trip out to Jelling and see the Jelling Mounds, Runic Stone and Church. This UNESCO world heritage site has been preserved showing two huge mounds that the Vikings created to bury King Gorm of Denmark in about the mid 800’s. Considering how flat Denmark is these two huge mounds were the highest elevation in the area. About 100 years later King Harold Bluetooth had carved into a large stone that his parents we’re buried in theses mounds. Excavations of the site in the early 1900’s discovered the burial chambers and and artifacts buried in the site. A tour of an excellent museum and a dr...

 We arrived into Herning by train from Copenhagen on Sunday at about noon, took a bus to the Herning Kvik centre where Gordie plays as he was at a team meeting and practice.  Herning is located in the western part of Denmark and has a population of just over 50,000. A modern city as it was established in the late 1790’s. Home to a large textile industry and many other types of industries and typical of many cities in this area in Europe everything is neat and clean and in its place. Within a 3-4 hour drive from Herning you can be almost anywhere in Denmark so we plan to rent a car and take some day trips while we’re here. After meeting Gordie after practice we head back his his place which is located next to a lake called Sunds and is about a 10 minute drive from the rink. A nice place and there are other of his teammates staying near him. On Monday Gordie has practice and a team meeting so I picked up the rental car and Karen and myself took a drive around the area. Driving h...

Just wrapped up one and half days in Copenhagen, we arrived on Friday noon from London took the Metro into Copenhagen and found our hotel close to the Central train station. Temperature of about +5 and sunny definitely no Mexico weather. Lots to see in here with the first day walking around the city centre many of the old buildings are still standing and we’re not destroyed during WW2. With it being an off season for the tourist many of the sites are closed for renovations or don’t open until warmer spring weather in March and April. That didn’t stop us from walking all around and get a bit of a game plan for a full day on Saturday. Lots and lots of restaurants and bars in this city  so we snacked on famous Danish French fries and finished up with some wine and a pastry. Most definitely the most expensive place we’ve been to for lunch today we had a lobster bisque and a hot chocolate with Baileys and is was almost $60.00 Canadian. I suggest that Karen start picking bottles to help ...

 We landed on Wednesday at noon and have been going flat out since our arrival in London. Gordie had a few days off and met us after we arrived to our hotel. We walked through Hyde Park and made our way by Buckingham Palace King Charles was in but didn’t have time to see us. After being snubbed by the king we went out to a Greek restaurant for diner and drinks before heading to “Jersey Boys” and absolutely fantastic performance. Weather as been good about +7 and sunny and no wind. After the play and 22,000 steps later we were done for the day we headed back to our hotel. Thursday was another day where we logged in more miles we toured through the London Transport Museum which was about the history of the London transit system. With a population of almost 5 million people in the early 1900,s there were major pollution issues and congestion so an underground railway “the Tube” was constructed. It was a great museum with many exhibits and displays. Gordie was only able to stay with us...

 Preamble to our Trip Join us as we head back to Europe and see some of the sites in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands and the U.K for the next 23 days. Why Scandinavia in February, its not that we like to see winter weather, but we visit Gordie in Herning, as his team the "Herning Blue Fox " battle it out for the Danish Hockey League Championship. Our trip starts on February 7th as we leave Calgary for London and then onto all parts Scandinavia.