Dreaming of Freedom

Am in Florence and have 1 min on computer so this will be short. Lucca interesting. Florence a hard dirty city but very fun. More soon

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Glaciers in Norway

Very pleased with myself as I have managed to put some photos on the gallery. Visit photo gallery for more photos.

I have discovered that the library in Arhus has the most wonderful internet access. If you come here be sure to get all your computer stuff done! I have decided to update my copy of the lonely planet (which by rights I should be boycotting anyway due to their somewhat green washed Burma version) as I travel round Europe. The ‘Planet’ is really quite rubbish when it comes to talking about free Internet and toilets and places that are dry and free. My new version will include all these essentials!

Must dash off to look at the Botanical Gardens before catching a night train to Munich. Keyvan is not impressed with how much time I want to spend on the Internet!

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Back again so soon! I have access to free internet here at the Cab Inn Hotel opposite the Cathedral in Arhus. It is raining hard and looks like I won’t get a chance to swim in the sea unless I want to get very wet. I wanted to give the web address for the bike scheme: www.aarhusbycykel.dk

It is such a good idea - I’d love to set something like this up in Norwich. Think I’m going to talk to the council when I get home. The only problem would be the cycle tracks - they are very good here and practically non-existent in Norwich and they really make a big differece to cycling.

Other attractions in Arhus have been visiting the Den Gamle By (the old town) which is a museum of reconstructed houses complete with people in character to show howw lfe was in the good old days! We visited after 6pm because you can walk the streets for free, although it does mean you miss all the costumes and people.

Unfortunatly most museums are closed on Mondays so I think I will have to spend all day in the Cathedral avoiding getting too wet!

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We have been having a lovely time in Arhus despite the rain. There is a wonderful bike scheme here, you deposit 20Dkr in the bike and release it from its stand ans reclaim your money when you return the bike to one of the many convenient stands located around the city. We have been cycling around ever since we arrived and it has been truly wonderful! We cycled as far as Moesgard today to look at a 2000 year old body preserved in a peat bog. Arhus is quite a nice city, very low key and normal but right by the sea so there is really quite an exciting mix of countryside and town.

It has been lovely having a couple of days in the same place. We plan to travel to Italy tomorrow to meet Hedda so 24h on a train might kill us but hopefully this little break has refreshed us for more travelling.

Hope to find a way to put pics on internet soon… watch this space!

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Since Stavenger we’ve been travelling nonstop. We got the night train to Oslo and spent a few minutes there - just long enought to check out the outside of an anarchist cafe - all grafiti and oil barrels and drink some tea before hoping on a train to Voss. The train ride was supposed to be very beautiful and it was nice - all mountains and water but not all it was hyped up to be. Spent the night in Voss which was beautiful and low key but didn’t get chance to swim in the lake which was a shame. Then to Bergen and the overnight ferry which wasn’t as fun this time because I kept thinking about the Titanic and couldn’t sleep. We caught the train to Arhus today and plan to spend a couple of days here sleeping and cycling before heading down to Italy to meet Hedda and Adil. Missing everyone at home terribly… hope to find a place that lets me put my photos up so you can see some of the sights.

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Am in Stavenger at the moment staying with a friend of Keyvan’s. Lovely people, lovely house and wonderfully cute baby. Staverger is quite nice - there is a nice centre with cathedral and lake complete with fountain and old Stavenger is really picture postcard stuff - all old white houses, roses and cobbled streets. Am off to catch a night train to Oslo in a few minutes - we haven’t reserved seats so we’re hoping it’s not as crowded as the train from Hamburg to Copenhagen.

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Bergen is really quite nice. It’s a university town, with hills and fijords surrounding it and a general relaxed atmosphere. Seems like a perfect place to live! We’ve come across anti-war posters and some sort of anarchist cafe that doesn’t seem to be running but that gives us hope that there might be interesting politics going on here.
The place is pretty good for travellers as there is a fantastic tourist info place and colourful easy to read maps available all over the city. There are lots of museums and churches that we’ve mainly failed to go in but we have climbed the hill (mountain) and looked down over Bergen which was very satisfying. A cable car runs up the hill for those who want to get there a little quicker but in spite of Keyvan’s entreates we walked up!
The only downside is the prices and the animal skins in the markets. When I get a chance to put some photos up you’ll be able to see the horror of skinned foxes, wolves and seals for yourselves.

We plan to hang around here for the day or possibly get the train to Voss and check out the scenery there. Then the ferry to Stavenger for a couple of days at the oil capital of Norway! Weather is warm and we’ve been lucky with the lack of rain as it rains about 2\3 of the time normally.

I’m off to get a somewhat belated breakfast… probably coffee and cake as I’ve found fairtrade coffee and cakes that taste much better than danish pastries!

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I’m writing from Bergen in Norway. It’s a lovely little town though the walk from the ferry to the centre was a triffle depressing. We’re staying in private rooms high above the city on the hill. The view of Bergan is wonderful from the front doorstep.

Copenhagen was a bit of a disappointment - the centre with the train station and the Radhus was very dirty, crowded and generally unpleasant. The water front was a bit better and we enjoyed walking along it to see the little mermaid.

Christiania was interesting. Hippy tastic social experiment that has been running since the 1970s. It’s well worth a visit if you get the chance. If you have hung out with eco or socialist hippies you probably have an idea of what the place will be like but it is unique bacause it is so big and practically in the heart of Copenhagen. It’s a wonder the police haven’t shut it down. There was a really nice relaxed environment and Keyvan and I really enjoyed wandering around eating the best food of our trip, listening to music and drinking in the atmosphere. The centre of the place wasn’t as nice as the residential areas around it, so it’s well worth wandering out of Pusher Street to see some of the houses the hippies live in.

We travelled from Copenhagen to Hjorring on the most crowded train ever! Not a spare inch of floor space! Hjorring to Hirtshals and then a ferry to Bergen. The ferry was lovely, standing on the dek and breathing in the fresh sea air was a treat. The ferry runs over night so that tired travellers can sleep!

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After pink cake and raw fish inAmsterdam, we caught a train to Utrecht, where it rained and we failed to see the oldest coffee shop, the red light district or the wonderful hostel that Keyvan stayed in last time he was there which provided him with bed, free food and internet access all for 16 Euros a night!

We attempted to get night trains from Utrecht to Hamburg but failed and found ourselves stranded at Amstrad where we treated ourselves to a night at the only hotel still open. We made it to Hamburg by 12 noon yesterday in time to meet Lukas who had rather sweetly travelled up from Kassel to visit us. We spent a pleasant time wandering around Hamburg, visiting the Rathaus, Alter Elbtunnel and the docks before finding our hotel on the Reeperbahn (red light district). The hotel was surprisingly ok but it was the sort of place you found attractive young women on the stairs waiting for older men and their money. Hamburg is very tourist friendly - there are signposts everywhere and the tourist information is located in the main train station and provides the traveller with good colourful, tourist friendly maps.

We´re on our way to Copanhagan next to stay with a member of the Hospitality Club and visit Christiania.

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So far so good. Norwich - Harwich - Amsterdam. Amsterdam is lovely. Slightly medieval in its feel, lots of tables and chairs to sit on and watch the world go by and of course the liberal attitude made reality that it is so famous for. Would recommend the journey on the train and ferry as it was quick, simple and just plain pleasant. Years of ferries to France made me unprepared for a nice ferry trip! Today we plan to visit a market where in an attempt to ‘do dutch’ we will consume raw herring! Then the obligatory walk around the red light district before heading on the Utrecht and later Hamburg. Have discovered free internet access in the main library on Prinsen-Gracht - something to remember for future use!

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