http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/travelsincognito/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from travelsincognito en-us Mon, 28 Dec 2009 11:50:09 +0000 Mon, 28 Dec 2009 11:50:09 +0000 I'VE COME FULL CIRCLE. After six weeks of travelling old Europe being shown around Tallinn Rostock Halle and Hamburg by city tour guides I'm back at my job as Victoria Harbour Ferry skipper now telling tourists about my town. But things have changed. Travelling alone one cannot fail to learn about the world and about oneself. Of course much of that will still take time to absorb and digest http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver-Island/Victoria/blog-303845.html In Tallinn Estonia Karoli tour guide for the private tour of Old Town and for finding my grandfather's apartment building Kulno music retailer for giving me such detailed information about Estonian artists and cultural events in Tallinn Viive communications manager for teaching me some useful Estonian language phrases and an insight into the RussianEstonian dilemma KustavAgu costume http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/blog-301874.html 13 July AND THE LIVIN' is easy... Up at 445 a.m. off on subway regional train and express bus to Hamburg Airport yes that's what the sign says not Hamburger Flughafen as it would have years ago. The trains are busier than one would think with early workers and late night revellers. But then this is a port city that never sleeps and public transit runs around the clock.Hamburg Frank http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver-Island/Victoria/blog-300806.html 12 July THE ARTIST who conducted guided tours in the Bergedorf castle park had told me On Saturday you must go to the Deichtor dike gate exhibition grounds. Problem is when I get there I find not one but two art retrospectives going on simultaneously in separate buildings. Which one was I supposed to view I should pay more attention. At first I'm not interested in the show of fashion photo http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/District-of-Hamburg/blog-298852.html 10 July AFTER THE SECOND NIGHT at the guesthouse I again get lucky. A small ground floor bedroom the only one with internet plugin becomes available. I move... in a hurry. I now can post these scribbles with snapshots again even in the middle of the night if I wish.When my mother was pregnant with me after the war she was warned about high infant mortality statistics at the hospital in http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/District-of-Hamburg/Hamburg/blog-298584.html 8 July TRAIN TRAVEL IN GERMANY is a joy. Halle Hannover 2 hours 15 minutes travelling by car on the Autobahn you'd have to add at least another hour Thirteen minutes wait for the InterCity Express to Hamburg 1 hour 20 minutes. And they are on time... by the second I have a sixseater compartment like you see in those old movies window seat all to myself for much of the trip. Ah feet http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/District-of-Hamburg/blog-298175.html 57 July AN OPERATIC PLAY about Joan of Arc with full orchestral complement set in St. Marien cathedral a Dr. Marcuse horror show interpreted by a dance troupe in twodimensional fashion behind a blackandwhite screen to a constant underlying droning sound. One earns ten minutes of applause the other yawns and walkouts. This is the nature of the performing arts during this Theater der Welt fe http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Saxony-Anhalt/Halle-an-der-Saale/blog-297909.html 1 July I'M TAKING A FEW DAYS' break from the performing arts heading south to the city of Naumburg 40 minutes by railway to go canoeing. A little girl in the train compartment is looking in the direction of the disappearing station platform crying unconsolably as grandma is taking her away for the summer or just a few weeks I walk over and show them a small Canadian pin and how to attach http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Saxony-Anhalt/Naumburg/blog-295573.html 29 June MAINSTAGE PROGRAMS at Theater der Welt are turning out to be almost exclusively new creations and works in progress. While there have been some disappointments I have also experienced sublime moments that will no doubt do what I hoped for in coming here namely provide inspiration for my own artistic work.One observation that recalls theatre experiences from my youth There have been l http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Saxony-Anhalt/Halle-an-der-Saale/blog-293485.html 24 June THREE UNUSUAL city tours are on my program.1. A fleet of Trabbis pet word for Trabant those notorious yet oddly endearing people's cars without frills but plenty of gasoline fumes from the German Democratic Republic days chauffeured by local actors take us into the world of the old East. We shop for apple and plum pie at a bakery that has produced such goods since the old days unde http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Saxony-Anhalt/Halle-an-der-Saale/blog-291863.html 20 June HOTEL ESPRIT in Halle is advertised as small threestar with pubrestaurant below. I walk through a small roof top garden to get to unit 7 a small cozy bright room with single bed desk TV and wellstocked bookshelf German of course. Being on the other side of the deck in what looks like an addition constructed above the restaurant's storage area gives me added privacy. However http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/blog-290774.html 18 June I'M STAYING at the Pension Zum Alten Fhrhaus Old Ferry House a guest house and pubrestaurant on the water looking out over Rostock on the other side. Having just one day to see the town I take a guided walking tour figuring it's an efficient way of learning about yet another city along the Baltic coast that once belonged to the Hanseatic League in the Middle Ages. Our guide is in http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Mecklenburg-Vorpommern/Rostock/blog-290761.html FINAL IMPRESSIONS about Estonia.The other day a lone sea gull approached me when I was eating a sandwich in Tornide vljak square. The bird seemed a little more reserved than its western cousins somewhat like the Estonian people who seldom look you in the eye or acknowledge you a stranger in the street. However in the countryside when I cycled past a group chatting by a fence or in front http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Finland/Uusimaa/Helsinki/blog-288179.html 15 June TODAY IS MY LAST full day in Estonia. During the past two weeks I have been totally enthralled by this vibrant place which is Tallinn and also by the serenity of Saaremaa. Sure there are areas that are rather ramshackle with buildings which haven't been deemed worthy of restoration or upkeep and aren't in the best of repair or are falling apart entirely. But I haven't found any slums. So http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Estonia/Tallinn/blog-287733.html 13 JuneToday I'm getting a private tour of this town's most popular theatre company Tallinna Linnateater City Theatre. The company's veteran designer is my guide. It's his birthday yet he spends an hour and a half taking me through some of the 26 buildings surrounding a square that house this company's many venues social and meeting rooms library and offices. The main building of this l http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Estonia/Tallinn/blog-287386.html 11 JuneThe return trip to Tallinn midday is with a different transport company in a Mercedes minibus and the fare is a bit higher 225 Krooni instead of the previous 205 20. Among my fellow passengers are two young backpackers from New Zealand and Australia. I had briefly talked to both women when they too disembarked the bus I had travelled on a few days ago. They are staying at hostel http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Estonia/Tallinn/blog-287343.html 10 June IT'S OVERCAST with winds gusting SSW to force 9 and no letup forecast for tomorrow. Yachts are tucked in at the docks rather than venturing out into a blustery head sea. I decide on an inland route for my bicycle tour hoping it will be more sheltered there. I take one of the socalled EuroVelo routes a paved road with little traffic that suits me just fine although later I veer off http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Estonia/Saaremaa/blog-286601.html 9 JuneTHIS IS A SLEEPY TOWN quaint and laid back. Not the resort town I expected. I discover a supermarket away from the town square discretely tucked into a cluster of old buildings and can't resist buying a smoked herring prepared the way I used to eat it in my youth from the fresh fish counter. It tastes even better than I remember tender as a rainbow trout.I rent a 24speed bicycle at http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Estonia/Saaremaa/blog-286226.html 8 June THE TIME HAS COME for my first break from the cultural journey I am undertaking these six weeks. I'm heading for the island of Saaremaa a weekend and summer vacation spot for residents of Tallinn. I pack up my belongings pull the hidden shoulder straps out of the convertible 22pound carryon case attach the smaller backpack and voila or whatever the local word is I'm off on the tro http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Estonia/Saaremaa/blog-285536.html I HAVE TRAVELLED by trolley bus and tram to the city centre and then walked for miles every street in the enchanted old town of Tallinn. I enjoy stepping off the tiled sidewalks onto the uneven cobblestone streets imagining that it gets me in touch with my roots in a more immediate way. While there is some residential car traffic as well as taxis and delivery vans you can hear them approaching http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Estonia/Tallinn/blog-285528.html