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Copenhagen 2008.6.14 -- 2008.6.17

2008-06-26T04:24:00.000-07:00

Long before I knew the capital of Denmark is Copenhagen, I knew that there is a fairy tale writer in Denmark whose name is Anderson. We thought there must be a big museum of his, and his residence must be well preserved. But there is actually not. One reason is that he was not that famous yet when he was alive, another is that he was a great explorer: he traveled enormous places and cannot stand staying at a place for too long. We only managed to find this, his statue by the city hall. He is looking to the direction of the Tivoli park, an amusement park in the center of Copenhagen. Before amusement park was invented, his books are the best friends of children.

This is my mom sitting on the floor of Anderson's Fairyland, listening to the story of Thumb Girl.

This was in front of the Ameilienburg, which is the royal palace. Denmark is a constitutional monarchy. The monarch of the Kingdom of Denmark is Queen Margrethe II. Her eldest son, i.e the Crown Prince married a non-royal lady years ago. She is from Tasmania, Australia, which is probably the farest place away from Denmark on the earth . They met in a pub when he went to Sydney to watch the Olympic Games. Alas, what can you say, that is fate. Their marriage is the modern fairy tale.

This is the Rosenburg, the catsle where the royal family reside in winter.

I call it the American junk food building: McDonald, Burger King, KFC. But someone is delighted at this I am sure.

I didn't know what Denmark is rich in amber until I got there. They call amber "gold of the ocean" since it is mostly collected by the sea. I in this picture was standing outside the Copenhagen Amber Museum. In the exhibition held there, we see ancient insects trapped in amber, and I started imagining that if there was a mosquito which just had a big bite of a dinosaur and was trapped by an amber right after, then perhaps we can extract from the mosquito the blood of a dinosaur, and then obtain its DNA... why not?

I find this cart/bike very clever!

Here is the most famous spot of Copenhagen -- almost its landmark -- the little mermaid. To be honest, it is not a really splendid sculpture, but it fit into the context and environment well. Well, The Little Mermaid, I remember I was so sad after reading or being read this story. That was perhaps my first enlightenment that love can be tragic.

My mom and I in front of a nice and powerful fountain.

Nyhaven is a very vibrant place. A lot of fashionable restaurant cluster along the street. As you can probably recognize, Nyhaven can be directly translated into New Haven, and it reveals that there is a port nearby. I wonder if the New Haven in America was named after this place by early Danish explorers.

We took a canal bus, aka boat, at Nyhaven to tour around the city.

Copenhagen is very chilly. The outdoor thermograph on the wall of a building says that the temperature is 15*C.

The weather in Copenhagen is as changeable as that in London. Minutes ago we were wearing sunglasses, and then when a cloud came it poured! This is my mom getting shielded in an Afghan Market. I was reading The Kite Runner on the trip, and I couldn't help wondering what a life did the owner of the store had? What drove him come to such a faraway land? Does he/she still have friends/family in Afghanistan? Are they still alive?...

Copenhagen is also a city full of canals. I say "also", because there are quite a number of cities with such traits in Europe. The most famous one among them are Venice, but Copenhagen feels more like Amsterdam, with the boat houses in water and buildings in red bricks by the canals.

This is Copenhagen Stock Exchange. It has a history of over 400 years. I like the pinnacle of the tower

A second-hand market

Copenhagen has many towers with intriguing pinnacles.
I gave the bird its credit for choosing a nice
Outside the Royal Library
A yoga practitioner in the garden of the royal library
I run into some good performance in the street of Copenhagen the afternoon we reached there. This is a string walker from San Fransisco. I took 2 videos clips of his performance, and I will upload them when the internet is not so shaky.

A band from Peru. Their music is soul touching.
A rock band performing in the City Hall Square for blood donation.
Outside Trivoli Park there is a "Build a Bear" workshop. I thought it is something special about Trivoli Park, therefore it would be meaningful to build one there as a Copenhagen souvenir. Only later on did I realize that it is a international chain store. Never mind, it is the experience that mattered. It is rather I pressed some decorative buttons rather than I built a bear. On the buttons there are words like "love", "courage", "knowledge".. therefore pressing them means that these qualities are built into the bear when it is being stuffed with the machine. And then I need to put a little clothing heart into its body before it is sowed up, but there are a series of actions attached to the "put": I am instructed by the lady to rub my hands with the heart inside to make it warm, to give the heart a kiss, to tell the bear in its ear a secret that only we two will share, and hold the bear and run around in the store to make it energetic. I did all these with a number of kids, whose ages are at most half of mine. After quite some exercise, the lady said solemnly to me: "Now you must promise me one thing." I was struck by the sudden seriousness in her tone, and then I heard she saying " You will take good care of the bear." In the end, I need to fill in a birth certificate for it. I named my polar bear Dan, for the sake of Denmark.

Woody and Buzz Lightyear!

Before the continuation

2008-06-25T06:15:00.000-07:00

One of the nuisances of going back working in Beijing is that I won't be able to write on or read my travelogues on blogger.com. For some only-god-knows reasons, all access to blogger.com is blocked - well, I certainly am not saying that those who blocked the access are gods. There is of course methods to log on, as some of my friends in Beijing gave comments here, but some complicated process may be expected.

In view of this, I am hesitating if I should continue my travelogue here, or go back to my old msnspace. I prefer the layoff here a lot, and it's much more convenient to add pictures and videos in between text. But would I be frustrated if I know that I am writing something that only few, almost nobody, will read, since they, or we, cannot? Probably yes.

I am never an avid blogger. The easy reason is that I am busy -- well, I have to admit that it's more an excuse than a reason. The harsher reason is that I am lazy -- it's more true, but still not in-depth enough. I am not a very "public" person. It always amazes me to read the blogs of those who expose every bit of their life and thoughts (if they have any) in the writing. It amazes me so much that I almost feel ashamed, to be so intimate to people's thoughts, especially those I don't know so well. I think there must be a narcissus inside themselves. Besides, I don't want to throw myself into the dilemma between a) writing dishonestly, either in terms of the content or in the tone of expressing the content, and b) dealing with the frustration of nobody understanding me or identifying with me. Last but not least, once I have a blog, I would be like "Oh, this is interesting. I need to write about it in my blog" whenever I see something nice. But the update of my blog never catches up with my seeings and feelings, then they accumulate into a mental burden.

I however don't have the courage of completely abandon my blogs, because I dread that my memory will fade, then I at least have the words and pictures to remember them for me. And in the most unfortunate case that some day I am buried in life bitterness and am at the verge of becoming a cynic or a whiner, I at least have my blogs, to remind me of the days when I am young.

Pisa --The town of the leaning tower

2008-02-07T15:47:00.000-08:00

Siena - the most typical Medieval town in Tuscany

2008-02-07T15:28:00.000-08:00

"Rome, of course Rome" - Day 4 ( 2008.1.3)

2008-02-07T14:45:00.000-08:00

"Rome, of course Rome" - Day 3 ( 2008.1.2)

2008-02-02T13:49:00.000-08:00

Saint Peter's Basilica. One day before we went there, the Pope gave a new year speech on the central balcony. You see the building behind the corridor? That is where the Pope lives. The window at the upper-left corner is in his bedroom, and the window by it leads to his study.

The obelisk was originally from Egypt. Think of how much it has witnessed: the rise and fall the pharaohs, and slaughter of the Christians in Rome Empire, and election and death of the Popes, and the visiting of me!
At the boarder of Italy, waiting to enter Vatican City. After the security check, it is the land of the Holy See. It is the first country I went to which does not have a diplomatic relationship with China.

The guard of the Vatican City. Michelangelo is known as a great sculptor, a painter, an architect... basically, a universal man. So what can prevent a universal man from being a fashion designer? Nothing! Here you see the Michelangelo's only piece of fashion design: the guards' uniforms (or costumes).

The famous Pieta (pity), also by Michelangelo. It is a superb piece of work. Look at the sadness in her eyes, the confusion and resignation shown by the gesture of her hand... I don't think it's a sculpture about religion, but more about love, about relationship, about a sad mom and her dead son. I don't want to think of how many moms are making the same gestures and suffering from the same pain even nowadays. Some "human version pieta" are demonstrated in the news photos taken in Gaza, Jerusalem, Iraq, Afghanistan, Kenya, and many more places..

This is the only work by Michelangelo which carries his signature. You see the reflection of window? Yes, there is a protective glass box around this sculpture. It was installed after a mad man one day brought an axe into the basilica and attempted to destroy this masterpiece.

About the size of the Saint Peter's, I like the description from a tourist guide book "To say it's vast is like saying God is smart." This is the famous canopy with revolving columns by Bernini. It is actually of the height of 7 floors, but one hardly feels so in front of it. In front of such magnificence, a not so graceful question came into my mind: "It cost hugely. How did the curia have so much money?" Bank financing, maybe a portion of it, but more importantly as I believe, the money was from the taxes charged for various reasons. Hmm...

After about 40 minute's waiting, we get onto the dome. It is still inside, and the canopy is right below us.

I like the frescoes up there. They are huge, but they look tiny when viewed by someone standing by the canopy.

Here is the way going up to the top of the dome. You could feel the curve of the dome when walking there. Cupola means dome. I find this picture a bit funny, because this arrow was just pointing to the "dome" on the head of the that bald man. Hehe... I am bad :-P

Most people stop there when they reach the peak of the dome, but I went a step even higher. See where I was standing :-) 正所谓：“会当临绝顶，一览众山小”，但是“欲穷千里目”还要“更上一层楼”呀！
我得意地笑~

What a scene there! The Piazza di San Pietro was designed by Bernini. It mimics the open arm of the catholics welcoming people from different religion.

众生之上，苍天之下。Above all flesh, below the firmament.

The Vatican Museum seen from the dome. The rectangular chamber at the bottom of the picture is the Sistine Chapel.

Behind the gods.

The castle of Saint Angels.

The evening at River Tiber. The dome of Saint Peter's can be still be seen here

Taken at Trastevere, a Medieval village in Rome.

The "Mouth of the truth".

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh! My hand was eaten by it! Ouch, so painful! Why? Why? I didn't lie!"

my mom and her daughter

2008-01-29T18:23:00.000-08:00

I just realized that I have taken only 2 pictures with my mom this time I am in Europe. But it's already a progress compared to last time. When I visited her the first time in Europe, we didn't realize we had not taken one single picture until we were at the airport and I was about to enter the security check, so we simply took 1 picture there in a rush.

The picture you see above was taken in a restaurant in Luxembourg. Yes! That is my mom. Well, it's not your fault if you think she is my sister ;-)

My mom is in hospital now. Her surgery is tomorrow morning, 4 hours and 16 minutes later actually. For some reason I cannot sleep tonight. I don't think I am too worried, because I am sure she will be fine. We were in fact both expecting this surgery. It will take off the tumor in her body, which has afflicted her for quite a few years. She will look even better after she recovers, hoho~~

One of my responsibilities these days is to cook some VERY nutrious food (mainly soup) at home and bring them to her every day. I am a bit glad that I finally have the chance to take care of her. I don't think I was good at this before :-( But I will try my best this time!

I love my mom! ^_^

"Rome, of course Rome" -- Day 2

2008-01-21T12:04:00.000-08:00

This is Rome's subway. We seldom take it though, because I am fond of walking, and more importantly, I don't want to miss any part of Rome on the ground.

We took the subway to Colosseum - "传说中的罗马斗兽场". It was however not a good idea. After reading so many stories about it, watching so many documentaries of it, spending so much time studying it in my architecture class, finally I am going to see it with my eyes and touch it as well! I felt so excited that I was almost nervous when taking the subway. The subway station was just a street away from the Colosseum, I was not so ready yet when I exit the subway station, then it just so "abruptly" appeared in my sights. I was so overwhelmed that I could not move my feet.

You use your vocabularies to describe it. I felt speechless and drained of words.

The main road leading to the Colosseum. I think it's better to take this route and walk to the Colosseum, so that you can approach it little by little.

I am very satisfied with this picture :-)

It was Jan. 1st when we went there, so it's not open to tourist. I leaned by the gate and tried to get a glimpse of the inside. It looks like someone was trying to break the door. Maybe a slaved gladiator had this attempt from the other side thousands of years ago.

Perhaps because it was the first day of the new year, we were lucky to enjoy the performance of two high school marching bands from California in front of the Colosseum. Think deep into it, it's quite wired combination though. California and Rome, marching bands and Colosseum. Ancient Rome did not have marching bands -- their entertainment was killing war prisoners and Christians.

How many New Year carnivals have the Colosseum witnessed?

These three pictures show the expansion of Roman Empire.

The Palatine Hill. These stairs are said to be designed by Michelangelo. But I am not artistic enough to see how special it is.

The origin of Rome.

Ruins of the Roman Forum. Throughout the era of the kings, the Republic and the Empire, the Forum was the political, religious and social center of the Roman World ( Was Julius Caesar assassinated here?). But now, only ruins are left.

This is Palazzo Venezia. It was once Mussolini's official residence. Locals call it a type machine because of its shape. But I think it's a beautiful architecture nevertheless.

After thousands of years, only this Trojan's Column is left in the original Trojan's market.

These are my travel buddies, Mavis at the back, Hazel in the front. Hazel left after Rome, so Mavis accompanied me until Paris. About this picture, there was a funny story. We ordered two salads, so with the two plates they were given, they two went to the salad bar. See how much they brought back! According to the impressed waitress, they were 4 salads rather than 2. Thanks to the practices at Pizza Hut~

Amazing birds flocks in Rome

2008-01-21T11:59:00.000-08:00

Can you believe these are birds? Amazing, heh? I don't know why they all gathered at those several not so big trees, and what messages they were expressing by forming various topological figures, if any.

"Rome, of course Rome" -- Day 1

2008-01-20T15:49:00.000-08:00

I spent three nights here: Pop Inn Hostel, from Dec 31st 2007 to Jan 2nd 2008. The facilities are not very good, but the staff were friendly and it's just by the Termini, so very convinient.

The three pictures were taken at Santa Maria degli Angeli. It was vast. When built in the 3rd century, it was meant to be Rome's largest public baths. I went into it and really had difficulty in imagining 3000 naked acient Romans socializing here. It was later on turned into a basilica, and Cosimo de Medici was educated here!

Rome is the city of fountains. I don't know the name for this one. It often appears on postcards.

But talking about foutains, the most famous one in Rome is Trevi Foutain. It was typical Baroque style, so elegant yet powerful that I felt speechless in front of its beauty. Too bad we went there at night, so the picture doesn't even almost do the justification for the view.

The custom is to throw a coin into the fountain over your shoulder while facing away, so that you will be ensured to return to Rome, and make a wish. This was me doing this.

Then I just sat there, watching people passing by, taking pictures and making their wishes. They were all so happy, as if their wishes had already come true. Lovers kissed each other, friends laughed together, some even opened champagne. I believe the lovers made wishes for each other, and perhaps some pairs of them will return Rome together, and a very romantic proposal will be made by the fountain.

There was a big Christmas tree at Termini. Many people wrote their new year wishes on a note and left it on the tree. This one is apprantly written by a Chinese. It reads:

" 2008 - China's Olympic Year
I wish: China becomes more prosperous and stronger; Chinese people become more united; going to the world, create the future"

Haha, glad to see it! A good one!

I wrote one myself too, and then folded it to a paper plane and flew it to the peak of the tree. Haha, 2008, I will take off and fly high :-)

Happy New Year in Rome

2008-01-16T07:46:00.000-08:00

I spent the last day of 2007 in Rome. Thinking that I would join the citizens of the Eternal City to welcome the year 2008, I couldn't help smiling on the Leonardo Express train from Rome airport to the central train station: termini.

The streets was packed with people, some singing, some dancing, some kissing, some laughing at people who were scared by the crackers in the street, some covering their ears and screaming.

We heard that there would be several venues where people gather for counting down. The people at the hostel told us that Piazzale Flaminio would hold the major one, at which the President of Italy would address the mass, and an orchestra would play music. Even though it sounds odd that Mr. Prodi would come out at 00:00 talking with his people in a huge square, we went there anyway, despite the prospect that we would have to walk for more than 1 hour to get back to our hostel afterwards.

It was a huge square, with many magnificent historical architectures around, but without one single clock. How is counting-down possible without a clock? But since so many people are there waiting, we joined them anyway. As we approaches mid-night, more and more people started to light their fireworks. It was certainly beautiful, but made big noise too. I was very surprised that the government allowed people to play fireworks in such a historical area without worrying about the possible damage to the buildings. But well, Rome is Rome, everywhere is history, so they perhaps just no longer care.

There was no unified counting down. People opened the champagne they brought when they believed it was 2008. You heard the chaos in the final part of video? Don't worry. I screamed out in Chinese "有人在喷香槟". Haha, someone spouted the champagne to the crowds, and we were escaping from being "watered". It was so much fun!

After the champagne was drunk up or all spouted out, they started to toss the bottles to the ground, and they fell into pieces when hit by the thousand-year-old stones of the square. When walking back, I had a lot of respect to those holding an empty bottle in their hand.

ACCEPT MY BELATED WISHES FOR 2008 :-)

Luxembourg Children Choir

2007-12-30T08:04:00.000-08:00

Today my mom and I went shopping. In the central square of the city, we encountered a children choir ^_^

Look at the boy at the very left. He is really into it. Haha, lovely.

Two Cemeteries - Dec 23 2007

2007-12-29T14:35:00.000-08:00

There are 14 permanent American WWII cemeteries erected on foreign soil. One of them is located in Luxembourg. The site was first established as a temporary military burial ground for the U.S. 5th Armored Division on 29 December 1944. The Grand Ducal government later on granted it the right of free use in perpetuity without charge or taxation.

I visited the site on the first day I arrive in Luxembourg. It's part of my tour guide job for Mavis and Hazel.

It is the gate to the cemetery.

A memorial stands near the entrance. On the east face of the chapel, engraved:

"1941-1945

IN PROUD REMEMBERANCE OF THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF HER SONS AND IN HUMBLE TRIBUTE TO THEIR SACRIFICES

THIS MEMORIAL HAS BEEN ERECTED BY THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA"

Under the national flag are the graves, for the young bodies who lost their lives in a foreign country which they probably had never heard of before.

People from different religion fought in the same war and were buried near each other. I believe they shared the same faith when fighting.

Few people know that General Patton is buried in Luxembourg. Here you see his grave. Originally it was among the mass, but then per visitors' request, his grave was singled out and moved to the front. General Patton did not die in the battle, but in a traffic accident in Germany. He died on Dec 21 1945. When I visited there, it was 2 days after the 62nd anniversary, so some fresh flowers were placed by the cross. I wonder who put them there.

The Purple Heart. Why purple?

Not far away locates another cemetery: The German's. It's a bit ironic that they lie so close to each other, neither in their motherland. But the geographic proximity made the contrast between them even sharper.

This is the gate to the cemetery. It's so small that a German may have to bow to enter. Is it just designed like this so that a bow from the German could be expected whenever they enter?

The gravestones are short and grey, made of very ordinary rock, compared to white valor stones for the Americans. Both are cemeteries, but the atmosphere at each were distinct. You feel them even just from the pictures.

Generally, more then one name were carved on a gravestone, which means several German soldiers share the same grave. This is the only one with some flowers by. On an American gravestone, the state where the soldier is from is stated, while on a German one, we can read the birthday and death-day of the soldier. From them, you can tell how old the person lying in under the stone was when he died. Most of them are in their early 20's, some are only 18 or 19.

I don't know why I felt sadder when I was in the German cemetery.

One of my biggest interest when visiting tourist sites is to read the tourist message books.

To my surprise, many of the visitors to the German cemetery are Americans. Even if disregarding their opposite sides, American is much farther away, and there should be fewer travellers from America coming to Luxembourg then from Germany. I guess one of the reasons is that as the winner, Americans feel that they can be more vocal to express their opinion without sounding sour or offensive or defensive?

It was a joy to read through the messages. The above two are by people from the U.S Army. Very true.

This made my first day after arriving in Luxembourg. Good to be able to escape Hong Kong for a while and spend time with my mom. More pictures and travelogues will be posted during my 50 days stay in Europe.