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Travel Flashback: Stockholm (August 17, 2012)

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(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

Another day, another blitz of the various attractions covered by the Stockholm Card!

We started off by visiting the Vasa ship.   The Vasa was a huge, overly ornamental and excessively armed ship that was launched in Stockholm with much fanfare in 1628.  Alas, with all of the bells and whistles, the engineers failed to take certain things into consideration.  Foremost among those considerations:  would it float?  Sadly, it did not even make it out of the harbour and sunk ingloriously after a mere 20 minutes.

The Vasa ship
The Vasa ship

However, the ship was magically preserved over the centuries at the bottom of the harbour until it was rediscovered in 1956 and finally exhumed in 1961.  Some restoration was obviously required but the ship now stands proudly in its own museum in downtown Stockholm.   While the environment is strictly controlled and does not lend itself well to photography, it was still fascinating to see the 17th century version of the Titanic.  It’s much more impressive, and perplexing, when you see it in person.

A couple of lemurs at Stockholm's Skansen open-air museum
A couple of lemurs at Stockholm’s Skansen open-air museum

Our next stop was Skansen – the “original” open-air folk museum after which many others are modelled (and sometimes even named).    Alas, we were starting to grow a little weary of museums by this time and we decided to focus on Skansen’s small zoo rather than the other elements.

This lemur crossed the line and was subsequently sprayed
This lemur crossed the line and was subsequently sprayed

We spent a fair bit of time “walking among the lemurs”:  there is a large area that you can walk through with about 20 of these odd creatures also wandering around.  They don’t harm humans but aren’t supposed to jump on your back because it could easily become a habit for them.  If they do jump on your back, a staff member will come running out and spray them with water:  the lemurs don’t like that!  It was strange to be hanging out with these creatures from Madagascar; we didn’t quite trust them but they also didn’t seem to be very dangerous.

Some of Skansen's primates
Some of Skansen’s primates

After observing the primates for a while (they all seemed to have those nasty-looking red behinds), we visited some of the indoor enclosures.  We saw rare Cuban crocodiles there, accompanied by this text:  “Since there is an embargo from American authorities regarding Cuban goods, crocodiles born in Cuba are not allowed into the U.S.A.  They are regarded as communistic crocodiles, in the eyes of American authorities.  On the other hand, if they are born in Sweden, they are allowed [and this is] the only way for American zoos to acquire this rare crocodile.”  I wonder if this still applies, given the recent thawing in relations between Havana and Washington?  You can read more about these crocodiles here: I certainly didn’t realize that they were kept in a Russian cosmonaut’s apartment for a while!

Is this a communist crocodile?
Is this crocodile a communist?

As this was our last full day in Stockholm, I pressed onward and visited the Ericsson Globe Arena.  This is a famous globe-shaped sports arena towering 130 metres above Stockholm. I mention the height because I did not go inside the arena:  I rode a globe-shaped “elevator” on an external track to the top!   This is definitely not recommended if you are prone to vertigo but it was a nifty way to see Stockholm from a completely different perspective.   Once again, the Stockholm Card covered the admission cost.

The Skyview ride to the top of the world's largest spherical building: the Ericsson Globe
The Skyview ride to the top of the world’s largest spherical building: the Ericsson Globe Arena

While I’ve got more pictures from Stockholm to share, I’m going to keep them in reserve for now.  The next blog post you see will be from our 2016 journey to the Southern Hemisphere.  Stay tuned to find out what I’ve been hinting about for the past couple of months!

Posts from Base Camp

Travel Flashback: Stockholm (August 16, 2012)

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(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

On our first day in Stockholm, we had an unforgettable experience at an international soccer game between Sweden and Brazil.  However, we also found a lot of other things to like about Sweden’s capital city.  Today’s post is about our second day in Stockholm.

The National Museum in Stockholm (as seen on our boat tour)
The National Museum in Stockholm (as seen on our boat tour)

Stockholm offers a multi-day combination tourist pass called the Stockholm Card that includes all public transit, museums and a host of other attractions.  We easily made it pay for itself, although we raced around at a blistering pace.  We began with a tour of the Royal Palace (Kungliga Slottet), the Postmuseum and a boat tour of the downtown area.    The Palace was appropriately huge and opulent; the Postmuseum included oddities such as a realistic portrait of a Swedish postal director from the early 1900s that was made entirely from postage stamps!  It was one of the oddest things I’ve ever seen:  kind of like a mosaic but using stamps instead of stones or pieces of glass.

The streets are very narrow in Gamla Stan (the old town) area of Stockholm
The streets are very narrow in Gamla Stan (the old town) area of Stockholm

The boat tour turned out to be rather brief (it was free, after all) but it was still nice to see Stockholm from another perspective.  It is built on 14 islands and, as you’ll see from my next blog post, has quite a fascinating naval history.

Mårten Trotzigs gränd - the narrowest street in Sweden
Mårten Trotzigs gränd – the narrowest street in Sweden

We worked up quite an appetite navigating the narrow streets of Gamla stan (the oldest part of Stockholm) and had a fun outdoor lunch at one of the local restaurants.  Downtown restaurants generally have a lunch special (called “Dagens rätt“) with a price corresponding to the local “lunch allowance”, so we took the opportunity to have some Swedish meatballs with lingonberry sauce.  In the afternoon, we went to the Nobel Museum [“Nobelmuseet“].  This was important for us to see but the last “site” of the  day was, to our surprise, even more impressive.

One of the sculptures at Millesgården in Stockholm
One of the sculptures at Millesgården in Stockholm

Carl Milles was a sculptor who created most of his enduring works in the first half of the 20th century.  His home overlooked downtown Stockholm and was turned into a museum after his death.  The  home/museum is interesting (it looks as it did during Milles’ lifetime), but almost all of his major works are outside.  The complex is called Millesgården.

Another one of the ethereal sculptures at Millesgården
Another one of the ethereal sculptures at Millesgården

While he created all kinds of sculptures, Milles is best known for those that appear to defy gravity and even take flight.  You can see a few of them here, as well as a very small portion of the extensively landscaped grounds overlooking Stockholm.

More of Millesgården, with some of downtown Stockholm in the background
More of Millesgården, with some of downtown Stockholm in the background

Millesgården is relatively difficult to find, if you are based in the downtown area, but it is well worth the effort if you would like to have an unconventional art experience.  While I did my best to capture them in my photographs, the sculptures are even more impressive when observed in situ.  It turned out to be one of our favourite stops on our whirlwind cultural tour of Stockholm.

Stay tuned for the highly unusual next day in Stockholm: who would have thought there would be an element of Madagascar to our visit?

Posts from Base Camp

Travel Flashback: More from the Road in Morocco (1996-1997)

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(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

My visit to Morocco involved quite a road trip.  After visiting Casablanca, Safi, Marrakech and the Oukaïmeden ski resort, we drove through the sparsely settled interior to my friends’ place in Ifrane.  Ifrane is an atypical Moroccan town:  it was developed as a winter sports resort and is home to a proportionately very large expatriate population.   One of the reasons is the modern Al-Akhawayn University:  you can see it in the picture at the top of this post.

Wow! It's Oued Ouaoumana!
Wow! It’s Oued Ouaoumana!

The long journey from Oukaïmeden to Ifrane contained two of my most vivid memories of Morocco:  the discovery of a watercourse called “Oued Ouaoumana” and my very first encounter with “kefta”.  The watercourse’s name highlights the fact that “W” is not a letter that occurs very often in French (the colonial language of Morocco).  As for kefta…

Before the kefta caper, we had to deal with this unexplained detour...
Before the kefta caper, we had to deal with this unexplained detour…

We had been on the road for quite a while and we were all getting quite hungry.  However, as we were definitely off the tourist trail, dining options were extremely limited.  Near the town of Beni Mellal, we found a roadside stall (not even a shack) that appeared to be patronized by truck drivers.  My friend told me that they served kefta – something I had never heard of before.    He ordered some for me, explaining that they take ground raw meat and serve it in a kind of pita.

The petrol district in the town of Ifrane, Morocco
The gas station district in Ifrane, Morocco

I felt myself go very pale.  I was starving but I had never been much of a red meat eater.  The prospect of eating it raw from this remote, ramshackle and unrefrigerated roadside stall made me very uneasy.  We were still several hours from Ifrane – wasn’t this asking for trouble?  This is precisely the kind of thing that all the travel books tell you not to do!  Upon receiving my order of kefta, I found out that my friend had neglected to tell me one very important fact:  they do in fact cook the meat before putting it in the pita.   I don’t think I have ever felt so relieved.  It tasted good, too.

A view of downtown Casablanca, Morocco, with the Hassan II Mosque in the background
A view of downtown Casablanca, Morocco, with the Hassan II Mosque in the background

My trip to Morocco reinforced just how much variation (from palm trees to ski resorts!) there can be within a country, even one that is relatively small by Canadian standards.  And Morocco, of course, is only one small part of a very large and diverse continent that straddles both the northern and southern hemispheres.  Speaking of the southern hemisphere...it’s almost time to go!  Did I mention that I might do some skiing this summer?

Posts from Base Camp

Travel Flashback: Marrakech, Morocco (1996)

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(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

The above photo was indeed taken on the “Road to Marrakesh”; we drove to the famous Red City after shaking off my jet lag in the coastal city of Safi.  This was my first and so far only time in Africa; Marrakech (which is the local French spelling) was the first time that I felt like I was close to a desert.

The Vegetable Souq in the old part of Marrakech, Morocco
The Vegetable Souq in the old part of Marrakech, Morocco

We may have been relatively close to the desert, but it was still cold.  We were all wearing winter costs; in fact, after Marrakech, we would go skiing in the Atlas Mountains at Oukaïmeden.  Still, despite the cool late December temperatures, I also saw my first camel on the outskirts of Marrakech.

Dinner at Stall 26, Djemaa-el-Fna, Marrakech, Morocco
Dinner at Stall 26, Djemaa-el-Fna, Marrakech, Morocco

I’ve never seen anything like the Djemaa-el-Fna before.  It’s a huge square on the edge of the old city and is impressive during the day…but it was like another world altogether in the evening.   There is sensory overload, with what seems like a massive carnival every day.  There were ornately dressed water sellers, traveling musicians, hawkers of various kinds…we even saw snake charmers!  It was quite cosmopolitan here, with people from all over Northern Africa, including the nomadic Tuareg (also known as the “Blue People”, as the indigo pigment from their clothing often stains their skin blue).  We really felt like we were on an ancient trade route.

Very freshly squeezed orange juice at Stall 60, Djemaa-el-Fna, Marrakech, Morocco
Very freshly squeezed orange juice at Stall 60, Djemaa-el-Fna, Marrakech, Morocco

We took full advantage of the atmospherics and ate freshly prepared street food at the market stalls.  I had some kind of couscous for dinner at Stall 26 but I remember Stall 60 even better.  Here, I had freshly squeezed orange juice from local oranges…it was, without question, the best orange juice I have ever had.   There is definitely something to be said for eating and drinking locally!

My friends with our guide "Hajj", in Marrakech, Morocco
My friends with our guide “Hajj”, in Marrakech, Morocco

As Marrakech attracts a lot of travellers and Morocco had rather high unemployment at the time, anybody who looked like a tourist was persistently accosted upon nearing the old city.  They didn’t want to harm us…they just wanted to be our guide.  It was often a rather hard-sell approach.  The old city is very confusing and it is a good idea to have somebody with you, at least for your first trip inside.  Of course, they are motivated to bring you to certain shops where they will get a commission if you buy something, but having a guide also stops other potential guides from soliciting your business.

Inside the Medersa in Marrakech, Morocco
Inside the Medersa in Marrakech, Morocco

To avoid making a bad decision, we hired a trusted and licensed guide through our hotel.  “Hajj” took us through various souqs and made sure we got back to our hotel safely.  We went back to Djemaa-el-Fna on our own later and spent quite a bit of time at the perimeter politely declining assistance.  Djemaa-el-Fna itself is not difficult to get around so it wasn’t necessary to have a guide for that.  Once we were inside the square, the soliciting stopped.

I’ll have one more post on Morocco soon.  As for the vague clues I gave in my previous blog post about our summer travel destination, I can give one more:  we are not going to the Olympics!

Posts from Base Camp

Playing the Guessing Game

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(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

I don’t know how much fun it is for readers of this blog, but I personally really enjoy dropping vague hints about my upcoming travels and then suddenly saying something like “I’m in Sarajevo!” when I’ve finally arrived in my surprise destination.  I haven’t been able to do that for a while, as I talked about my recent trip to Italy far in advance (withholding only the details about the Cinque Terre part until I actually arrived there).

The Sault Memorial Gardens - where Wayne Gretzky played his junior hockey
The Sault Memorial Gardens – where Wayne Gretzky played his junior hockey

However, it’s finally time to play that game again! So far, all I’ve said about this summer’s trip is that it will be in the Southern Hemisphere. Well, that’s a pretty big place. Here are some more clues to tantalize and infuriate…

1. We will be visiting at least two countries (and might make a quick trip to a third).
2. We have not been to any of these countries before (alone or together).
3. I won’t need any special paperwork (or incur any expense) to cross the border between these two countries…but most readers of this blog would.
4. On this blog, I once mentioned that someday I might want to visit these two countries for food reasons.

The Algoma Courthouse in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
The Algoma Courthouse in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Well, to me, it is now blindingly obvious where we are going!   It’s definitely a bucket list trip for me, as I have been accumulating books about one of these countries for many years but the timing just hasn’t been right until now.

The photos in today’s post are vintage prints from the summer of 1999.  Two of the pictures are from the northern Ontario city of Sault Ste. Marie.  It’s not a place that typically gathers a lot of tourist attention (and 1999 was my one and only visit)…so here’s a tip of the hat to the city we call “The Soo”!

A raccoon wreaking havoc in a tree beside my parents' house
A raccoon wreaking havoc in a tree beside my parents’ house

Sadly, the Sault Memorial Gardens building was demolished in 2006.  At the time, it was the second oldest building in the Ontario Hockey League.  Other than being Wayne Gretzky’s home arena when he played in the OHL, it also hosted concerts by a number of famous musicians, including Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, and Roy Orbison.    As far as I can tell, the Algoma Courthouse is still standing.

Coming up soon: more on Morocco, some travel planning thoughts, and (eventually) the Big Reveal!

Posts from Base Camp

Travel Flashback: Roman Ruins in…Morocco! (1997)

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(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

In addition to skiing in Morocco, I also had the equally unexpected opportunity to visit Roman ruins while there.

The ruined city of Volubilis is located about 33 km from the  Moroccan city of Meknès and within an hour’s walk of the town of Moulay Idriss.  Volubilis was one of the most remote outposts of the Roman Empire and was at its prime in the second and third centuries (A.D.).

The "Capitol" of Volubilis, as seen from the Basilica
The “Capitol” of Volubilis, as seen from the Basilica

In stark contrast to most Roman ruins in Europe, Volubilis was virtually unvisited by tourists.  Perhaps it was the time of year, but we had the place almost to ourselves.  And it was big:  not quite as big as Ostia Antica perhaps, but it definitely had more of the large, ornate public buildings that we associate with the Roman Empire at its peak.

Picnicking among the ruins at Volubilis, Morocco
Picnicking among the ruins at Volubilis, Morocco

Unlike Ostia Antica (and probably Pompeii), there were very few tourist services at Volubilis.  We came prepared, however, with a picnic consisting largely of fresh bread, olives and mineral water.  We ate right in the ruins themselves:  other than prohibitions against walking on the mosaics, I don’t recall any parts being closed off to visitors.  It was quite special to eat food that the ancient Romans themselves likely ate at that very spot nearly 2,000 years ago.

In front of the Basilica at Volubilis, Morocco. This photo has not yet graced the cover of a best-selling album.
In front of the Basilica at Volubilis, Morocco. This photo has not yet graced the cover of a best-selling album.

As my friend and I were in a band, we took a number of pictures with a view to turning them into album covers some day.   Needless to say, these were not always sombre views reflecting on the decline of an ancient empire.  However, a few songs (notably the cult classic “I am Volubilis”) did eventually result from our visit.

I quite enjoyed the less-visited parts of Morocco.  I didn’t feel very comfortable in the big city of Casablanca (which is definitely nothing like the movie of the same name) but smaller places like Azrou and Safi were very welcoming.   I’ll dig through my archives to find some more (non-digital) photos of Morocco and share more of my recollections from this most interesting destination.

Here, you can see some of the mosaics (completely exposed to the elements) of Volubilis.
Here, you can see some of the mosaics (completely exposed to the elements) of Volubilis.

Before signing off, I just have to share something that I read this week in a rather widely-read travel magazine.  A very brief article on Martha’s Vineyard (in the New England region of the U.S.) purported to provide “some packing inspiration for a classic New England  getaway”.   Believe it or not, the packing list included Hermes shorts ($3,775), Van Cleef and Arpels earrings ($7,250), Tiffany & Co. bracelets ($36,000 and $30,000), and a Dolce & Gabbana handbag ($3,695).  All prices are in U.S. dollars.

The Casablanca Voyageurs railway station on January 6, 1997
The Casablanca Voyageurs railway station on January 6, 1997

With articles like these, no wonder people think traveling is too expensive for them!   Unfortunately, a lot of travel writing is like that.  Don’t be scared off by such recommendations:  they won’t make your trip any better…and they will likely make you more vulnerable to theft.

Posts from the road

Ottawa and the Chair of Horns

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(Ottawa, Ontario, Canada)

We just spent a  weekend in Ottawa – as we went by car this time, we decided to focus on places that are a little harder to visit using public transportation.

I’ll start with the strangest part:  we stopped at a flea market in Stittsville on Sunday.  There was a lot of used furniture and the usual knick-knacks that are typically found at flea markets.  But then we saw “it”!  As you can see from the picture, “it” is a chair made out of animal horns.  This raises all kinds of questions.  Was the chair builder somehow inspired to build a Chair of Horns and subsequently went looking for the perfect horns?  Or did the chair builder already have the horns…and then arrive at the unavoidable conclusion that they must be used to build a chair?

The startling chair of horns in Stittsville, Ontario
The startling Chair of Horns in Stittsville, Ontario

It would be interesting to know the answer.  From my perspective, when I see horns, I don’t immediately think that “I must build a chair out of these”.   Anyway, it’s quite unusual and, if you’re lucky, this Chair of Horns might even still be available for purchase!

Although we didn’t realize it was happening until we arrived in Ottawa, we also managed to attend part of the annual Tulip Festival.   This festival has its roots in the gift of more than 100,000 tulip bulbs by the Netherlands to Canada, as thanks for Canada’s role in World War II (you can read the details here).  The big event this year was the unveiling of the new “Canada 150”:  a tulip that resembles the Canadian flag (see photo at the top of this post).  It has been developed in anticipation of Canada’s 150th birthday in 2017 and will apparently be available commercially later this year.

Part of the Tulip Festival near Dow's Lake
Part of the Tulip Festival near Dow’s Lake

Many of our destinations were food-related.  In addition to various ethnic grocery stores, we went to a Malaysian restaurant on Friday and a South Indian restaurant on Saturday.  We learned that the food from the Kerala region of southern India is very spicy…even the mild dishes would be considered at least “medium hot” elsewhere.  Fortunately, we were able to balance it with gelato from Little Italy  on Preston Street.

World of Maps in the Hintonburg district of Ottawa
World of Maps in the Hintonburg district of Ottawa

However, I think our best food experience  was in the Hintonburg neighbourhood.  We found a lot of great little shops here:  my wife enjoyed a Christmas store, I enjoyed visiting a record shop, and we both spent a lot of time in “World of Maps”!  As this is a travel blog, I have to mention this as a travel store worth visiting in Ottawa.  Lots of maps and travel guides, of course, but also lots of other travel literature and supplies.   If you need a New Zealand sticker for your car, or a flag from Barbados, this is your place!

My Capricciosa pizza at "Tennessy Willems" restaurant in Hintonburg
My Capricciosa pizza at “Tennessy Willems” restaurant in Hintonburg

Anyway, we had a great lunch at a Hintonburg restaurant called “Tennessy Willems” (spelling apparently intentional).  It focused on Italian food and was extremely committed to local ingredients.  The Capricciosa pizza (usually my favourite kind) was one of the best I’ve ever had; I’m glad that I remembered to take a picture before eating.  The sauce was particularly good – the restaurant even sells jars of it!

Stay tuned for a few more flashbacks, as the Southern Hemisphere countdown continues!

Posts from Base Camp

Travel Flashback: Reykjavik and Traditional Icelandic Food (2008)

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(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

As I’ve mentioned a few times in my blog, Iceland has a very small population and the majority of it is in the capital city of Reykjavik. So what’s it really like?

Unfortunately, I don’t have much to show you.  This was the very first destination with my digital camera and I didn’t anticipate that I would ever be writing a blog about it.  However, upon reviewing my photos of Reykjavik I realized that almost all of them were dominated by a large umbrella, as it was raining for almost our entire visit.

The Bautinn in Akureyri, Iceland - we ate dinner here once
The Bautinn in Akureyri, Iceland – we ate dinner here

We spent a lot of time indoors in Reykjavik.  I wasn’t going to include the photograph below, which was clearly not taken with my usual care, until I realized that there really wasn’t much blog-appropriate photography from Reykjavik. Most of the photos in today’s post are from elsewhere in Iceland.

Part of the cafeteria menu at Reykjavik's bus station
Part of the cafeteria menu at Reykjavik’s bus station

Many travel guides spend considerable time describing some of the more unusual traditional Icelandic foods.  Iceland was once a poor country and it was necessary to eat whatever was available.  As you can see from the Svið (sheep’s head) in the above menu, some of those traditional items have managed to stay popular today.  I took a look at the Svið (which does not include the brain) but did not actually have any.

A church in Húsavík, Iceland
A church in Húsavík, Iceland

At one of the big markets in Reykjavik, we encountered the legendary hákarl:  putrefied meat from the Greenland shark.  It has to be buried underground and allowed to ferment for a couple of months because the meat in its “original” form is toxic to humans.  The poisons include uric acid…it seems that this particular shark urinates through its skin.  However, the fermentation process, followed by another extended period of air-drying, removes the toxins from the meat and it becomes edible.

Buildings near the harbour in Húsavík, Iceland
Buildings near the harbour in Húsavík, Iceland

I did not try hákarl either:  while it may not have been toxic, it apparently smells like very strong ammonia and rotten cheese…and can cause gagging for the uninitiated.  At the market, we could not smell it because it was kept tightly sealed.  Given the way it was presented at the market, it did seem to be aimed more at adventurous tourists than at everyday Icelanders.

Assorted ducks in Húsavík, Iceland
Assorted ducks in Húsavík, Iceland

Another traditional item I did try was Brennivín.  It is the equivalent of brandy, as the name translates into English as “burning wine.”  It is actually a powerful schnapps-like drink made from fermented potatoes and caraway seeds.  Many travel writers speak poorly of it (indeed, its nickname is “Black Death”) but I enjoyed it enough to bring some home from the airport’s duty free shoppe.

Mývatn: a lake in northern Iceland
Mývatn: a lake in northern Iceland

I also developed a taste for chocolate-covered licorice in Iceland: like most northern European countries, Iceland is crazy about licorice and there are many different ways to enjoy it.  I later had a variation on this theme in Finland (licorice-covered chocolate, which I liked even more) but it was in Iceland where I first discovered and enjoyed this unusual combination of sweet and salty.   If you like dark chocolate with sea salt, you will surely enjoy the combination of chocolate and licorice!

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Travel Flashback: Urban Life in Northern Iceland (2008)

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(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

Akureyri is the “capital” of the northern part of Iceland and is, in fact, the second largest urban area in the country. However, its population is still less than 20,000!  Iceland is indeed a sparsely populated country, with just over 300,000 people altogether (most of whom are in the Reykjavik area).

The Akureyrarkirkja ("Akureyri Church) in downtown Akureyri
The Akureyrarkirkja (“Akureyri Church”) in downtown Akureyri

Akureyri feels bigger (at least in summer), as it is a major transportation and administrative hub.  We spent 5 nights here in 2008: the main reason was to have a base for our day trips to the Lake Mývatn region (see this post, that post, and still another post), Grímsey and the Arctic Circle, and the fishing town of Húsavík.  There weren’t really any specific “must see” sites in Akureyri, but we ate a lot of meals here and enjoyed making it our home.

Deep inside Akureyri's botanical gardens
Deep inside Akureyri’s botanical gardens

There were some surprises.  Even though Akureyri is almost at 66 degrees north, it had botanical gardens!  As there were very few trees left anywhere in Iceland, we really enjoyed getting some shade and seeing some plant variety here.   We also spent an evening watching what was presumably a professional soccer game.  The quality was uneven but the sparse crowd was very enthusiastic.

I spent a little time at Akureyri's soccer stadium
I spent a little time at Akureyri’s soccer stadium

While we were in Akureyri, the 2008 Olympics were taking place.  I’ve never seen so much handball before…and I was quite surprised at the physicality of the game!  Iceland is handball-crazy and they participate in many international competitions.   Even so, it was remarkable how well they did in Beijing:  they won the Olympic silver medal!  Considering the size of the country, this has to rank as one of the greatest Olympic achievements.  They lost 28-23 in the gold medal match to France:  a country with 200 times the population of Iceland.

Exterior of the Bláa Kannan in downtown Akureyri
Exterior of the Bláa Kannan in downtown Akureyri

As in Reykjavik, relief from the then-extortionate costs of eating in Iceland was found in Akureyri’s Thai restaurants.  We also enjoyed some relatively inexpensive times at a café called the Bláa Kannan.  As the name suggests, it was very blue…and also very cozy.  Who would have expected to see a Parisian-style café in Akureyri?  Unfortunately, we were not able to find a cheap way to do our laundry in Akureyri:  at $50 (in 2008 dollars), it remains by far our most expensive laundering experience!

We had lunch at the Salka Restaurant in Húsavík
We had lunch at the Salka Restaurant in Húsavík

We went on a day-trip to Húsavík (see photo at the top of this post) just to experience a smaller town in northern Iceland.  It’s known among tourists mainly for whale-watching but, after our “unsettling” experience sailing to Grímsey, we confined our visit to the town itself. As with Akureyri, it may have been relatively small but it was certainly not narrow-minded.  We easily spent a couple of hours in one of the local museums.   Actually, we were impressed throughout Iceland with the level of literacy and linguistic proficiency.  Everybody seemed to be reading books!

Rough-looking bar at the harbour in downtown Húsavík
Rough-looking bar at the harbour in downtown Húsavík

While Iceland’s main attractions remain its natural wonders, even its smaller urban areas are enjoyable.  Stay tuned for the next post, where I’ll be taking a look at Reykjavik, Iceland’s edgy metropolis!

Posts from Base Camp

Showtime in Kingston!

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(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

While the sound wasn’t so great at the Los Lobos concert in Toronto, we have had a lot of great concert experiences this year in Kingston at the Grand Theatre.

Last fall, we saw Darlene Love…you know her voice, even if you think you don’t know the name. She sang on a bunch of the early 1960s records produced by Phil Spector but she was very rarely credited personally.  She also was a back-up singer for some artists you may recognize:  Elvis Presley, Sam Cooke, Tom Jones, The Beach Boys and Dionne Warwick, to name just a few.

With Darlene Love at the Grand Theatre in Kingston
With Darlene Love at the Grand Theatre in Kingston

Recognition came later: being admitted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011, being named by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the 100 greatest vocalists, being invited onto Late Night with David Letterman every year to sing her signature song “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” and then more recently starring in the feature film “20 Feet from Stardom” (which won an Academy Award for Best Documentary in 2013). She was in Kingston as part of her tour to promote her new album cleverly titled “Introducing Darlene Love”. But she also sang the songs that first made her voice famous…it really sends a chill down your spine to hear “Christmas” live!

One of the great things about shows at the Grand Theatre is that the performers generally come out afterwards to sign autographs and pose for pictures. Darlene was no exception and it was great to meet her. She has been singing for more than 50 years but still sounds great and loves what she’s doing.

With Holly Cole at the Grand Theatre in Kingston
With Holly Cole at the Grand Theatre in Kingston

We also saw Holly Cole, Buffy Sainte-Marie and Johnny Clegg this year at the Grand Theatre.  Each of them were inspiring in their own way…and we also had the privilege of meeting each of them and getting pictures and autographs from them.

Buffy Sainte-Marie on stage at the Grand Theatre in Kingston
Buffy Sainte-Marie on stage at the Grand Theatre in Kingston

It was especially cool to see Johnny Clegg (see photo at the top of this post) in Kingston.   I first wrote about Johnny Clegg in this post from late 2014.  We previously traveled to Ottawa and Niagara-on-the-Lake to see this South African legend perform but never thought that we would be able to see him in our hometown.

We were a little concerned that seeing him for the 3rd time in 5 years might not be as special. Happily, we were wrong.  His set list was quite different and he seemed even more energetic than before.  You get the whole experience at a Johnny Clegg concert – the incredibly joyous South African music that makes the crowd go wild…followed by reverent silence as the audience hangs on every word when he tells his fascinating stories.   And the stories were all new too!

Buffy Sainte-Marie and one of her fans
Buffy Sainte-Marie and one of her fans

We’re really fortunate to have this facility in Kingston…I’m sure we will be attending some great shows in the 2016-2017 season as well.

Stay tuned for some travel flashbacks…and the countdown to our mysterious summer adventure in the Southern Hemisphere!