To Be or Not to Be...

Kronborg (Hamlet's) Castle

Heading down to the Dungeons

The Magnificent Ball Room

Local Cuisine

Kim in Supermarket

With a wind chill factor of -8 C, Kim & I caught a 40 minute train to Kronborg Castle, otherwise known at Hamlet’s Castle overlooking the Baltic Sea. It is the most renowned castle in Denmark as well as being one of the most significant Renaissance castles in Northern Europe.

It was initially built in 1425 and added to over the centuries. Guns, cannons and moat show evidence of its days as a formidable fortress although that didn’t deter the Swedes from bombarding & looting it in 1658. The dungeons could accommodate up to 1,000 soldiers with enough provisions to withstand a six-week siege. Kim & I did a tour of the dungeons and the royal palace. The contrast between the dungeons where the soldiers lived and the sumptuousness of the rooms enjoyed by the royal family was striking, but expected. The ballroom alone was the largest royal hall in Northern Europe in its day.

William Shakespeare wrote his play ‘The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark’ around 1600, and set the play at Kronborg Castle. This has made the Castle famous around the world.

After our tour we tried a national dish called a Smørrebrød which has rye bread with different toppings one being grilled fish (plaice), another seemed to be minced chicken with a strip of bacon on top, and a third was smoked salmon & prawns. Each was topped with a delicate sauce to complement the flavours. A hot coffee warmed us ready for the walk back to the train and a quick visit to the local supermarket for supplies. Tomorrow we catch a train to Malmø, Sweden.

Downtown Copenhagen - Day 2

Kim & Friends at Brunch

Copenhagen Shopping Street

Kim in Nyhavn (New Harbour) - built in 1670

Boats on Ice in Nyhavn Harbour

Seagulls wandering on the ice

Here comes our Ferry - amid chunks of ice!

Kim & I on the ferry houseboat (log fire at left of photo)

The moored Ferry Houseboat

Sunset from the Houseboat

We walked out our front door at 9.30am and didn't return until 7pm. My daughter sure knows how to wear her mother out! We walked miles & miles and it was freezing - even the locals are saying the last two winters have been colder than usual. See the chunks of ice in the harbour while we waited for the ferry for us to cross over to another part of town. Even the seagulls were walking on the ice. Thankfully the jacket & clothes I packed were perfect and although my face was cold, the rest of my body was nice & toasty.

I met 3 of Kim's friends at an Indian restaurant for dinner last night, then met another 3 at brunch today. No wonder she is enjoying her life here, as her friends are all delightful. After brunch we wandered along the main shopping street before arriving at Nyhavn - the seaport built in 1670 for ships from the Baltic sea to unload their fish catch or do other trading. Next door to where we had afternoon tea was where the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen lived for many years. We then took a ferry over to visit one of Kim's friend's who bought a ferry at auction a few years ago. The ferry had been in service for 50 years and it was about to be replaced. He parked it a ferry ride across from the city, and proceeded to rebuild it as his home. On the main deck is his kitchen, bathroom, lounge, dining, and downstairs is his workshop, bedroom & laundry. He had baked bread for us, which he served with cheese and a glass of red wine, which we devoured as we watched the sun set over the city. Beautiful. Then it was a dash for the bus & train so that we could get home before I fell asleep! I revived somewhat with a hot shower, and then Kim made us a platter for dinner. We did intend to play scrabble tonight, but I am not sure that I will last too long. Tomorrow we plan to visit Hamlet's Castle - Shakespeare wrote Hamlet (King of Denmark) there. I just hope I can wake up in the morning ....

Arrived in Copenhagen

Sea Ice

Mound of Snow & Ice

Kim meeting me at Airport

Kim taking my suitcase to the bus stop

All the bikes - used by commuters, shoppers...

How easy is that? One minute I am sitting in Heathrow airport, and 1.5 hrs later I am in Copenhagen with my daughter Kim. Magic. As I was coming in to land, I saw all sea ice heading in/out to the Baltic Sea. There were even wind farms dotted through the sea. Unbelievable. Remnants of old snow & ice were piled up at the airport where they had scraped the tarmac. Thankfully it was not snowing when I arrived, but an acceptable 0˚C and blue skies (with some clouds). We caught a train from the airport to downtown, then a bus to Kim's apartment. I couldn't believe the number of bikes everywhere. When you cross a road you have to keep your eye out for the cyclists or you might get run over, and when alighting from a bus you have to move quickly off the bike path that runs alongside the road. It is cheaper to live in Sweden (25 min train ride) then get off the train & ride your bike to work here in Copenhagen. Plus it is very expensive to own/run a car here, so bikes are very popular. Kim is about to bring in a hot chocolate and a platter of cheese, olives & bikkies, so had best leave this post now.

Buckinghamshire, UK

I didn't get here this trip but look Mum: The White Cliffs of Dover (Not really - this is the same geological feature but is further south along the coast)

Ken walking dogs along a country path

Ken & Ros point to the Musket holes made by Cromwell's soldiers

Pub built circa 1645 where we had lunch today

Downtown Birmingham

Church built 1209

Jenny showing me Florence Nightingale's Writing Set

View from my window

Thanks Qantas for a wonderful flight on the newest 380 of the fleet. It was only 2 weeks old and flew very smoothly. Highly recommend the business class seats – thanks Benn.

My friend Ken was there at London’s Heathrow Airport to meet me on Wednesday morning. The last time I visited his home (Vicarage - his wife is a Vicar of 4 churches in this area) was 11 years ago). Their current Vicarage is in Padbury, about 50 miles NE of London, and we went past where they film the Vicar of Dibley to get here. The town was first inhabited by the Saxons in the 600’s. One of the churches where Ros is a Vicar was built in 1209. Another was shot at by Cromwell’s soldiers in the 1620's and the holes made by their musket balls are still in the original heavy wooden door. Hard to believe the history around this place! Their daughter Jenny is the warden at a nearby National Heritage listed property called Claydon House built in the mid to late 1700's. Although the House is closed up until the season re-opens on the 12 March, she gave me a personal guided tour. The rooms are all covered in dust sheets etc, but she pulled some covers off to show me specific displays. The house is famous for Florence Nightingale fans, as her sister was married to the Lord at that time. Florence spent 3 months of summer here every year from 1857 to 1890, and her room is preserved just how it used to be. The view from her room is rather beautiful.

The weather here is cool by my standards, with a max of 12 C each day. There was some drizzle yesterday morning, but today has been fine. The sun even came out both afternoons. Today we went to lunch in a pub built around 1645. Afterwards Ros had to meet with the organist from one of her churches, so the dogs were packed in the car, and while Ros was in the meeting, Ken & I took the dogs for a walk around the Parish boundary - probably just over one mile. Helped to walk off the big lunch. As you can see the area is quite countrified, and in season you will come across pheasants, hedgehogs, hare, badgers and foxes. Unleaded petrol is £2.10 litre. Ouch! Tomorrow I fly about 1.5 hrs to Copenhagen and meet up with Kim at 12.30pm. Very excited.

Off to Copenhagen. First Stop London, UK

Aunty Dympna at the Gym

View from our Cafe

Damaging winds and a storm that knocked out power to 30,000 homes between Brisbane & the Gold Coast were in the area the evening before I flew out at 9am the next morning. Thankfully by the time we woke up, the winds had abated and there was a beautiful rainbow to escort us to the airport. I waved goodbye to Murray & my brother Tony who came to see me off, and got through security with no hassles. I had no sooner sat down in a seat in the departure lounge when the security staff came past with a sniffer dog. The dog found my handbag so interesting, that I was asked a few questions about how much currency I was carrying. Because I had British ££s, Euros, Singapore $$s, Danish & Swedish Kroner plus a few aussie $$s it made the dog sit up and take notice. So although I had way less than the allowable limit, the dog got rewarded for sniffing it out. I wish I had thought to take a photo with the dogs snout in my handbag, and by this time surrounded by about 6 security staff and numerous interested travellers!

After a 1.5 smooth flight from Coolangatta, I arrived in the Sydney Domestic Airport. A 5 minute ($5) train ride took me to the International airport. Before I knew it I was all checked in and was free to explore the shops without my suitcase. I then had time for a few phone calls, this blog entry and some iPhone games of 'Words with Friends' with my sister & niece before boarding my 8 hr Qantas flight to Singapore (1.5 hour stopover) and then another 14.5 hr flight onto London, UK. A colleague from my working days has offered to meet me at London's Heathrow Airport, and I look forward to spending 2 days in London with him & his wife, staying at their Vicarage. No, not the Vicar of Dibley....

My gym work will now take a break, but I have included a photo taken of my aunt at our last session together. I hope I am still going to the gym when I am her age - 87 years young. Oops, time to get ready to board my flight to Singapore. I have also included a photo taken of the river view a few feet from our cafe table on Sunday morning.

A Glimpse of January

Very Interesting Read

First 2 Pages of My RV Magazine Article

Gerard, Dympna & Gemma

Final Hymn at Birthday Mass

Some Friends at Birthday Picnic Under the Tree

Pottering in our Patio Garden

Murray, Trish, Dympna, Bill Take Sunset Walk on Boardwalk

Another month has passed, full of enjoyable outings, activities and meeting new people. We went and saw the movie 'The King's Speech' on Saturday, and thoroughly enjoyed a refresher on that part of history and acknowledging the contribution that a down to earth Aussie made to the British Monarchy. I have read two amazing books this month. One was recommended to me by a friend and is called 'The Brain that Changes Itself' and the other, 'Anti Cancer: A New Way of Life', was passed on to me by my brother. The first book shows how people can be helped after years of suffering paralysis and other impairments due to strokes and other brain dysfunctions. The second book is mind boggling (both books were International Best Sellers). The blurb reads that we can all take something from the book, including "tools to tackle cancer alongside conventional treatments - or, better yet, to help avoid cancer altogether." It is written in such an easy to read yet very interesting way, that it was hard to put down, despite the seriousness of the topic. Our thoughts are with our Louisiana friend Dianne, as she recovers from a recent serious cancer operation. I hope she gets to read this book and can take hope from its content.

My youngest son Mark was chatting on the phone with me the other day and asked me if I was getting bored with retirement yet. I was able to truthfully say that my days were very full. but filled with pleasurable activities and all of my own choosing. Just take yesterday for instance - we left home at 9.30am - spent a delightful 5 hrs in the country (45 min drive from home), celebrating my aunt's 87th birthday with about 20 family & friends at a private mass followed by a picnic in the church grounds. We got home just in time to put the kettle on to welcome a couple who live just north of Brisbane, who had driven 4 hrs down to meet us and learn about motorhoming around USA. They had come across my blog and made contact with me, and have now also read the article I wrote for our local motorhoming magazine, about buying an RV in America. They now plan to fly over in April and buy an RV. We chatted on our patio for 3 hrs before heading to a local Indian restaurant for dinner, where we had a table overlooking the river. After another 3 hrs chatting at the restaurant, at 9pm they went back to their motel and Murray packed our car for his coming week up at the RAAF Base west of Brisbane (2hr 20 minute drive from here). He is doing 4 weeks' work on a project for the health services wing and is enjoying the diversion. He drives up there early each Monday morning, and returns to Ballina on Friday afternoon. The best of both worlds.

The weather has been very pleasant. I have enjoyed pottering in the garden, and most days we have a cool breeze. The evenings seem perfect for a walk along the beach or a sunset walk on the boardwalk along the river. My sister, aunt & I have even managed to get in two ocean surfs this month - the rain, floods and strange weather roughed up our seas a bit for a few weeks, and so swimming wasn't very appealing then!

A Peaceful Christmas & Wishing you a Happy New Year

My Mum (RIP) with her great-grandson Billy

Me with my siblings

Mothers & Sons

Santa Murray at our front door...

Family Kris Kringle in our lounge room

Now THAT's a Cracker Joe Bill!

My Christmas Wrapping partner Maureen

My Sister Gemma & Aunt Dympna on Christmas Day

Finishing off Christmas Lunch with the pudding...

While it was very sad to lose my mum two weeks before Christmas, the family knew that her 93 years were telling on her, and she was very tired. Her seven live children & numerous grandchildren gave her a warm & loving farewell. She was a wonderful mother who will live forever in our hearts.

While we had all seven siblings in town, and before our brother Chris returned to his wife Mandy in Japan, we celebrated an early Christmas here at our home in Ballina. We had a toast to our mum, dad & brother Peter who we trust were looking down from above! Amongst the errant tears we shared lots of laughter; the joyful celebration was just what the doctor ordered.

To get into the Christmas mood and also a great opportunity to raise funds for our University of the Third Age (U3A) community, I was part of an army of volunteers wrapping presents in a busy mall. My shift was the last one on Christmas Eve, and I worked from 1pm – 5pm where there was a steady flow of people doing their last minute shopping. Murray donned his Christmas hat & helped out in the hot meal center serving up Christmas lunch to the homeless.

Whilst winter storms have been creating havoc in Europe & across North America this Christmas, Australia has been having lots of welcome rain. We commiserate for the farmers who last year were still in the grip of several years of drought, only to now have their current bumper crops ruined by floods, and to the holiday makers who planned to spend Christmas Day on the beach. Although Bondi Beach in Sydney got a fair share of beach goers on the day.

We preferred to have a low-key Christmas lunch this year. My sister Gemma, her husband Bill and our aunt Dympna came to our place – it was our first Christmas in our new home. Bill had made our Christmas cake, Gemma cooked the chicken, bacon (sshhh) & gravy, and Aunt Dympna provided the chilled champagne. Murray baked fresh bread & sliced the ham & I cooked the turkey breast and numerous roast vegetables. A kind friend had made our Christmas pudding & it was served with brandy custard & fresh, thick cream. It wouldn’t be Christmas if everything went according to plan, and in my case, although I had prepared a tasty appetizer (prawn, avocado & rocket cocktails) to kick start the meal, the cocktails were still sitting in the fridge at the end of the meal. Darn! Oh well, I had one with my supper that night, and it was delicious! The fresh rocket, green onions and dill all from our garden added a tasty zing.

Thanks to all of you who have shared Christmas wishes and condolences with us in recent weeks. We have had a very peaceful, yet joyful time, and hope that you are all enjoying your Christmas with family & friends. Next stop – the New Year. May the coming year 2011 be full of good health & happiness for all.

Pretty Petunias

First Snow Peas

Blue Tongue Lizard

With my brother Tracy

Tracy & Murray peruse the menu

Catching Flathead is thirsty work

My blogs are getting further & further apart. Wow - did you see that flash? I think that must have been the last two weeks of October whizzing past. Now we are two-thirds of the way through November. In four days time the US will be celebrating the National Holiday of Thanksgiving –I have no doubt that those people who are conscious of being thankful on a regular basis are amazed at how much they find to be grateful for. I know I am always grateful for my family, so having my eldest brother come to stay with us for a few days recently gave us the excuse to fit in a few extra dinner parties with the family, and catch up with him. We drove him out into the country and had lunch at a delightful café with indoor & outdoor seating; the photos show how lovely & green the countryside is this spring.

As you can see from the top two photos, our flowers are blooming and our snow peas are healthy & producing prolifically. We aren’t the only ones appreciating our garden though– a blue tongue lizard wandered into it, but quickly moved on and into the garden next door– he obviously found nothing in our garden to his liking. The marigolds and snail pellets must be doing a good job keeping the pests at bay.

Murray has had a few fishing sessions since he has been back. He was thrilled to pull in some pan-sized flathead which we quickly threw on the BBQ & demolished within hours of catching them. Delicious as they are, they aren’t a patch on the Walleye that he catches in North Dakota each summer. They are my favourite eating fish…no bones!

Although I am still a registered nurse (until my licence runs out next June), I have finally decided that I will leave clinical nursing to the young folk. However, as I am still drawn to the hospital environment, I have signed up to join the Hospital Auxillary and attended their last meeting for the year. I have offered to do shifts in the hospital canteen and as the trolley lady. You know, the trolley that goes around the wards and sells magazines, newspapers, lollies/candies, toiletries etc to the patients and visitors. I am looking forward to the new experience and meeting lots of new people. As the kiosk and trolley operate all year-round, I am sure to be kept busy even though holiday season is kicking in over here. In Australia, the big summer school holidays begin in mid-December, and end the last week in January, give or take a week or two depending on what state you live in. Nationally the Year 12 (pre-college) exams finished this week, so there are thousands of Year 12 students celebrating with gay abandon. I hope that all those who worked hard during the year go on to achieve the number of points they need to enter the University course of their choice in 2011. Results will be out the week before Christmas. A nice present for some...