At first glance, it might seem that Sweden is an idealized version of California: Sweden has: universal free access to healthcare, free college education, an excellent public transportation system, a high regard for conservation and alternative energy production, a high level of female representation in government and industry, and (last but perhaps not least)[…]
Europe
I’m very lucky to be able to travel internationally as much as I do. It’s a privilege once reserved exclusively to kings, military leaders, international merchants, and those individuals rich enough to afford to travel. These days, travel has gotten cheaper in some ways (e.g. airfare, internet booking and phones) though more expensive in others[…]
I had visited Switzerland only once before in 1973, driving my VW van with my parents, when they came to Europe to persuade me to come back to the US after I had stayed out of the country for three years. By that time, the Vietnam War was winding down, and the military draft was[…]
Whenever I travel to “old Europe,” that is, the continent of Europe, I’m reminded that Europeans are much more aware of history than Americans are. They see the old cathedrals, the castles, the city walls, the statues, the artwork…all products of their long history. In Iceland, one is reminded constantly of “geological time.” Geological time[…]
Norway has more nude statues that any place I’ve ever visited. This is, in large part, due to the life work of Norwegian sculptor Gustav Vigeland. For the last twenty years of his life (he died in 1943), Vigeland worked in an Oslo park, creating 212 sculptures (of his life’s output of over 800 sculptures) which were[…]
Many years ago, I was told the following joke which highlights Scandinavian cliché stereotypes: In a ferry sailing on the Baltic Sea, two Danes, two Norwegians, two Finns, and two Swedes walk into the bar. The two Danes clap each other on the back, have some drinks, all the while laughing uproariously. The two Norwegians[…]
To tour a country as part of a group tour necessarily results in a superficial introduction to the countries visited. But the advantage is that all the logistical details are covered in advance by the tour company. In the case of this Go Ahead tour, we spent two days in Portugal, followed by five days[…]
It is a great privilege and blessing to be able to visit Portugal twice within three months, first in December on a Viking River Cruise tour, and second in March on a Go Ahead Travels tour to Spain and Morocco commencing in Lisbon, Portugal. The Go Ahead company offered a tour of Lisbon similar to[…]