Mid-life gap year Tanya and Craig

Our interest in Vikings was initially sparked by the TV series of the same name. Then late last year we read Saga Land by Richard Fidler and Kari Gislason a kind of travel journal intertwined with traditional Icelandic Sagas. This then led to reading more Icelandic Sagas in all their brutal glory.      Whilst visiting Denmark it seemed opportune to learn more about the Vikings and see first-hand their ships, burial mounds, artefacts, etc.  Having shared this interest with our very kind friend and host Gitte, we were whisked off to the National Museum of Denmark in Jelling.   Jelling Jelling is on the island of Jutland and was home to the Viking kings, Gorm the Old and his son Harald Bluetooth who built many of the monuments in the area more than 1000 years ago. The most significant of these are the Rune Stones (carved rocks in the form of a tablet).  The oldest rune stone was raised by King Gorm in memory of his wife Thyra. Here the name ...

Denmark is a little country, approximately 2/3 the size of Tasmania or 4/3 the size of the Hunter Valley but with a population of 5.5 million highly educated, socially conscious, culturally engaged people, Denmark is not like anywhere else.    It is a country of soft light, big skies and vibrant green pastures of rye, barley, potatoes, fresh peas and strawberries. This time of year it is also poppy season as it is in much of Europe. It is a nation that makes things both functional and beautiful. It is a nation that does not compromise on crap; rather its people would rather save for a few very special, beautiful and generally Danish designed and made pieces that they will have for many years to come. It is a nation of non-clutterers.  It is a nation of people who punch way above their weight when it comes to influencing the rest of the world, but they do it through non-aggressive means, diplomacy and good design. Climate shaming has b...

The city of Schwerin has a beautiful castle that was formerly the royal house of Pomerania. More than any other castle we’ve visited, Schwerin Castle has an integrated indoor / outdoor design.  Every view, whether it be outside or inside is beautifully framed. It is a small, but intricately ornate castle set on a small island on the edge of Lake Schwerin. So far it is Tanya's favourite castle. The city of Lubeck is closer to the border with Denmark and the old gates to the city are unlike others we've seen. It is made of two brick towers joined by a cathedral like centre section. It looks like it was built as much to impress those who passed though it as it was a defensive structure.     The Lubeck Radhaus (town hall) is also worth stopping for. Its exterior and parts of the interior are constructed of glossy dark coloured bricks. Inside, the low vaulted ceilings together with the painted walls, tiled floor and dark timber feel rather g...

The first thing that you notice about Dresden is that it is a city of mixed architecture. Ornate baroque are intertwined with 1960/70s Soviet looking housing blocks and ultra-modern shopping malls that have been constructed in the past 15 years.  During WW2 Dresden was flattened by Allied bombing and most of the old buildings and bridges lay in ruin. Most have now been reconstructed and many are still under reconstruction. Everywhere you look there are cranes and scaffolding.  The Frauenkirke (a highly ornate baroque church) in the centre of the city lay in ruin until 1992. Churches were not rebuilt during the soviet era as religion was banned. The Frauenkirke has now been rebuilt in all its glory.  Dresden was the capital of ancient Saxony, being the seat of royal power the old buildings are more ornate than most others in Germany.  On the edge of the old town is Grosse Park, it is the lungs of the city. It cove...

Like most other people we have seen the television shows where foreign couples purchase a rundown mansion in some fabulous location in Europe. Property is cheaper in the EU than in Australia so you get so much more for your money. This allows you to dream big and take on a project much bigger than you possibly could back home.    We have always been seduced by this idea and have dreamed of buying a chateau in France, something that needs a bit of work but not too much. Something that we can live in while renovating but needs to be affordable.   With this in mind we have found an affordable "Chateau" not in France but close to the city centre of Prague. Prague is a fabulous city with so much history, a great arts and culture scene and this chateau is very affordable. But after much sole searching we have decided we really want our Chateau to be in France so this is not the right one for us.  Maybe it is right for you….. 

Parking our van a few kilometres out of the city centre and catching public transport for a few days provided us with more opportunity to take in Prague and its cultural sights. First we headed to the old town Square, where we found a free festival that included music, outdoor entertainment and food stalls. We enjoyed beers in the sun, together with Bratwurst on rye while taking in the music and people watching.  Prague has a vibrant and an edgy arts scene and the band we saw was no exception. They were dressed as members of the delinquent gang in Stanley Kubricks 1971 movie A Clock Work Orange. By chance we had arrived in Prague on the first Saturday of the month, a day when all of Prague's public museums open their doors for free from 7pm onwards. We loved the Fall of the Iron Curtain photo exhibition at the Castle Summer Palace (refer to other blog, entitled Fall of the Iron Curtain). That night we had a meal at U Flecku. Since 1499 U Flecku has ser...

L ike man walking on the moon; most of us have memories of the footage of the Berlin Wall coming down. It is 30 years this November since the Berlin Wall came down.  It is 30 years since the fall of the iron curtain across Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Yugoslavia. Following the ground-swell and thirst for change in the other member states along with the demise of the Berlin Wall, between mid-November and the end of December 1989, Czechoslovakian students and older dissidents bravely led peaceful protests which resulted in the peaceful transition to democracy, known as the Velvet Revolution. The event commenced on international students day [i] (17th Nov) and riot police suppressed a student demonstration in Prague. The students announced a weekly strike, demanded political pluralism, free elections, the resignation of compromised politicians and a true public information system. The event sparked further demonst...

Long long ago when man was just another animal roaming the wilderness, not superior to any other creature and certainly no safer. Man’s daily quest for survival started with the basics: food, water and shelter. On a good day there was time for other pursuits; maybe there was time to make a flint tool or a hide shawl. At night huddled around a fire in a cave man began making art, it started with a hand dipped in ochre or some other medium and then pressed against the cave wall to say “I was here”. From there cave art developed into a narrative of the day’s activities: what man did, what man saw. Man was not thinking how to make things better or what his rival tribe was doing. When he had down time man was reliving daily scenes and telling stories through cave art. Often the scenes depicted were of animals or more particularly of man hunting animals. In France and Spain there are cave art images showing hunters with pointy sticks trying to bring down muscular cattle with long up...