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As it turned out, we did see some things nearby that we missed last time, when we rented an apartment across-town near the main station. Among these: a wealthy sailors' marina; a memorial to lost mariners; 'The Little Mermaid'; and the Citadel - all a short stroll from the ship.

"But why do the boat owners need to be wealthy," we asked (the boats in the marina were not particularly impressive)?  "It's expensive to moor here because the boats need to be taken out of the water each winter - when this bay freezes solid," we were told.


 

From the ship we chose a bus excursion around Copenhagen. First stop was the Royal Palace - yes Denmark is a Constitutional Monarchy too. And if that persists long enough the monarch will eventually be part-Australian, thanks to the Crown Prince meeting a nice Australian girl, Mary Donaldson, in a Sydney bar.

The couple have four children in-line (second onwards - sequentially) to the throne. The marriage has resulted in new links being established between the two countries, particularly in health-related initiatives.

The Royal Palaces (four of them - relatively modest - as palaces go)

The bus tour provided glimpses of familiar and less familiar sites, like the statue of Hans Christian Anderson flashing past (not the one in the photo below - see our previous trip - here).

Europe22 Germany to Holland 67

 

Later I went off to the Museum of Modern Art only to find it closed.  But on the way back to the ship I decided to explore the historic star shaped fort known as the Kastellet (Citadel) with its mote and windmill - in addition to the compulsory old cannon.  It remains an active barracks, beautifully maintained, with guards on duty.  Even today, it would be difficult to attack, using infantry alone; or by rioters.

 

Europe22 Germany to Holland 68

 

 And so it was back to the ship for the last leg of our journey - out of the Baltic and around to Amsterdam.

 

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Travel

USA - middle bits

 

 

 

 

 

In September and October 2017 Wendy and I took another trip to the United States where we wanted to see some of the 'middle bits'.  Travel notes from earlier visits to the East coast and West Coast can also be found on this website.

For over six weeks we travelled through a dozen states and stayed for a night or more in 20 different cities, towns or locations. This involved six domestic flights for the longer legs; five car hires and many thousands of miles of driving on America's excellent National Highways and in between on many not so excellent local roads and streets.

We had decided to start in Chicago and 'head on down south' to New Orleans via: Tennessee; Georgia; Louisiana; and South Carolina. From there we would head west to: Texas; New Mexico; Arizona; Utah and Nevada; then to Los Angeles and home.  That's only a dozen states - so there are still lots of 'middle bits' left to be seen.

During the trip, disaster, in the form of three hurricanes and a mass shooting, seemed to precede us by a couple of days.

The United States is a fascinating country that has so much history, culture and language in common with us that it's extremely accessible. So these notes have turned out to be long and could easily have been much longer.

Read more: USA - middle bits

Fiction, Recollections & News

Christmas 1935

 

When I first saw this colourized image of Christmas Shopping in Pitt St in Sydney in December 1935, on Facebook  (source: History of Australia Resources).

I was surprised. Conventional history has it that this was in the middle of the Great Depression. Yet the people look well-dressed (perhaps over-dressed - it is mid-summer) and prosperous. Mad dogs and Englishmen?

 

 

So, I did a bit of research. 

It turns out that they spent a lot more of their income on clothes than we do (see below).

Read more: Christmas 1935

Opinions and Philosophy

The Fukushima Nuclear Crisis

 

 

Japan has 55 nuclear reactors at 19 sites.  Two more are under construction and another twelve are in the advanced planning stage.  Net Generating capacity is around 50 GW providing around 30% of the country's electricity (more here).  

As a result of Japan’s largest earthquake in history on March 11 and subsequent tsunami all reactors shut down automatically as they were designed to do but cooling systems associated with two sites had been damaged. 

Three reactor sites are adjacent to the earthquake epicentre and two were in the direct path of the tsunami.  The Fukushima-Daiichi plant belonging to Tokyo Electric Power Company was particularly hard hit.  It lost all grid connections, providing electricity, and its backup power plant was seriously damaged. 

Read more: The Fukushima Nuclear Crisis

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