Berlin, the Wall and Hitler

With the Scandinavian days behind me I could start planning for Berlin and also places that had connections with German composers from the Baroque and Classical/Romantic periods. I love history and sometimes I've had the nerdy notion of being one of those academic presenters we see on BBC and foreign documentaries. How societies developed, reigned or completely disappeared. There are many lessons learnt and hopefully not repeating itself for some nations. Germany and in particular Berlin has been the cradle of significant decisions affecting not only neighbouring nations but the whole world.

Life on a fast train to Berlin

I recently learnt that one of my great uncles was one of the famous Rats of Trobruk whose Australian WWII campaign in North Africa played a major part with the first battles to turn back Hitler's war machine fighting against the German Panza tank divisions lead by one of Hitler's favoured military leaders Rommel. My great Uncle Emm (Emerson) from Australia survived schrapnel wounds. So to some degree the family connection is there.

In 1989 Berlin again made left its indelible mark in history with the falling of the wall that divided East from West Berlin and essentially reunited the nation. I remember for some odd reason I was listening to a song by progressive rock group Tears for Fears called The Working Hour while catching a news bulletin on the ABC with scenes of the Berlin wall falling with President Yeltsin in view. Now thirty years on it looks like the cold war has returned with two opposing nations run by unchallenged leaders backed by oligarchs. You can forget about liberating climate change when these regimes dictate their own agendas and our futures. The heroic people of Hong Kong (I've been there four times within the last ten months) are testing this mandate. Sorry Greta but your frustrations are falling on deaf ears while they will bury you happily and dispute your climate change fears.

I like to stay where the real folk are and by pure chance my hotel was only 10 mins walk away from the Wall and within the wonderful cosmopolitan centre - I felt like I was back in Brunswick, Melbourne with the sound of trams and baristas honing their skills. Most of this short section of the Wall is covered with artworks expressing views and meaning as art does.

Friedrichshain district Berlin

Many of us in the right generations should have some awareness of Hitler's extraordinary demise and last days in the famous bunker as Russian troops made their way from the East. It’s hard to fathom how one disturbed individual could gain such power as a member of an 'intelligent' nation and cause unimaginable sorrow and destruction across Europe and other continents. I'm going to jump to another subject I covered in a recent Australian blog - it's about people having extraordinary lives and ending their them in insignificant spaces so bear with me. If you look at the Australian ten dollar banknote you will see a portrait of Dame Mary Gilmore who achieved great things as a writer and campaigner against injustice - she is also the great great aunt of Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. By chance I discovered her 'paupers' grave next to her estranged husband and son in a windy, dusty and treeless cemetery in Cloncurry in far west Queensland. I was actually looking at Afghan graves and how they were oriented towards Mecca.

Central Berlin

Brandebburg Gate

Berlin reborn

So this leads me back to my point - a significant individual like Hitler spends twelve years breathing oxygen, almost destroying the Jewish nation, dictates many military campaigns against other nations and yet when it all ends to mark his final resting place is a non-descript carpark amongst apartment blocks only minutes away from the historical Brandenburg gate. That’s probably how it should be as many German citizens want to forget this immovable stain on their history.

Site of Hitlers Bunker that no longer exists

Jewish memorial nearby

Return to Denmark, Odense and Hans Christian Andersen

After enjoying stunning Norway and wonderful Norwegian hospitality my compass headed south for the Danes and flatter country. The ferry services in Scandinavian seas are abundant with many port options. I chose an overnight route from Stavanger to northern Denmark that is not dissimilar to my many overnight trips from mainland Australia to Northern Tasmania but even given the the high Norwegian currency it is still less than half of the Australian trip. Unlike the one daily service in Australia there are several here - in fact up to 15 per day for some destinations so there’s no need to book months ahead - just turn up an hour or so before departure and on you go. The difference here is that you have too ride on with the cars and trucks so stay alert and visible..👀🚴🏼‍♀️

impressive cycling infrastructure and literally a life saver

Like graffiti I also consider this environmental pollution and annoying - at least UK has banned them.

Danish farmhouse

The ferry trip was an uneventful crossing on an unusually flat North Sea but I laughed when fellow passengers from Denmark warned me about the hills to climb while riding in their country. Wow a 'huge' climb of 40 metres definitely tested my fitness - how hilarious as they probably have never been to Austria which I crossed back in 2013. Some roads even include four not two lanes of cycle paths - impressive and not overkill given the number of riders using them everyday.

Old village in Odense

I feasted on my favourite cheese at half the price I would pay at heme.

Suck it up Uber Eats - I bet you never thought of this method of delivery

Hans Christian Andersen's abode

A delightful cafe in Odense

A significant milestone in my journey while travelling on kilometre paths was the city of Odense (pronounced u-den-sa). It has two claims to fame. One being the first city in the world to establish bicycle paths in city streets. It's was also the home for the famous author of children's stories and other works Hans Christian Andersen. I have fond childhood memories of watching a Saturday afternoon movie on television about Hans Christian Andersen staring the incredibly gifted Danny Kaye. That was my first impression of things old Danish. His song performance of 'Thumbelina' was delightful. After visiting the old street area where Andersen lived I explored the other streets and found my perfect place for lunch. The front of the cafe looked like a high class homewares/giftshop but the outside menu board items looked appealing so in I went via a narrow laneway into a rear yard with seating and sounds of classical guitar music. We all love those pleasant and random surprises and I was quite at home here.🎶

Love those dark brooding sunsets

A gander in the field

The journey south

While travelling along cycleways in Germany and Scandinavia I had to deal with the invasion of numerous electric scooters and mopeds. A lot of e-scooters are simply abandoned anywhere when they exceed their trip distance. Also the petrol mopeds far exceed the 20km speed limit where I have to swerve around them at times and the riders would abuse me for getting in their way when overtaking me. There are over 7000 e-scooters in Denmark now and over 100 cities in the world have them. At times there are two people on the same scooter - some adults ride through supermarkets, mothers taking the child to school with no helmets and of course deaths are now occurring when some of them collide with trucks or pedestrians. Some cities are now reconsidering this transport choice - despite sales of e-scooters in the UK where they are illegal.

Riding in Danish style

Danish castle, moat and massive garden

The last two weeks have been very relaxing despite the kms travelled with only one day of rain. My next destination was Rostock on the northern German coast so I caught the ferry from Gedser that only takes a couple of hours from southern Denmark. Amazing how quickly and easily you can go from one country to another in the EU. 🙂👀

Denmark to Germany ferry

Oslo, Norwegian fjords and electric cars

I heard of Oslo in Norway for the first time many years ago when I was house sharing in Melbourne with my theatre nurse friend Nancy. She specialised in anaesthesiology and was sent to Norway to earn more about this field in medicine where Norway is a world leader. She also sent me postcards (there's the age hint) from Stavanger and Bergen on the west coast known for its magnificent fjords. So a curiosity seed was planted for me to visit this northern land one day.

Even the tramways are grass

 Slow and careful descent for me and the bicycle

No cars here

Very aesthetic designs

Nobel Peace Institution

Oslo is the home for the Noble Peace Prize institution and in more recent times the Oslo Accord strategy for dealing with climate change. This makes sense given the country’s drive (oops pun again!) to become a world leader for adopting an aggressive electric car policy. They've achieved a mind blowing 50 percent target of registered cars being electric and 95 percent sourced by hydropower thanks to Norways massive mountains and waterways.

Easy tram commuting

View of campsite hill - a very steep ascent but worth the effort

This intelligent and progressive nation doesn’t just talk about deliverables, they actually do it. A smart incentive to help the takeup of electric vehicles is that fossil fuel cars in Norway are much more expensive to buy and run. One negative for my cycling journeys relates to diesel fumes that I have to endure while riding where the older cars do not have the technology to capture those noxious gases. I can smell them instantly like old trucks.

View from campsite hill

It was summer holidays on full steam with families everywhere but I still managed to find space in the camping park amongst French and Dutch folk. The park was only a few kms from the city so no need for an expensive hotel - yes Norway is an expensive country to travel in - I still paid A$52 a night for a patch of green but all the facilities were there. The last time I paid that much was in Byron Bay on Australia’s mid east coast. I don't do 'couch surfing', 'hot showers' or hostels as I've grown older I've become quite precious about my space and privacy and except for friends I don't like reciprocal arrangements with strangers arriving on my doorstep. Oslo has been awarded the title European Green Capital 2019 due to its environmental efforts and will host a number inspiring events.

A visit to the Viking Ship museum and the Viking Planet with some exhibits dating back to the 9th century was on my list including two new tyres for the bicycle. Oslo of all places had two of the exact brand and size tyres I use in Australia but located in two different stores across the 'green' capital. It was a good way to explore the place and enjoy a nordic fish meal on the way. I found a wonderful space called SALT a nomadic art project and cultural village with wonderful wholesome snack-sized meals by the jetty and an interesting art exhibit.

Stavanger village

Stunning journey

No visit to Norway should exclude fjords which means travelling to the west coast cities of Stavanger and/or Bergen. Bergen is a more popular destination for fjords but with many tourists so I chose Stavanger. I caught the overnight train on my third Oslo day that took me all the way across to the port of Stavanger. From here I took the ferry to the fjord village of Preikestolen. I then hiked for two hours to a geological site with a 604 metre steep cliff called Pulpit Rock. The weather for the whole journey was perfect and the scenery breathtaking. It's quite a workout because the path is all rock steps not a gravel or forest floor surface. I couldn’t believe the number of people that only wore sneakers.

View from the Pulpit rock

Pulpit Rock

Ancient forests like the remote southwest Tasmanian wilderness

 and southern Fiordland of New Zealand

Sweden, The Bridge and paternal ancestry

There are two important reasons for my interest in Sweden. Firstly for many years I assumed that my family name originated somewhere in the US but recent genealogy from my father's family members revealed that my paternal lineage goes back to Sweden around 1749. So how cool is that? My great great .....great grandfather's first name was Harri and our family name is quite common in Sweden as well. I was told by people in Malmo that I definitely have Scandinavian facial features but there's also Jewish ancestry in there as well.

Yes a friendly 70km for cars - me likes that 🐌

Easy coastal riding

The second reason for coming here, specifically Malmo, relates to 'Scandi' dramas that have become very popular in Australian television in particular on SBS. I love the mood these bring with grey skies being the norm with excellent camera work/scripts and acting like I've come to enjoy from BBC UK content. In 2011 a Swedish/Danish crime series called The Bridge in a way mirrored the UK series called The Tunnel of which I had already watched a few episodes. One of my closest friends introduced me to the Swedish 'Bridge' series where the first episode is based around the gruesome discovery of a 'body' found exactly on the border line halfway across the famous sea bridge that links Copenhagen in Denmark to Malmo in Sweden. I absolutely love the series that has a 94 percent viewer approval rating and I'm not surprised and I have three more series to watch. I mentioned in my four-month ASIA blog that there are now 100 versions around the world - Singapore to Malaysia bridge - US/Mexico Border and so on. Persist with the subtitles because its worth it.

The Bridge from my campsite

Copenhagen to Malmo

“So you would like to be an aircraft controller?

Can you sleep at night?”

OK then let's play chess at 35000 feet

Like Denmark the Swede's command of English is excellent in fact I would say much better than mine. It's said that in India the locals are more 'English' than the English. Communication in Germany was a challenge but Scandinavia has been easy. Swedish cycling infrastructure is OK not as good as Denmark but the Dutch are the world leaders - in fact The Netherlands has more cycling paths per km than roads for cars. I can support this from experience in 2013 and I call it cycling Mecca. You do have to approach cycling there just the same as you do as a driver where you really have to watch all around you and obey the rules of direction. Pedestrians must not walk on the cycle paths when indicated and keep a lookout when crossing them. In Copenhagen I had to 'fog horn' 📣 a bunch of Chinese pedestrian tourists who were completely blocking the cycle path and refused to let our cycling group through. They're typically more territorial than any culture I know.

Mmm .....five letter car starts with V ends with O

Oh 'crap' and I just washed my hair

Yes even Swedes love their utes - just not Volvo

Morning light for Swedish forest breakfast

The unusually long and warm 'Indian' summer for northern Europe still continues even this far north in Sweden with temperature just below 30C. Helsinki in Finland had its hottest day on record yesterday but not warm enough for me to go swimming. It was only a few kms south of the city to the camping ground where I would have excellent views of the 'bridge' and perfect for a coastal evening walk. I gathered some groceries on the way and my ability for navigating the supermarket aisles and identifying UHT milk from cream is better but they still like to sell vegetables and fruit in packets not individually which is frustrating.

And the sun still shines even this far north in Sweden

This part of Sweden is a flat cycle-friendly terrain with good infrastructure but a noticeably lower population making it more relaxed than most spaces I've been over the last two months. Scandinavia in general has been an attractive designation for the thousands of immigrants from war torn nations like Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Africa. The generous social security net, housing provision and other assistance for refugees has been a step through Sweden''s open door policy since the end of the second world war. As is typical in Australian cities they tend to establish themselves in 'enclaves' where they live, worship, shop and run their businesses. The positive aspect of this for me is I can find the type of food I like quite easily and have comfortable affordable accomodation. The negative aspect appears to be with some of their youth and some sinister elements thriving on an underground illegal income regime that directly competes with the Chinese/Asian triads and Romanian/Russian cartels.

You can tell when you’re venturing close to a no-go zone like parts of northern Stockholm. Its become that bad that the police won't even venture there. Sexual assaults on Swedish women have apparently increased dramatically in a very short time along with robberies, fire bombs and car jackings. So for self preservation I kept away from this part of Stockholm. Where you have a strong patriarchal society where young men are raised by their mothers in a way that makes them think they are 'gods'. This translates into a permanent social/cultural attitude towards females either by oppressive or abusive behaviour and apparent disdain for accepted rules of engagement towards foreign societies.

There has been conciliatory approaches made by the Swedish police but this is seen as a sign of weakness by the young Muslim/African men so the respect is not there. It's a complex mix of issues where East and West cultures clash and I have no answers but ownership has to come from both sides to find a peaceful existence for all. It can work - for example to avoid three days of rain I took a
short bus trip through Sweden and enjoyed sharing stories with a young north African muslim woman travelling with her infant son. We had a great time laughing about things and she asked me to look after her son while she arranged collection of baggage at her stop. She parted with a strong hug and kiss on the cheek for looking after her child and wished me good health from Allah.

Ms East meets Ms West at the bus stop 👀