Travel (II) - Europe 5 - Bruges, Belgium

Click here to view some pictures in Bruges 

Bruges, or Brugge, is one of the big three in Belgium, together with Antwerp and Ghent.  All of them are quite close to each other.  Bruges is arguably the most touristy place in Belgium, also probably the most authentic.  It's a small town to the west of Brussels.    

In the movie "in Bruges", 2009, one quote goes like this "if I grew up on a farm, and was retarded, Bruges might impress me.  But I didn't, so it doesn't".  Well, ironically, it ended up attracting a lot more tourists, just like in 1892, when a popular book "Bruges la Morte" described the city as a dark, poor, ugly place, more and more tourists saw romance in it and started visiting Bruges more.  Quite interesting, isn't it?!

Never pretending to be less touristic than what I really am, first day in Belgium, I, together with Athena and P, took a morning train from Brussels Midi station to Bruges.  It was a ride of less than an hour.  We each rented a bike to tour around in Bruges.  That was a rare day, and the last, for all three of us to hang out together.  P would take a flight back to US the next morning.

Bruges is also called by some "Venice of the North".  Same as Amsterdam, it has many canals, accompanied by beautiful architecture.  Differently, Bruges has wider canals, wider roads, clearer water, cleaner roads, and the color of the houses and the roads are much brighter.  So although smaller in scale, Bruges brings out a more pleasant and brighter feeling.  That day the weather was sunny and beautiful, and the air was clear and fresh.  Riding the bike along canals, I felt like a flower blossoming in spring breeze, filled with joy.

At some places, we took a stop to hang out.  The central square (or the markt, as in Flemish, Belgian Dutch), the city center, has been carefully built since the Middle Ages and is remarkably preserved today.  Gothic buildings are part of the city identity.  Church of the Holy Blood is situated on the east side of the central square.  Legend says that it has a remnant of the holy blood of Jesus Christ.  It was not open that day so we only had a look at the magnificent facade.  Belfort tower, at the north of the square, is a 13th century building.  Tourists have to climb the super narrow and windy 366 steps to reach the top.  At two different levels, one can admire the impressive clock mechanism which as 47 bells, each with different sounds and functions.  The climax is a panoramic view of the city from the top of the tower.  We also hung out in a local flea market, and a couple of old churches, and took a refreshing bike ride along the river side where there are a few beautiful windmills.

In the middle of the day, we savored our lunch sitting outdoors.  I, for the first time, tried snails, together with a fish soup.  Nothing too special, I'd say.  Snails do not taste much different from their cousins that are served on Chinese dinner table.  And we wrapped our tour with some crepe with tea in Pancake Heaven.  Despite the sub-par friendliness from the hostess, the crepe was one of the best that I had had.

In Amsterdam, almost everybody speaks English.  However, in Belgium, it's extremely English unfriendly, in Brussels or in Bruges.  Most of the signs are marked with French and Dutch, therefore, no space for English.  Few people speak much English.  West-Flemish is the dialect in Bruges.  

In summary, I was impressed by Bruges.  It's a cute place to chill out.

Travel (II) - Europe 4 - a digression on history of the Low Countries

A digression on some brief history.  In 16th century, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg were still bound together and called the Low Countries, and Philip II, the king of Spain, was its ruler.  When Protestantism swept Europe, the Low Countries embraced it, much to the chagrin of its ruler who is fanatically Catholic.  He ordered the Inquisition to enforce Catholicism, a move that led to the Iconoclastic Fury, in which Protestants ran riot ransacking churches.  Inevitably, in 1568, war broke out and it lasted 80 years (the Revolt of the Netherlands).  In 1579, provinces in the northern Low Countries formed the United Provinces, which was the basis for the Netherlands today.  They were opposed to the spanish rule that was in place, while the southern regions, which eventually became Belgium, were open to compromise.  In 1648, 80 years of struggling ended with a treaty that recognized United Provinces as an independent republic.  At that time, most of the European countries were still monarchs.  

The Netherland's Golden Age lasted from about 1580 to 1740.  The era's wealth was generated by the Dutch East India Company, which sent ships to the Far East for spices and other exotic goods, while colonizing the Cape of Good Hope and Indonesia and establishing trading posts throughout Asia.  Laster the West Indies Company sailed to West Africa and the Americas.  A number of Caribbean islands were also captured in a bid to thwart the Spanish.  My interpretation is that Dutch took over exploration and colonization from waning Spain and Portugal to begin the Golden Age, and ended it with the rising conquering power of British Empire.

In 1795 the French invaded.  When occupation ended in 1815, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands - incorporating Belgium and Luxembourg - was born.  In 1830, the Belgians rebelled an became independent, and Luxembourg was split between Belgium and the Netherlands.  In 1839, the Dutch part gained independence and officially became Luxembourg.

Travel (II) - Europe 4 - Amsterdam D3, the Netherlands

Click here to view some pictures in Amsterdam 


Third and last day in Amsterdam.  My ambition was a very much longed visit to the two most famous museums in the city, Rijks Museum and Van Gogh Museum.

Rijks Museum, i.e. the national museum, is the largest in the Netherlands.  It displays the most famous master-pieces of Dutch art from 17th century, usually called the Golden Age of the Netherlands.  No doubt, we all like to remember our good days :-).

The first floor demonstrate the general history through various art forms, and the second floor displays thousands of paintings from masters such as Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Hals, many of whose work reflected different aspects of Dutch national characters.

Paintings of giant sizes could be seen on the first floor, with topics of celebrating victory, the form of the republic, sea battles, canal expansion, portraits of influential people (such as quite a few paintings of Maurice, Prince of Orange, the stadholder of Holland and Zeeland).  There was one painting that had a particularly interesting name of "fishing the souls", which depicted a big group of Catholics on the left bank of a river and Protestants on the right, and both sides had boats in water that were fishing believers.  Beyond the division between the Catholics and the Protestants, there was also the division among the Protestants - there were very strict Calvinists, and more tolerant branch that was headed by Johannes Wtenbogaert, who was the subject of a few paintings.

What's worth mentioning is the Delftware.  Delftware is simply white ceramic work with often blue decor, and it has been a renowned Dutch specialty.  As a Chinese, I have been bewildered why it has been known by the world as a Dutch specialty but not a Chinese one.  The only probable explanation, I think, is that China had always had the closed-door policy for hundreds of years.  It's quite regretful from my point of view.  According to what I learned in the museum, Dutch learned the technique from China to make some simple pieces, but the aristocrats still favor more elaborated and higher qualitied pieces imported from China.  However, in late 18th century when the civil war in China (when Ming Dynasty was being replaced by Ching Dynasty, i.e. Manchurians) caused the disruption of the supply from China, Dutch craftsmen, particularly in Delft, a small town outside of Amsterdam, took this opportunity to enhance their making, as well as adding more western elements, to produce the unique Delftware.  There are both Chinese and Dutch pieces on display.  With my very limited knowledge about ceramics, I would say the most distinctive Dutch is the flower vases in the form of a stacked obelisk.  The museum has a couple of giant such vases, commissioned by queen Mary.  I saw many of them on the markets too, small or big.  But to be honest, it does not please my esthetic appetite at all.

What's also impressive were exquisite dollhouses, and many silver art pieces with Greek mythology subjects.  It seems silversmiths' ambition was outstanding in that period.  It's said that they experimented with forms and tested boundaries of possible.  However, other than exclamations I could not comment more due to my lack of understanding.

The paintings on the second floor showed a wealth of different genres.  Before the Golden Age, the Dutch artists mainly focused on still life, and history paintings, i.e. those that are based on Greek or Roman biblical narrative stories.  History paintings at that time enjoyed highest regard.  When the new era opened, they started to experiment with new genres such as city scenes, Dutch landscape, and daily life of people in winter and summer.  There was a popular sub-genre that depicted companies, i.e. a group of well-to-do people in fashionable clothes, usually gathering in gardens or indoor.  One particular painting that I examined, for example, involved a group of richly-dressed people sitting in a garden, with an Italian house in the background, and with common elements such as exotic birds, fountain (that symbolizes fertility)... The audio tour pointed out an interesting prop in the painting, a monkey in chain.  It was holding an apple, the forbidden fruit.  It's said to symbolize vice and debauchery, and to warn people that enjoy yourself but do not become the prisoner of your sins, i.e. everything in moderation.  I was amused by that comments.  Not sure if it has a grain of truth to the artist's intention, or it is only imposed.

Rembrant practiced all genres in the time when most artists specialized in one.  He also experimented with different techniques.  In his paintings, one would see some meticulously painted faces, the subtle contrast of light and dark, to loose brushwork, to usually free style with rough and thick lump of paint (such as The Jewish Bride, or more appropriately, Issac and Rebecca). 

Vermeer, same as Pieter de Hooch, was a Delft painter.  In one of his most famous works, the Kitchen Maid, for example, he rendered light with utmost care that created perfect delusion of the space, besides the amazingly realistic details.

Pressed by time, I had to rush at the end, so that I could have at least a couple of hours in Van Gogh Museum before we headed to Brussels.

Van Gogh has been liked by me.  I'll try to explain why, but please do not expect too much rational logics, and most likely I picked Van Gogh to like only due to my lack of knowledge about other artists.  

The major reason is that I can feel his passions, through the beautiful colors,  the vivid and energetic depicting,  the amount of works he finished during a relatively short career, as well as through his own words.  

"As long as autumn lasts", he wrote to Theo, his beloved brother, "I won't have enough hands, canvas or colors to paint the beautiful things I see", so there were paintings such as "the furrows" (or called "ploughed fields");  "Tremendously beautiful here in summer... Green is deep and rich, air is thin and amazingly clear"... so there were a series of paintings like the famous "the harvest";  In the painting of the wheat-field with a reaper, which was done after he left asylum which means he was facing death already, one could still feel the pulsating energy and vitality.  

Being a person who is curious about everything, who is touched by every simple beauty in life such as the bright sunshine, a small flower blooming at the side of a road, and a smile from the bus-driver, I like people who appreciate nature and life with similar passion and sensitivity.  For me, these details and feelings build up the substance of our life, and they make me a happy person who looks forward to waking up tomorrow, going to work, and expecting the unexpected.  

Well, the second thought is that probably most artists have such passion and sensitivity, otherwise, they would not have been so creative.  :)

During his relatively short career as an artist, Van Gogh took influences from his environment and made changes to his works for good. 

His early works were kind of dark and muddy, such as his first major composition "the potato eater" in 1885.  When he went to Paris in 1886 and encountered modern French art of the day, he first thought they were "ugly, badly painted, badly drawn, wrong in color, utterly inadequate", and he was "bitterly, bitterly disappointed", but his attitude changed when he made acquaintance of 2 young artists Emile Bernard and Henri de Toulouse-lautrec.  He became a modern artist, employed the light color and started to paint sun-drenched river views like an impressionist.  

At that time, Japanese art was popular in Paris, Van Gogh was obviously fascinated by it.  In his works, Japanese print, woodcuts, and Japanese subjects such as blossoms and courtesan often appear.  What's more, he also learned from Japanese art the decorativeness, bright colors, and daring compositions. 

Today we all recognize his trademark brushwork of applying small strokes of different colors, purposefully unblended.  For example, in many of his self portraits, he uses small touches of blue and yellow, two completely opposite colors, unmixed.  He took this technique from a school called Pointillism.  Other famous painters such as his contemporary Claude Monet also employed this kind of brushwork successfully. 

But he did not take everything presented to him.  For example, he felt that symbolism was not his cup of tea.  This, as far as I understand, was a major reason for his fallout with his friend Paul Gauguin, and this fallout was an important reason for his mental distress (he cut off a piece of ear) and ended his golden creating period in Arles, south France.  (Background info : Impressionists based work on visible world.  In 1885, symbolists began to develop a fascination for the mysterious. They sought inspiration in dreams, fantasies and feelings, the world of literary mind and various types of religious belief.  They painted from imagination, painted symbols of a more deeply felt, invisible world, which no longer suggested reality.  Van Gogh's friends Paul Gauguin and Emile Bernard are major players)

So much more to write about Van Gogh.  I'm a bit tired.  So will only introduce briefly about the museum.  Van Gogh left to the world about 900 paintings, 1100 drawings, and 800 letters.  This museum houses about 200 paintings, 550 drawings, and most of the letters, showing Van Gogh in all his moods.  Also there are selected works by his heros, friends, and contemporaries.  When I visited, there was also a huge exhibition of Piccaso in Paris.  I totally did not have enough time but I remembered one sentence said by Piccaso : in art, one has to kill one's father.

Travel (II) - Europe 4 - Amsterdam D2, the Netherlands

Click here to view some pictures in Amsterdam 


Second day in Amsterdam, I toured the city on my own, because P and I have different interest, and Athena had business meetings.  After breakfast, I went directly to Anne Frank House.  It is said to have long lines all day so it's better to go early.  I was taking leisure stroll on the side streets, taking pictures etc.  Suddenly some beautiful shoes inside a store window caught my eyes and I had to have a look.  And it happened that they had some sale that day.  I ended up spending 2 hours there and bought 8 pairs of shoes (would have been 9 if I did not lose one pair).  Woman!! :-P  (BTW, really beautiful shoes!  Unique and extraordinary design.  Shoe lovers can check out United Nude) I was only happy that P was not there to disturb my shopping spree.  Luckily it was close to the hotel so I sent them back.  In the store, I chatted a bit with a staff who in fact came from New York.  He said he used to work in Ritz Carlton in NY and was able to travel cheap.  After seeing many places, he decided he wanted to live in Amsterdam.  It had been 2.5 years and he said he still moves too fast compared to locals.  "NY legacy", I commented.  He laughed to agree.  

With the high spirit from successful shopping, I could not help humming while I walked back.  After that I decided to go to a nice restaurant to have something Dutch for lunch.  In a restaurant close to central station, I had smoked eel, which is a typical Dutch specialty, and Dutch pea soup.  Both are satisfyingly delicious.  

According to the plan, Anne Frank House will be my next stop.  However I was intimidated by the long line, so I decided to walk around and pay a visit to Begijnhof (Begijn Court) and the historical museum first.  

Many tourists like to bike around the city center as well as some neighboring areas, such as Jordaan and Pijp, where one can experience authentic local life.  I walked south along the Prinsengracht, the most picturesque of canals; then turned east on local streets to Begjin Court.  On the way there were many small boutique clothing and accessories stores, as well as small cafes.  Such leisure walk is always pleasant.

Begijinhof is the oldest house in Amsterdam, in the very center of the town.  Beguine, according to what I understand, was a nun that did not want to live in a covenant so did not take the vow but lived like a nun and did good things to help people.  It was a quiet garden surrounded by many old houses, which are occupied even today.  There is a chapel inside the garden, where I saw quite a few people praying - more holy feeling than most churches I visited.  I did not have time to really see the historical museum but only walked around some public space in it and learned that it was an orphanage before.

When I turned around to Anne Frank House, I took a detour to Jordaan, to the west of the city center, where supposedly there are many small brown cafes (local small cafes, often having a candle on the table, cozy, relaxing, where local people like to hang out at and are known for warm and friendly atmosphere even towards tourists).  Local residential buildings are kind of common looking, without too much character.  The community was clean, orderly, and very quiet.  Blossoms could be seen here and there.  I took a seat in a small cafe, named Wester, right across the canal to Anne Frank House, in front of which there was still a long line.  Ordered a cappuccino and some Dutch cheese, drew a book from the shelf, and I started reading about haemorrhage, the basic knowledge, the treatment, and the psychological and social impact.  The waiter, a handsome young man who is running the entire store on his own, was gentle and friendly.  I had a somewhat long conversation with the woman sitting next to me.  She was a new-yorker too, just moved to Amsterdam recently for a project to design a casino.  She said for the past 3-4 years she lived in Hongkong and Maccau and managed the project of designing the casino by Las Vegas Sand.  

Eventually I went over to line up for a tour in Anne Frank House before it takes the last visitor.  I honestly did not expect much.  I knew it was a hiding place for two Jewish families during the World War II, and a teenage girl Anne Frank wrote her famous diary there.  The book has been published in about 70 languages.  Therefore I did not expect more than some display of old furniture and some manuscript.  However, the experience turned out to be profound even overwhelming.  It will be an unforgettable memory for me, I think.  

It was a small quarter in an office building.  With a few helpers, 8 Jews lived there for more than 2 years hiding from the Nazis.  According to Anne's diary, they had to have the dark blinds shut most of the time, and they dared not to run tap water or flush the toilet some time of the day, so that nobody in the neighborhood would notice their existence.  It does not take a big heart to empathize their living situation.  As a teenager, Anne was yearning for freedom, for laughter in open space, for the very basic human rights that every of us has long been taking for granted.  She said she had goals, she knew what she wanted, and she was hopeful that the war would be ended and her dreams would become true.  At the same time, she was trying to make an interesting life out of whatever was given to her - she decorated her room with some small pictures she collected, she was reading the magazines that the helpers delivered to her, and she was getting ready to publish her books once the war was over.  Her sister, 3 years older than her, was taking a latin lesson.  Unfortunately, a few months before the liberation they were arrested and sent to the Holocaust.  They did not survive except Anne's father.  

Anne was a good writer despite her young age at that time - after all her biggest dream was to become a journalist after the war.  Her thoughts were deep, even deeper than what her father perceived her.  There are excerpts on the wall, and there are short intro videos in a few of the rooms.  Part of the original diary and her other journals were on display.  

From this experience, one can understand what discrimination and persecution of innocent people mean.  Everybody has the responsibility of fighting against prejudice.

At the end of the exhibition, there was a hall with a few flat TV screens showing some pre-recorded videos of some controversial issues in today's world, and some polling devices for audiences to vote for opposite opinions.  Those are quite interesting topics and also difficult to judge, from my perspective.  For example, should head-scarf be allowed in public school  Should crucifix be allowed to display in the classrooms of public school?  Should neo-nazi symbols be allowed in public?  Should Hitler's Mein Kampf be allowed to publish in Manga (Japanese cartoon style)?  Should the anti-semist EDL be allowed to march in public?  Should the holocaust denial group be allowed on facebook or on internet in general? ...  

We are in a complicated world with zillions of issues.  Is there a solution for every problem, or we'll have to live with conflicts and struggle till the end of our days?  I do not know.  And I am not very optimistic about having all the problems solved.  I simply do not see how the interest of different parties could line up.  At the same time, many people share Roosevelt's point of view of "between justice and peace, I choose justice".  Sounds justifiable, but - whose justice is it?!  Everybody fought for "good" causes, and conflicts will never disappear as long as there are different parties that have different definition of justice.

When I stepped out, it was already close to 9 pm.  After taking a couple of deep breaths, I tried to enjoy my night walk in Amsterdam, with all problems unloaded from my mind.  

Travel (II) - Europe 4 - Amsterdam D1, the Netherlands

Click here to view some pictures in Amsterdam 


Amsterdam is my main focus in the first half of my trip (first 1.5 weeks in Copenhagen, Hamburg, and all the Low Countries) , and it did not disappoint me.

Regarded as Venice of the North, Amsterdam is featured by layered canal rings.  I am fond of having water around the living space, as it symbolizes vitality and liveliness to me, not to mention the extra beauty that water can create.  Imagine my joy at the sight of layers and layers of canals, and rows and rows of beautiful old style buildings, with canal rings and building rows orderly sandwiching each other.  Often there are big white swans and special ducks in the water, which is not as clear as I would want it to be.  Buildings in the city center of Amsterdam tend to be dark in color, and the roofs are mostly triangle in cross-secion.  The facade at the top have various interesting shapes.  Careful observation will lead one to notice the hooks or pulleys at the top - this is how residents move stuff such as furniture into higher floors.  The staircases of these old buildings are unbelievably narrow and steep.  If one person is mounting ahead of you, his feet will be almost right above your head.

Morning of our first day, April 13th, it was a very pleasant feeling walking across canals, bridges - it was still relatively quiet and peaceful in many touristy areas, air was fresh, sunshine was fresh, spring breeze was fresh, and I felt fresh.  I suddenly realized why I like this sort of environment so much.  It is very much like some scenic spots in my home town in China, somewhere known as "water town to the south of Yantzi River", where dark-bricked old houses, narrow windy rivers, and high-arch bridges are essential elements.  Nostalgic in a different continent.  Interesting!

Dam Square is the center of the city center.  Royal Palace Amsterdam is right at Dam Square.  Today the palace is used mainly as a venue for stately reception as well as special events of the royal family.  However, when it was built in mid 17th century, i.e. the Golden Age for Holland, it was served as a town hall that housed city council, the judiciary and administrative officers.  Then it was the largest public building in Europe, and was so much loved by the Dutch that they called it the "eighth wonder in the world".  In the early 19th century, Holland's first king, Louis Napoleon, the brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, chose it as his residential palace - this is some interesting history that I did not know of.  Later, Emperor Napoleon himself took it over although he did not stay much.  The audio tour mentioned Bonaparte many times introducing every displayed room.  The palace is majestic and lavishly decorated.  What I was most impressed by was numerous splendid crystal chandeliers.  The citizen hall, the main hall, is all shiny marbles, with giant global maps etched on the floor.  Everywhere in the building there are elegant art decorations such as wall hangings, statues, and carvings.  As P was not into it, I had to rush through.  I believe there is more to it than I described, such as the meaning of those statues etc.

Before we took our excursion trip to Keukenhof, the world famous tulip park, we briefly visited Oude Kerk, which, I guess, literally means old church.  The ironic part is that it's in the middle of the red light district.  Probably because we'd seen so many magnificent churches already, we were not as excited as before.  However, it's always nice to enjoy a moment of peace in midst of a hectic city.

It's the peak season for tulip flowers, which attracts millions of tourists.  On the way to Keukenhof, we passed by vast tulip farms, which is covered by magnificent tulip carpet.  Red, pink, yellow, white, violet... all colors one can imagine.  According to the tour guide, flowers are not important but bulbs.  To avoid consuming nutrients, flowers are often cut off pretty quickly and are fed to animals.  In the tulip museum inside Keukenhof, I watched a video of how the modern tulip farms are operated.  It's amazing how the modern technology and machinery make the production of millions of bulbs so automated.  It's a long process, basically one year each cycle, for the bulbs to be planted (late Nov and early Dec), to grow, to be harvested, and to be processed and shipped to the markets all over the world.  Tulips on display are often planted in three layers, with the late blossom ones at the bottom.  This is call Lasagna Technique, used to extend the display period.  Keukenhof park is only open for two months every year.  However, 30 employees have to work for 10 months each year to design, prepare, and take care of the exhibition.  Every years, there are 7 million bulbs planted, together with 700 kg of grass seeds.  It was an ocean of flowers, carefully deployed, combined with varying terrain in the park, numerous statues, white swans, and typical Dutch style windmill.  I was impressed by the variety of tulips.  According to the video, there are more than 200 types.  To cultivate a new type, it often takes 20 years.  Oh well, Holland has had tulips for a thousand years at least, and I remember reading that the first economic crisis in the history was due to the price inflation of tulip bulbs (12th century?), very much like today's housing price bubbles. 

That evening, we walked around red light district, and visited the erotic museum.  It is in fact quite an exhibition - statues, decorative plates, small opium bottles (from China), paintings, photos, books, cartoon videos, some clothing...  I would not have any problem call most pieces on display art.  It has a collection from many different cultures, particularly many pieces from ancient China and Japan.  Also there are some replica of statues from Maya and Peruvian culture.  

A bar tender told me that there are about 65 girls in the entire red light district, from all around the world.  He said every four years policies swing a bit due to new election.  But in general the government has been trying to limit the business as well as drug.  He said he grew up in Amsterdam, close to that area, and he does not like this hectic environment either, so he married a Thai woman in Chiang-Mai (a quiet city in northern Thailand, where I just visited last November) and his home is there.  He is working in Amsterdam for a few more years to save enough money so that he can retire to Chiang Mai. 

Travel (II) - Europe 3 - Lubeck, Germany

Click here to view some pictures in Lubeck 



Day two in Germany.  For the first time we had a drizzling day.  We jumped onto a train to Lubeck at 10 am.  The suburban areas look very much like Chinese suburb, except for a block or two of traditional European style buildings.  Most of the 2-storied houses and apartment complexes are quite plain.  Looking at the arrangement of the buildings, it does not seem to be well planned.  The surrounding environment is not as pleasant as typical American suburban neighborhood.  Some areas look industrialized, some look agriculture focused.

Well, Lubeck is full of architectural gems and it turned out to be a completely pleasant trip despite it was super windy (no rain in Lubek, luckily).  I am not sure how well known it is, but I remember reading a while ago about its beautiful Gothic architecture from 12-16th century, so this time I was determined to pay a visit after I decided to come to Hamburg.

It's a very small island town.  If not lingering much in any spot, one can walk around it within 90-120 minutes.  The majority buildings have the unique brick-built style that is characteristic of Lubeck. 

The Holsten Gate, Lubeck's famous landmark, welcomes everybody coming into the town.  It was built in 15th century, and in fact has been equipped with 30 cannons but none has fired a single shot.  Both the gate and the town hall are solid looking castle-like.  The dark bricks of the town hall makes a striking contrast to the traditional red-brick construction of the surrounding buildings.  The magnificent facade with colorful decorative round panes, decorative balcony, and towers, look splendid against the blue sky.

There are a handful of churches in such a small space.  We spent quite some time in St. Mary's Church, the major one in town.  The main hall is of high Gothic style of enormous dimensions: the twin spires are 125 meters high, and the vault spans the impressive nave at a height of 38.5 meters.  By such scale, as well as the beautiful architecture and decoration inside, I was quite stunned and amazed.  Sitting on one of the hundreds long benches,  I felt serene and peaceful.  It was built in 13th century, and had been expanded over years after.  This "mother of Gothic brick churches" set the pattern for about seventy churches in the Baltic region.  In the night preceding Palm Sunday 1942, St. Mary's church was heavily damaged in the British air raid on Lubeck.  That night, the bells crashed to the ground.  To this day they are still lying in the chapel beneath the southern spire.  There is a small exhibition about the music in St. Mary's and history of the building.  To my surprise, the organist, whose name I forgot unfortunately, was in fact so great that both Handel and Bach came to study from him for months in early 1700s.  I was also impressed by the Astronomic Clock, but I did not have time to study it.  The display of 14 broken crosses was a bit scary though.  After that, we visited another church, St. Peter's, whose hall is all in white, which is different from St. Mary's more colorful interior.  There is a viewing tower in St. Peter's, from where we had a panoramic view of the beautiful town.

After that, we marched around the town.  Beautiful buildings are literally everywhere.  Thankfully we have digital cameras nowadays so that I do not feel stingy taking huge amount of pictures.  Both Athena and I did not want to leave, although P did not care too much about "old buildings".  The train from Hamburg to Amsterdam would not wait for us, so we had to head back to Hamburg after a lovely 4 hour excursion in Lubeck.

Travel (II) - Europe 2 - Hamburg, Germany

Click here to view some pictures in Hamburg 



Before the train from Copenhagen could reach German territory, we had to cross Baltic Sea.  The train in fact boarded a gigantic ferry, which took 45 minutes to reach the other side.  We were quite excited about this unexpected chance of breathing some fresh ocean air and viewing sunset.  The whole transportation lasted 4.5 hours.  We arrived at Hamburg Central Station at around 10:15pm.

The taxi from the station to our hotel, in St. Pauli, was only a little longer than 10 minutes.  But that's enough to tell that Hamburg is remarkably different from Copenhagen.  Now after a 2-day stay in Hamburg/Lubeck, I can say so with more confidence.

While Copenhagen is still a somewhat old-style European city, Hamburg is a modern industrialized city despite there are traditional European style buildings here and there.  In fact, I personally favor the architecture in Hamburg as it demonstrates grandeur besides elegance.  Copenhagen streets give me the feeling of dusty and lack of maintenance/management, on the contrary, Hamburg seems bright, clean, and orderly.  Although I am not completely sure, I did sense that people in Copenhagen are more laid back while people in Hamburg are more disciplined.  In both cities, people are very nice.  In both cities, we have not encountered any check point or check person to impose the ticket rule - cannot imagine that would work in China or even in Manhattan.  Price on everything is noticeably lower than in Copenhagen.  Not sure if it's because of higher productivity and better efficiency in Hamburg - that is my guess at least.  In general I like Hamburg better, I'd say.  And the cute little town Lubeck, 45 minutes train ride northern to Hamburg, is so full of beautiful Gothic architecture (12-16th century) that I would recommend it to anybody.  If anything that's not quite convenient, one is that Germany seems much less English language friendly, from road signs to service industry; and second is that most public toilets charge a fee of 50-60 cents - it's not a big amount but especially when the machine only takes exact change it's quite inconvenient.

Early morning,  day one in Hamburg.  Our original plan of visiting local fish market did not work because that only opens on Sunday, 5-10am.  P and I then headed to the famous port for a boat tour.  It was a bright and sunny day, quite warm.  We spent some time figuring out the subway system, had some laughter on us not knowing the language,  and finally purchased a Hamburg card (this is recommended to anybody : it covers all public transportations and numerous discounts on tours, museum visits, restaurants, shopping etc).  

The boat tour was a wonderful idea despite our mistake of forgetting to ask if there is English guide (yes it feels quite silly that the guide only speaks German but we had fun and figured many things out regardless).  Hamburg is one of the largest ports in the world.  Its commercial boom was to a large extent fueled by new international trade relations since 17th century, which essentially relied on shipbuilding technology and port operation.  The port and shipping scene was very impressive.  We saw huge array of cranes, countless containers, gigantic shipping boats, repair docks,  floating platforms, and so on.  The energy and powerful capacity there was exciting to me.  Then the boat turned into narrow canals to the traditional warehouse district, where goods from all around the world were stored.  Right next to it locates Hafen City, the city of future.  The landmark there is the near-finished Philarmonic Hall.  When we took a leisure stroll there later of the day, the introduction info shows the structure of the inside. Not to mention all the advanced technologies, the central stage has a unique design with viewing balconies all around it at various well-coordinated levels.  Totally impressive.  It's designed by a Chinese architect.

Hamburg's skyline is typified by the steeples of its main churches.  Less than 2 km away from the port stands this Hanseatic city's landmark, St. Michaelis Church, or the "Michael" as locals call it.  It was built from 1751-62 and is the most significant Baroque church in North Germany.  The ground floor hosts a spacious hall.  In the basement there is a crypt with beautiful pillar structure, where the historical documents of the church as well as the city were discovered and are displayed.  I was surprised to find that Johan Sebastian Bach's grave is right there in the middle, together with a display of his prosperous family tree.  I remembering that he was the most productive musician in history, not only wrote thousands pieces of music, but also fathered 20 plus sons which is certainly indicated in the family tree.  I was grateful that the janitor in the crypt, an old gentleman, was extremely nice to volunteer to show me around and introduce a lot of history and information with his limited English.

Taking a lift to the top of the church, one can enjoy a panoramic view of the city of Hamburg.  What we encountered in the boat tour was once again viewed from a different perspective  With the height of the standpoint, the picture is more complete consisting of the orderly array of long arms of the cranes, giant ships, golden sunshine, blue sky decorated with random silky clouds.  It's production.  It's energy.  It's power.  I could not help recalling the positive and heroic creative and conquering power that Ayn Rand attributed to human being.  Breathing the cold air at such a height, thinking of such grandeur, what a wonderful and hopeful feeling!

From the Michael to the city center is another 1 km walk.  I was filled with exclamation and joy standing in the middle of Hamburg's main square, surrounded by the richly decorated grand Rathaus (town hall) and other amazing architecture.  Alster Arkaden street, right next to the town hall and adjacent to the canal, is one of the most picturesque places for one's retail therapy.  The historic arcades were inspired by Venetian architecture.  White in color, it's most elegant.  Wish I could sit down at a table under the arcades and sip a nice cup of aromatic tea...

We then took a bus back to warehouse district and Hafen city, getting a chance to see more of the city.  I could not hide my like of the city - what a pleasant surprise as I did not expect German cities would be a valuable tourist destination!

I wish the story in Hamburg had ended here.  However, for the completeness purpose, I have to add that the evening visit to the Reeperbahn, Hamburg's red light district and legendary entertainment center, is quite a disappointment.  It's cheesy.

Travel (II) - Europe 1 - Copenhagen, Denmark

Click here to view some pictures in Copenhagen 



Europe has been on my dream destination list for long.  Finally, one more dream is becoming true!  :-)

The journey began on April 8th, and my return flight is on April 26th.  The entire itinerary look like this JFK => Copenhagen => Hamburg => Lubeck => Amsterdam => Brussels => Bruges => Luxembourg => Athens => Santorini => Crete => JFK.  My travel buddies are Athena and P, the latter will bail after Bruges.

April 8th evening, P and I boarded the Delta flight from JFK to Copenhagen, to join Athena who was already in Copenhagen for her business.  After chatting extensively about the blue pill and red bill option (as in the matrix), death, the gap between ideal and the reality, and debating on "ignorance is bliss", and free will and choices in life, we obviously needed something to shut us up so that we get a couple of hours sleep before our first full day tour.  With deep suspicion and reluctance, P took his first melatonin pill after I took my first in life.  It kind of worked, fortunately.

After we opened our eyes and had a sandwich, we were already above Denmark.  It's a splendidly sunny early spring morning.  1500 feet below us, it's vast flat land, covered entirely by irregularly divided greens, with white windmills, casually spinning, randomly scattered around in small group of 3 to 6.  Islands, big and small, are embedded in clear blue water.  Residence was far from being dense until we reached Copenhagen.   I could already sense the peaceful and casual and relaxing atmosphere in this northern European city.  There is only music flowing in my body that moment - Yes, this is how it should feel when one dream becomes true.

Denmark, for many Chinese, is a fairy tale kingdom.  We grew up with reading many fairy tales by Anderson.  With the Little Mermaid Statue visited Shanghai World Expo last year for 6 months, which is her first journey in her entire life of 100 years or so, I am guessing that more Chinese are enchanted by Anderson's stories.  Besides this, I honestly did not know much about it until I read and chatted with people for this trip.  

I am on a train from Copenhagen to Hamburg.  Concluding a 2-day brief visit in Copenhagen, I'd say of the city the main impression is laid back, very nice people, early close of stores, beautiful typical European style architecture, some vibrantly colorful buildings, lots and lots of windows on almost every wall, no sight of high-rises, lots of bicycles, and convenient transportation.  The major turn-offs are that there are too many construction sites in the city, and it's very hard to get US credit card approved in many places.

On our first day, we visited Stroget (Europe's longest shopping mall), Christiansborg (an old palace), stock exchange (an interesting piece of architecture), Kogens Nytorv (a colorful 17th century waterfront), took a boat tour, and then strolled around in the Norreport neighborhood (supposedly the city center where our hotel is located).

My favorite is no doubt Kogens Nytorv.  Canals, sailing boats, colorful 17th century buildings, plenty of outdoor cafes and bars with all sorts of potted blooming flowers on tables, live music performed by some small bands here and there, relaxed people sitting there for hours and hours, together with the brilliant sunshine that day, nothing beats it as a typical northern European street scene.  We found a table luckily, with some efforts, right in front of a 3-man saxphone-drum band.  Ordered bunch of dishes labelled as "traditional Danish" and they turn out to be raw herrings marinated in different flavors, shrimp, chicken, all sweet and sour.  That did not work very well for us although I liked raw herring.  I heard the peak season for raw herring is May-Octobor where the flesh is at its sweetest.  It's also a signature dish in Amsterdam, maybe we'll try some more there.

The boat tour pretty much covers the entire water front.  We saw many buildings converted to residential from navy properties.  An array of barrack looking warehouses were said to be where Danes hiding their warships from being confiscated by Napoleon.  Some splendid architectures such as the Opera, the Black Diamond (royal library), and Blue Eyes (the biggest shipping company ) are very pleasant to my eyes.  The boat also went into narrow canals in normal residential areas where we could have a peak into locals' life.

Next day morning after a quick breakfast at the hotel, we rushed to Rosenborg Castle and King's Garden, where the march of royal guards began at 11:27am and they would proceed to Amalienborg Palace, where Queen Mary and her family are living now, to perform "change of guard" at noon.  With the cheering march music played by a royal band and a royal guard squad marching seriously in interesting uniforms, we, a silly and happy crowd, were walking along, and from time to time ran around to take pictures and videos.  It was quite a long march and long ceremony that lasted for around an hour, and I had a very good time.  Royal families in modern societies still have their mysterious appeal.  One might argue it's a waste of taxpayers' income to sponsor such an existence; others might argue that they in a way help to attract tourists.  Amalienborg is a very nice group of mansions.  I think I would not like to have hundreds or thousands of tourists visiting my home everyday if I were among the royal family.  But it seems like they are doing what they can to accommodate tourists.

A nice 15-minute walk along the waterfront to the north of Amalienborg, there stands the most known attraction in all of Denmark: the Little Mermaid reminiscing over her lost childhood in the sea.  Anderson's story is more of a melancony than Disney version.  It's in fact a very small size statue, not much bigger than the size of an adult.  It's a donation to Denmark from the son of Carlsberg's founder.  

After all these fairy-tale events, we landed in a different world : Christiania, the free town.  It's a green hippie village in the city - loved by many and hated by some.  I bumped into an article about it a couple of years ago, and was very much impressed by its no-law-no-government-no-police kind of status.  Before this trip I was determined to stop by and take a look myself.  Only till I came to Copenhagen did I know that it's actually one of Denmark's biggest tourist attractions nowadays.  Strolling around in the village, one could see a lot of wall art including but not limited to graffiti, one could see all sorts of interesting people living a life there, junk statues (made from disposed goods), art museum, and not surprisingly open market of drug dealing.  I chatted with a local shop owner.  She said she likes living there.  Many people go there either because it's cheap living there or to "Bevar Christiania", i.e. "save Christiania", to keep the existence of it, which is printed on many souvenir T-shirts.  I asked what it takes for people to be admitted to live there.  She showed me the map of the entire village, and pointed where her house is located.  She said the entire village is divided into a few regions.  When a house is emptied, candidate may submit application and present to the regional residents why he/she wants to live there etc, and all residents will vote to decide if he/she is welcome.  She also told me that the name "Chistianaia" has nothing to do with the religion.  In another shop, an elder guy told me their symbol of three yellow dots on red background represent "faith, love, hope" (on internet, I found many claim that three dots are from three i's in Christiania.  Not sure).  A very interesting visit.  I purchased a guide book there and will read more about it.

Taking a train at the central station in Copenhagen to Hamburg, we finished the first part of our trip.

Travel (I) - why and my dream

Getting ready for my dream Europe trip, I could not help replaying the amazing trips I made these couple of years.  

Traveling is a good getaway from routine life, and many times it brings about intense excitement. I personally find much more than that in it. 


1) it's the most effective way of learning all sorts of knowledge related to the destination, and getting to talk to different people; 
2) the knowledge obtained that way is more tangible, more emotional, more personal, and more memorable; 
3) one can replay the fond memory for the rest of the life - goodies for free; 
4) being right in front of something magnificent, either by nature or by mankind, often gives me the unspeakable feeling of awe and catharsis, and that makes me thoroughly emotional and philosophical  - I deem that feeling hightlight of life;  and 
5) it's a great path to discover myself. 

Imagine that I go adventuring around the world, soaking in all the wondrous complexity of human civilization, and better yet, I would have someone with whom to reflect on the mysteries of life...  

Defending "competitiveness"

For no particular reason, this topic of competitiveness came into my mind.  I remember during the past several years I was commented as being competitive for a few times, at a pingpong game, or a pool game, or a tennis game, or a video game, or even a push-up race... and 100% time it's a man who made such a comment.  I suppose when a man said that to me, it's not the most pleasant feeling he wanted to share with me.  I am actually a bit confused why I was called competitive to begin with, and then what is wrong if I try my best to win a game.

I checked the dictionary just now, and the relevant definition for competitiveness is
Liking competition or inclined to compete

To be honest, when it comes to tennis or pingpong, I have rarely favored a competitive game over a non-competitive one, simply because I can enjoy so much better by hitting freely without running around too much to exhaust myself.  Almost always I got involved in a competitive game passively.  Well, other games, such as pool, or board game, simply cannot be played collaboratively.  Therefore, I do not understand why I can be called competitive to begin with.

Must be because I like to give all I have to play a game then.  True that I make sure I play with my best.  That is not about winding up on top, nor about eliminating the opponent, but about to be the best one can be.  Besides, I think it also shows my respect to the opponent (who enjoys being patronized, or, playing with an absent-minded opponent?); what's more, I think it's the only way to make the game more fun, and make the time spent worthwhile (is there anybody who enjoys playing/watching a tennis game where most of time is spent on picking up balls, or, where one player completely crushes the other?).  But I never hold grudge if I lose, and always sincerely congratulate my opponent if he wins, and almost never miss a chance to praise any of his good shot/move.  I will appear disappointed if I have a bad shot/move, but even if I play golf alone, or if I cannot master a piece of music on piano, or cannot program a function beautifully at work, I will have the exactly same reaction - I will be disappointed and gather more of my energy and intelligence next round or next half an hour.

If I am interested in certain games, I do not only play my best when there is a competition, I also practice when I can.  One time in our group outing, I was practicing pool shots on my own while most others were bowling.  One coworker said "wow, Juhua is competitive".  My boss Peter defended me right there "it's not that Juhua wants to win, she wants to play better to enjoy the game more".  It feels good to be understood, doesn't it?!  By now, I still suck in shooting pool, which means I am often defeated although sometimes I have dumb luck, but I am always keen to play, I enjoy it, and I play with my full attention and enthusiasm.  When my opponent is superior, I ask for tips and coaching, and I do feel concerned that the game might bore him, which motivates me to be better at it.

If giving one's best is called "competitive" - hail competitiveness!!

Since my childhood I have been adopting this Chinese saying as one of my life philosophy : man proposes and god disposes; In other words, we shall try our best, then hope for the best, and ready for the worst, with peace.  Especially after my Buddhism study these years, I view clinging to the outcome, positive or negative, is a self-defeating behavior (more on this topic in my future Buddhism posts).

However, to me, there are two kinds of failures : one is after trying all one can, and another is after little action or half-hearted action.  I would accept the former with serenity, the latter with regret, even though I do not want to dwell on results in either case.

When it comes to a game, I care enough to play my best, and I am fit enough to accept a loss with serenity.  When it comes to life, I strive to be the best that I can and try not to be too attached to the outcome.

Living this philosophy for most of my life, I am delighted that I have been competent (which feels good, by the way), with plenty of joy and enthusiasm.  I believe competition, and more precisely, the efforts made to win the competition, propel an individual, a team, a company, an industry, a society, and the entire human advance, while collective wimpiness and non-competitiveness stale a community, and reduce an individual to mediocrity.  I hope "to keep the fingers crossed" is not the only resort one has when confronted with a challenge.