Posts Tagged With: travel

Day 1 and 2 of our Camino

Posted on October 26, 2015 by Pieter Stok

Today we started our second Camino experience but it all happened a bit by accident. We had intended to park the car at Pamplona airport, take a bus to town and then catch another bus to our planned starting point – Larrasoana. Problem: there is no bus service, or any public transport apart from Taxis at Pamplona airport. So we decided to go the whole hog and take a taxi to Larrasoana. 
Now this is where the psychology comes in. Neither of us expected to be walking any distance today but here we were walking a quite hilly section towards Pamplona. We missed one place where there were hostels and at the next they were closed for the season. So by the end of the day we were on the outskirts of Pamplona at a hostel next to a church and a C13th bridge. All very rustic and normally the stuff we love but on this occasion we were both a bit narky.
We had a good night’s sleep in the Trinidad Albergue in Villava on the northern outskirts of Pamplona. A French couple came along at one stage to share our room.  Mrs French Couple must have smelled my boots and decided to walk a few more kilometres to the next alburgue. The caretaker was quaint and even came around at about 9:30 pm to say goodnight. He might even have wanted to tuck us in.

We left the alburgue at about 6:45 and headed through Pamplona as it was waking up. On the southern outskirts we started a long ascent towards Alto del Perdon – an image often associated with the Camino. When I get there I will take a photo. But we have stopped short at Zariquiegui only walking 16 or 17 kms today as the joints were telling us that they weren’t used to this. 

Some observations:

  •  A taxi driver alerting us that we heading in the wrong direction at one point. That was appreciated.
  •  A number of people of all ages saying “Buen Camino” as we trudged along.
  •  A bread stick, ham and cheese tastes amazing when you have had a good walk.
  • We encountered a couple begging their way around the Camino. I’m not sure what I think about that.
  • You can pick an Aussie accent for miles!
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    The Familiar Mile Post

      

    Pamplona Waking Up

      

    The Magdalen Bridge

         
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The Reformation Relics

Posted on October 20, 2015 by Pieter Stok

Being a reader of church history it has been fascinating to observe all the references to the Reformation on our current trip. To name just a few:

  • In the centre of Prague is a huge monument to Jan Hus the early reformer
  • Then in Konstanz Germany there is a museum to Hus
  • In Zurich there are references to Zwingli and a statue
  • Luther is mentioned in many places in Germany and has street names and statues in his honour. There is a huge monument to him in Worms
  • And of course there is the Reformation Wall in Geneva
  • There was even a wall built in St Gallen to separate the abbey from the town because the town had become Protestant. 

Yet I have this uneasy sense that these, for most, are just bygone relics of history that sit alongside dead kings and local luminaries.

I raise this because the Reformation was a return to Biblical basics – it was a return to the primacy and inerrancy of Scripture. These are truths that are just as necessary today as they were 600 years ago. The message of these relics needs to be reenlivened (have I made up a word?). It would be a pity if these relics lost their meaning.

   
   

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Malbork

Posted on October 17, 2015 by Pieter Stok

In the C13th the Teutonic Knights set up what was to become one of the largest castles in the world. When they got too big for their boots the Polish kings made it their headquarters and later still the Prussians took it over. It was heavily damaged in WW2 in fighting between the Germans and Russians. Today, however, it is a World Heritage site and is being restored beautifully. The Visitors’ Centre, maps and audio guide make the  visit very enlightening. The tempestuous and varied history of the site is well presented. My one quibble would be that the museum superintendents tend to patrol around like prison guards. A few lessons on PR wouldn’t go astray. I realise they have a treasure to protect but this can be done in a far more positive way.

   
    
 

  

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Leipzig 

Posted on October 12, 2015 by Pieter Stok

Now, a few hours in a city certainly won’t make you an expert but it does give some first impressions.

My dominant impression of Leipzig is one of culture. The statues are to great writers and musicians. We encountered Bach, Schumann and Wagner. Among the writers Schiller and Goethe got a guernsey. The number of bookshops was astounding as were the number of secondhand and antique book shops.

As part of the National Library there is a small but beautifully presented German Museum of Books and Writing that takes you on a journey of how humanity has communicated via writing from scratching on stone to the Kindle. It also looks at printing, fonts, censorship and the different ways manuscripts have been created in various cultures.

We entered two churches. In one an orchestra was practising for a gospel presentation and in the other there was a display of how the gospel of Christ played a role in the freeing of the city from communist rule.

As I said to begin with, I am no expert. There are many things I could write about – good, bad and ugly but it is certainly a city I would like to visit again.

   
   

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Crossing the Channel

Posted on October 10, 2015 by Pieter Stok

Some people quote the adage,”It’s not the destination but the journey.”  Well some journeys go horribly wrong. It happened to us on Thursday. We packed up our tent at a camp just outside Dover so as to get to the ferry in time as well as return the hire car. The lady at Budget had given me clear instructions on how to get the car to the right level of the car park. We entered Eastern docks headed to the car park only to find it blocked off. Traveling further we passed an unattended French customs booth (in the UK) and found that all lanes led to ferries. Panic set in. I stopped a hiviz vest worker and he suggested a route. That seemed to get us into further relentless one way lorry traffic. Finally after asking about 6 different people at 6 different points I got the car to the car park which turned out to be just a few metres from the original entrance. My wife was most surprised that I had asked for directions ( she calculates) a dozen times.

THEN after a smooth and eventless Channel crossing, we met our Peugeot rep. He passed on the car after explaining its bells and whistles. He did add that it had very little fuel so the first thing we should do is buy some diesel. So using the GPS we asked it to take us the nearest petrol station. We faithfully followed its directions onto the freeway. “Take the next exit.” Problem. It’s is fenced off with a high security fence and razor wire. The further we travel the fences continue, left and right. Police patrol every few hundred metres. Next problem, the only place that this road goes is onto the ferries and I find myself in lane marked for “trucks only!” I stop, surprise and shock my wife again, and ask two non English speaking French policemen how I get out of this mess. They wave me towards the open jaws of the ferries. Finally I see a black man in a hiviz vest. Is he an escapee from an illegal camp or the real deal. He shows me where I can do an illegal turn and pretend to be a lorry leaving a ferry. It took about half an hour but I think the morning took years off my life I can little afford.

On this occasion I was quite happy to forget about the journey and just reach the destination.

  

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Richard lll and Leicester

Posted on October 10, 2015 by Pieter Stok

A couple of years ago I was mesmerised when an archeology team from Leicester discovered the possible remains (later confirmed) of Richard lll who was killed in Bosworth field in a battle with the person who would become Henry VII. 

Yesterday my wife and I visited the new Richard lll visitor centre and the Cathedral. The visitor centre tells the story of Richard and explores the historicity of some of the conspiracy theories about him. It attempts to redress the Tudor flavoured imbalance that Shakespeare used to write his play. The story of Richard is told as well as the story of finding him and the scientific processes involved in proving the bones authenticity. The carpark from which the bones were excavated has also been made part of this centre. In all it has been tastefully done.

Across the road in the Cathedral you can see Richard’s new resting place – a simple block of stone with a cross cut into it has been placed in the area where the choir stalls had been previously. The cathedral goes to great lengths to remind people that the cathedral isn’t about Richard but rather the gospel of Jesus Christ. However it still uses the attraction that Richard creates to remind visitors of its first priority.

In all I was impressed with the tasteful way in which it has been done. It is not overblown or disneyfied. If you like history  a visit here will not disappoint.

   
    
   

 

  

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Church Nerds

Posted on October 6, 2015 by Pieter Stok

My wife and I are church nerds. We love visiting old churches in particular. Over the last few days we have seen a few. One was located at Wharram Percy which is the site of a deserted medieval village but the ruins of the church still exist. This church is particularly interesting because it shows evidence of 12 distinct phases starting with a timber church in the 900s  through to a stone church that was last used in the 1800s long after the village had been deserted.

These changes, indicating the growth and the decline of church numbers,  are reflected in the stone work.

One of the other churches we visited was at Beverley – the largest parish church in England. It has all the hallmarks of a Cathedral but it is not the seat of a bishop. It is quite a magnificent building and showed signs vigorous use as a church – which is not always the case.

 

The church at Wharram Parcy

  

Here we can see and earlier round column being covered by a later square one

  

This photo shows an arch that has been in filled with wall and window

  

Inside Beverley Minster

   

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Tallinn – a last look

Posted on October 1, 2015 by Pieter Stok

We left Tallinn this morning and we’re sorry to leave. It is a friendly and delightful city. We made one last journey to find Linda, a statue to the wife of the founder of Tallinn, Kalev, a giant, whose death caused Linda to grieve deeply. She was so overwrought that she heaped up stones as a memorial to him and so created Toompea hill and in the process she turned to stone – or so the legend goes. We then walked around the city wall watching the first PE classes of the day on the local sports field. There were the eager children and the less so. Some things never change.

On returning to the Hostel we gathered our belongings and headed to the bus stop for bus No 2 to the airport. As I was sitting near this stop for a while I couldn’t help noticing elderly people come past one by one to fossick in the bin. Once again the contrast of the flash cars and designer clothes with the the town’s poor struck me. These weren’t the young beggars we often see on Australian streets trying to get enough for another hit. It was a sobering conclusion to our stay. 

The Old Town Square

    
   

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Tallinn – Old City

Posted on September 30, 2015 by Pieter Stok

There is an ironic mystery about medieval towns. Ironic, because on the one hand we idealise them but in reality they were dirty and brutal places.  This irony continues today with the old buildings being surrounded by the latest Benz’ and Audis and designer labels.

Despite all this Tallinn is worthy of its World Heritage status if only they could get graffiti taggers to cooperate. The walls, towers, unique buildings plus the fact that parliament and many embassies find their home in the old city make it quite special and tranquil in comparison to many cities. Step outside the walls and one is immediately reminded of a citiy’s usual mayhem.

I particularly love the alleyways. The stones and walls bear the scars of numerous centuries.
 

The Three Sisters

  

Katariina Kaik

  

The Old Wall

  

Looking down on the old town

   

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One Road Trip When I Didn’t Unwind

Posted on June 11, 2015 by Pieter Stok

There was one infamous occasion when our desire to see a lot of places (and consequently not doing them justice) in one day, proved winding rather than unwinding.

The day started well. We had camped in Millau, France not far from the Millau Viaduct over the Tarn River valley that we wanted to see. We rose early, hopped onto the E11

Millau Viaduct

Millau Viaduct

La Meridienne motorway and traveled south towards the bridge. Before we got onto the bridge itself there was a viewing platform from which we could take some photos. The bridge is both beautiful and spectacular. I had always wanted to see it “in the flesh” after having watched a documentary on its construction. It was well worth the trip.

Arles

Arles

From here we wanted to travel to the lavender region in Provence.  Our first stop was Arles.  We flew past signposts to many other famous places such as Avignon which we would have loved to visit. But a coffee in a van Goghesque cafe seemed the way to go. We visited the Roman  amphitheatre and then headed to Sault in the middle of the lavender district. By the time we got here it was well into the afternoon. We were starving but at least there were quiches in a local shop. How French! Except we weren’t in Lorraine.

But there was still one long leg to go on today’s’ journey.  We needed to get our daughter to a train station in Geneva via Grenoble – a mere final sprint of 324 Kms. The route was beautiful but becoming increasingly mountainous. With the mountains came dark ominous clouds.  At one very high point we were encased in cloud when it got worse. A blizzard started unexpectedly. We saw a number of accidents occur around us with cars sliding on the suddenly icy roads. We could see only a few metres ahead but there was nowhere to pull off the road and stop.  Stopping wasn’t an option because there was traffic, somewhere, behind me. My daughter said comfortingly that Grenoble, if she remembered right, was in a valley, and as we were going

The lavender fields near Sault

The lavender fields near Sault

down in altitude we might get out of the clouds. After, what seemed like an interminably long time,  thankfully she was right.  By this stage my whole body was taut with the tension of the drive. However we needed to press on.

Geneva was still a couple of hours away. When we got to the outskirts of Geneva, being a tightwad, I didn’t want to use the motorway because of the very expensive vignette (tax/toll) so we took the backroads.  We dropped off our daughter at the station and started looking for our camping place – which we couldn’t find.  We had remembered a hotel in a large shopping centre on the French side of the border – so drove back in that direction. By this stage I was exhausted.  When we got to the hotel they said a room was 150 Euros per night but there was a minimum stay of three nights. 450 Euros = $A650.

The incoming clouds

The incoming clouds

So we went to the Scottish restaurant, ate their food, used their ablution facilities and slept, once again, in the car, in the carpark at the front of the hotel. Exhausted! Tomorrow would be another day.

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