As a traveler I think the most important phrase is “Thank you.” That was what I learned to say before each country we traveled to. Even if you can't speak the local language and talk in English or gestures, it is nice to be able to thank someone in their native language. Second most important for me is “I'm sorry” or “excuse me”. That is very useful when on crowded buses or trains and you have to push by someone to get off. Third is probably “where is the bathroom?” or simply “toilet?” which gets the message across.
Anyway, here is how to say “Thank you”, in every country we visited, at least how it sounded to me. Please don't get too offended if I mangled your native language, I was trying 馃檪 :
Taiwan (mandarin), China: Shi-shi
Korea: Gamsameeda
Egypt (Arabic): Shockram
Zurich – Switzerland, Vienna – Austria (German): Danke
Geneva – Switzerland (French), France: Merci
Spain: Gracias
Italy, Vatican City: Gratzie
Hungary: Kusonome
Czech Republic: Dekuji
Poland: Dziekuji (very similar to Czech)
Norway: Takk (pronounced like talk)
Denmark: Tack (like tact)
Iceland: this is the one I didn't learn. Supposedly it is similar to Danish (tack) but they add several syllables to differentiate from Denmark. Just saying “tack” is frowned upon, so I went with “Thank you” which everyone understood.
In a previous post I mentioned struggling with the Poland itinerary, trying to get up to Sweden via ferry was too difficult, and about our only other option was an 8+ hour train ride to Berlin. We need to end up in Copenhagen since we've already booked our flight from there. This is why I wanted to skip Poland. Then Yanmei came up with the idea of flying past Copenhagen and approaching from the north instead of the south. It turns out there are direct flights between Krak贸w and Oslo, so we decided to do that, adding another unplanned country to our trip. 馃檪 We've both been to Berlin before, so skipping that isn't such a big deal.
It was about a two hour flight to Oslo. Although we had a place to stay, we'd done almost no other planning for Oslo. We quickly realized that Oslo is not the place you want to see in Norway, or at least not what I think of in Norway. I think of fjords and majestic landscapes. We looked into taking a train to Sognefjord, which would include the Fl氓m Railway which is supposed to be the most beautiful in the world. From Fl氓m we could catch a ferry through the fjord to Bergen. Unfortunately it was completely sold out. 馃檨 We are at peak season right now for Norway.
Yanmei is a bit frustrated because she thinks it's her visa causing the problem. Without the visa forcing our timetable we could extend our stay and probably find a day with tickets available. However I think it is just our travel style. We arrive somewhere then look for things to do, so anything that requires significant advance booking is not an option. We missed out on a number of things due to this, for example the French Open was on while we were in Paris, that would have been cool to go to, but by the time I looked for tickets it was sold out. On the other hand our flexible style gives us the opportunity to change plans. We never planned to visit Norway, and now here we are!
Walking up the roof of the Oslo Opera House, it extends all the way down to the water.We saw this Amazing Race clue at the top, although I don't think it was the real show, probably something for a special party or event. No box containing the clues and only one clue stuck next to the flag.Yanmei at the top. Behind her is the Barcode district, so called because the buildings alternate black and white and have different widths, so it looks like a barcode from the harbor.Panorama of the Oslo fjord
We finally escaped the cloudy rainy weather and had fantastic weather in Oslo.
Lots of Norwegians enjoying the weather in Vigeland parkVigeland park is named for Gustav Vigeland who created hundreds of granite and metal statues in the park, all of nude people.A unique version of an obelisk
Sunset was at 10:43pm and by midnight it was still dusk and not dark. Sunrise was 3:57am.
After we arrived in Krak贸w on the night train we headed to our hotel, or rather apartment. When I was looking for places to stay it seemed like hotels were rare, but apartments were common. I booked us at a hybrid, it is an apartment but at least there is 24 hour reception. Of course we couldn't check in because it was before 8am, but at least we could drop off our luggage. Then we headed out to find some breakfast. Unfortunately it seemed like the rain followed us from Prague.
St. Mary's basilica in Krak贸w square
After breakfast we headed to old town square to join a free walking tour. I thought hardly anyone would show up because it was cold and rainy (we probably wouldn't have gone if we had somewhere to stay), but there was still a big crowd of over 30 people for the tour.
We met outside St. Mary's basilica for the tour. Every hour, instead of bells a bugler plays a Polish tune from the top of the tallest tower, four times, once for each cardinal direction. The guide told us this happens every hour, so if you happened to be there at 3am you would hear it, unlike bells which don't ring at night. He also told us the bugler shift is 24 hours long.
Krak贸w barbican guarding the entrance to old townClock tower, the rest of the old town hall has been demolished Pope window in the Bishop's palace where Pope John Paul II stayed on visits to Krak贸w and addressed the crowds from this window. He went to university in Krak贸w as a young man.Wawel cathedral with a hodgepodge of burial chapelsYanmei with Wawel castle in the background. I believe this is the approximate spot my brother Graham proposed to his wife Jessica.
After the tour we headed back to the apartment where we could finally shower and change out of the clothes we'd been wearing for two days. The apartment was quite nice, it was large and actually had a loft with a second bedroom.
On another day we joined a tour to Auschwitz and Birkenau. This is not an enjoyable tour, but it is powerful and worthwhile. It was literally incomprehensible and unimaginable to me. You can listen to the descriptions of the conditions and activities and look around and try to picture the horror of it, but I'm sure I didn't even imagine a fraction of the reality.
Posted with Blogsy
