CRUISING ON THE BALTIC SEA

Flat Hawster has spent the last week cruising on the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe.  His trip started in Copenhagen and then continued to Stockholm (Sweden), Helsinki (Finland), St. Petersburg (Russia) and finally Tallinn (Estonia).  It was his first cruise and Flat Hawkster spent a little too much time at the buffet.  He'll have to burn off some extra pounds now that he's back.  It was a fun cruise with some great entertainment and activities.  The ship stopped in each city for a day and allowed time for everyone on board to check out the sites.  They were busy visits with a lot to see.

Flat Hawkster strikes a pose in front of Stockholm's harbour and underneath
the Swedish flag.

Stockholm is the largest city in the Nordic Countries (Sweden, Finland, Norway, Iceland and Denmark).  It is a port city just like Vancouver but is much older.  The Vikings were the first to make Stockholm an important city as they toured and conquered many places around the world.  Flat Hawkster enjoyed the sites of Stockholm as well as the tasty Swedish meatballs that he clawed at while sitting at the harbour.  His only disappointment was that he didn't spot the Sedin twins anywhere.

The Swedish Parliament.

The Royal Palace.

Flat Hawkster's enjoyed hanging out by the pool and soaking his
tired feet.

Flat Hawkster was a little excited and worried about travelling to St. Petersburg, Russia.  It is the 4th largest city in Europe with 5 million people.  Can you name the other cities that are larger?  See below for the answer. This was a city that most people could not visit until fairly recently due to "Communist" rule that prevented people from travelling in and out of the country freely.  It is no longer a Communist country but they do watch tourists very closely and Flat Hawkster was under strict orders to stay with his tour group or the police may come and get him.  It was enough to keep him well behaved as he visited a number of sites.

This is St. Catherine's Palace that has been almost completely restored after
being destroyed by the German Nazis during WWII.  It is a huge building

with gold leaf paint everywhere.  Flat Hawkster found out that some rich and

famous people often rent out the entire palace for private parties.  Perhaps
we could hold the next grade 7 year end dance here:)

The Czar (King) and his family used this as a "summer" home.  They usually
stayed at their palace in town which is only 20km away.  St. Petersburg is
a cold place and is as far north oe as Alaska (60 degrees latitude).

This was one of the large dining rooms in St. Catherine's palace. It was
covered in gold!

Flat Hawkster is standing outside the Church of Spilled
Blood.  This church was named after a Czar was killed on
this very site.  His family built the Church in his memory
and it has only been used twice a year since construction
finished.  There is a service on the day of his birth and the
day of his death.

Flat Hawkster did not know much about Tallinn, Estonia before arriving on the cruise ship but he was pleasantly surprised by what he saw.  Old Town Tallinn is a very well preserved Medieval town with forts, castles and old Churches.  Tallinn is the capital of Estonia and its largest city with approximately 500,000 people.  It was a very important port town for many centuries and as a result faced invasions from many countries during its history. The fort that surrounded the city came in handy on many occasions.

Flat Hawkster points out the fort that surrounds the city of Tallin.

The largest cities in Europe are :

Istanbul 13 million

Moscow 12 million

London 7 million

St. Petersburg 5 million

 Berlin 3.5 million

RIDING A TRAIN ON WATER?

This was another busy week for Flat Hawkster as he spent some time in Berlin, Germany and Copenhagen, Denmark.  In Berlin,  he was able to visit some famous sites and learn more about the unique history of this city.  Did you know that Berlin used to be divided into two cities (East and West) by a wall?  After WWII and the fall of Adolph Hitler, Germany was divided up,   West Germany was controlled by the United States, Great Britain, France while Russia controlled the east.  The citizens in East Germany did not have many of the freedoms provided to West Germans and 2.5 million of them fled to the West after the war.  Russia eventually built the wall in Berlin (1961) to stop its citizens from fleeing.   It stood for almost thirty years before Germany was reunited as one country.

Much of Berlin was destroyed during the Second World War so the buildings are much newer than other major European cities like Paris or London.  The Spree river runs through the city and has been an important transportation route for a long time.  The river also provided a boundary for the Berlin Wall.

This is the final segment of the Berlin Wall that remains standing.  It has become
a wall of tribute for those Germans who lost their lives or their freedom to this wall.

This is the Brandenburg gate which has is a symbol of unity for Germans as
it was not fully accessible until after the wall was taken down in 1989.  Flat Hawkster
was surprised to see Darth Vader and a Stormtrooper hanging out here (below).

With all that walking to different tourist sites in Berlin,  Flat Hawkster needed some
food to keep him going.  He stopped by this cool "Hot Dog Stand" that just hung
on this man's shoulders.  He cooked the hot dogs (Franks) on the grill in front of him.

This is a photo of Flat Hawkster at Checkpoint Charlie.  It was the location
  along the Berlin Wall where people were checked to see if they could travel into
West Berlin.  Not many people were allowed through between 1961-1989

After six days in Berlin,  it was time to train to Copenhagen, Denmark.   The ride was about 7 hours long and involved crossing the water on a ferry.  Flat Hawkster was amazed to find out that the entire train was going to go on the ferry and meet up with railway tracks on the other side.  It was pretty cool!

This is a picture of Flat Hawkster standing beside his train that was on board the
ferry!  He had to go on deck during the ferry trip and get some fresh air.

Flat Hawkster discovered Copenhagen, Denmark to be a very beautiful harbour city with a rich history.   He found out that the Danish Vikings were not only a violent bunch (they conquered many lands in Europe) but also very talented.  In around the year 1000 they built a bridge that was almost 1 kilometre long, without any machinery to help them.  Pretty impressive.  Copenhagen is now a peaceful city that is the capital of Demark.  It is another expensive city but is ranked as one of the best cities in the world in which to live (Vancouver is right up there too:).     It is also one of the most environmentally friendly places on earth.   Almost 40% of the people in Copenhagen use a bike instead of a car to move around the city.

The very popular Copenhagen harbour.  There were a lot of
tourists and restaurants to keep them fed.

This is The Little Mermaid statue that is a popular tourist
site in Copenhagen.  You may have noticed that Vancouver
has one of its own in Stanley Park but it isn't nearly as popular:)

This is one of the many palaces in Copenhagen that hosted Denmark's royalty
throughout history.  In the video clip below,  you can see Flat Hawkster disappear
after he realizes he gets in the way of the changing of the royal guards.

AMSTERDAM, HOLLAND

Flat Hawkster has spent the last week in Amsterdam, Holland (also known as The Netherlands).  Amsterdam is a very unique city in the world because all of its buildings are constructed on stilts or piles.  They have had to do this because much of the city is below sea level.  These piles are driven deep into the water until they find solid ground just like they would have done for the docks in Ladner or the White Rock Pier.   The city is similar to Vancouver in that the land was created by a river.  We were built by the Fraser River but for Amsterdam it was the Amstel river.   In the 1600’s they dammed the Amstel river to create a canal system in Amsterdam which allowed people to travel easily through the city by boat.   This was pretty handy because there were no trains or cars for people at that time.

This map shows the ring of canals that make up Amsterdam and Flat Hawkster
can be seen below posing in front of one.  Notice the houseboats that can be
seen behind them.  How many do you think there are in the city?  Answer below.

There are over 2000 houseboats in Amsterdam. Here is

some film footage of Flat Hawkster riding a pedal boat in the canal.

Even though he looks relaxed, his legs are pedalling really hard.

During his time in Amsterdam, Flat Hawkster was able to learn more about the tragic story of Anne Frank and her family.  She was a Jewish teenager forced to hide from Adolph Hitler’s German Nazis who were sending Jews to their death in concentration camps during World War II.  Anne was forced to hide in a secret annex (room) with her family for over two years.  During her time in the annex, she kept a diary with the intention of having it shared with the world and it has become a very personal account of this horrible time in history.  This room overlooked one of Amsterdam’s canals and has now become a museum to honour her memory and the estimated 6 million Jews who died  in what is now referred to as the Holocaust.

Flat Hawkster is pointing to the building where Anne Frank was in hiding
for 2 years.  Below you can see her and the apartment in the only known
video of her taken before she went into hiding.  She can be seen in the upper
left of the screen leaning out of the window.

The people of Amsterdam rely heavily on bicycles to move around their city.  This can be kind of scary at times as the bikes seem to be coming from every direction.  Flat Hawkster almost got “flattened” a few times by bikes speeding past.   It was interesting to notice that people in Amsterdam do not have to wear bike helmets and that is because there are bike lanes built beside every sidewalk and they provide safe passage for cyclists.  Flat Hawkster decided to rent a bike of his own and head out to the countryside for some fresh air although the cows he found did not smell quite so “fresh”.

This picture shows just how many bicycles can be found around the city.  In
the picture below, Flat Hawkster didn't have to wear a helmet but he had
to be kept safe somehow.  Unfortunately, he did have a bit of a headache afterwards.

Flat Hawkster tried some more "cow whisperting but no luck in Holland either.
In the picture below you can see a very old windmill (400 yrs) that was originally
built to crush volcanic glass to make paint for some of the local painters. One
of them may have been Rembrandt.

ZURICH and BRUSSELS

TIME FOR SWITZERLAND

Flat Hawkster was back on the train again after a great time in Cinque Terre, Italy.  He spent a long day  (8hrs) travelling to Zurich, Switzerland. The mountainous scenery made him a little sad as it reminded him of British Columbia but it was an awesome sight. When Flat Hawkster arrived in Zurich he discovered a number of things about this clean and orderly city.  It is the capital of Switzerland, with a population of over 2 million people in the metro area.  He really enjoyed the many street trams that arrived every few minutes to move him around the city. Zurich is a banking center for the world and one its wealthiest cities.  It is also one of the most expensive places to live.  Flat Hawkster found this out when he went out for his first meal and discovered that a hamburger would cost him $35!!!!   Initially, he thought he'd have to save money by regurgitating his food but he eventually found some cheaper places to eat.

This a picture in taken in the heart of the city where you can see a canal that
leads to lake Zurich along with a large clocktower.  The Swiss are famous
for their timepieces and many were on display.

Flat Hawkster visited a toy museum in Zurich and found out that the "Barbie"
doll was named after the daughter of a Swiss toymaker.

Despite the high prices,  Flat Hawkster went out to do some shopping.  There
were a lot of Swiss flags flying.  You can see the red and white one in this
picture.  It's a distinctive flag that features a white cross within a red background

You have to check out this video below.  It was taken in a stream where Flat Hawkster joined a number of locals who were soaking their tired feet.  There were fish in the stream and he just happened to have one of Hawthorne's underwater cameras on hand (Thanks Mrs. Ratzlaff!)  See what happens.

WORKING HIS MUSCLES IN BRUSSELS

After spending time in Zurich,  Flat Hawkster jumped on another train ride that took him to Brussels, Belgium.   The train ride was not as exciting as his previous trip through Switzerland but he did get to travel through 4 countries:  Switzerland, France, Luxembourg and Belgium.   Brussels is a large city that hosts the parliament for the E.U. (European Union).  This E.U. is a group of countries in Europe that work very closely with each other and use the same currency (the Euro).  This "union" makes it very easy for travellers to move from country to country without having to go through customs or change currency all the time.   

After binging on some tasty Belgian Waffles, Flat Hawkster made his way out to discover more about this city.  The first stop was the Atomium which is a structure that was built in 1958 for the World's Fair in Brussels.  It was an amazing site that Flat Hawkster first saw on an episode of The Amazing Race.  It features a groups of spheres/pods that are connected by arms that have stairs in them.  He had to go in.

The Atomium.

One of the arms leading up to another pod.   Each pod had an scientific
exposition to inform visitors on some of the issues surrounding the use
of water in the world.


A light show in one of the Atomium's arms.

Can you see Flat Hawkster?

In the picture below, Flat Hawkster is standing beside a beach that was created in the middle of the city in Brussels.  The city trucks in tons of sand, puts up palm trees and brings in restaurants to re-create a fun beach atmosphere,  There was even beach volleyball and soccer.  It was a great scene near the large canal that has turned Brussels into a seaport.

During his time in Brussels, Flat Hawkster found out that Belgium has produced a number of famous comic strips.  So many in fact that they have a large museum dedicated to the authors and illustrators who created them.  It was a great visit where Hawkster had a chance to check in with some of the characters.  Did you know that The Smurfs were created in Belgium?  There is another famous comic strip character from Belgium that you might know.  He just had a movie released last year that included his loyal dog.  Can you guess who it is?  See answer below.

The answer is TinTin.  The world famous character who has been solving mysteries since the 1940's.

THANKS FOR READING EVERYBODY.  THIS BLOG HAS HAD OVER 200 VISITS AND FLAT HAWKSTER APPRECIATES YOUR TIME. IF YOU WOULD LIKE SHARE AN IDEA, MAKE A SUGGESTION OR ASK A QUESTION JUST CLICK ON "COMMENT" BELOW.  HOPE EVERYONE IS ENJOYING THEIR SUMMER!