Having Fun with the Students in Houten

We enjoyed a bicycle tour of the City of Houten to explore the unique design of the ring road and the bicycle highway that runs through the City.
More about that on the Peter Koonce Blog.


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The fun we had was that we came across a zip line and they got me to take a ride. I could have been going a little faster, but here's what it looked like.

Svendborg Beach

We enjoyed our trip west from Copenhagen to Svendborg for two nights. It was a nice break from the City and as a coastal town commonly does, we got to visit the beach.

We borrowed some bikes and hit the streets. It was a short ride to the beach and as luck would have it, it was one of the warmest days they have had in awhile, so we weren't the only ones with the idea.
So when we arrived it felt a little more crowded than I expected and got busier as the day went on. The beach was very nice and the sand reminded me a bit of Oregon. There was no terrain to speak of and it is fairly far inland, so no waves to speak of except when a ship rolls by and creates them for us. It didn't seem like the ships had to be that significant either,

Geske and Lau joined us a little later and enjoyed some lunch with us. The Danish love their ice cream (so do Oregonians) and hot dogs and it seems like in every snack bar that combination is bound to be present in some form. I think it is in the U.S. as well, but perhaps it is just that we're choosing to eat them here more than I would have expected.

Geske was the star of the show when she helped Abby catch a crab. We had a lot of un with the jellyfish as well, but the crab resulted in some major squeals and excitement.

Our ride back from the beach was nice although after a few hours of soaking in the rays, I was ready for a shower and some time in the shade.

National Museum by Guest Blogger Abby Koonce

First, we went to the museum. The museum had a alot of nice exhibits. We went to one separate Children's Museum within the National Museum.
At the National Museum we saw a lot of old fashioned things. When we went in the exhibit on Danish history, we saw a sailboat that was really detailed.
Then, we went into a room that was full of doll houses. The doll houses were old fashioned and very big. The pictures show the outside of the house and the inside. You had to go around the back and there was a window on the other side that let you see the inside. (The doll houses are historically significant because they were first made for the elite and royalty and over time become commonplace. They gave girls a chance to learn about their place in the home - direct translation - yikes!)

Finally, in the Children's Museum there was a big horse that you could sit on and pretend to ride.
My favorite part of the Children's Museum was the Viking ship. I got to dress up as a girl Viking and so did Amelia. There was a plastic fish tied to a piece of wood, so you could fish while on the boat. (When we got there I told the girls to go and pillage, but I think that was lost on them).

Being in the ship made me feel like a viking.


Then, we went to the midieval area and tried on some chain mail armor. The helmet was HEAVY!
(and now for a leading question:)

This was one of my favorite parts of the trip, because it gave me a chance to explore, pretend, and touch.

Solstice Celebration in Copenhagen

In Denmark, the solstice celebration is called Sankt Hans aften ("St. John's Eve"). In accordance with the Danish tradition of celebrating a holiday on the evening before the actual day, it takes place on the evening of 23 June. It is the day where the medieval wise men and women (the doctors of that time) would gather special herbs that they needed for the rest of the year to cure people.
It has been celebrated since the times of the Vikings making a large bonfire to ward away evil spirits. In Christianhavn, the bonfires is on the beach, and there is a community event with a band and beer tent. The celebration was complete with the tradition of putting a witch made of straw and cloth on the bonfire to recall the witch burnings from the 16th Century.

The bonfire on the beach was impressive.

Amelia napped on the way to dinner.

Danish Royal Guard on Foot Patrol

We went to the Kings Garden today and while the kids and Susan were visiting the Roseborg Castle, I was out the grounds surveying the scene. I visited the castle last year, so I wasn't inclined to use my weak US $ to visit it again.
The upside of being a cheap skate was catching the Royal Guard on their march from the barracks there near the castle to Amalienborg to the west. They leave the Gardens and march down Gothersgade right in the lane of traffic. It is an impressive display of traffic calming as they curise down the middle of the street. I am surprised that they don't take up the bicycle lane and fortunately for the folks in autos, there is room to bypass the parade of soldiers on the left as you can see from the second photo from this series. I like the combination of the Royal Guard, the blue bike paint, and the yielding traffic.

Any time you have a group of a dozen or so soldiers in black bear hats and major artillery on their shoulders, you end up with well behaved traffic, i.e. no honking, abrupt passing, or generate road rage. Just people in their cars, buses, and trucks moving orderly past the Royal Guard on a 5 km per hour pace with knees held high. It is an impressive display of coordination.
The Royal Guard is part of the detail at the Amalienborg palace. There main function is to protect the queen and the other members of the Danish Royal familyRead more: http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/Denmark/Koebenhavns_Kommune/Copenhagen-162183/Things_To_Do-Copenhagen-Royal_Guard-BR-1.html#ixzz1Q8kQQR8

More pictures of the changing of the guard can be found here.

Condon to Heppner By Bike

On our Memorial Day weekend we joined the Schultz family out in Condon. We got out on Sunday morning for a bike ride  and got most of the Cycle Oregon III ride from Day Two.

Day Two: Heppner to Fossil, 62 miles

A 57-mile day will take us through Condon, a center for birds, deer and elk in the autumn.  We then begin entering the Fossil Beds National Monument, where you can actually witness Oregon’s geological history.Everyone will camp at Fossil, where you will find fossil exhibits of saber-toothed tigers, giant pigs and three-toed horses.  Fossil will also host a homestay program as an alternative to camping.

Rotterdam's World Database of Happiness and other fun sites

We're planning for our trip to Europe and I was listening to one of the old audiobooks that I enjoyed awhile back titled the The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World. The author highlights the World Database of Happiness, which is in Rotterdam at Erasmus University.  http://worlddatabaseofhappiness.eur.nl/

Since we're going to Delft I wonder if we could break away for a day and go visit.

Another place I came across on the internet in Rotterdam is the following housing which ranks 22nd on the World's Strangest Buildings.

Tokyo Tower

A mentioned the Tokyo Tower in a previous post, so this is mostly just for the pictures.
The structure of the building is impressive and probably more small members than the Eiffel Tower.
My host Mr. Tamoto and I took a cab from the Tokyo Traffic Management Center to turn quickly from business trip to tourist very quickly. It was a transition that I wasn't anticipating but Shigeshi suggested it as we were nearby and he thought it would be a good thing to visit. He said he has been two times before and I thought: why not!
An observation I will make about Japan is that there seems to be an inordinate amount of people in uniforms. It could be that I started my trip near the government sector of the City, but the Tokyo Tower had some snazzy uniforms for their guides in the Tower.

The Tower has a goofy looking mascot that I caught leaving the top of the Tower. I am not sure why the mascot is pink as opposed to the orange on the building.

Zojojoi Temple adjacent to Tokyo Tower

I visited a very nice temple after my tour of the Tokyo Traffic Management Center and the Tokyo Tower.
I needed some solace after the Tokyo Tower and paying 820 Yen ($10US) for a visit to the observatory of the Eiffel Tower replica. It was built shortly after World War II as a part of the reconstruction efforts. It was built a few meters higher than the original, but it doesn't seem to hold a candle to its inspiration. Sequels are never better, are they? The inside of the shrine was beautiful and very calming. I really enjoyed my time there and sat for awhile reflecting on my activities of the past few weeks, the trip to Japan, and priorities in life. It was a nice moment that I will keep with me for a few days.
There was a lot more to see, so I was back out in the grounds of the Temple.
Adjacent to the Temple is a cemetary that has a great view of the Tokyo Tower. Not sure if I would be all that keen of that sort of structure in the backyard, but meh!
The tombstones are tightly packed in and they grounds were meticulously maintained. There were quite a few flowers placed throughout the area and it was another nice way to reflect on the day.
This particular shrine has one of the largest old bells in Japan.

Tsujiki Fish Market

Saturday morning I woke up early as usual and headed off to the Fish Market where family businesses have been bringing in all matter of things from the sea and selling them to the sushi vendors and restaurants throughout Tokyo and perhaps the world.
The building looks like a parking structure but operates like one large loading dock. This may be one of the craziest places I have been with motorcycles, motorbikes, bikes, scooters, fork lift like wheelbarrows, semitrucks, vans, and all sorts of pedestrians. I almost got hit several times, it was hard to take pictures in some cases because the folks working in these spaces knew that the visitors weren't contributing to their bottom line. The entire place was bustling with activity.
Most of the specimens were in sytrofoam containers and sea water like these fish. I saw things in this format that I had no idea what they were including what looked to be sea anemone and they were bright red. There were several fish that were frozen in their largest form and were next to the jigsaw so that they could be cut into more manageable pieces.

World Cup Viewing Party

I have really taken to the World Cup. It's partly due to the fact that it is played on the world stage. It's also a sport that is growing on me as it seems like a lot of skill and some luck and I don't have any idea what is going to happen. There's a certain simplicity to a 1-0 game that I can appreciate.   Denmark's national sport is supposed to be handball, but if football isn't it, I would love to see what they do when a Handball game is happening! This was the Argentina-Mexico game and the square was packed and the crowds were a lot more civil then when the Danes were playing. I could actually get into the square to see the screen. This was a Sunday night.
 

Copenhagen This Week, Next Week TDF Prologue & Stage 1

There is so much in Copenhagen to see, I find my mind wandering to the bike boxes, the Copenhagen left turns, the neighborhood bollards, the cycletracks, it's all so interesting and different to what we're used to back in the states. I would be remiss if I didn't mention the fact that there are more bikes than cars at most intersections. Amazing!
 

But the Tour de France is calling right around the corner and I got a message about the Tour preview guide from Bicycling Magazine, so had to steal the route maps and post them here for fun. It is a bit odd that we'll be watching the Tour de France from the Netherlands, but alas, just another reason to come back to visit in the future.

 

Martin Luther King Jr. Final Resting Place

As a part of our visit to Atlanta, we got a chance to go see Dr. King's final resting place. The area is designated as a national park and the tribute to his life is nice. I thought there would be a little more to the facilities then what we saw, although we didn't have as much time as we would have liked to really take in the area. I am glad the kids got exposure to the area he grew up and the lessons of yesterday's society.

Stub Stewart State Park

Transitioning into the City of Portland job, I haven't fully learned to take advantage of the kids time off from school. We need to do a better job of planning our time off, we repsond well to activities that take us out of our element, but not events like Spring Break. With a little foresight awhile back, I organized a cabin for us to salvage the last weekend of Spring Break and get out of the house.
I was inspired by friends that have cabins (we don't!) and in going to a cabin, having the ability to go somewhere new and quickly to leave behind some of the creature comforts we're accustomed to. A yurt isn't exactly roughing it, but in March it is a nice alternative. It also put as closer to nature for the weekend and gave us access to trails and the highlight of the day.... a Salamander pond.

Tour de France - Lance Armstrong Returns

We're in Baltimore for the start of the Tour de France and I am taking advantage of the time change to enjoy the opening day Time Trial at 9:30 AM instead of 6:30! Lance Armstrong is on right now and cruising through the streets of Monaco. He's early in the field, so it is hard to know how he is doing, but it is fun to watch as he crosses the finish line.

The scenes from Monaco are impressive, it is one of the beautiful things of the TV coverage is the landscapes that you see from the helicopters.

I woke up this morning and went to Spoon Coffee Roasters, which I didn't know was on Cross Street in Federal Hill here. I visited to have an Espresso and a Latte and buy croissants in honor of the Tour.

He went at a pace of 46 km per hour, which is impressive for as technical as the course was and compared to what I can do! Yet, I have this sense that it won't be the best on this day.

One of the women I work with at Metro was headed over to France to watch a few of the stages. She's going to be at a point with her family where they can get to the end of a stage, the middle of a stage, and then the start of another, which sounds like fun. I'd like to do that in the future. I was talking Patrick McMahon about going to watch the World Cup in 2014 in Brazil.

On the National Mall

We drove down to DC on Friday to visit the National Mall. We took the Metro from the Rhode Island Station on the Red Line. It was a holiday, so we parked for free and took the quick ride into DC. I had a quick thought about the recent crash that occurred on the Red Line at Fort Totten that resulted in several deaths.

Abby wanted to see dinosaurs and animals, so we headed to the National Museum or Natural History. There was a special bonus because there was a special butterfly exhibit. The rotunda was an amazing spectacle and it was packed with people the day before the 4th as it was a special time in our nation's capital. There was a music festival going on and with a new president in the White House there was a buzz in the area on the day before Independence Day.



We enjoyed the National Mall and coerced the girls to walk almost two miles as we went towards the Washington Monument with the prospects of playing on the grass and rolling down the hill. The idea of going to visit the White House was very exciting for the girls as they wanted to go talk to Barack Obama and say hello.

We ended up making the turn from the White House north to K Street and we took the Circulator bus towards Union Station where we caught some dinner and then headed back to the car.