I have been very inactive here at Just thinking... in the last couple of weeks. Of course there are reasons for everything and I would like to explain.
Due to work commitments I have had to be out of the country often in the last 7 weeks. In these 7 weeks I have been to 5 different countries (Senegal, Guinea, Denmark, Botswana, Tanzania) and today I am leaving for one of them (Tanzania) for the second time in that period. It really keeps me busy and unfortunately I use a lot of spare time to prepare for these trips. I was in Tanzania last week for three days (Wednesday-Friday) and now I am leaving today (Tuesday) again for Tanzania and will only return on Friday. So, whenever I am home I tend to spend all my time with my wife and children. On top of all this I will be going to Malawi next week Wednesday-Friday. I am hoping that this travelling spurt will come to an end for some time after the Malawi trip.
Anyhow, so if it seems like nothing is happening this side, you are close to the truth. I am hoping that my evenings will be a bit more free than usual this trip so that I could perhaps write some more for my blog( s).
So, while I am not very active on my blog, I would like to recommend some other blogs for you to visit:
TeamPyro
Al Mohler
Tim Challies
Solo Femininity
Between Two Worlds
Just thinking...
Showing posts with label Travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Travel. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Back from Copenhagen
Well, I am back from Copenhagen, Denmark. You have already read about a bit of my experience there so I decided to give you a couple of pics to look at. During my stay there of 7 days (8 days including travel time) I took 239 pictures. My colleague that travelled with me took about 1,500 pics. He likes to "go crazy" as he puts it himself.
We arrived there the morning of Sunday, April 30, 2006 and after checking in we
went for a walk to check out a little bit of the city.
We both like historical buildings and it seems, so do advertisers. As you can see, these poor buildings are utilized "well!"
The city abounds in sculptures of all sorts. There are so many that it would really be impossible for one person to take one picture of each one found there in the short time we spent there. However, this one of a bull and a dragon fighting is a very good example.
The day we arrived there it was pretty cold by South African
standards. Both my colleague and I live in the Gauteng province of South Africa, and even in winter we have some pretty nice days. Mornings might be chilly (down to around 3 deg C - 37.4F), but it could easily warm up to around 20C (68F)! So, when we arrived in Copenhagen (in their spring time), and the high for the day was around 8C (46F), we thought it to be a bit cold! You can see this by how they dressed that day.
We kept on walking till we got to the water front called Nyhavn. It is very pretty there. You can see me standing there all smug thinking the place belongs to me!
Down the main road that most tourists walk on (I think it is
called Frederiksgade) one can find all kinds of things. One day there would be a violinist playing the most beautiful music. Another day a guy with his wine glasses filled with different levels of water can be quite entertaining. On this day (Monday May 01) we saw this trio that played some well known classical pieces. They really sounded good!
Of course, Copenhagen is the city that Hans Christian Andersen (HCA) lived in. There are streets named after
him and he also has a statue of himself in the city. If you do not know who he is, then I have one question for you: "Under which rock have you been living?" Maybe you will recognise him if I mention some of the stories he has written: Thumbelina, The Little Mermaid, The Ugly Duckling, and The Princess and the Pea. We also got to see the statue of The Little Mermaid. HCA wrote 168 tales and you can find most of them here.
We live
d in quite an odd hotel. After we checked in on the Sunday we arrived, we wanted to catch the elevator up to our rooms on the third floor. However, we had to climb half a floor before we could get to the elevator. The fascinating thing is that the elevator is situated between floors. Once on the elevator we pressed the button for the third floor. When we arrived there we had to walk half a floor down to get to our floor. On the pic I provided, you will see that I am standing inside the elevator taking a pic of what is on the outside. From the elevator you can either go up or down the stairs to your floor.
In Danish architecture, it is interesting to see so many
dragons. You will find dragons on statues to buildings. As you have seen the bull and the dragon fighting above, here is a pic of the old Scandinavian Stock Exchange. It depicts the tails of three dragons (Denmark, Sweden and Norway) making up the spire of the building.
At 6pm Friday (May 05) we went on an hour boat ride through the canals of
Copenhagen. It was a very nice trip and showed us some of Copenhagen we would not have seen otherwise. This trip was so cheap (30 DKR - R30 - $4.90) that we were really taken with the price since eveything else is so very expensive. This boat ride definitely was the best value for money. On this trip we also passed the apartments where Hans Christian Andersen lived. He lived in the white building in the middle of this picture on the right.
On Saturday we also visited the Royal Palace which is freely
accessible. Here you can see one of the buildings of the Palace. It just amazes me that the Palace has such an open architecture and that people walk through there all the time! I guess that here in Africa the Palace would have been sacked long ago! The Palace is made up of 4 of these identical Rococo buildings. The royal family still occupies the palace.
From the Palace we went to visit the great Marble Church, also known as Frederik's Church. The picture here is taken from
behind King Frederick V within the Palace grounds. This church remained unfinished from 1770 until 1874. It was finally finished in 1894. This church is indeed beautiful and there is amazing detail on the inside. Truly a place to visit in Copenhagen. The foundation stone for this church was laid on October 30, 1749. Outside the church one can find statues of men like Martin Luther, Moses, the apostles Paul and Peter, Elijah and Jan Hus.
Next we took a walk over to the Church of our Savior. You can climb to the top (very top!) of the steeple of this church. You first start inside the church and climb the stairs until finally it is time to c
limb out and continue the climb on the outside. This steeple is 90m (98.4yds - 295ft) high. So, I guess there could have been about 450 steps to climb. This was truly an amazing experience. Climbing on the outside to the top and seeing the city from up there was truly breathtaking. From the outside the church itself did not seem like much, but on the inside the decor was absolutely stunning.
In my opinion, I think the statues are actually overdone. Everything from baby angels to adult angels (Michael, Gabriel, Raphael?) and more. Especially the baptismal font, which is covered with little babies and it even has a baby encrusted crown above it.
We finally visited the Danish parliament buildings. Here
they grow trees just to cut them square. I would not know what the reason for it is, but it is a bit odd. On the other hand, it is unusual and not quite expected! With this picture of parliament you can see King Christian IX hiding behind the fountain spray. What I learnt there that was really interesting is that firstborn sons (heirs of the throne) are either named Christian or Frederik. If the current king's name is Christian, he will name his son Frederik and vice versa.
We finally had to exit the parliament grounds and make our way back to the hotel to pick up our baggage to start the way back home!
We caught the train to Copenhagen's international Kaastrup airport late afternoon on May 06. We flew out of Copenhagen and had a stop-over in Zurich
for the night. Originally we were supposed to land in Zurich and immediately fly out back to South Africa, but that flight was delayed (we were told three days before the time) until the next morning at 8am. So, we ended up staying over in Zurich and at least we could get a couple of hours sleep.
The funny thing is that the guy that checked our bags in at Kaastrup airport checked our bags straight through to South Africa. So, we had to just use the clothes we already had, again the next day. Luckily I had a tracksuit in my backpack that I could use on the flight back. All I had to do was wash my underwear that night for the last leg of the trip the next day. Unfortunately, I had to wear the same t-shirt again. Fortunately I had a can of deodorant in my backpack too.
It was amazing on the trip back, since we flew over the Swiss Alps. It is so beautiful! God's creation showing the Glory of God! I took a couple of pics through the window of the Airbus we were flying in. It is breathtaking over the Alps!
But, in the end it was absolutely wonderful to be
back with my family in South Africa. When I walked through customs both kids ran to me and flung themselves at me. It always gives me this warm feeling in my heart when they come running to me after a trip like this. I truly love my family!
Well, next it is off to Botswana, but hopefully only for a day!
Before the trip to Copenhagen I was also in Guinea on the west coast of Africa. You can read about it here and here.
Just thinking...
We arrived there the morning of Sunday, April 30, 2006 and after checking in we
went for a walk to check out a little bit of the city.We both like historical buildings and it seems, so do advertisers. As you can see, these poor buildings are utilized "well!"
The city abounds in sculptures of all sorts. There are so many that it would really be impossible for one person to take one picture of each one found there in the short time we spent there. However, this one of a bull and a dragon fighting is a very good example.
The day we arrived there it was pretty cold by South African
standards. Both my colleague and I live in the Gauteng province of South Africa, and even in winter we have some pretty nice days. Mornings might be chilly (down to around 3 deg C - 37.4F), but it could easily warm up to around 20C (68F)! So, when we arrived in Copenhagen (in their spring time), and the high for the day was around 8C (46F), we thought it to be a bit cold! You can see this by how they dressed that day.
We kept on walking till we got to the water front called Nyhavn. It is very pretty there. You can see me standing there all smug thinking the place belongs to me!Down the main road that most tourists walk on (I think it is
called Frederiksgade) one can find all kinds of things. One day there would be a violinist playing the most beautiful music. Another day a guy with his wine glasses filled with different levels of water can be quite entertaining. On this day (Monday May 01) we saw this trio that played some well known classical pieces. They really sounded good!
Of course, Copenhagen is the city that Hans Christian Andersen (HCA) lived in. There are streets named after
him and he also has a statue of himself in the city. If you do not know who he is, then I have one question for you: "Under which rock have you been living?" Maybe you will recognise him if I mention some of the stories he has written: Thumbelina, The Little Mermaid, The Ugly Duckling, and The Princess and the Pea. We also got to see the statue of The Little Mermaid. HCA wrote 168 tales and you can find most of them here.We live
d in quite an odd hotel. After we checked in on the Sunday we arrived, we wanted to catch the elevator up to our rooms on the third floor. However, we had to climb half a floor before we could get to the elevator. The fascinating thing is that the elevator is situated between floors. Once on the elevator we pressed the button for the third floor. When we arrived there we had to walk half a floor down to get to our floor. On the pic I provided, you will see that I am standing inside the elevator taking a pic of what is on the outside. From the elevator you can either go up or down the stairs to your floor.
In Danish architecture, it is interesting to see so many
dragons. You will find dragons on statues to buildings. As you have seen the bull and the dragon fighting above, here is a pic of the old Scandinavian Stock Exchange. It depicts the tails of three dragons (Denmark, Sweden and Norway) making up the spire of the building.
At 6pm Friday (May 05) we went on an hour boat ride through the canals of
Copenhagen. It was a very nice trip and showed us some of Copenhagen we would not have seen otherwise. This trip was so cheap (30 DKR - R30 - $4.90) that we were really taken with the price since eveything else is so very expensive. This boat ride definitely was the best value for money. On this trip we also passed the apartments where Hans Christian Andersen lived. He lived in the white building in the middle of this picture on the right.On Saturday we also visited the Royal Palace which is freely
accessible. Here you can see one of the buildings of the Palace. It just amazes me that the Palace has such an open architecture and that people walk through there all the time! I guess that here in Africa the Palace would have been sacked long ago! The Palace is made up of 4 of these identical Rococo buildings. The royal family still occupies the palace.
From the Palace we went to visit the great Marble Church, also known as Frederik's Church. The picture here is taken from
behind King Frederick V within the Palace grounds. This church remained unfinished from 1770 until 1874. It was finally finished in 1894. This church is indeed beautiful and there is amazing detail on the inside. Truly a place to visit in Copenhagen. The foundation stone for this church was laid on October 30, 1749. Outside the church one can find statues of men like Martin Luther, Moses, the apostles Paul and Peter, Elijah and Jan Hus.
Next we took a walk over to the Church of our Savior. You can climb to the top (very top!) of the steeple of this church. You first start inside the church and climb the stairs until finally it is time to c
limb out and continue the climb on the outside. This steeple is 90m (98.4yds - 295ft) high. So, I guess there could have been about 450 steps to climb. This was truly an amazing experience. Climbing on the outside to the top and seeing the city from up there was truly breathtaking. From the outside the church itself did not seem like much, but on the inside the decor was absolutely stunning.
In my opinion, I think the statues are actually overdone. Everything from baby angels to adult angels (Michael, Gabriel, Raphael?) and more. Especially the baptismal font, which is covered with little babies and it even has a baby encrusted crown above it.
We finally visited the Danish parliament buildings. Here
they grow trees just to cut them square. I would not know what the reason for it is, but it is a bit odd. On the other hand, it is unusual and not quite expected! With this picture of parliament you can see King Christian IX hiding behind the fountain spray. What I learnt there that was really interesting is that firstborn sons (heirs of the throne) are either named Christian or Frederik. If the current king's name is Christian, he will name his son Frederik and vice versa.
We finally had to exit the parliament grounds and make our way back to the hotel to pick up our baggage to start the way back home!We caught the train to Copenhagen's international Kaastrup airport late afternoon on May 06. We flew out of Copenhagen and had a stop-over in Zurich
for the night. Originally we were supposed to land in Zurich and immediately fly out back to South Africa, but that flight was delayed (we were told three days before the time) until the next morning at 8am. So, we ended up staying over in Zurich and at least we could get a couple of hours sleep.The funny thing is that the guy that checked our bags in at Kaastrup airport checked our bags straight through to South Africa. So, we had to just use the clothes we already had, again the next day. Luckily I had a tracksuit in my backpack that I could use on the flight back. All I had to do was wash my underwear that night for the last leg of the trip the next day. Unfortunately, I had to wear the same t-shirt again. Fortunately I had a can of deodorant in my backpack too.
It was amazing on the trip back, since we flew over the Swiss Alps. It is so beautiful! God's creation showing the Glory of God! I took a couple of pics through the window of the Airbus we were flying in. It is breathtaking over the Alps!But, in the end it was absolutely wonderful to be
back with my family in South Africa. When I walked through customs both kids ran to me and flung themselves at me. It always gives me this warm feeling in my heart when they come running to me after a trip like this. I truly love my family!Well, next it is off to Botswana, but hopefully only for a day!
Before the trip to Copenhagen I was also in Guinea on the west coast of Africa. You can read about it here and here.
Just thinking...
Friday, May 05, 2006
Copenhagen
Well, this week I am sitting in Copenhagen, Denmark.
It is an amazing country and the city is beautiful! After being in Guinea two weeks ago, Copenhagen with all its historic buildings and beautiful architecture is quite a different experience. As with Guinea, this is also a business trip. Actually, I am in Copenhagen for training. This is my third trip to this beautiful city.
There is a lot to see here; however, there is not much time to do so since we stay in the office later than on usual training courses, because we are bothered with work from back home all the time. It is a 5 day course finishing today; however, 3 of the days I was busy doing very urgent work in the class for the ofice back home.
Copenhagen, as I already said, is a beautiful city. Yet, it is a culture almost completely void of godliness. Pornography is common, with advertising for sex very common. Sex shops can be found in many places with totally nude pictures of women in the shop windows.
The quality of restaurants here are also not nearly as good as that in South Africa. Service is terminally slow and it is very difficult to find a restaurant with food to our quality. After 3 visits to Copenhagen, I still haven't found a pizza place to my liking. Then of course, the food is extremely expensive.
We will be boarding our plane from Copenhagen to Zurich tomorrow night at around 7pm. We were to go through transit on Saturday night and get the plane from Zurich to South Africa then too. However, our plane from Zurich to South Africa has been delayed from Saturday night to Sunday morning at 7am. That means we will arrive back home half a day late. That is life I suppose!
Anyway, I am looking forward to getting home and seeing my wife and children. I miss them terribly!
So, have a good weekend to you all and God bless!
Just thinking...
Monday, May 01, 2006
Back from Guinea
Matt Gumm asked me to give more information on my trip to Guinea two weeks ago. For those interested I wrote a piece for my South African blog ( BiblioPolit) called Back from Guinea.
Just thinking...
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Guinea
Hopefully this is my last day in Guinea, Africa.
When we arrived here two days ago, I was shocked at what I saw here! Driving out of the airport we immediately drove onto a dirt road. I don't know how far we drove to get to our hotel (it literally felt like forever), but in all that time we never passed a structure (living or otherwise) that would have been acceptable back in South Africa.
With all the natural resources (like gold and diamonds) one would think that this country must be rich. However, I have never seen such poverty anywhere. Not even in South Africa. In SA there might be lot of tin schacks, but the average level of subsistence here seems to be extremely low.
Here they even do there garbage dumping by the truck load into the sea. As we were driving next to the coastline, we saw them dumping into the sea and the garbage patches on the sea looked reminiscent of oil slicks. Just this time the patches were paper, plastic, cans and other items.
We are indeed privileged.
Just thinking...
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Away!
Hi Folks,
Unfortunately I will not be able to blog this week since I am currently in Guinea, Africa. I was in Dakar, Senegal until yesterday.
I am returning to Dakar tomorrow and will arrive back home in South Africa at 17:05 this coming Sunday.
I will try to start blogging again as soon as possible after my return.
God Bless!
Just thinking...
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