Traveling is coffee for the soul.
There are many astonishing and wonderful things in the world, and I like to travel and see them. I am a middle-ageish man and I live in Northeastern Europe. My wife often travels with me, voluntarily. All pictures are taken by me, unless otherwise indicated.
There hardly is a place in this world too remote for Man to wage war in. The tiny village Mehamn in the Finnmark province of Northern Norway, by the Arctic Ocean, is one of Europe's northernmost populated places. However, it's not remote enough to have been spared of war and destruction. Evidence of that can be found just outside of the village: ruins of a Second World War German artillery battery.
Ruins of fortifications.
In late 1944, as the German troops were withdrawing from Northern Norway, they blew up their own fortifications, laid countless landmines and burned Mehamn, as well as other villages and towns, to the ground. In addition, they forcibly took most of the civilian population with them. Some managed to escape to the mountains, but even those had no homes to return to. Generally, the German occupation during World War II is not fondly remembered in Norway, but in the Northern province of Finnmark the attitude in probably even more bitter and hostile. It is not difficult to see why.
Remains of a blown-up bunker.
After the war the citizens of Mehamn returned to rebuild their homes. They used the ruins of the fortifications as their garbage dump. It is easy to understand that they, more or less consciously, wanted to bury the stronghold of hated oppressors and destoryers of homes under waste, and forget it ever existed.
Rebuilt Mehamn seen from the ruins of the fortifications.
Today, what remains of the artillery post have been cleaned of the dumped garbage. There are information board on the history of the place, and a few tables and benches for picnics. The ruins make an excellent place to take in the incredibly beautiful scenery: the coastal artillery batteries were obviously constructed in places with good all-around visibility. It is, however, important to occasionally take a look down, too: one can easily fall in the trenches cut to the rock, or, less dangerously, step on reindeer droppings. From the Mehamn fortifications, one can see, for example, Kinnarodden, the northernmost point of continental Europe - Nordkapp gets a lot of hype, but ir is actually situated on the island of Magerøya and isn't even the northernmost tip of that island.
Sharp stones like these are typical for the Finnmark coast - they are natural formations, not remains of destroyed fortifications.
View to the north from Mehamn. Kinnarodden, the northernmost point of European continent, can be seen to the left.
In and around Mehamn there are many other places to enjoy the scenery, and like everywhere on the Norwegian coast, the scenery is great.
The rugged beauty of Nordkinn peninsula by the road to Mehamn: mountains...
...and sea.
We visited Mehamn in late June and early July 2020, about two weeks after Norway re-opened its borders to visitors from Finland and a number of other countries after closure caused by the Covid-19 epidemic. Northern Norway is a very good place to travel while maintaining some social distance. We stayed at The Blue House at the End of the World, which we warmly recommend. Mehamn can be reached by car - your own or rental - or Hurtigruten , which at the time of writing is resuming normal daily operations.
Prague castle at sunset, seen from the Charles Bridge. I'm neither first nor last tourist to take this picture.
(Of course it is not actually ruined. Proceed to read this completely).
Hordes of barbaria tourists overwhelm cities like Venice, Dubrovnik and Prague. year after year, and there's a reason for that (or, countless reasons). The three places, and many others, are fascinating and beautiful, each with their own unique character. In each of them I have, however, felt the need to contemplate whether there are too many of us visitors - I am, naturally, aware that I myself am part of the problem.
When is somewhere ruined by tourists? The best answer I can think of is: when the presence of unsustainable numbers of tourists destroys what originally drew them there. For example, the charm of Prague is, well, that it's Prague: a unique, incredibly beautiful historical city (and, of course, Czech beer). Prague is not an outdoor exhibition of old architecture, but a living city with its citizens. However, it may cease to be that, if tourists displace the actual inhabitants, and it seems to me that, at least in some parts of Prague, this may be happening.
Charles Bridge. Not the rush hour.
For example, in the triangle bordered by Old Town Square, Josefov and Charles bridge, there is no other activity than tourism-related services: there are no groceries or things that local inhabitants need for their daily lives. Only tourist-oriented restaurants, shops selling Chinese-made plastic poop souvenirs, 24-hour Thai massage parlours, and absinthe bars.
The tourist hordes have almost completely displaced the local citizens from one of the beloved symbols of the city, the Charles Bridge. Inhabitants of Prague tend to avoid it and take a detour over Manes Bridge or Legionary Bridge instead. Charles Bridge is often so congested by tourists that it literally is difficult to cross, and there is a very real danger of being accidentally whacked by someone's seflie stick (seriously, leave them home and use, for example, a stretched-out arm instead).
As stated, I am part of the problem, and I don't want to urge anyone to avoid Prague or even Charles Bridge (hey, look at the picture on top of this post). However, if you can help it, visit the city at some other time than late July or early August, because then everyone else is there, too.
I visited Prague in July and August 2018, and previously twice on the 20th Century.
The Field of Angels, a memorial to enslaved children who died in their infancy.
Can you even begin to imagine, what it would have felt like if, when you were five years old, you would have suddenly been taken away from your family and friends, it would have been explained to you that you have been sold to a new owner who will take you far away and you will never see your parents and siblings again?
Me neither. Thank God.
Countless people, however, have experienced such things, and worse: the slaves. Whitney Plantation is one of the best places to try and understand the sinister and repulsive history of American slavery. It is one of the many tourist-oriented plantations by the Mississippi between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Whitney is, however, the only one of those whose point of view is not that of the rich owners but that of those on whose work the wealth was based on - the enslaved.
The beautiful gardens of the plantations bear few traces of the horrors of the past.
In my opinion, museums at best can help visitors better understand things, to make history more real to them. I think Whitney Plantation does a good job in this. I already knew most of the facts the guide and exhibitions told me, but the visit helped me to better understand those facts. Of course, there is - thankfully - no way for me to completely understand what the slaves really experienced and felt.
Unlike most other plantations, the visitors are first taken to the miserable slave cabins, only later to the prestigious big house.
Even more than the violent and savage treatment of the enslaved - which, of course, is horrific - I felt disgusted by the complete denial of their humanity. The enslaved were cynically treated like merchandise, or pack animals, or machinery. The practice I find most repulsive was the breeding of human children for merchandise. An enslaved person was an expensive investment, worth a lot of money for the owner. Therefore, it was in the plantation owners' interests to produce more enslaved people, for their own use or to be sold. This was generally not very difficult, as anyone born to an enslaved mother was automatically considered a slave. Who the father was, did not matter. Consequently many enslaved women had to live, or die, as breeding machinery: they may have had more than ten children, many of whom were sold or otherwise taken from the mothers at a very early age. Enslaved men and women may have been forced together, on the peril of violence, to produce offspring. If an enslaved woman failed to have children by other means, the owner may have raped and impregnated her himself, and consequently place his own children in a position comparable to that of cattle or machinery, or merchandise. These cases were not exceptional at all.
There are statues of enslaved children on the Whitney Plantation. This one depicts Anna, who was given as a house pet - our guide indeed used the word "pet" - to the childless woman who owned the plantation at the time. Later, at 14, Anna gave birth to her first child, whose father was the middle-aged brother of her owner.
A visit to the plantation always includes a guided tour, explaining the gruesome everyday life on a slave plantation: hard work, in Whitney's case on sugarcane fields, as usual in Southern Louisiana, often on cotton field in more Northern parts; many enslaved workers could not stand the inhumane working conditions alive for more than a few years. The guide described the violence, the awful food, the unworthy living quarters. In the exhibitions, there are many oral history quotes from 1930s interviews with Americans who were born enslaved. They are used to give voice to those who were so often silenced. There are several books based on the interviews, and some have been used in a documentary film.
A quote from the 1930s interview with Hannah Chapman, who was born enslaved.
The visit to Whitney Plantation made an enormous impression on me, even though as a Finn I feel no direct connection to the history and legacy of American slavery. I can only imagine what the visit is like for the descendants of enslaved African-Americans, or the white slave owners. From New Orleans, the visit takes a few hours: we left the city after breakfast and were back for late-ish lunch. I consider the time well spent. If you don't have an access to your own or rented vehicle, there are tours by bus, which may include visits to other places, too.
John Cummings, the founder of Whitney Plantation museum. He told that his goal was not to promote guilt but understanding: "Those responsible are in Hell, if you believe that".
One of the highlights of the tour was a chance encounter with John Cummings, the current owner of the plantation and the founder of the museum. Mr. Cummings, a retired lawyer, is a very good speaker and gave us an interesting account of the founding and goals of the museum. Sometimes, in American public debate, it is asked should the African-Americans not be able to leave the legacy of the slavery behind, as it was abolished 150 years ago. According to Cummings, this sentiment is based on unfamiliarity and inadequate understanding of the realities of slavery. That's why he says: "I, personally, will no longer be content to live in ignorance. Do not ask the question, 'why can't they get over it', unless you know what the 'it' is".
In the video below Cummings and other staff at Whitney Plantation share further thoughts and information.
We visited the Whitney Plantation on May 24th 2017.
Washington DC, the capital of the United States, was intentionally designed to impress visitors. It does. The city is full of monuments to various events in American (and some non-American) history - there are many more than those covered here.
National World War II Memorial, Washington Monument in the background.
Probably every war the USA ever fought has a memorial. Interestingly, they seem reflect the perception of these wars in American public consciousness. The National World War II Memorial is a victory parade sculpted in Marble, a homage to the enormous strength of the United States. No human characters are depicted, only laurels of victory accompanied by names of battlefields.
Korean War Veterans Memorial.
The Korean war was not as obvios a victory for The US. The Korean War Veterans Memorial made a great impression to me, because, as I understand it, it depicts the soldiers as not only heroes but also victims. The faces of very lifelike statues seem, at least to me, depict the fear, anguish and confusion those who fought must have felt.
Vietnam Veterans Memorial. I wondered if this couple was looking for a particular name - perhaps a brother, a friend, a schoolmate? Their generation supplied the soldiers who fought in Vietnam.
The Vietnam War ended over 40 years ago, but for many Americans it still is a difficult, controversial and divisive matter. At best, it is seen as an embarrassment and a failure, at worst, an imperialistic raid the United States should never have participated at all. It hardly is surprising, then, that the opinions on Vietnam Veterans Memorial are divided, too. The monument consist of nothing but black stone walls, bearing inscribed names of all American military personnel who died in Vietnam in 1959-1975, orderd by time of death. The opponents have called the memorial "a nihilistic slab of stone", among other things: on the other hand, it has been included on a top 10 -list of American architecture.
Washington Monument.
Many presidents have their memorials as well. The most visible one is - unsurprisingly - the 169-meter (555-feet) obelisk erected in honor of the first president, George Washington. In a way, it is also a memorial to setbacks. The construction began in 1848, but was stopped in 1854 due to lack of funds. It took 25 years before it resumed. An embarrassing stub stood right in the center of the capital city, visible from the president's White House. The break is visible in the completed Monument, as the marble used in early stages was sourced from different quarries than the stones used later. Consequently, the lower third is of a lighter color than the rest of the obelisk. In 1885, the monument was finally completed. At the time, it was the tallest building in the world. The troubles did not end there: recently the monument was damaged by an earthquake in 2011, and has been closed to the public since 2016 because of elevator malfunction.
Jefferson Memorial.
Jefferson himself.
The monument to Thomas Jefferson is a cupola-topped building, in which third president and the author of the Declaration of independence stands as a larger-than-life-sized statue. The walls are inscribed with quotes from his writings. At the time of our visit, there was a demonstration going on in front of the monument. Apparently, this is not exceptional. This time the demonstrators were motivated by issues related to health care.
Abraham Lincoln.
The site where Martin Luther King gave his "I have a dream" speech is marked on the stairs of the Lincoln Memorial.
Abraham Lincoln, who presided over the victory in the Civil war, who freed the slaves and who died by the bullet of an assassin, is probably the second most admired president among the Americans, after George Washington. No surprise then that his monument is quite impressive, too. It looks a little like a Greek or Roman temple and houses a larger-than-life statue of Lincoln. The Lincoln memorial, too, has seen numerous demonstrations. One of the most famous is the 1963 March for Jobs and Freedom, best remembered for Martin Luther King's "I have a Dream" speech.
All monuments mentioned above are situated relatively close to each other along the National Mall. They can easily be explored on foot, but the monumental cale of Washington DC may be deceptive. Lincoln Memorial, for example, may seem to be right next to World War II Memorial, but they are actually about half a mile apart.
In addition to wars and presidents, there are monuments to many others, like scientist Albert Einstein, but I still couldn't figure out the theory of relativity.
We visited the monuments of Washington DC in May and June 2017.
....walk in the French Quarter (and Marigny, and Treme, and elsewhere).
...go paddlewheeler-watching on the riverfront.
...eat gumbo, eat red beans & rice, eat po'boys, eat beignets, and, well, eat. Recommended places includeDooky Chase's,Gumbo shopandCoop's place, but it seems that there is no way to get bad food in the city. We ate everything before thinking of taking pictures, so this bowl of gumbo is from Wikimedia Commons. Picture by Elliot Lowe (CC BY 2.0).
...stay in an old New Orleans house, like inOlde Town Inn as we did.
...ride streetcars.
...and go to Bourbon Street like everyone else, at least briefly.
The walls of Acre provide great views over the Mediterranean Sea.
Acre is a relatively small city on the Galilean coast, in northern Israel. As far as we know, people have lived in the area since approximately 3000 BC. The city and its inhabitants have been cursed with a strategical location. Acre has been conquered, besieged and bombed:
by Alexander the Great, about 332 BC
by Caliph Umar's army in 636
by the Crusaders in 1104
by Sultan Saladin in 1187
by the Crusaders again in 1191
by the Mamluk sultan's troops in 1291
by Napoleon in 1799
by English, French and Austrian navies in 1840
and by many others
Acre is probably most famous for Crusaders, at least in the so-called Western World. The biggest attraction in the town is the Crusader Castle, known as the Citadel. To be precise, only the underground parts date from the Crusaders' time. The Ottoman Empire, who ruled Acre from the 16th Century until the First World War, had a more modern fortress constructed on the foundations of the crusader-built Citadel. The bloody, noisy and gunpowder-smelling history of the city is presented to the visitor by means of modern technology: a device and earphones are given to every visitor, and it automatically explains the history of the site on a chosen language. Films explaining life (and death) in Acre are projected to old walls, and sometimes floors.
The system works, but in my opinion it controlled the visitor's experience maybe too much, limiting curiosity and spontaneous interest. My device worked well, but it seemed that some others experienced malfunctions, which causes annoyance and frustration. That said, I'm sure the museum staff is happy to help and, if needed, exchange a non-functioning device to a working one. The audio clips themselves are well executed. A highlight for me was the story of Napoleon's siege of Acre, presented as a dialogue between a French and an Ottoman soldier.
The king of Jerusalem with his entourage.
.
The Crusaders' bathroom was known as the latrine.
There are many other historical sights in Acre, in addition to the Citadel. A Crusader-built tunnel runs under the city center, a small but charming local history museum is situated in the wall fortifications, and there's a restored hamam spa from Ottoman times. The visitors to the hamam are provided with similar guide devices as in the Citadel. In my opinion, here the application is not as good as in the castle: the deluge of stories and information may feel overwhelming, and the video screens divert attention from the beautiful building and interesting objects.
Bathers in the hamam.
The masseur at work.
Acre is not only about museums. It is fun to get lost on the bazaar alleys, and walk on the city walls, taking in the views of the Mediterranean and the city of Haifa over the bay. The historic center of Acre is surrounded by the sea from three sides, and the breeze often keeps it nicely cool - the Israeli climate is a bit too hot for our northern tastes.
The Blue Mediterranean.
Napoleon's army (if I remember correctly) left this cannon on the Acre walls.
In Israel, nothing is ever far away. It's easy to take a day trip to Acre from Tel Aviv or Haifa by local train. The city is completely different from modern Tel Aviv or sacred and chaotic Jerusalem. One of the fascinating things about Israel is that a different reality is always just around the corner, or not more than a 30-minute train ride away.
The Acre Railway Station is a short walk away from the Old Town. On the way there are, among other things, some eccentric artwork, like these disco deer and storks.
The warlike past of Acre is very visible in the town, as are the tensions of today - there's no escaping them in Israel. But, when sitting in a waterfront restaurant, looking at the turquoise water and an old man teach fishing to his grandchildren, it is easy to forget unpleasant things and, for a moment, to concentrate on the beautiful.
I have visited quite a few castles, and even worked in one. It would be fair to say that I like castles a lot. In Sintra, just outside Lisbon, there are no less than three castles, so I obviously had to go there. In the end I only had time to visit two of them, as their opening hours are limited, less than 12 hours a day.
The Castle of the Moors, Castelo dos Mouros, is the oldest and, to me, most wonderful of Sintra's castles. In fact it's one of the most interesting castles I've ever visited, and it says a lot. It was, as the name implies, built by Arabs, known as moors at the time, who ruled medieval Portugal and Spain, They build their stronghold on top of a steep mountain, to a position easy to defend. The oldest walls are some 1200 or 1300 years old.
The walls of the Castle of the Moors.
In 1147 AD the Moors surrendered to troops commanded by Afonso Henriques, whom the Portuguese consider a national hero. The Portuguese flag has flown over the castle ever since - however, the design has changed several times. Now, many different historical flags fly in the flagpoles. The castle lost its military significance already on the 15th century, and an earthquake damage it on the 18th century. The restauration work started on the 19th century, first paid personally by the king of Portugal. The remaining structures of the castle are very interesting, but best is the dramatically beautiful setting on top of a mountain, above Sintra town. Pictures do no justice to the views.
It's not easy to dig a well in a castle on a mountain top. The crafty Moors solved the problem by building an underground cistern to collect rain water, so that the defenders of the castle would have something to drink even when under siege.
Near the Castle of the Moors, on a slightly higher mountain top, stands the Pena Palace. It is not nearly as old, the palace was built in mid-19th Century, but it incorporated some structures from an earlier convent building. It was originally the king's summer residence. It is quite a patchwork of architectural styles, and the richly decorated rooms create an impression of a castle in the clouds - and the palace is indeed frequently covered by clouds. When the 1910 revolution deposed the last king of Portugal, the palace was converted to a museum.
There is one more castle in Sintra, known as the National Palace, Palácio Nacional de Sintra. It, too, is originally built by the Moors, but the present appearance date from 14th and 15th centuries when the Portuguese kings resided there. Unlike the Castle of the Moors and Pena Palace, the National Palace is situated in the center of Sintra town. One day would probably be enough time for most visitors to visit all three castles, but I spent so much time in the two mountain castles that the National Palace closed before I got there. I admired it from the walls of the Castle of the Moors.
Kansallinen palatsi.
There's more to Sintra than the castles. It may not be a bad idea to spend two days there. Travel time from Lisbon is about an hour by suburban train, and tickets are very affordable. The mountain castles can be reached from Sintra station by bus or taxi. It is possible to walk, too, but it cannot be recommended to day-trippers whose time is limited. A budget traveler who stays in Lisbon should either eat in Lisbon or come equipped with a picnic lunch: Sintra is very popular among both Portuguese and foreign visitors, and that shows in cafe and restaurant prices.
