HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSON

                                      A Surprise Evening

            After dinner in Faaborg we all moved upstairs to a special room for dessert and coffee. Our driver whispered in my ear, “Something special is going to happen. A nice surprise.”

            Because this was unusual, I was suspicious, but I didn’t say anything to anyone. Suddenly there was a loud knock on the door. Lo and behold in came Hans Christian Anderson dressed in top hat and tails. He began to spin a tale and tell us about himself.

            The flamboyant character told us, “I was born April 2, 1805 on the island of Fuen.  My parents were poor but happy. I was a rather strange child who preferred playing with my puppets to playing with other children. I wrote in my diary every day. I was young, about 12, when my father died. I was very close to my grandmother.

“I was very self assured and knew at an early age that I would be famous. I went to Copenhagen when I was 14 to try a theater career. But it failed. However, while on the stage I was seen by a fellow who later became my patron. He sent me to Latin school where I wrote forbidden poetry. I also wrote some novels but they enjoyed only minimal success.

            “When I was 30 I started telling fairy tales to children so I could watch their reaction. Then I would write them down and those are the stories that made me famous. My stories always had a moral to them and sometimes people didn’t like that and thought I was too  moralistic.”

            For generations children have grown up with The Ugly Duckling, The Emperor’s New Clothes, The Little Mermaid and more. 

            This actor apparently built a successful career impersonating the famous author. He was most entertaining. He continued to tell us that Anderson had fallen in love twice. Once with the actress, Jenny Lind. However, he never married.

            In his later years Anderson would write to lords and noblemen stating that he would be arriving on a certain date and to have a room ready for him. He also would tell them how long he planned to stay. For some time people were honored to be selected as a host to this famous man.

            But as the years went by he developed a reputation for being a sponger and taking advantage of others’ generosity, and he himself was not inclined to be of a very generous nature. However, since his diary writing was so well known everyone was afraid to refuse him hospitality and maybe end up as an unwelcome character in one of his tales.

            Our story teller concluded with, “I died in 1875 at the age of 70 in Copenhagen and I had three million Krona in the bank!”

It was a most pleasant and fun evening and a nice end to a long day of biking.  I had taken the Texas heat with me and that year Denmark was a good 15 degrees hotter than normal. Lucky me!

COGNAC, FRANCE SITE

                    The Remy Martin Facility

After a very long and busy day of biking ending with a ferry from Verdan  across the Gironde River to Royan, we took the next day off. It was about an hour’s drive through the French countryside to Cognac, and it was a lovely warm sunny day.

All cognac comes from the French city of the same name. If this liquid refreshment comes from anywhere else it is called brandy. Remy Martin is not the only cognac facility in the area, but it is without a doubt the largest and best known. All cognacs are blended with liquids of different years and places. We picked up an English-speaking guide at the small Disney-style train for a tour of the huge facility.

The Martin facility was established in 1724 and is so large it has its own coopery, the largest in the world, on the grounds. The coopers make 70,000 barrels a year! Only oak is used to make the barrels. Logs are split and the center cut into staves which are stacked and dried for three years. It takes 32-36 staves a meter long to make a barrel which holds 350 liters of fluid.

Everything on the grounds was a grayish-black color, caused from fumes of the aging liquids and the humidity maintained in the aging rooms. The barrels turn darker as the contents age. During a 24-month period the alcohol content of the liquid drops from 70% to 40%.  The average age of cognac is eight years but can range from 4-18 years. The liquid in the vats on site equals 160 million bottles.

The facility can bottle 100,000 bottles a day! One aging room we entered contained 6000 barrels of 20-25 year old cognac. Another room held 12,000 barrels that was four-years old. The grapes used for cognac have an average life of 30-35 years. It is possible to keep cognac 80 years, but why would one want to?

This huge efficient operation was spotless. I swear one could eat off the floor. The aromas were delightful. We visited a tasting room where many were ecstatic. It was a most interesting informative visit, and I think we all enjoyed the respite from the bikes.

FRENCH WINE STORIES

                    Just a Couple of Such Stories of my Travels 

            Years ago on my very first trip to Europe I made a deal with my traveling friend. If she would go with me on a gondola ride in Venice, Italy, I would go to the Moulin Rouge with her in Paris. We each kept our word and were happy campers.

            At the Moulin Rouge dinner and wine was included in our ticket. Dinner was quite good and better than expected from most mass crowded meals. I am one crazy American who likes her wine really cold, so I spooned in a couple of ice cubes from my water glass into my wine. Since I wasn’t driving and the wine was to my liking and I was 20 years younger than I am now, I signaled the waiter for a refill. When he collected my glass there were two tiny specks of the melted ice in the bottom of the glass.

            Suddenly I was the topic of conversation at the wine table as the other waiters looked in my glass and then looked up to watch me. There was no mistaking what they were talking about. I did not care, and when my glass was returned I couldn’t resist saying, “Thank you, and yes I enjoy my wine really cold.”  Actually we were as amused at their actions as they were about my wine preference!

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            There was a time when I would never think about putting an ice cube in my wine. And again we go back several years when we were being entertained at one of the two Honolulu restaurants that required coat and tie. I think those days are totally gone now. I mentioned to the tux-clad waiter with a white napkin over his arm that I liked my wine cold. Unceremoniously he grabbed the soup spoon from my place setting, dipped it in my water glass, retrieved two ice cubes and plunked them into my wine glass. At the time I was stunned, but I look my lesson from that incident and have done the same ever since, but usually quietly and unnoticed.

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            When I biked Bordeaux, our guide turned out to be the owner of the company as his scheduled guide had met with an accident and was delayed and later cancelled. Our evening meals were taken at the small boutique hotels where we stayed along the way. Typically French, dinnertime was slow and lengthy---never less than two hours. Our small group was compatible and personable so it was a pleasant time of day after a long one in the saddle. The wine flowed every evening. Bottles were put on the tables and the fellows in the group, never hesitated to call for another one when it was empty. There is nothing typical about this. I assume the hotel owners were saying thank you to our guide for sending them his business. We were the beneficiaries of their kindness and none of us complained!

RUSSIAN MEMORIES

                             Memories from a Great Trip

From Theater Square, near a large granite monument of Karl Marx looking at the Bolshoi, we had a wonderful view of the theater across the street. Built in 1825, the Bolshoi is Moscow’s oldest and best-known theater. Its splendid external architecture sports a splendid façade with columns and large bronze horses at its peak. The theater that seats 2000 is known for its world-famous opera and ballet companies. It is second in size only La Scala in Italy. Unfortunately I can tell you nothing about the inside as the theater was covered with scaffolding undergoing a massive renovation.

The hour and a half flight from Kiev, Ukraine to Moscow actually took us ALL day. We left our Kiev hotel at 9:30 AM and entered out Moscow hotel at 5:00 PM. At the hotel we walked through a scanner every time we entered the hotel and all bags and purses were also scanned every time.

Shortly after leaving the pier in Moscow we encountered nude bathers in the river. Although lathering up with soap when they saw us a couple of the guys couldn’t resist flashing the boat as we sailed by.

FOOD

Meals are always set with bread, salt, pepper, and mustard. Cold appetizers are served first and are usually washed down with vodka, the national drink which generally is 40% alcohol. A soup or broth follows the appetizers, then the entrée.

Rye bread is a favorite of all Slavs, extremely popular and is the bread most often served. The bread is soft, spongy and has a pleasant flavor. Bliny are pancakes. Kasha is a gruel and may be thin or thick.

Vegetables especially cabbage, carrots, potatoes, onions, turnips, peas, plus mushrooms, nuts and berries are the most common elements of a meal. Shchi (shee) is a vegetable soup with cabbage, potatoes, onion, garlic, carrots, roots and spices. It is baked and served with sour cream or milk and of course rye bread. Ukha (oo kah) is a hot fish soup with 3-4 kinds of fish, potatoes, onion and spices.

 Jam is often added to tea instead of sugar.  Pies are popular menu items.

            Kvass is similar to beer without the alcohol content. It is made from fruit and berries.  Mors is made from berry juice, which has been diluted and fermented.

MORE PANAMA CITY SITES

                      Lots to see in Panama City
 

Cathedral

            The Nuestra Señora de la Asuncion Cathedral was built between 1519 and 1626 and the bell tower has been restored in recent years. The mother of pearl bell tower peaks sparkled in the sunlight.

Balboa Statue

            Situated along Balboa Avenue, in Vasco Núñez de Balboa Park stands a historical monument paying tribute to the Spanish adventurer and first European who in 1513 crossed the isthmus to glimpse the Pacific Ocean.

            Holding the Spanish flag in his left hand and a sword in his right, the larger than life statue overlooks Panama Bay. A variety of well manicured plants and flowers surround the larger than life statue.

            Sculpted by Miguel Blan and Mariano Benlliure the statue was later donated by King Alfonso XIII of Spain. With representatives of some 15 Latin American countries present, President Belisario Porras inaugurated the monument on September 29, 1924.

           

Bridge of the Americas

             Near Panama City the Bridge of the Americas, approximately 354 feet high and 5,400 feet long, crosses the Pacific approach to the Panama Canal at Balboa connecting the land that was divided during the construction of the Panama Canal.

            When the Panama Canal was completed in 1914, it divided the country as well as North and South America. A small service bridge at the Gatun Locks was the only crossing. In 1942, a small service swing bridge was built at the Miraflores Locks. Both of these small bridges could only be used when the lock gates were closed. Therefore, as traffic increased the small service bridges and ferries could not handle the volume of traffic. Finally in 1959, the United States started construction on the Bridge of the Americas completing it in 1962 at a cost of about $20 million dollars. The bridge was part of the Pan-American Highway until the Centennial Bridge was constructed in 2004, and the Pan-American Highway redirected.

Amador Causeway

            It was on our way back to Panama City on the last day that we drove over the palm-lined 4-mile Amador Causeway.  It is famed for the fantastic views of Panama's downtown skyline, a yacht harbor panorama across Panama Bay to the graceful steel span of the Bridge of the Americas at the entrance of the canal. Scenic brick-lined running/biking paths follow the water along the causeway that stretches almost two-miles into the Pacific. The causeway connects the city to four small islands: Noas, Perico, Culebra and Flamenco.

            The causeway, built in 1913, used 1,250 million cubic yards of rocks excavated from construction of the Panama Canal. It was also part of a U.S. military complex known as Fort Amador, established to protect the entrance to the canal. In 1999 after the area reverted to Panama under the Torrijos-Carter Treaty, the causeway was transformed into a thriving tourist attraction.

            The original purpose of the causeway was to prevent sedimentation in the Port of Balboa which, if left untouched, eventually would clog the southern or Pacific entrance into the Panama Canal. The causeway was also designed as a breakwater to protect the entrance.

            Today the Smithsonian has an aquarium and research laboratory on the causeway. There is a new designed Gehey-designed museum about ready to open, and many restaurants are stretched out along the causeway. It is a great place to walk/bike or to just sit and watch the activity of the harbor and view the city skyway.