Travel with kids in Denmark: AAA virtual trade show tidbit

by Jamie Rhein on

One of my forays at cyberspace trade show through AAA was to email a travel agent about traveling with kids in Europe. In particular, I asked about Denmark since this is one place we’ve thought about going the summer of 2009.

I picked Bernadine Kenny from the travel agent icons in the lounge and she emailed me back immediately with a few more questions, promising to get back to me today which she did.

As it turns out, Bernadine’s office is with AAA Auto Club and located in Worthington, Ohio not far from where I live. From our e-mail conversations , I found out that if one is traveling with kids in Denmark, if you’re staying in a hotel, it’s cheaper to get two rooms with two beds than one room that will sleep three or four. Bernadine found that a centrally located three-star hotel with two twin beds in Copenhagen is $178 per night, on average. The cost includes taxes and breakfast. A room for four people is $467. With two rooms you’re spending a total of $356. I haven’t checked out hostel prices, but I do know that Denmark is probably one of the more expensive places to go in Europe. Luckily, we have friends who will probably let us stay with them. If not, there’s a villa in Italy that looks pretty spiffy.

Asking Bernadine for information was a good move. I never would have thought about splitting up a family to save some bucks.

How to live like Matthew McConaughey

by Jamie Rhein on

Living like Matthew McConaughey may involve taking your shirt off, as Matt Damon says in his hilarious impression of the often shirtless star while Damon was a guest on David Letterman. (Here is the YouTube video. It explains why I chose the photo I did.)

Another way that is less dramatic, perhaps, is by living with a family overseas. McConaughey was an exchange student to Australia in 1988 and lived with a family who he still visits. (YouTube video)

When I was in college, I was an exchange student and lived with a family in Denmark who I am still in touch with and plan to visit again on my next trip to Europe. I have visited two times already. My Danish sisters have also visited me and my family in the U.S.

When you live with a family there is an impression about a country you can get that’s much richer from traveling there. Although Abha found Copenhagen not worth traveling back to, which I can see if I didn’t know it better, I found the Danish culture a fascinating place to hang out for awhile. When you live with a family, you get to know more about the values and psychology of a place.

I also learned how to make a deep connection with someone who didn’t share my language and I didn’t share his. My Danish father didn’t know any English and I didn’t really learn any more Danish than to say “Thank you for the meal,” “Are you cold?” and “peacock.” I also know how to make a Danish lunch.

For anyone visiting the U.S., living with an American family is a way to understand more about the complexities of American life. We’ve had Japanese exchange teachers live with us on a couple of occasions. Both times it was only for a couple of weeks, but we took them to visit my husband’s parents and each were here for Halloween.

As an adult, there are still ways you can live with a family if your exchange student days are over, although many masters’ degree programs also have programs in other countries that involve staying with families. One of my close friends studied in Taiwan and lived with a family for the summer as part of his program through the University of Southern California. The first time I went to Taiwan, I visited him. Since he was studying urban planning seeing Taipei through his lens was a bonus.

Another way is to search out home stay options. There are organizations that link visitors to families, even for short visits. Here’s one for Nepal that I found, for example.

You can also possibly hook up with an impromptu stay. When we lived in Singapore, we had a few travelers stay with us who we met while we were traveling somewhere else. When they were passing through Singapore, we invited them to stay with us. Be friendly, open, and charming as hell, and you might get lucky.

When I was in the Peace Corps some travelers wandered into my village and guess who the villagers thought they should stay with because they might be more comfortable? Here’s an account of someone who finagled a stay with a nomad family in Mongolia. This stay involved learning a bit about sheep shearing. My Peace Corps visitors ended up going with me to a naming ceremony that involved drumming and dancing. By the way, they were Italian. One of them didn’t know English.

When picking a place for your next vacation, consider staying with a family in order to learn the language better. For that purpose, here’s one in Ecuador through the Cristóbal Colón Spanish school.

Here is a link to the Danish International Student program (DIS) that gives tips on staying with a family. They are worth a look at no matter which family you may stay with, even if it’s for a night or two.

Rocks that are more than rocks: Must see destinations

by Jamie Rhein on

When I was in 8th grade, my school bus went past a house with an enormous multicolored map of the United States painted on an even more enormous flat rock in the front yard. Each state was a different color than the ones surrounding it. My bus driver thought it was the coolest artwork ever. She pointed it out each time we passed. My dad has two huge rocks in his front yard. One is as tall as the house. He lives in a region of New York where glaciers left huge boulders and crevices in their wake.

Those rocks have nothing on this collection of mega boulders posted on deputydog. From Japan to Peru, and even Kansas, the boulders have become destinations that tourists go to see. Some are left alone in their natural state. Others have been altered to direct people’s interactions.

The Kaiktiyo Pagoda in Myanmar has certainly one-upped the people who turned their front yard boulder into a map of the the U.S. A pagoda was built on top of it, and both bolder and pagoda were then gilded in gold leaf. To me, the result looks like it’s related to the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz–except it’s gold. Can’t you just imagine someone putting a face on it? I do think it’s wonderful, even though as a female, according to the description, I’m not supposed to touch it. It just reminds me of the Tin Man. I can’t help it.

Along with the spectacular photos deputydog includes a description about the significance of each spot. Quite an interesting read and wonderful idea for a collection. This could be a coffee table book in the making.

One of my favorite boulders, not in this collection, is the one in Copenhagan, Denmark where the statue of the Little Mermaid sits in Hans Christian Anderson Harbor. It’s not that the boulder is all that special, but without it, the mermaid would sink. Do you have any favorite boulders in your life? [This shot of the the pagoda was taken by Yetun and posted on Flickr. Yetun has several kudos on the photo. Great job!]

Brewery Tours and Wine Tasting: Free, or at least Cheap

by Jamie Rhein on

Martha’s post on boozing for cheap reminded me of brewery tours. When I was a student at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark through the Danish International Student program (DIS), I was mostly broke and determined to have enough money for a month long trip through Europe before I headed back to the U.S. Most people in my program were in the same life of getting by on little cash. For fun and frolic, there was nothing like a Carlsburg or Tuborg Brewery tour in Copenhagen on a Friday.

I went to each brewery at least four times over the course of three months. There were so many people from my program that headed to Tuborg on a regular basis that the brewery gave us a huge party at the end of the semester. The catch was, we had to take the tour before the party. Some in my group were able to recite, word for word, the beer-making process and knew all the guides by name. For current review of Carlsburg, click here. The Tuborg Brewery bottling hall building I went to has been changed to the Experimentarium science museum.

Although there’s an Anheuser-Busch brewery in Columbus, this one doesn’t give tours. No free beer for me on a Friday. Of the 12 breweries in the U.S., you can see how Budweiser and other Anheuser-Busch products are made on a FREE tour at five on them: Fairfield, California; St. Louis, Missouri; Ft. Collins, Colorado; Merrimack, New Hampshire; and Jacksonville, Florida. At each you can drink FREE beer. At all but the Fairfield brewery, you can also see the horse stables of the Clydesdales, the brewery’s trademark.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin is a beer drinkers hot spot. There are three breweries that give tours. The Miller Brewing Company tour is FREE. I went on this slick tour the summer after I got out of the Peace Corps during my across the United States by bus sweep. I still remember the great time I had hanging out in the beer garden listening to music and visiting with my friends. Of, course, the beer garden isn’t open in the winter, but the Miller Inn is. At Lakefront Brewery the tour will cost you $5, unless you go on Friday. In that case, it’s $10. A fish fry is included in the price, so when you think of that, what a deal. You also get to keep the glass. This brewery is considered the most environmentally friendly in Wisconsin. The Sprecher Brewing Company tour is a chance to brush up on some beer brewing history at the Rathskeller museum before taking in the tour and the tasting. The tours cost $3 for adults and $2 for seniors. The $1 charge for the under 21 crowd is donated to charities. You get to take the souvenir glass home.

I haven’t been to Sarnac Brewery, but after discovering its Web site, I thought, this is appealing. The brewery has been making the good stuff since 1888. Personally, I love the labels and we do buy the beer, even in Ohio. Spending time in Utica, NY in the Adirondacks wouldn’t be a bad way to spend some time, either. Look at all there is to do in the city itself. I assume the tours are free since the Web site doesn’t say otherwise. You need to call for reservations, so ask.

I’ve also been on the Guinness brewery Storehouse tour in Dublin, Ireland. Even though I’m not too fond of heavy beer, the tour was great and I was more than happy to down the complimentary pint at the end of it.

Where ever your traveling, check out the brewery options. Maybe, you’ll find a local brewing company that offers tours and tastes. People who brew beer are passionate about it and it’s catching. Also, if you’re not a beer drinker and you have children along, these are kid-friendly places with soda options.

P.S. I noticed that I included wine-tasting in the title of this post, but didn’t included that. Stay-tuned.