TRAVEL - single special memory of a place you've been?

Relay! Välkommen till a2k!

Thanks for the beautiful pictures of my hometown, as you said the crownjewel of Sweden! Gothenburg, the gate to the world!

Tack så mycket

(wow ännu en svensk i en engelskspråkigt forum)

Let's keep it english here, and swedish in pm's! The other guys and gals are always annoyed when we talk anything else her, lol!

G'day Relay

Välkommen till a2k! Do you live in Gothenburg? And you must be one of the very few Swedes who haven't been to Sydney!

You're right - it is unusual to see Swedish in an English-speaking forum, and you've probably just about exhausted my knowledge of the language. But you are allowed to talk Australian here as well!

Thanks for the pictures of Sweden, as well as Barcelona and Paris. I've been to Sweden several times, but not to those places. Putting them on my list.

Gothenburg looks good - but my friends from there migrated to Oz before I could visit them. I am just in the process of booking my flights to Sweden for June - I've never been there in summer before. My friends, however, live in your dreaded 08's, and in the 220's. We are planning to go north, but no plans yet for the west.

Enjoy your time at A2K. Sing out if you need any help!

Relay, Thank you for sharing those great photos. When I saw the pictures of Paris, it reminded me of a funny incident I had many years ago in the city of lights. I stayed at a hotel adjacent to the Seine River, and I had the large window open as I went to sleep. At about 11:30PM or so, my room was flooded with bright light, and my response was, "my god, he's here!" When I looked out the window, it was just a tour boat with bright lights shining on the buildings. And to think, I'm an atheist. LOL c.i.

I'd like to share another special memory with you guys. It was the first time my Dad had been back to his home country -Poland after the ravages of the second world war, it had been 25 years since he had seen his brothers and sisters, the ones that lived, and his Mum had died the year before. The unbottling of all those years of emotion was something for a 12 year old to behold and I remember it as if it were yesterday.

hiama, What part of Poland is your family from? I've only been to Warsaw and Crakow, but remember my visit to Poland as if it was yesterday. c.i.

Margo my cousin have been seeling things near the opera house in Sydney last year i think but i have never been outside europe. It annoying me that some of my relatives have traveled far longer than i have. My oldest cousin (kusin on swedish) work in germany these days. And Margo maybe i can guide you around in Sweden

Inside Sweden i have been in these cities below.

Malmö, Helsingborg, Lund, Laholm, Båstad, Halmstad, Lysekil, Göteborg, Kungsbacka, Mölndal, Alvesta, Kalmar, Ronneby, Karlskrona, Kristianstad, Karlshamn, Jönköping, Linköping, Stockholm,

the best swedish towns are
1 Göteborg
2 Ronneby
3 Halmstad
4 Laholm
5 Jönköping

And i am not from any of these cities i am from the city who have been awarded to be the popstad city of the year 2003. My homecity is Växjö

Speaking of Poland, I remember my trip to Auswichz (did I spell it right) - changed my whole perspective on life. I remember that I was not able to speak for one whole day after that trip, every time I tried opening my mouth, I almost burst into tears..

Relay

Thanks for your offer. This will be my fourth (or maybe 5th) visit to Sweden, mostly for short periods while I am in Europe. I miss my good friends.

Apart from getting there, nothing else has been decided as yet. I see you live in the glass-making area of Sweden - I've not travelled that far south, except by through train. But all of Sweden is quite lovely.

Some people do travel more than others - it's just a matter of making different choices. And certainly lots of Swedes travel to Australia. It's just soooo different to Sweden.

I'll let you know if I look like heading your way (so you can leave town in a hurry!)

Enjoy your time on A2K.

c.i. My Dad's family came from the Poznan area, although some of them have moved near Zakopane a lovely part of Poland near the Czech border.

Relay

As with Margo I share a love of Sweden and spent some nice times there, I have visited Helsingborg, Malmo, Jonkoping, Ljungby, Varnamo and Vaxjo

I would love, if that is the right word, to visit Auschwitz or one of the death camps - because I think we need to face these things.

A friend's father died a year ago - he and his two brothers survived 3 years in Auschwitz - the other two are still alive - Hitler got him in the end - the TB left over from then rekindled. Still - 89 was a good long life to live in despite of hell. As my friend said - it wasn't all good though - although he was a devoted and wonderfully loving father, whenever she broke her heart or suffered some trauma he would always say: "Dollink! Thees ees nothing! Ve haf survived Auschwitz!" Put a dampener on a good cry, she said - AND he changed their name from one of those destined to live for years to a very ordinary and forgettable one - as she says: "Darling! I could have been a Lewinsky!"

Nice yarn, dlowan!

dlowan, If you do visit Poland, and get close to Crakow, don't miss the salt mines. I've maintained that that is the eight wonder of the world, but not many know of it. It's an amazing place to visit, because the salt mines have been active for a very long time. Some of the miners were artists, and the place is full of sculptures. It's really an unbelievable place, and never forgotten once you see it. c.i.

On the concentration camp theme, Dachau, near Munich, had a great effect on me.

Strangely, it did not have the same effect on my friends who visited a couple of years later. Maybe it's not so good if you can't understand the posters and signs in German which give such an impression of the attitudes of the day.

Funny (strange, not "ha ha"!), I learned German, read some of Primo Levi's books, visited Dachau and studied some of the history to the period at university.

Eventually, I was involved in investigating a private bank in Zurich to determine what they had done with the assets deposited by victims of Nazi persecution (part of a larger project chaired by Paul Volcker). It all seemed to come together and set me on the career path I now follow, as a forensic accountant. Without the background, I could never have understood the project or the plight of the victims so well.

Since some of you might go to Weimar and/or Berlin:

close to Berlin is the KZ in Oranienburg and in Weimar you really should visit Buchenau.
These two are even more interesting, since the Russians and the GDR used them as well until 1953.

(Both have signs and explanations in foreign languages as well, as it is in Dachau -now- , too.)

Walter, Not many know of this, but the Japanese-American unit of the US Army was responsible for the release of prisoners from Dachau. Many Jews in the San Francisco Bay Area are aware of this, and they have acknowledged this many times in the past since WWII. c.i.

c.i.

This might then be of special interest to you:

"Liberators" without end, and no end to "Liberators" ...

OK Margo but i dont think you are so dangerous to me. I want to visit Australia but i cant do that until i get money enought.

But first Barcelona this summer.

Relay

You'll love Barcelona. Spain is such a contrast to Sweden. The colours, the light, the atmosphere, even the look of the people are all different. And alcohol is much more freely available! (Unfortunately, this often brings Swedish travelers undone! This is not a good look) .

My friends in Stockholm travel to southern Spain at least once a year, for their fill of flamenco music and dance. They do classes in music (guitar and flute), flamenco dancing and Spanish language. They were considering buying a place there. They decided against it - RATS!