Stockholm

I've arrived in Stockholm. Now, I'll fill you in what's been happening since my last post. Globus provided a free dinner for us last night at the hotel. It turned out to be so-so. I found it disappointing after the awesome dinner we had in Arhus, Denmark. We had an early departure so I hit the sack early. To my annoyance, I couldn't get the air conditioning in the room to work right. Because of that, I didn't sleep well.

One good thing about not sleeping well is it makes it easy to get up early. I did and had my bag ready and waiting. Then, I headed to breakfast. It turned out the hotel did a better job on breakfast than it did on dinner. I was pleasantly pleased.

After breakfast, I chilled for a little before boarding our bus. We had a long drive as we had to drive completely across Sweden and then go North. It ended up being a 6 hour trip with a 1 hour stop for lunch. The drive was nice as we got to see the Swedish countryside and some of their numerous lakes. It rained some but that wasn't a problem as we were inside the bus. Finally, we arrived in Stockholm around 3:15 p.m. Ironically, we arrived early and the hotel wasn't ready for all of us. Cleaning ladies were still working on our rooms. As they finished, we received our room assignments.

Tonight, for those of us who signed up for it, we get to do a walking tour of the Old City of Stockholm. After that, we have dinner in a 13th century wine cellar. It should be a nice evening. Stay tuned for further updates. Cheers all!

Tour Update

I've arrived in Gothenburg, Sweden today. We took a ferry from Fredericshavn, Denmark. The ferry crossing was uneventful. Harvey and I explored the ferry and there wasn't anything exciting. After we arrived and got back on the bus, Arvid our guide, took us up a hill where we could see all of Gothenburg Harbor and the city. It was an impressive view. I took a few pictures. Then, we drove around the city a little before arriving at our hotel. The Scandic Europa is all right. After I dropped off my bag in my room, I headed for the Gothenburg Hard Rock Cafe where I bought t-shirts for my sister and I. There are only 2 more cafes on my list: Stockholm and Oslo.

Now, I'd like to catch you up on everything else that has happened. Yesterday, it was time to depart Copenhagen. We pulled out around 8 a.m. and drove to Odense. Odense is the birthplace of Hans Christian Anderson. We visited his home/museum. It was very nice. I was particularly struck by all the hardships Anderson suffered in his life. He showed incredible perseverance.

After Anderson's home, we headed to Arhus where we visited Den Gamle By. Den Gamle By houses a number of old Danish buildings from the 16th to early 20th century. I found the old buildings fascinating. We had an hour and a half to explore and I wish we'd stayed longer. It is definitely worth visiting.

It was time to head to our hotel. We stayed at the SAS Radisson. According to Arvid, it is the best of the hotels we'll stay in. My impression was it is a superb hotel. I wish we had stayed in something like it in Copenhagen. At 7 p.m., we had a group dinner though dinner doesn't do it justice. It was more of a feast. If you didn't leave stuffed, it was because you didn't want to. The dinner was outstanding. The next morning, I cut back on breakfast because of the dinner the night before.

That's all to report. Tomorrow morning, we depart for Stockholm. It'll be a bit of a long drive, over 300 miles. Still, we'll get to see lots of Swedish countryside. Stay tuned for further updates. Cheers!

Arhus Update

I have to make this quick as the internet connection at the Arhus SAS Hotel costs 40 cents a minute. Serious ouch!

We had our first group meeting Monday evening. I found out we have 43 in our group. We had 44 but the next day, Sherry Jensen fell at Christianborg and broke both her elbows. I felt terribly sorry for this lady. To come all this way and to have an accident just when the tour begins that forces her to return home. What a serious bummer!

Tuesday, we did a city tour of Copenhagen with a local guide. She did a great job. We had a break in which Harvey and I caught a boat tour of the canals. It ended up being really nice. It was fascinating to go through them. I thought they looked a lot nicer though not as old as Amsterdam's.

In the afternoon, I took the optional tour that took us to Fredericsborg, once a royal palace. It was very impressive. After that, we visited Fredensborg which is the Danish royal families summer residence. We got to see the outside and it was nice. Last, we visited Elsinore Castle, the setting for Shakespeare's Hamlet. The ramparts were VERY big and VERY impressive. I wish we could've seen the inside of it but, we didn't have the time.

Last, everyone received a ticket to the Tivoli Gardens which is a very famous amusment park. I found it all right and pricey. It turned out all the ticket did was allow us in so we could spend more money at the restaurants and on the rides. I rode some of the rides which was fun. I haven't done that in years. Around 9 p.m., I called it a day as we had to get up early this morning for our trip to Hans Christian Anderson's home. I'll talk about that in my next post. Cheers all!

Arrived

I arrived safely in Copenhagen this morning. My flight on Continental was uneventful. I did think the seats were smaller than usual in economy. Also, the breakfast they served us was totally pathetic. We received one hot croissant and a small bowl of pealed orange slices. I also thought their beer was expensive. It cost $5 for a can of either Foster's, Heineken, Miller's or Miller's Lite. I'm not looking forward to flying back with them when the tour is over.

Danish immigration and customs was very easy to my relief. To my annoyance, our tour guide didn't show up till 10 a.m. It would've been nice if he had been there to meet us.

The hotel (First Vesterbro on Vesterbrogade) I'm staying appears to be good. It's just down the street from the Tivoli Gardens. After I checked in, Harvey and I went exploring. We managed to find the Hard Rock Cafe to my delight. I bought my sister her promised Hard Rock Cafe t-shirt. After that, we went to a pizza place that had an all you can eat pizza and salad bar. For the money, it was a good deal. It cost $11 approximately (55 Danish Kronor), and had decent pizza. The salad bar was all right too. After our pizza lunch, we explored down the other end of Vesterbrogade. I was very surprised by how many 7-11 stores they have here. I had no idea they were that popular here. We also visited a Danish supermarket. It was interesting. I couldn't tell you what a number of the items were. I was astonished to find a post office inside the supermarket. I plan to go back there when I want to mail some postcards.

Tonight, the entire group will meet for the first time. Members of the group will be arriving throughout the day. I'm curious to find out how many are in our group. I heard from Joel Mills that the tour was totally booked up but, I have no idea what that means in terms of numbers. Tomorrow, the tour will begin in earnest at 8:30 a.m. when we do a tour of the city. It should be interesting. That's all for now. Stay tuned for further updates. Cheers all!

Advantages of a Globus Tour

Three days ago, I decided to check reviews on http://www.tripadvisor.com/ on hotels I'll be staying at. I couldn't imagine Globus picking some dumps. From what I read, it sounds like the hotels will be all right though the rooms may be smaller than what I'm use to in the states.

While looking at the hotel reviews, I also took down the price per night of each hotel. I wanted to see if the tour I'll be going on was a good deal. Based on what it would cost to stay at each hotel for the number of nights I'll be staying there during the tour, it is a good deal. If I booked each hotel via one of the on-line booking services, I could expect to pay $2,969 alone for hotels. This doesn't include the breakfast buffet many of these hotels offer. The buffet can add another $15 or more per day. The price of my tour was $2,319 with an additional $595 single room charge for a total of $2,914. That means, I'll save at least $55 on hotels but, that doesn't reflect the total savings.

For starters, my transportation is included with the price of the tour. For 14 days, there will be a driver and bus to take the troup I'll be with to all the places we'll be visiting. Also, the tour includes 7 dinners. Figuring on a minimum of $25 per dinner, that would be worth at least $175. It also includes the ferry crossing from Frederickhavn to Gothenburg and a cruise on Sognefjord. I have no idea what those would cost but I doubt they're cheap. Lastly, there are guided tours of Copenhagen, Stockholm and Oslo as well as orientation visits to Gothenburg and Bergen.

Another item that would be hard to put a price on is the use of a guide the entire time. This is one thing I particularly like about the tour. I'll have the services of someone who is very knowledgeable about the countries and who can answer any questions I have about them. They can probably speak the languages of the various countries and so interpret for me if that is needed. They can help me avoid any number of pitfalls I'd be likely to fall into if I were on my own. Remember, I've never been to Denmark, Sweden or Norway. Once I've been to these countries and got a feel for them, I'll feel fine visiting on my own but, for my first visit, I like having the services of someone who knows the ropes as us Americans say.

Overall, I feel Globus tours are a good value. If you booked the various tours and hotels yourself, you'd probably end up paying more. They are also very convenient and easy. From the time you arrive at your destination country, they take care of you. The hardest part of the Australia tour I went on taking my bag to and from my hotel room. You don't have to mess with keeping track of various reservations or making sure you arrive for such and such tour in time. When Harvey and I went to New York City, we found out how much Globus had spoiled us. No one met us at Penn Station when we arrived. No one took us to where the Greyline tours started. No one told us how to get back to our hotel or where Radio Music City Hall was. Globus would've done all those things. The nice thing about Globus is they allow you to concentrate on having fun. Isn't that what vacations are supposed to be about?

Disclaimer: Just so all my readers know, I'm not in any way affiliated with Globus i.e. I don't work for them. I have contributed stories and photos to http://www.exchangetravelstories.com which is run by the Globus family of travel companies. I have received 1,300 GO points for those stories. When you earn enough GO points (2,400 points for a $10 gift certificate), you can exchange them for gift certificates to Amazon.com and GiftCertificates.com. I feel my stories have told both good and bad things about their tours.

Maryland Renaissance Festival

They finally posted the entertainment schedule (it was supposed to be posted the beginning of the month and wasn't posted till nearly the middle of the month) for the Maryland Renaissance Festival. A number of perennial favorites will be returning. The Rogues will be warming things up with their fantastic bagpipes. Hack and Slash will be back with their whip mayhem. The excellent juggler the Squire on the Wire will be back to do more juggling derring-do. And Fight School will be back to teach audiences about various swords while making them laugh with their funny repartee. To my delight, I'll get another chance to see the Medieval Baebes. They return the last weekend of the festival to knock out festival goers with their beauty and their music. I definitely plan to see their show.

A little reminder, the festival kicks off the weekend of August 25th and 26th (just 5 days away, mark your calendars!). The festival runs every weekend through October 21st. There is tons of free parking. Admission is $8 for children (7 to 15 years old), $18 for adults (16 to 61) and $15 for seniors (62 plus). Their hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. rain (I can testify to that) or shine. For further information including how to get to the festival, please check out their website at http://www.rennfest.com/. Hope to see you there.

Gandalf Staff

One of the items that I had in my Lord of the Rings collection was a Gandalf Staff by United Cutlery. It's a replica of the white staff that Gandalf uses after he returns in The Two Towers. It's a very pretty staff and I was delighted to own one.

While working at Medieval Times, I took various items of my collection in to show them to my co-workers. They were equally appreciative of the beauty or the coolness factor of getting to see some of the items. Accidents happen and my Gandalf Staff was damaged. It was accidentally knocked over and broken by Mike Vertelli, the head of Sound & Lighting. He very kindly offered to replace it. I wasn't worried about the matter and didn't press him to replace it. Then, I had my falling out with him over the castle guard thing and the staff was never replaced. Part of that was because I didn't care to talk to him after the way he told me when my last day was at the castle.

So, I needed to replace my broken Gandalf Staff. Things have changed since I bought that one. United Cutlery went bankrupt and lost the license to make any of the Lord of the Rings items. Once something is no longer made, the price tends to go up on it and that was the case concerning the Gandalf Staff. I went in search of one on Ebay, found one and managed to win the bid on one. It ended up costing me $50 more than my first one. Oh well. I knew it wouldn't be cheap but, I wanted one for my collection. Now, my only concern is getting it before I leave for my Scandanavia trip. I emailed the seller and told him when it had to arrive by. If it can't arrive by that date, I asked him to hold it till I return. We'll see what happens there.

Correction on Laser Comb

I have a correction to make concerning the laser comb. I spoke with Steve Hodgkins who is the one who told me the various options out there concerning hair loss. It turns out that the laser comb won't cause new hair growth. What it does do is break up more of the DHT hormone in the scalp. This can increase the blood flow to the hair strengthening the hair roots that are already there. Concerning the percentages, there isn't a set consistent effectiveness percentage using the laser comb i.e. 40%, 50% or whatever. The big advantage it has over Propecia is that it is considerably cheaper to use vice the drug. One year's worth of Propecia would cost you over $744 at Costco. The comb costs approximately $580. Medical Hair Restoration offers a treatment called laser therapy which does the same thing the laser comb does. The comb offers the advantage that you don't have to schedule visits to their offices. You can do the therapy yourself whenever you want. You must use the comb 10 to 15 minutes, 3 times a week for it to have any effect.

Personal Propecial Trial Update

I felt it was time to post an update on Propecia. Propecia is a drug that decreases the amount of DHT hormone in people. For men, what this drug does is stop hair loss. This means it can prevent a guy from going bald. As far as I know, it the only drug on the market that is 90% in doing this. The drug also has very few side effects. There are three downsides I've seen to the drug. First, there is the cost. The drug is very expensive. A 3 month supply will cost you $182 from Costco. You may be able to find it cheaper elsewhere. Vanity in this case isn't cheap. Second, you must take the drug at the same time every day. I have to watch the clock every morning to make sure I take it around the same time. This can be a bit annoying. The reason for this presumably is to ensure you keep a steady low level of DHT and thereby ensure your body continues to grow new hair to replace lost hair. The third downside I've seen is that you must take it for life. If you stop taking it, your DHT levels will go back up to where they were before you started taking the drug and you'll start losing your hair again.

After 3 months of taking the drug, I can see that I'm not going any balder. Appearance wise, I appear to have a normal head of hair which is nice. It's only when you push aside some of the hair that you can see scalp. In the future, I hope to try a laser comb. The comb isn't as effective as Propecia but, it reportedly can start new growth. I'd like to get my hair thicker if possible. To any who may read this blog, if you suspect you are going bald and you don't want to, you need to see about getting yourself on Propecia as soon as possible. The reason I say that is because, the sooner you start taking the drug, the sooner you stop your hair loss and the more hair you'll retain. This is the only regret I have in my case. I could see I was gradually going bald but couldn't decide whether to really pursue the matter or not. Fortunately, I saw Dr. Ballon about the matter before I needed a more radical and expensive solution which is hair transplants. Those can cost you up to a whopping $4,000! Serious ouch!!!!!

FYI, I'm not an expert in hair loss matters nor Propecia. I'm merely stating what I know and what I've observed using Propecia. You may have different experiences with the drug. Propecia is not recommended for women or children. Before taking the drug, definitely talk to a doctor about it so you know what you're doing.

Update March 9th, 2014: Two generic versions of Propecia have come out in the United States making the drug a LOT cheaper (see blog entries about them). My latest refill cost me $72.50 for a 3 month supply at Sam's Club. However, in order to get that price, you must be an Advantage Plus level member.

Globus Documents

I've been waiting anxiously for my Globus documents. I need them in order to go on the Scandanavia trip I signed up for. My travel agent Joel mailed them on July 31st. All of last week, I anxiously checked with the carrier who delivers my mail. He never saw them. Today, I decided for S&Gs to see if they were at the apartment manager's office. To my surprise, they were. The normal procedure if that if the mail carrier can't deliver the package to you, he will leave a 3849 or some other kind of note letting you know you have a package at the apartment manager's office. For some reason, I never got one. I plan to ask the carrier what happened when he gets back from a trip he went on this week.

I'm thankful I have the documents. They were my biggest worry. Now, I get to start figuring out what I'm going to take clothes wise and what optional tours I'm going to take. Globus has some nice ones. They have a walking tour of Old Copenhagen which would be neat. There is also a ride of the Flam Railway. I haven't forgotten the train I rode out of Cairns. It was awesome. There is also a trip to the museum housing the Ra and Kon-tiki boats. It'll be neat to get see those.

I hope to find internet cafes I can use while on my trip so I can post updates on the tour. Then, you'll get to see where I've been and hear about any sights of interest. I don't plan on posting any pictures until I get back. I hope you'll find those posts interesting. It should be an awesome trip.

Sakura Japanese Steak and Seafood House

Restaurant Review

Another restaurant who I deliver mail to is the Sakura Japanese Steak and Seafood House on Baltimore Avenue just down from the Academy Ford Dealership. From the outside, it looks like a nice enough restaurant and it has decent parking. I decided to try it out today.

When I walked in, I was promptly greeted and taken to a seat that sat to the side of the grill the chef was going to use to cook the food. In this type of Japanese restaurant, the chef slices and cooks the food right in front of you. He'll also show some of the juggling skills by throwing the spatala and cooking fork in the air and catching them. It's an impressive display.

Food wise, I decided to splurge and I ordered the lobster and a ginger ale to drink. I racked up almost 19 hours of overtime this week at the Post Office so I felt I deserved a treat. In addition to the lobster, all entrees come with a complimentary appetizer, soup and salad. I found the soup to be outstanding. My only complaint of sorts was I would've liked to have had more. It was that good. The salad was decent enough. It had some kind of salad dressing that I couldn't identify. Also with an entree, you get a choice of steamed or fried rice. I was glad I chose the fried rice as the chef did a great job with it. The vegetables were firm and nicely cooked. The rice tasted superb. Appetizer wise, I had two shrimp flambe which I found good. The lobster was wonderfully prepared and I enjoyed every bite. The restaurant did offer some desserts but I decided to pass on those.

Price wise, I thought the restaurant was good value. My ginger ale cost me $1.95 and came with unlimited refills. I know that for a fact as I put a hurting on them there. My lobster entree was $29.95 and was a very good deal. I received 2 lobster tails and the food I've already mentioned. Service was outstanding. My glass was rarely empty for long before our great waitress promptly filled it up again.

Overall, I was completely satisfied with this restaurant. I definitely plan to go back. Also, I plan to take my friend Harvey there when he comes up this way some time. I think he'd really enjoy it. This is one restaurant I'd definitely recommend. If you like Japanese food, you should try the Sakura Japanese Steak and Seafood House. They have locations throughout Maryland. Their website is http://sakurasteakhouse.com. Bon Appetit!

Restaurant Review

One of the businesses I deliver mail to on rural route 15 is the Cold Stone Creamery at 13600 Baltimore Avenue. Every time I've walked in there, the place has smelled of delicious diet busting treats. Because of that, it moved to the top of my list of restaurants I had to try. Today, I visited the creamery. Here are my opinions on what I thought of the place.

I walked and found out that the creamery doesn't have small, medium and large sizes for their ice cream. They have like it, love it and gotta have it sizes. According to their website, they think this is cool though I found it annoying when trying to place my order. How much do you get ice cream wise for a like it ice cream? You get 5 ounces. The love it translates to 8 ounces and the gotta have it equates to 12 ounces. In regards to shakes and smoothies, they only have like it and love it which are different from their ice cream sizes. A like it shake will be 12 ounces while a love it shake will be 20.

After seeing what they had, I decided to try their very vanilla milk shake and a creation ice cream. Their very vanilla milk shake has french vanilla ice cream, skim milk and caramel (source: http://www.coldstonecreamery.com/drinks/drinks_faq.html#shake_serve). For a milk shake that was supposed to be very vanillaish, it wasn't. I was very UNIMPRESSED with their milk shake. I was also a bit shocked by its price. A gotta have it size milk shake will set you back a still $6. In my opinion, that is some serious change for a milk shake. Frankly, I think you could make a better one at home for less money. My rating on their vanilla milk shake is they're a rip-off.

Cold Stone Creamery features 3 types of ice cream dishes. You have just ice cream, you have what they call a creation which is ice cream with 1 item of your choice and they have their signature creations. As to what you can get mixed with your ice cream, the creamery offers a large and impressive choice of items. You can get gummi bears, chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, sprinkles, walnuts, pecans, Heath toffee bars, Snickers candy bars, Butterfinger candy bars, Reeses peanut butter cups, Oreo cookies, almonds, M&Ms, brownies and still many more. You decide what items you want mixed in though the more items you choose, the more you pay. Signature creations are ice cream dishes that the creamery has come up with and found so popular that they are part of their regular menu. Examples of these are Banana Caramel Crunch, Berry Berry Berry Good and Cookie Minster. If you want to see the full list of signature creations, see this webpage: http://www.coldstonecreamery.com/icecream/original_creations.html. For your information, as the signature creations have the most ingredients in them, they are the most expensive ice cream dishes the creamery has though the largest size signature creation cost $5.40 not including tax at the restaurant I visited.

I decided to try their gotta have it size butter pecan with pecans added. I found the ice cream decent. I enjoyed the pecans I had added. I found it interesting to watch the person filling my order mix the pecans in. They have a special counter where they slap the ice cream, flatten it, pour the ingredients to be added on top and then knead the ice cream like you would bread dough. Once the person is done mixing the ingredients, their scrape the concoction off the counter and put it in the appropriate size cup. If you tell the staff that it is your first visit to the creamery, the entire staff will cheer out FIRST TIMER. They will also cheer out a happy birthday if you or someone in your party is having a birthday. Cost wise, my ice cream was $4.79 plus tax. For what I received, I thought that was reasonable. Their prices are comparable to Dairy Queen with the plus that you are getting better quality ice cream.

Overall, I thought Cold Stone Creamery to be pricey and in the case of their shakes, a rip-off. Their ice cream is all right but in opinion, it isn't better than Breyer's or Hagen Daz. If you are in the mood for an ice cream treat but don't want to mess with fixing it yourself, you might want to try them. Their website has a restaurant/shop locater tool that will help you find the closest creamery to where you live. http://www.coldstonecreamery.com/. Cheers!