Another failed effort to grow my passport

Posted by Seth on July 2, 2009 under Uncategorized | 3 Comments to Read

With my rather increased international travel schedule (10+ countries
so far this year) my passport has filled up quickly. I'm down to only
one fully blank page now and only about 10 total blank squares. But
that shouldn't be too much of a problem to resolve since getting extra
pages is a simple process. At least that's what folks would have you
believe. I'm now on my 4th different US embassy and have still not
managed to grow my passport, with the latest setback coming this
morning.

It used to be that having pages added while in the USA cost money
while doing it at an embassy abroad was free. The fees no longer exist
for doing it in the USA but it still requires that the passport be
mailed off the Philly, processed and mailed back. And if you want it
handled quickly there is an expedite fee involved. Otherwise there is
the potential to be without passport for weeks rather than just a week
with the expedited service. Getting it done at an embassy makes a ton
of sense since it usually is completed in about 30 minutes and has
always been free.

And so I've tried to get additional pages at the embassy. How hard
could it be? Fill out the form from the State Department website and
just head over to the embassy first thing in the morning to get it
done. Sadly, it just hasn't worked out that way for me. A number of my
international trips this year have been over weekends so those were
immediately disqualified from contention, but I've had plenty of
eligible trips that have simply ended in disappointment.

First was the trip to Panama back in March. I contacted the embassy in
advance, got all the details and paperwork and then realized that I
had no chance. They require a full day for processing according to
their email and I only had about 3 hours on Monday morning to deal
with it. I suppose I could have just shown up and asked but it didn't
seem likely so I didn't bother. Plus, we were busy seeing Casco Viejo
that morning anyways.

Next up I tried for Bermuda. I had plenty of time on the island – two
full weekdays. And still no love. Their policy is even worse than that
of Panama, with all requests taking a full week to process. Apparently
they mail them back to the USA for processing rather than doing it
locally. Plus, they don't have any parking at the consulate there and
it isn't exactly in the middle of town. So that one was out, too.

I had a glimmer of hope for this visit to Copenhagen. The consular
services office would be open one of the days I was here and there was
no reason I could think of why they wouldn't be able to quickly add
the pages for me this morning. Well, they managed to invent one. I was
in the door at 9am, right when it opened for citizen services. I
presented my paperwork and passport and was told that it would be
ready on Monday. Since I'll be on a kayak in a fjord on Monday that
wasn't going to work so well. I asked for immediate processing
instead. The guy wandered off for about 5 minutes and came back with
an offer for maybe having it done at 3pm today. Only maybe and no
promises at all. Since we're headed to Helsingor now and won't be back
until late this afternoon that just won't work. I explained my
situation again and pretty much begged him to process it immediately
as I know can be done. I received a very polite "no" in return. And so
it was that I finished the visit to the embassy in 10 minutes, just
like everyone says it takes, but I managed to do so without my extra
pages.

We won't be near the embassy in Oslo while it is open so that is out
as an option. I might have to actually give in and mail my passport
off to be processed. I hate the idea of not having it available just
in case a great fare pops up and I definitely need it back by
mid-August with more international travel planned. But thus far the
embassies haven't been able to help me so I may have to give in on
this one.

–
Where am I going today?
www.wanderingaramean.com

Playing Viking for a day at the Vikingeskibsmuseet in Roskilde

Posted by Seth on July 1, 2009 under Uncategorized | Read the First Comment

That really long word is simply Danish for Viking Museum and a visit to the Vikingeskibsmuseet is the cornerstone of a visit to Roskilde, just 20 minutes west of Copenhagen.  The museum serves as both a research facility and as a display for some of the artifacts that have been recovered over the past several decades.  And they even let you play “Viking” if you want!

This boat is over 1500 years old and surprisingly well preserved.

The ships that they have recovered are nothing short of amazing.  There are at least seven that we saw, ranging from a sixty-person warship that was originally built around 1022 to an eight-seater built around 450.  Yup, a 1500+ year old specimen.  The ship from 450 is actually so well preserved that we looked at it several ties and assumed it to be a replica before finally being convinced that it is the original thing.

The reconstructed pieces of one of the five ships recovered in the 1960s.

There was a major find in 1962 of five ships at the bottom of the channel leading from Roskilde to the sea.  The five were intentionally sunk by loading them with rocks.  They were scuttled as part of a defensive effort to blockade the channel, allowing the Danes to control access to their port and slow any advancing navies that might attack.  A rather impressive amount of those ships was recovered and they have been reassembled and placed on display in the museum.

One of the recovered ships was actually recreated by the museum starting in 2004.  The Sea Stallion of Glendalough was built using tools and methods of the Viking style and era and using similar woods that the Vikings had available.  This 30 meter long reconstruction was completed in 2007 and sailed from Denmark to Dublin, Ireland as part of their research.  The exhibit and movie that they have on the reconstruction and the journey to Ireland is quite impressive.

There are also a number of workshops and other research facilities that are open to the public.  Almost all of their reconstruction efforts are performed using only the tools and methods of 1000 years ago meaning that the progress is slow but quite amazing to watch.

In addition to the many ships that they have on display there are a few that are kept in use, allowing visitors to experience life as a Viking.  We were able to take a ship out for about a half hour and experience a bit of the life on the water.  We got to row the boat out from the docks and then help raise the sail and cruise under wind power for a bit before heading back to the docks.  Unfortunately the winds weren’t particularly strong today but it was still quite an enjoyable experience.

Beyond the Viking Museum there isn’t much to recommend Roskilde.  The town was actually somewhat overrun today with folks settling in for the annual music festival which meant huge crowds.  And the main streets were mostly full of vendors selling what would politely be called “junk” in most other places.  There is a small city museum various other excavations around town.  But overall not a ton to see there.  Still, at only about 20 minutes out of town on the local trains a trip to Roskilde is definitely a great opportunity if you’re in Copenhagen.