Potter

IN AN industry riddled with
half-truths and = flim-flam,
Helen Bergstrom is a
tourism professional whose
message comes across like a
breath of fresh air.

“‘Accommodation in
Copenhagen,”” she tells a meeting
in Vancouver, ‘‘is expensive."' By
this she means, and she spells it
out, that a double room starts at
$125 a night.

Copenhagen, of course, is not
alone. European capitals have
never been cheap, and this year
Europe, fanned by enthusiasm for
the defrocking of communism, will
be hopping. In such a situation
hoteliers are unlikely to turn their
backs on capitalism.

Tourists looking for bargains
might try Albania, whose govern-
ment in Tirana once inspired a
wonderful headline in the Guard-
ian newspaper. The headline, over
a Story reporting a good year for
the economy, read ‘Tirana boom
today.””

Every year otherwise sensible
people are deterred from going to
Europe because somebody says it’s
expensive. Well, it depends how
old you are. Many people can af-
ford it but are determined to die
rich in real estate and BMW-
endowments to ungrateful neph-

38 - Sunday, June 3, 1990 — North Shore News

ews,

Has anyone looked at the price
of a hotel room in Vancouver
recently? A double room at the

David Wishart

Four Seasons in July starts at
$195, while the Century Plaza, a
good hotel slightly removed from
the city centre, is $110.

New hotel rooms in Hawaii are
routinely coming on market at
$400 a night, these days a bargain
rate in Tokyo.

Younger people,

and those

Be prepared for illness

From page 37
you purchase if you have a chronic
condition such as diabetes or heart
disease.

Policies are available that will
provide proper coverage, but they
are difficult to find. If the agent
carries all your insurance he has
added incentive to keep looking.

A final word of caution: All
travellers should carry adequate

Nw tT!
Cockiau panties!
Cdn. $ at par, tree /
dail and more!

ws

funds of their own. If little wifey
lets daddy carry all the traveller's
cheques and the plastic, she'll be
up the creek if daddy gets hit by a
truck!

In the case of my friend, it was a
runaway car that hit him but the
result was the sane. His wife near-
ly starved to death while she
waited for funds from home.

We Invite You

to a

featuring
Scandinavia
& Russia

Sailing Aug. Ll, 1991 from London, returning
13 days later on the magnificent “Crown
Odyssey”. This cruise sells out a year
ahead of time, EVERY YEAR. Join us on
THURSDAY, JUNE 21, 7:30 p.m. in the lower
activity room of St. David's Church, Upper
Levels & Taylor Way, West Vancouvel

Door Prizes
Refreshments
Admission $3.00

(refundable on booking)

BE IN THE “NO”

RS.V.P.
926-4344

ruise Line &

DRINKING DRIVING
COUNTERATIACK

young at heart, can find rooms in
Paris for $20 a night, if they are
prepared to get up and go and ask
questions. They might even start
off with a superb little handbook
Sleep Cheap in Paris, by Sandra
Gustafson (Raincoast $11.95) the
best guidebook I’ve seen in years.
In addition to the listings it is
loaded with good advice for travel-
lers of all ages.

Paris, London and Amsterdam
have loads of inexpensive accom-
modation because they are big cit-
ies that have been catering to large
numbers of young travellers for
many years.

Copenhagen, along with Rome
and Berlin, do have places where
budget tourists will feel at home;
it’s just that there is not the same
volume of literature or street-talk
to go with them.

The Danes have bed and
breakfast places, but they don’t
promote them. What you must do
is go to the railway station in
Copenhagen and look for the ac-
commodation kiosk.

Getting to Denmark has never
been easier, what with non-stop
flights by Scandinavian Airlines
System (SAS) from Seattle to
Copenhagen, relaxed trans-border
customs regulations and good
Vancouver-Seattle air connections.

Canadian Airlines now flies to
Copenhagen via Toronto, and
KLM has frequent services from
Vancouver to nearby Amsterdam.

Once in Europe, Denmark is on-
ly a short drive away. And when
there, all you need is a bicycle; the
country is as flat as a pancake
which makes it ideal for family
touring. (Try a tent for really eco-

Summertim

a
* |
Boao:

Photo submitted

WHEN THE Queen is in residence in Copenhagen — which is normally

from November to April— the Royal Life Guard marches most days
through the old city to perform the changing of the guard ceremony at
Amalienborg Castle at noon, leaving Rosenborg Castle at 11:30 a.m.

nomical travel.)

A notable event this year is the
display of Queen Margrethe’s
200-year-old Flora Danica
porcelain dinner service, the largest
single porcelain service from the
18th century of any royal house-
hold in Europe.

it will be on display at Chris-
tianborg Palace until Sept. 30.

Outside of Copenhagen, good
double rooms go for $70 a night,
although you’l! pay more for digs
in a castle such as Dragsholm Slot
(the Dragon’s Home), which has
resident ghosts known as the Gray
Lady and the White Lady.

Inmates of its dungeons include
the Earl of Bothwell, married to
Mary Queen of Scots after ihe
murder of Lord Darnley, who later
fled to Denmark only to be accus-

e Blues?

ed of piracy and breaking a prom-
ise to marry a Norwegian girl (ap-
parently no trifling matter).

In 1573 he was locked up and
died there, insane, five vears after.
Copenhagen, meanwhile, con-
tinues to make merry with the
wonderful Tivoli gardens, while
across the read there is the Scala,
the city’s newest shopping centre
and food mecca. Choose from 23
different restaurants, some nicely
spicey, add a pint of cold
Carlsberg, and sit outside and
watch the world go by.

This is the joy of Europe, and
it’s worth every penny.

For more information contact
the Danish Tourist Board, P.O.

Box 115, Postal Station N,
Toronto, Ont. M8V 3S4, 416-
823-9620.

We've got work for you now.

f you’re a high school or college student you could use a little walk-
ing around money in your jeans during summer break, right?

You'll be pleasantly surprised about the money you can make delivering the

this week.

If you don’t want to be just
hanging around broke this sum-
mer, then give us a call now. We
can probably put you to work

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SUNDAY + WEDNESDAY - URIDAY

North Shore News ... especially if you have a car. By working a couple of hours,
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