A couple of weekends ago Ann and I went on a short trip to Denmark to make a round to friends and family. Apart from the old folk we went on baby patrol and visited a cousin of mine who just had a little Astrid and a couple of high school friends who had Frederik. We also went up to visit my sister who is expecting a family expansion in June.
With my sister, Mogens and Magnus we went for a drive in the beautiful forests south of Ã…rhus. We got to see the lovely early summer of Denmark when the beech trees are the brightest green and the birds are chirping and building nests.
We went to The Deer Park and came across a heard of deers that were more than happy to taste our apples. I don’t think I’ve seen anywhere else where deer is so tame that they will eat from your hands. But here they were and we had a flock of deers interested in us.
On the way back to London our flight was slightly delayed and as I was trying to find a chair in the departure hall I stumbled into a blogger. I have been reading Tina – omme i London since I decided to move to London so it was great finally meeting her. She brings her camera everywhere and following her blog was a great way for me to experience London before moving here. She does a great job of showing the lovely colorful side of the city. I love meeting bloggers that I’m reading and it was great putting a face and a voice to Tina 🙂
A blog post from me has been long overdue, I know. It’s been a month and a half so I’ll give you a quick rundown of the highlights. (For more reliable updates check my twitter or Ann’s blog)
In London
5th of November the Brits celebrate the Guy Fawkes failed attempt to blow up Parliament. We went to the local Roundwood Park to see a the fireworks. Before the show we grabbed some hotdogs and looked at all the kids fighting with light swords.
Trips to Denmark
In November I went on a round trip in Denmark partly for business but also to see friends and family. In Copenhagen I stayed with Mikkel who loves to cook (and I love to eat his food).
In Aalborg I visited Peter, Maria and little Oscar and met Martin for a beer or two at my favorite classy and trashy bars.
In Odder I had a playdate with my nephew and ended up at my parents place for a couple of days.
This Denmark trip ended with a big Christmas celebration in the barn of my aunt Solveig where the three cousins were celebrating Christmas big style. Always a big, fun party and this year cousin Rasmus was home on leave from his soldier duties in Afghanistan. Here are the three brothers Rasmus, Mogens and Christian.
Three weeks later I was back in Denmark again – this time with Ann. Since Ann and I are spending Christmas in Malta we went to exchange gifts and celebrate a mini-Christmas with my family with a nice dinner, gifts unwrapping, Lego building with Magnus and cookie making with my dad.
After the family stuff we went for a trip to Ã…rhus to see Christian, his wife and 6 month old son. Before that we went to The Old Town an open air museum where they have old buildings from all over Denmark that has been disassembled in their original spot and rebuilt in the museum.
Visits in London
Ann’s mum and sister came to visit us in London at the end of November. With them we went to see the musical Blood Brother with Melanie C. One of the other days we walked along Regent’s Canal to Camden Market.
A friend from high school Jan and his girlfriend Kristi came to London this weekend and I had a great time playing guide/discovering London with them as we walked through town on a nice winter Sunday.
With Jan and Kristi we made it to an evensong at Westminister Abbey. For the first Sunday of Advent, Ann and I had gone to St. Paul Cathedral (pictured above).
Getting out of London
We went to Canterbury in Kent for a Sunday to meet a friend of Ann. The weather was not the best but we got to see the medieval town and huge cathedral where the Archbishop of Canterbury resides.
That was it for the highlights. As mentioned Malta is coming up for Christmas and I’m really looking forward to that 🙂 Hopefully I’ll get around to writing another update or two before – if not – Merry Christmas!
This year it has been 10 years since I graduated from high school in Tønder – wow, time indeed flies.
The image above is from Christmas ’99, six month after we graduated where we gathered 22 of the 24 or so from our class. During the past 10 years we have usually tried to meet up for a dinner every year between Christmas and New Year but as people got partners and children, we have seen fewer people turn up for these events. The past couple of years we have usually been less than 10 for the dinners. So as this was the 10th year since we graduated some of us talked and some worked (Helene) to organize a dinner for all of us during the annual Tønder Festival.
To those of you who are not from Tønder, this is one of the bigger folk music festivals. The festival itself takes place in big tents on a meadow outside the town but as the population of the town triples or quadruples over this weekend the whole town is bustling with happy people, musicians and vendors trying to make a buck and many come here for the party more than the music.
Last weekend I went back to Denmark to stayed with my parents for a couple of days and catch up with my old class mates in Tønder. We met up at one of the many beer stands and started out catching up.
15 people showed up and everybody there looked liked themselves. Maybe a bit rounder and with a few more wrinkles around the eyes but when everybody was there it was like yesterday we would go to class and hang out afterwards. The old jokes and friendly teasing was on from the beginning – just like in the old days. Some things just never change. Others do. My two partners in crime during those years were now recent-father and father-to-be and their past enthusiastic conversations of Mercedes S-class, Audis and other high-octane topics were replaced by discussions of titanium baby strollers and which brands strollers was the easiest to dismantle. The vehicle had changed while the rest of the conversation was still the same, it was still the two “drengerøve”* having a passionated debate 🙂
It is not the easiest job to find a table for 15 people on Saturday of the festival but with the right connections we had managed to get a table in the festival’s restaurant Fiddlers’ Green. We spent a couple of hours there hearing what people were up to now and just having a good time. Most of us are done with our education and we have spread out to all walks of life all over Denmark (and beyond).
After dinner we went to our regular Friday afternoon retreat Cafe Victoria for a nightcap. 10 years ago I would have probably stayed out, gotten too drunk, lost my glasses and slept in a green house because I couldn’t find my friend’s house. This year I went to bed before 2 am on my designated bed well knowing where I put my glasses. I think I’m getting old – and that’s not too bad 🙂
While Czech Repulic was getting washed away I went to Denmark for a bit more than a week. I had not been back since Christmas so it was really great to get back.
I started out in Odder where I spend a day with Magnus, my nephew. First I went with him to preschool (it’s called 0th grade and the kids are 6-7 years old) and had a good time with Magnus and his classmates. During his school day we had morning singing (or whatever it is called) followed by roll call, and me telling his class a bit about what i do and about some of my travels. I didn’t really know how to approach kids at this age but they had a map of the world and Europe that we used to talk about different places and how they were different than Denmark. They seemed interested and had their own stories of trips they had made so the time went quick. Then it was time for a library visit with a fairytale reading by the librarian, followed by the class showing off what letters in the alphabet they had learned.
After school Magnus and I went home to play for the rest of the day untill Majbrit and Mogens got home. Here is a video of a slide with a “bomb” we tried to make from his bed to the living room – can you ever get too old to play with Lego? 🙂
It was really great to spend some time in Odder with family and catch up with the little guy – who is not that little any more.
Friday Ann arrived and stayed for the weekend. For once she wasn’t visiting in the winter time so I was happy to see that the weather was fairly good to us.
Saturday we packed a lunch and took off to the southwestern corner of the kingdom. First stop was the sight of where the Golden Horns were found. Apart from two stones marking the locations of the finds there wasn’t anything to see here. Apart from the tiny, cute house pictured above right next to it. The gold horns are two very unique finds in Denmark and their history is quite remarkable.
We continued to the village of Møgeltønder (pictured above) where Schackenborg Castle is situated. Schakenborg is the home of Prince Joachim, the younger of the queen’s two sons. He just had to his first child (Prince NN :)) with his second wife (his third in total – officially) so there were crowned storks in the garden to mark the expansion of the royal family.
We stopped at Hojer Mill to have our lunch and went to the coast to see dike and the vastness of the marsh landscape out west by the Wadden Sea.
At night we went to Ribe to walk around with the watchman as he told about the oldest city of Denmark.
Sunday we went to the area around Tørning and had a barbecue there with my folks.
[Picture of BBQ from dads camera – coming soon]
Ann was flying home on Monday so we spend the day making our way slowly towards the airport. We stopped in Jelling to see the rune stones and mounts marking the christening of the Danes and the burial place of Harald Bluetooth. Before Ann took off we had dinner at my aunt’s and uncles farm which is just next to the airport.
My cousin Anders graduated high school on Tuesday so there was a big party in his parents garden and the weather was perfect. Congrats to him!
Now I’m back in rainy Prague. Hopefully it doesnt stay that way because Mikkel, my thesis buddy is visiting me.
At the end of December Kathleen invited a bunch of Prague friends over for a Christmas party with food, gifts and ugly hats. That kicked off my Christmas spirit and we had a great evening with lots of laughter and good times. Here is Antone, Sascha and Julie with big smiles:
The day after there was a flash mob event on Old Town Square in the center of Prague. The idea was that everybody should show up with a pillow hidden. At exactly 18.55 someone would whistle and a pillow fight should start.
I was at the square a few minutes before it started standing next to some tourists that didnt know what was about to happen. And then the pillow fight started. Several hundred people brought out their pillow and started whacking each other. Soon the air was full of white feathers and it looked as if it had started to snow with the fluffiest snow. Below is a video I shot 30 seconds after the started.
December flew by and I went home to my parents in Toftlund. Ann flew to Denmark and spent almost two weeks with me over Christmas and New Years. Needless to say I enjoyed it immensely to share our Danish traditions with her.
Christmas in Denmark is celebrated on Christmas Eve with a nice dinner, rice pudding game for dessert, dancing around the Christmas tree and opening gifts. This year we were my parents, my sister Majbrit, her boyfriend Mogens, my nephew Magnus, Ann and me.
On Christmas Day we didnt have any plans but to work some of all the good food off we took a trip to The Dear Park by Haderslev. Afterwards we went to meet my grand parents in Styding and some of the family that lived close by. Here is Ann and I in front of the view over the lake.
A few days later we had a dinner with my high school class mates. Every year we try to gather the class and this year we were 8 (with Ann).
For New Years we made a little trip where we first went a day to Aalborg where I used to study. We stayed over night with Peter my old neighbor and his family and had a great time with them. It was a year since I visited them last so I hadnt met the cute Oscar before.
The next day we went for brunch with Tomas, a buddy from university and then met some of the girls I worked with in ESN for a coffee.
Then we headed back south and ended in Skjoldelev where we celebrated New Years with my good friend Christian and his wife Louise. The live by the village square so we could see all the fireworks just outside. A really cozy night.
My parents gave me an early birthday gift and threw a party for me inviting the extended family. So January the 3rd we had the house full of people many of them I hadnt seen in a long time so it was really nice to see them before I took off again.
On the last day we had coffee with the neighbors and then it started to snow. We took a walk in the first snow of this trip and went to feed the ducks in a nearby pond. It was hilarious to see ducks try to walk on the ice
The next day Ann went back to London and I went back to Prague.
This was probably the best Christmas Ive had as an adult thanks to all the friends and family and, of course, Ann.
The US ambasador to Denmark James P. Cain just published a book called Amerikaneren (The American) about his perspective of Denmark. His�ambassadorship is coming to an end with the change at the White House but during the three years he was in Denmark he went out an met a lot of regular people. Among other things he got on a bike and biking 2500 km meeting people all over Denmark – he even made a stop in Toftlund my tiny home town.
One of the Danish TV shows made an interview with him (the interview is in English) where they talked about how he percieved Denmark. Some of the things he said was:
It is a little hard for a stranger to feel welcome and accepted in Denmark – its a little tough to get comfortable in this society. […] I did come to understand that this society feel a bit insulated and under threat. It wants to keep the outside away. That creates some challenges for the society but also some challenges for newcomers to feel at home.
This reminded me of a blog post and subsequent discussion recently at Bluefishs blog about what its like to live as a foreigner in Denmark.
Denmark is a very homogeneous country and having experienced life elsewhere I would agree with Mr. Cain that the Danes are not always good at embrasing other cultures.
I think this was my 5th or 6th year at Roskilde Festival and this year was definitely one of the better ones. We had awesome weather, there was some great bands and some new discoveries and some well known artists that delivered more than expected.
My favourite concerts this year was probably Veto a fairly new Danish band (or new to me I should say).
The old rock n’roller Neil Young was amazing playing both his slow songs like Heart of Gold as well as the more energetic rock songs where the old man was jumping around on the stage. Rapper LOC on the picture above had a great show and loads of great songs.
Tina Dico and Teitur my two favourite singer/songwriters were both playing on Orange Stage, the biggest stage, which was not really a good choice in my opinion. However I enjoyed both concerts and they are both very skilled performers so they pulled it off in my opinion. Oh, and a reccomendation; Tina Dico has a cool Vlog/Tour Diary on YouTube – honest, funny and down to earth look into the life of an artist, start here.
Radiohead and Gnarls Barkley also had some enjoyable concerts.
I was at the festival for 9 days and lived in a tent which is always an interesting experience since the rest of the year I sleep with a roof over my head. Living outside you notice the clouds, winds, stars and birds a lot more. For the first time this year I stayed in the volunteers camping instead of amongst the commoners . It s a world of a difference. In the regular camping areas people live close, they put a lot of effort into their camps with flags, banners and even portable sound systems. However it also gets very dirty and a lot of places the party goes on all the night and I must admit that I ve gotten a bit older since I visited the festival the first time in 96. The coolest camp I came across this year was the cow camp.
Thanks to cousin Rikke for getting me the job, thanks to the rest of the people in our camp for good times we had and thanks to the people organizing for a great festival in general
Friday morning we are four guys heading on a tour of Scandinavia to see friends and have a good time. First stop will be Copenhagen for the weekend then the boat to Oslo for a day and then bus across to Stockholm. Not everything is planned out yet but I m sure we ll have a lot of fun on the way.
The picture above is Martin the Swede at a Swedish book store in Baltimore s more shady area where Adult Entertainment and Swedish Books apparently go hand in hand
Fast forwarding I spend Christmas in Toftlund and New Years Eve in Aalborg with old university buddies. I stayed in Aalborg for a couple of weeks and worked on a project with the good guys of CommunicateIT. I then headed to my parents place.
All the while I had been checking records, looking at dmi.dk for long term weather forecasts because Ann was coming to Denmark at the end of January – and as a Maltese she had never seen snow fall. Chances of snow in Denmark are however not that big, we get it occasionally during the winter but it s not that common. To give you an impression the last 100 years Denmark has been covered by snow 7 times on Christmas Day. End of January came and it looked like all we would be getting was the first storm of the year.
Ok, so finally Ann came to Denmark and we had a great week seeing place, meeting people and enjoying each others company. We started out in Copenhagen (without a camera) were we walked around a little bit and then went to see Mozart s Lucio Silla at the Royal Theatre.
Neither of us had seen an opera before so it was an interesting experience but it didn t really blow us away. The next day we walked a bit more and saw Nyhavn, the Royal Palace and The Marble Church.
We drove back home to Jylland just in time before they closed the two main bridges in Denmark due to the storm. Back in the sticks we went out to a farm close by were we got to greet some of the newborns.
The next day we headed to the oldest town in Denmark, Ribe were we saw the old cathedral and went up the tower nearly to be blown off. Ribe is a cozy little town but the weather was really bad with rain and wind so we didn t make it that far in our layers upon layers of warm cloths.
The whole family joined together for the weekend on the island of Fanø (a bit less than 1/5 the size of Malta). We spend the weekend in a summer house, well heated by the the wood stove having it hyggeligt.
The storm had past the west coast and lo and behold it it s wake came this
Enough snow for a proper snow fight and enough to build a small snow man.
All in all a nice cosy family weekend and I really enjoyed showing Ann my family and vice versa. The day after I followed Ann to Bremen were her flight was from and I continued on to Prague.
It s nice to be back home in Prague although it is still really cold here. In little more than a month I m going to Malta again for some rays of Ann and rays of sun
