...it's not dark yet, but it's gettin' there...
Hello everybody. As I write this, I'm sitting in an internet cafe on Vesterbrogade in the great city of København. Hey, there's a key for "ø" here! Victor, you might be interested to know that there's a protest going on right outside this place at this very moment. Bunch of dirty white dudes chanting along with an Immam. The same old shit you're seeing over there, I'm sure. The crowd is about 100, I'd guess. Che t-shirts are well represented. Now they're shouting "death to Israel" in arabic. Yes, it's one of the few arabic phrases I recognize. There's also a flag of Hezbollah, and an American flag with skulls instead of stars. Ho-hum.
Anyways, not much to say. Købanhavn is not really that interesting, as my parents warned me. It's hot and sticky, about 80 degrees, although it rained today which was nice. The sun goes down at 10 and gets up at 4. The food is well prepared and tasty, but give me Iberian or Italian food anytime. I still haven't found a good danish.
Yesterday we saw many museums, including the Danish History, The Danish Art, and the Museum of Danish Resistance, which was the best of the three. We saw the Little Mermaid, which I guess is some kind of must see. I'll post pictures when I get back, if my internet is up by then.
Oh the flight over was at least 24 hours long. We thought we'd get DVT for sure. Who knew there'd be a massive lightning storm on the East Coast, which royally fucked up our travel route?
One vignette before I sign off. We went to Louisiana today, which is totally worth the trip. No lie, it may be the best modern art museum I've ever been to. They do modern art right. There's an excellent video art installation, and the Paol K... (can't remember his last name but Strawman digs him) design exhibit was fantastic. And the grounds were gorgeous.
There's a bluff overlooking the Øresund, and you can see Sweden in the distance. And there's also a garden (have) with lots of maze-like trails and a long slide and little wooden forts with tunnels and shit all along the hillside. And a running stream. I thought it was strange that there were no Danish kids running around in that park. If me and my brother had gone there when we were little, we would have tore that place up! We'd have gotten so muddy, they'd never have let us back into the museum. Any American kid would. As it was, me and Chris had a great time playing around that garden like a couple of little kids!
Oh there were plenty of Danish kids at the museum, but they were all inside a white room at a white table drawing pictures of furniture under the tutelage of a stern Danish babysitter. How sad! In microcosm, I guess that says something about the difference between America and Denmark. They'll keep making great furniture, while we'll keep pushing the envelope and bustin' things up, but having fun at the same time.
Well, tomorrow we're off to Jutland to stay for a couple of days with my aunt and uncle. Then we go to Sweden. Hopefully I can check in with you again.
I've planted some Lingonberry shrubs this year, which are of Swedish origin. If you run across any Ligon jam, let me know what you think of it. And enjoy your trip!
Posted by: will on Jul. 21, 2006Didja get pix of the protesters?
Shelly has been asking about you; I've a hunch he'll be ecstatic you've posted. It's a tough crowd here, annika, but rest assured I'm up to the task.
An American flag with skulls instead of stars? That actually sounds kinda cool. I want one!
Posted by: Tuning Spork on Jul. 21, 2006"Oh there were plenty of Danish kids at the museum, but they were all inside a white room at a white table drawing pictures of furniture under the tutelage of a stern Danish babysitter. How sad!"
For some reason this made me think of all of the 60's English rock stars who did time in dreary art schools. As far as I know, they did NOT take classes such as "How to Pose With a Guitar," "The Care and Feeding of Groupies," or "New Advances in Cannibiology."
Posted by: Ontario Emperor on Jul. 22, 2006"They'll keep making great furniture, while we'll keep pushing the envelope and bustin' things up, but having fun at the same time."
It's wonderful to confirm what we already know about other countries but haven't necessarily seen. When confronted with strike signs and locked doors at the Louvre my brother asked, "how does something like this happen?" I told him that's just the way it is in France, perhaps speculating- since it was my first visit and I had never actually lived there. Some French ladies (pretending not to understand English) overheard me and laughed.
Cultures are powerful things and alot of generalizations are true even if not politically correct.
Hope the rest of your trip goes well! (Sorry about the Thunderstorms. Living in Cali you may not realize that we often have something called 'weather' in the rest of the country!)
P.S. I do love Scadinavian furniture, can't believe you haven't found a decent Danish!
Posted by: Mike C. on Jul. 22, 2006I hear they serve "beir" at McDonald's. True?
Posted by: Tuning Spork on Jul. 22, 2006Tolja Copenhagen sucked. Sweden, too. Try Amsterdam.
How much is Victor paying you for this gig?
Posted by: shelly on Jul. 23, 2006Heh, we have weather... warm, and HOT! It was 99 fucking degrees at Lindburgh Field yesterday, and humid too!! For those not in the know, Lindburgh is the airport in downtown San Diego, and sits right on the water. At the beach in Coronado, the wind off the ocean was actually warm and humid, whew.
Give my best to Jellicoe.
Posted by: Casca on Jul. 23, 2006enjoy!
Posted by: Jane on Jul. 23, 2006Take photos! It's always fun to view the world from the perspective of an American abroad. What's 'Iberian food'? I know where it is, just wondering about the cuisine. I live near New Iberia, but their food tastes the same as mine.
Posted by: Kevin on Jul. 23, 2006Humidity in Socal? Holy cow someone call the weather police.
Actually that's a bit harsh. My apologies Cas. I know you cats get some bad marine fog in there regularly but it's not exactly Tornado Alley either. In fact I'd go as far as saying you folks enjoy the finest weather (or lack thereof) in the country. It may be a little warm (hot) right now but overall it's a great place temperature wise year round.
Am I envious? Yes, I suppose I am.
Posted by: Mike C. on Jul. 23, 2006
Charles Lindbergh (like in "The Spirit of St. Louis") would be surprised to find that San Diego had misspelled his name on that cow pasture they call an "International Airport".
Of course it is humid there; all the sweat of our Mexican brothers is being blown north to land in the bay.
Posted by: shelly on Jul. 23, 2006LMAO, heh fucker, you KNOW I'm the product of a public education, or lack thereof.
Posted by: Casca on Jul. 23, 2006LMAO, heh fucker, you KNOW I'm the product of a public education, or lack thereof. Plus, I'm usually well lubricated.
Posted by: Casca on Jul. 23, 2006I had wanted to comment on the original NITA entry, but couldn't find the link, so I ended up here.
If you're wondering how I stumbled across annika's journal: Nose In The Air, I was Googling the phrase "you don't have to be a member".
It's Monday, July 24th 2006, here in Hong Kong where I live and work and play. Thanks for reading this.
Posted by: Rennie on Jul. 23, 2006We were in Copenhagen on Saturday flying home from Finland. I think I had to pay $5 for a cup of coffee because although they would take Euros or USD at the airport, the change was only in Danish coins. Except for customs inspectors, I probably didn't meet any Danes.
Although we had trouble finding anything in English to read, we found the press in Europe even more biased than in the US. Here we might at least get a token Malkin or Sowell.
Posted by: Norma on Jul. 25, 2006I hate to hear a grown man cry...
Posted by: shelly on Jul. 25, 2006I learned yesterday that Strindberg is pronounced Strindberry. Lindbergh, being Swedish, should probably be pronounced similarly.
Posted by: annika on Jul. 27, 2006Sorry, Annika, that's fifteen yards for piling on. It is bad enough the man can't spell the name of his home airport, but not being able to pronounce it correctly will put him over the line.
Expect him to crank up his new toy and drive it into Mission Bay. And I always thought it was just women who wanted to get something hot and throbbing between their legs...
Posted by: shelly on Jul. 27, 2006I've still got about 10 Euros left from the last trip. What is with these coins? Do you REALLY need 1-2-5-10-20-50..... denominations that all look pretty much the same? Except for the wierd bicolor ones that look like Canadian money. Which is aptly nicknamed a looney.
Biggest surprises about Europe:
1. Do NOT dis German food. I quickly got tired of pork, but the bakeries were everywhere, and really good. The French should worry.
2. France can keep its wine, but the beer (from Alsace anyway) is tres bon.
3. Dutch sounds more German than German. Talk about gutteral. Talk about blondes....
4. If there is a bad bottle of beer to be had in Germany, it's imported. I tried to find something I didn't like, no luck. Except for the stuff imported from other countries. Which for some reason you could only find on the highway rest stops, and at the train stations. German stores don't sell it.
5. That goes ditto for cans. Germans don't believe in them.
6. There are some tough chicks in the military - I saw this girl who had to be under 5 feet tall in camo lugging a rucksack that was at least her size through the Strasbourg train station.
7. All good does not go unrewarded. The Strasbourg Cathedral has a memorial to the American soldiers who died liberating the city. Despite being about one mile from the German border, there still was no German translation...
8. You know you're getting old when your daughter, the premie who weighed less than 5 lbs when she was born, is driving you down the autobahn.
9. At 90 mph.
10. And getting passed by these Germans doing 100-120.
11. Unless it's by a really fast car...