Post by Ella. For the last couple of nights, we’ve been making our own, somewhat basic Smørrebrød at our apartment. Today, the fancier version that looked a lot prettier than ours, at a little place called Amadeus (yes, that one). Smørrebrød is a traditional Danish open-faced sandwich, usually served with soft but hearty rye bread….
Month: May 2023
Twin towers
Post by Grubb. This is an apartment building down the street from where we’re staying. It has an extensive view of the inlet where the young folk were swimming yesterday. Keeping up with the circular theme.
Hard choices
Post by Grubb. Whether it’s chocolate dipped or sugar covered, the pastry selection at the bakeries here in Copenhagen are mouth watering. Olaf would have filled a basket; I settled for a raisin bun.
About that bridge…
Post by Grubb Scrolling through yesterday’s photos I realized that my shots of Copenhagen’s Circular Bridge didn’t do it justice. What do you think? Does it amaze?
Changing of the guard upsets guard
Post by Grubb. So outside the Rosenberg Castle Ella says to me, why don’t I get a picture of you standing in front of the guard hut? Sure, I think to myself, it sounds like something Olaf Oesterplunk would do while scoffing at the King. I barely began striking a pose before the actual guard, dressed in…
Ancestral Vibe
Post by Grubb. Two great-greats on my mother’s side immigrated to America from Denmark in the late 1840s. So here I am in the old city section of Copenhagen and maybe it’s my uneven footing on the cobblestone streets, like Proust tripping over loose paving in the Guermantes courtyard, but I begin to feel swayed by…
A little bit of Copenhagen
Post by Ella A few photos from today’s wander around Copenhagen.
Sanity questioned at Circle Bridge
Post by Grubb. The next architectural gem that I was determined to find was Copenhagen’s Circle Bridge on the Christianshavn Canal. It is exactly that: a small wooden bridge tressed from above with a spray of wire cables. When we got there Ella asked where it was. “You’re standing on it,” I told her. I got the look. The circle…
Wondering about architectural wonder
Post by Grubb. Years ago I taught a class about art design in film with an architect who turned me onto Bjorke Ingles, so I was eager to see Bjorke’s 8House. Winner of the Housing category at the World Architecture Festival in 2011, 8House has 476 homes divided into townhouses. “The entire complex is combined by a…
One way to wake up
Post by Grubb. On my way to grab a cup of coffee and a pastry, I went by a seaside promenade where some adventurous young people were taking a dip. I don’t know what the water temperature was where they were swimming, but it was around 49 degrees outside. As they egged each other on it…
Green Light District
Post by Ella Christiania is a “micro nation”, or perhaps one could call it an independent municipality, within Copenhagen. Founded in 1971 when some folks decided to put down roots on an abandoned military base. One can imagine a group of young, hippiesh libertarians rebelling against the corporate world. The laws in Christiana are simple…
Practical matters: Public transport Copenhagen
Post by Ella. As is usual in Europe, there are trams, busses, trains, metro galore. In Holland and here in Copenhagen, navigating public transport is made so much easier with Google maps. Google knows all is seems. Google can give you all your transit routes, number and names of stops to traverse, where and how…
Arrival Denmark
By the time we got to our new apartment in Copenhagen (we flew from Amsterdam), it was time to pick up some groceries and feast on hearty pumpernickel, herring, lox, Tzatziki , tomatoes, Gorgonzola, olives, havarti and some Vinho Verdi. A global feast. And that’s it. Time for a night off to stare at all…
And thank you again Esther
Post by Ella. Tomorrow (Wednesday) we fly off to Copenhagen leaving our old friends behind. We closed out the afternoon and evening with a trip to Delft (15 min by train), enjoying a glass of wine (non-alcoholic beer for Grubb) in Esther’s garden, followed by a tasty black rice / vegetable / shrimp casserole prepared…
Hendrik revives
post by Grubb Our friend Hendrik met us on the terrace outside Pavlov’s Bar and Grill in Den Haag this afternoon. Hendrik van Leeuwen is an artist (hendrikvanleeuwen.nl) who teaches painting and reviews art for numerous publications. Along with his wife Gina, he was to have accompanied us to the Vermeer exhibit at the Rijksmuseum on Sunday,…