Danmark part 2

So I wrote this on the train back from Kobenhavn and our whirlwind time went something like this...

Jacob and Rosanna picked us up from Liseleje and we drove the scenic route back to Kobenhavn along the coastline, Sweden in the distance. We arrived at Jacob and Jetta's flat which was located on the fifth floor of a renovated building in a nice area not far from "The Lakes", which are three lakes separated by bridges into five basins, a super nice stretch that parents rule with their strollers, oh, also joggers in tight, tight gear. The next morning Jacob, Rosie and I walked down to the harbour where the little mermaid is stationed and to our surprise, she was wearing a Swedish football jersey! Hooligans! Afterwards, we casually made our way to the palace fur hatted guards sternly patrolled the entrance. The weather wasn't particularly cold temperature-wise, but the wind was bitter and managed to make its way into every nook and cranny of one's coat so eventually we were forced to purchase some warm items or suffer, so I purchased a much needed scarf at Noa Noa and Veda bought Anders a lil' Nisse hat.

So cute.

At some point I borrowed Jacob's bike and cycled around the city when Veda and Rosie were out and about. I found some very good record stores but didn't buy anything as records are really expensive, about fifteen to twenty dollars more than the same records in Canada, or Germany for that matter. On the other hand, the selection was the best I've seen anywhere I've traveled so far, particularly of U.K. and Swedish pop music. It almost seemed as if they bought copies of certain records and hoarded them until they became out of print.

Generally, we had very poor sleeps due to one Anders Hille Kellam and on at least one occasion I walked around in the rain for three hours from 7:30 in the morning to keep from waking the household. Due to this sleeping situation Veda and I didn’t manage to see each other much with all the trading off, although we did finally have a lovely long walk along the lakes, eventually making our way around outside Rigshospitalet, the setting for Danish director Lars Von Trier’s television series The Kingdom (not so spooky, where are the ghosts?)

On the last night Jacob and Jetta put together an amazing traditional Danish herring feast in which it was revealed that I have limited table manners (who doesn’t eat off of their knife?) and we watched a somewhat beige game of soccer between Danmark and Sweden. The Danish scum (those of you who have seen The Kingdom will know what I mean by that remark) were victorious over the sanctimonious Swedes by one goal, knocking Sweden out of the running for FIFA world cup qualification in South Africa next year. The flat was full to the max as Jacob’s sons Frederik and Gustav were there as well as Jetta’s kids Jonathon and Josefia so kudos to them for finding a place for us. (Tak to Jonathon for giving up his room.)

It was so very worth going to Danmark and meeting Veda’s relatives as well as watching Rosie revert to a Dane. I’m looking forward to going for a longer time in the future because there is too much to see in Kobenhavn, believe me, you need time…we all need time.