North of København

On our way north to Jægersborg Dyrehave we came across what is possibly the most beautiful gas station in the world. Designed by Arne Jacobsen and build in 1937 (and kinda similar to the ant chair designed 15 years later), it was an almost heart stopping moment.


Charlottenlund Fort, built in the 1880s, is a cute wee place to stop - and of course has some great sport for graffiti.



Charlottenlund slot was looking kind dreary when we got there, thanks to the changeable weather. Like Wellington, you've really got to take sunglasses, an umbrella, a jumper, and a rain coat almost any time you leave the house here!

A castle that was in royal hands for many over 200 years, it's just plain odd that it's now home to the Danish Institute of Fisheries and Ocean Research.



Once we made it to Dyrehave - literally the deer garden - we had a look round Bakken - a 425 year old amusement park that occupies a small bit of the large gardens. It's funny. And they have a roller-coaster built in 1932 out of wood, and I reckon it'd be bloody fun to go on.


The Hunting lodge in the park is really something. Not used any more, it once had a dining table that could be hoisted from the basement into the main salon so the guests could get away from having to see the staff!

Malmö

Malmö - where the Danes go to shop!

Scott and Lucy were over and it was lovely to have them here. Instead of hanging out in KBH, we headed to Malmö - a 15 minute train ride across the Øresund Bridge that connects Denmark and Sweden. One of the highlights was seeing the totally weirdest museum I've ever come across - the Malmö Museum where they had a rather wonderful Nelson Mandela exhibition. I'll get round to writing up why it was so strange on my museum blog, that I'm in the process of getting round to!

The main square has some beautiful details, and gets good sun!

At the end of a long day wandering about, we went to St. Peter's church - kinda just for fun. It was begun in 1319. The totally best part of the church is the 14th century wall paintings in the Kramarkapellet (Tradesman's chapel).

Musikby

Hidden away next to Valbyparken is a totally beautiful little group of summer houses called Musikby (Music town). I still haven't really gotten my head around these sort of summer houses - very small dwellings on a kinda large section where you can grow whatever you want (it seems), but can't live there all year. I think they're dotted all over Europe - but I'm not really sure!


This one kinda reminds me of a crib we stayed at in Riverton one year - I think it was the same colour blue.

Of course, for every lovely and charming one with a well maintained garden, there's at least one that is a bit rundown - but even these have their own beauty!



On the way there, we found some totally wonderful graffiti - a whole wall with various stories. Considering it was a bit of a dreary day when we were on our way there - it was great to stumble in this ...

Dragør

A "city" that dates back to the 12th century, Dragør is a damn cute little fishing village where København's rich have weekend homes. The old town is full of yellow painted, red roofed houses that are pretty much back to back. One of the really ... interesting ... features is the use of street mirrors - little mirrors that are in front of windows that can show the inhabitant what's going on in the street with out being seen - maybe they're called gossip mirrors. Either way, when we asked out Danish friends about them, the giggled - especially when I suggested they were for letting more sun into the rooms - I mean when the streets are up to 1.5m wide, you need some sun!



Another weird (and slightly tacky) thing is the the huge number of Staffordshire dogs - every window seems to have a pair sitting on the ledge looking out onto the street. Originally made for Victorian English working classes with a desire to collect and spend their new disposable income, it seems somewhat odd that a wee Danish fishing village is their new home.


Anyway, it's a beautiful wee place. Accross the road from the main picturesque part is the fishing huts - this one was a total favourite - good to see there is night life there, though it might get a little hard if more than 5 people showed up for a dance!

Grundtvigskirken

Now that I have a bike, David and I have been making the most of the weekends and our ability to go anywhere (within reason). Our first trip was to Grundtvigskirken - a seriously beautiful church, and a fantastic example of 20th century church architecture. It's a merge of styles - typical Danish village churches, and Gothic architecture.


I love the symmetry of the place, it's all very well planed, surrounded by buildings that mirror each other - making it a delight to go to.

The inside is totally overwhelming and really forces you to respect it - hushed voices, private moments of contemplation and all that other ecclesiastical jazz.

Sankt Hans aften (Midsummer)

Sankt Hans aften (St. John's Eve) was an official holiday until 1770. Typical of Danish traditions, the holiday is celebrated on the evening before the actual day. It takes place on the evening of 23 June. It is the day where the medieval wise men and women would gather special herbs that they needed for the rest of the year to cure people.

It has been celebrated since the times of the Vikings by visiting healing water wells and making a large bonfire to ward away evil spirits. Today the water well tradition is gone. Bonfires on the beach, speeches, picnics and songs are traditional, although bonfires are built in many other places where beaches may not be close by (i.e. on the shores of lakes and other waterways, parks, etc.) In the 1920s a tradition of putting a witch made of straw and cloth (probably made by the elder women of the family) on the bonfire emerged as a remembrance of the church's witch burnings from 1540 to 1693. This burning sends the "witch" away to Bloksbjerg, the mountain 'Brocken' in the Harz region of Germany where the great witch gathering was thought to be held on this day.

Holger Drachmann and P. E. Lange-Müller wrote a midsommervise (Midsummer hymn) in 1885 called "Vi elsker vort land..." ("We Love Our Country") that is sung at every bonfire on this evening. From what I saw, Danes mumble their way through this (even though they had song sheets), and the language has changed since the song was written - so some words are hard to translate.

Either way, it's a fun tradition. It's the longest day (like really long - they sun set after 11.30).

Though I did feel sorry for the mock witch. The one at Frederiksberg had screaming fireworks in that didn't go pop-bang-oh-ah, but just screamed. Poor withchey!






P.S. I flogged most the text rom wikipedia!

More

Danes have a great way of seeing past their drinking problem


I love our montvask - it's pretty


Norrbro parken

Latest batch

So it's been a while. I've been busy - whattaya do!

Here is a pic of Michelle at the "beach" in Christiana - yes, there's a beach there, not just weed!

Another Christiana shot


Patterns
Opening night of the Copenhagen Jazz Festive