Another cold month but one in which we’ve seen rain, but not any snow, which we do love. We returned to St. Anne’s Grill (where we had gone on our anniversary) for another wonderful meal and were dismayed to hear from the chef that the restaurant would close in May. The building has been sold and the new owner has development plans. Rather than relocate his restaurant, he has chosen to retire. While we certainly understand that, we will miss his staff and food.
We had tickets for the Opera house and went to see another modern dance program. It was from Choreographer William Forsythe, titled A QUIET EVENING OF DANCE. Very intensive and impressive body movement with absolutely no music in Act 1. We’re still working on warming up to modern dance and admit to leaving again before Act 2, at the break. We’re utterly shameless.
To celebrate Valentine’s Day, as our friends know, we take a day to work on a project to beautify our little world. The projects aren’t huge and have ranged over a wide variety of ideas. We’ve cleaned up trash in our neighborhood, weeds in sidewalk cracks, cleared gutters or grates of debris, bought things to brighten our living space. We no longer have a garden to plant new treasures, we don’t need to find a painting or a piece of furniture to spruce up our place and we’ve no small neighborhood street in which to address blight, since we live on a city block.
So this year we targeted our building’s elevator. Over the many years of service, the metal bifold doors had been scarred with errant paint splotches and a good amount of graffiti. Armed with solvents and steel wool, we managed to get off 90% of it (some paint splotches remain), without fainting from the fumes – which frankly, were quite overpowering. The hardest part was picking a day it rarely ran (Sundays) and cleaning it while riding it up and down the floors. That is necessary as the doors only completely unfold when the elevator is running. So our routine was press the bottom floor button, scrub like crazy and when we arrived at that floor, press the top floor button and repeat the scrubbing. And of course we took breaks away from the fumes, as well as kept the doors open for stretches of time to air it out. It was well worth the effort (as the metal doors shined up a bit) since it is something we see every single day. Happy Valentine’s Day to a little space in the world.
G worked on getting our US tax work in but when we got a quote from the French tax firm we used last year for the French tax filing, it was almost twice what they had charged last year. And we really have no taxes, save one for our apartment rental and one for our television. We called Fabrice, our landlord and friend, to ask if he could recommend a French tax accountant and he did one better. He personally came over and helped G go online to the French tax authority and then sent an email to them for additional information. Finding the right form, the right lines and translating it would have been beyond us. Could have kissed Fabrice but his wife might not have appreciated it !
For ourselves, it was a trip to Copenhagen. It’s a long journey by train so we broke it up by stopping along the way there and back. Our day of departure was Valentine’s Day and before leaving, we tried a new restaurant close by to the Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille, the Restaurant Sébastopol. We were running late for our noon reservation, so we got some help to get there on time. We had a wonderful lunch!
We took a train in the late afternoon to Paris, then another to Karlsuhe, where we had another train change. In the two hour layover there, we again saw how much people depend on their bikes for transport in the European cities with the bike parking throughout the train station. We had a delightful conversation at the bar, over dinner, with a local named Denis. We spoke of travel, global experiences, life in general.
What we all found amusing the most, was the sterotypical dislikes between nations and within nations against each other. The Germans, we were warned about in France, would be uptight and humorless, of which Denis was anything but. And in our traveling, we would come across groups of Germans who were laughing heartily, having a fun time. And the Germans think of the French as snobbish and arrogant, another sterotype we’ve yet to encounter.
Americans are considered slobs, always wearing T-shirts printed with all kinds of ridiculous stuff. While that may be true of some traveling students, the fellow Americans we encounter are much more travel-savvy about their clothing.
And the list goes on as to how each country views another, usually based either on old sterotypes or exposure pretty much limited to a small number of encounters.
And on that note, the travelers who are the most offensive, to us at least – and to Denis – are the ones who are not experienced or oblivious to their behavior as seen by a different culture. The visitors who are not respectful to their surroundings or people that they’ve come to see. The ones who think that their vacation is just a time to drink to excess, party loudly and demand whatever pleases them. And those tourists come from every country, in every age group. But on the whole, we have found that the best encounters are with individuals, like Denis, who enjoy a good conversation over a beer. We laughed with each other over travels or missteps, asked questions that were light-probing without being invasive and sharing a bit of what each of our lives are. We invited Denis and his wife to Lille and just heard from him that when it happens, it will include their new baby boy!
Back on the train, we took a sleeper to Hamburg. It was a tiny cabin but met all of our needs; a private shower, a toilet and sink, but only one outlet in the bathroom where we plugged in our phones. We managed a decent sleep before arriving in the early hours.
The city is very walkable with canals sprinkled throughout. They’ve over 2,500 bridges and Hamburg is called the ‘Venice’ of Germany.
The beautiful architecture mainly houses government offices, professional offices or they’ve turned some large buildings into indoor shopping centers. Four-storied old buildings filled every block – surprising us as to what a huge shopping Mecca the city is. It’d be a shock if someone said that they couldn’t find something that they were looking for.
On one of our two days there, we took the hop-on hop-off bus, listening on tape about the rich history and architecture that we were seeing.
It was great to be able to get off and walk through an incredible engineering feat; The Elbe Tunnel, which is a 1,398 ft long walkway, 80 ft under the Elbe river which opened in 1911. It has four huge lifts on either side, which allow for pedestrians, bicyclists and cars. It was too late in season to take in their famous fish market and we were reminded, as we walked through Hamburg, that it was non-tourist season for a reason. The wind was biting and icy cold but we were undaunted as we had come completely prepared.
Copenhagen, our next stop, was also extremely cold with a brisk, icy wind. We again took to walking the streets and on one day used the hop-on hop-off bus line to get an overall view of the city. The most photographed street in Copenhagen is Nygen and when we visited, we were surprised that the colorful row of houses were bars or restaurants. The ships docked along the streets were tall mast ships that are allowed to dock free of charge and completed the picture.
It was a natural segue to Strøget, the longest pedestrian street in Europe and filled with shops and restaurants. We stopped for the traditional Smørrebrød, an open-faced sandwich with a variety of toppings to choose from, which was tasty. Sometime during our time there we tried a hot dog, which is also a staple there. It was really good but what intrigued us most was that the bun was priced and sold separately from the sausage.
One morning we experienced a beautiful sunrise from our room, across from the Tivoli Gardens. In the evenings, Tivoli lit up like a pot of jewels that called to us. We could see the grounds from the hotel room, all colors imaginable, with fascinating shapes and rides.
Once in, it was a bit overwhelming with a maze of pathways, wound around shops, restaurants, a lake, rides and arcade game areas. It’s an incredible barrage of bright, fanciful and playful light varieties. There was an hourly light show on the lake, which housed large, lit swans, lights that mimicked plants and a huge pirate ship, which was not animated that evening. Both of us bought gloves, learning that lambswool is the warmest that one can acquire, sans seal, which is used in the arctic.
Another excursion we took in was to the Glyptotek Museum, which houses French and Danish sculpture from the 19th and 20th centuries. In 1888, Carl Jacobsen, owner of the Ny Carlsberg brewery, donated his huge sculpture collection to Denmark. When the museum first opened ten years later, the French and Danish works by Rodin, Carpeaux, Sinding, Bissen and Jerichau were the first pieces that people saw. Later, the brewer’s collections of paintings and sculpture of the ancient and Egyptian worlds were added, many dating back 6,000 years. It was incredibly impressive and we actually saw a majority of it before folding. I fell in love with the very simple and extremely practical folding map that they designed to show the layout.
Apparently there were handcrafted goods to be found in Freetown Christiana, a former military base, so we hiked there in a steady rain with determination. Said to have about 1,000 residents over a 19 acre area, this community is self-governed and has built a good number of its own housing. They have a strained relationship with the government of Copenhagen, are a focal point of political demonstrations and they openly sell cannabis, which is illegal in the country.
Walking into the town area, it reminded us of the communal hippy conclaves of the 60’s. Stalls selling cannabis were located every few feet and there was a strict prohibition of taking any photos. I tried to take one of an interesting street lamp and was ordered to refrain. One shot we did get was of an entrance to a painters gallery, which had a hanging sign stating that you COULD take one there. The handcrafted goods were not to be found, perhaps because of the time of year but we did find paintings in that one gallery. We stopped to grab a beer in a recommended bar called Woodstock and immediately walked into a literal wall of pot smoke. So thick was it that finding the bar counter was a bit tough. Once having purchased the beer, brewed with hemp naturally, we stepped back outside to recover. Sipping our beer, we continued to explore the neighborhood at our ease. Unfortunately our clothes remained imbedded with the smokey stench for the next two days. It was quite an experience.
Our journey back home included a stop in Cologne and as with Copenhagen, the weather was rainy, windy and cold. But these cities are so beautiful that you forget the weather entirely. Arriving in the late afternoon, we stepped off the train completely unprepared for the sight to greet us. It seemed as if everyone had raided a warehouse full of clothes owned by early Elton John, Sigfried and Roy, Liberace and maybe even Richard Simmons. It was enough to make us question that we’d disembarked at the right station. Trying to keep my eyes on the signs to make sure we were where we were supposed to be and to get where we needed to be, was a massive challenge. At the hotel check in, we politely inquired about the variety of dress we were witnessing. Clearly we were the only ones on the earth not to know that this was the weekend of Carnival in Germany. Cologne is one of the big hosting cities and the attendees came from several countries to join in.
After settling in, we walked across the bridge, into the downtown area, utterly amazed at some of the costumes. There seemed to be an unwritten rule that if you were in a group of 5 or more people, you had to wear matching outfits. A majority of men favored costumes which were gaudy 60’s track suits accompanied with rather moth-eaten shoulder length wigs. Unfortunately those photos were blurry. Maybe it’s for the better – you could go without seeing them! In town, bars were stuffed to the rafters, lit up with disco lighting, all blaring a wide variety of loud music. No description really suits any of it.
The next morning, a beautiful sunrise shining on Cologne across the Rhine from our hotel.
The best of all, however, was our ride to the train station the next afternoon. Our taxi driver caught us completely unaware of the fact that he was known as “The Karaoke” taxi, as he proceeded to give us a singing strobe light show on the way. We decided between ourselves that we needed to come back to see Cologne during a more sedate time. It’s not my age, it’s the fried, strobed synapsis.
A small note of the world’s reality here. No matter where you travel, you should always be aware of your surroundings. We never post pictures of people but this snapshot of these two, unremarkable people has a story. In waiting for the train from Cologne to Brussels, we stopped in a station cafe. The couple was positioned in the cafe with a straight shot of the front door and the order counter. I took that picture only because he was filming everyone that came in. They’d turn off the mobile phone camera until another person entered or came to the counter, then he would begin filming. And he shared the films with her in-between. Once, as a couple was leaving with a child about 8, they both followed their progress from the booth to the door, specifically looking at the child. If I hadn’t have been sitting right next to him, their actions would not have caught my eye. No one else in the cafe was aware of what they were doing or that they were being filmed. It’s not illegal to film strangers in public and the police had their hands full with the entire train station populous dressed like circus performers. I only took the picture to let them know they’d been witnessed and perhaps to make them a bit uncomfortable, knowing they’d also been photographed. No confrontation, nothing to be done. But do watch yourself and your kids, as alway, when traveling.
On a lighter note, it’s the end of the month and today, big, fat flakes of snow are finally floating down on Lille. It’s simply a delight.
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