Curiously there was a guy next to me reading a Bible...'angelic direction' crossed my mind, but I struggled to find any words. Thoughts such as: getting out my Bible and starting to read 'in an undertone'; asking: 'what cha readin?'; 'nice Bible', crossed my mind. Eventually, I got myself together and:
Me: 'Excuse me is that the Bible you are reading?'
SBR*: 'Yes.'
Me: 'Ahhh I thought so. (Silence) You don't see many people reading the Bible these days.'
SBR: 'No, you don't.' (Silence)
Me: 'So are you a Christian?'
SBR: 'Yes. Are you?'
Me: 'Yes I'm one of JWs.' (Silence)
Internal Monologue: 'What now?!...Sleep: zzzzzzzzzzzz'
My first impressions of Denmark: 'What a chic airport; I wish I had brought another scarf; wow I feel short'
And there was my Sandra...This girl is my inspiration. She's fluent in English, Parsi and Danish (and probably secretly another language like Spanish or French...these Scandinavians: there's always another language!). She pioneers, rides a bicycle, bakes cookies, is doing a degree in Persian culture and is a guide in the Museum of Islamic Art in Copenhagen. Did I mention she's also an incredible vintage dresser and knows how to 'shake it like a polaroid picture' on the dance floor.
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| Sandra's door |
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| preaching-> nice berets! |
The next couple of days included: bike rides, a 1-hour party, hip-hop classes, private DJ sessions, foreign language witnessing (English!), a marathon (I was a spectator), fireworks, Kebabistan, a smorroebrod ...and Danish (as in the pastry)!
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| 'salt n pepper' |
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| Norrebro |
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| Persian field service group - 'hoodly'* (no idea how to spell it) |
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not a chance I can remember what they're called
but they're good...
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| informal witnessing... |
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| lego viking! |
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| Nyhavns |
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| Anis + Malene at Ana-Mia's |
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| early morning marathon?! |
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| Danish Smörgåsbord aka 'Smørrebrød' |
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| travelling in 'the silent car' |
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| meditating to give an answer? |
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| Mie and Sara's first daal-bhat |
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| Sandra and Anna |
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| farewell 'glooog' |
I should probably write a paragraph for each amazing Dane I met, alas this post is already out of control. You know who you are: thanks for being cool, stylish and Danish (apparently those words are all synonymous). Most importantly thank you for your time. There's always half a sofa-bed for you at my crib in Sydney-town!
Berlin Berlin
Once upon a time in Deutschland. First impressions: 'wow that's a cheap Danish! Ich lieber Berline!'
True to our upbringing, Annaliese lavished me with hospitality, force feeding me buns and other pastry related items with the key ingredient ('speck^'). Finally I rolled off the lounge and we made our way to the Hackeschen Hofe...(I love trying to saying this - 'huk-e-shen ha-fe') where 100s of East German Berliners, once lived and worked in the same building. There's a cool cafe (Cinema) with loads of ambiance and a waiter with even more attitude. The alley adjacent had some wicked Berliner street art.
We made our way to either Kroetzburg or Alexandarplatz or Rosen-something that night...wherever we went they made some seriously good Mexican...I asked the waiter where he was from thinking he didn't look the most of Germanic of Germans and he replied 'Australia'... Tobias, thankfully was German so the atmosphere wasn't completely lost.
Day 2: Berlin by foot...
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| Branderburg Gate - I blame the terrible photography on a dying battery |
I'm not going to recount the entire tour but here are the highlights:
- climbing the 'wall' in a not so communist royal blue coat
- wall escape stories - google it! There are some amazing ones...one 'amor'-based account left us thinking 'how romantic!' and 'what a jerk' in the same moment...
- Museum island - pink sky at sunset contrasted against the gorgeous buildings...beautiful!
- Holocaust memorial - the architect never shared his meaning. What do you think it means???
- Gendarme Platz - apparently the French have been here too
- Stories about Ludwig the Great...he sounded pretty great...
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| Holocaust Memorial |
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| climbing the fence which protects the wall...ironic? |
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| Museum Island |
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| pork knuckle and a proposal... |
Day 3: Annaliese and I went Turkish/Deutsch witnessing...She did well but then it was cold so we went for spaetzle (German noodles - interesting that I knew for some reason this is also a term of endearment...)...It was lekkar (hey I know that word too - hoch fünf!). Later that afternoon we went to the Bauhaus Museum. Contrary to the advertising, no Kandinsky, but some interesting architectural pieces...and did you know this ugly piece of innovation was born in the Bauhaus movement???
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| bring back the discomfort! |
Later that evening we attempted to do the Berliner thing and see some jazz...the house was packed so ended up at a nearby swing establishment, the Ballhaus ($50 if you can guess what that word is in English???)...A fellow jazz enthusiast was disappointed by the replacement of a live band for a dj and so departed, but if it wasn't for the fact we were of course 4 gals and no guys we would have stayed all night...I'm loving electro swing at the moment (and thanks Oliver for introducing me to Parov Stelar)...
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| cousy bros |
Alana and Dani opted on beauty sleep, so Annaliese and I made our way to the infamous 'Green Door' solas...At this point I'm going to say, no, it wasn't a highlight. But laughing with Anna in the rain with kepaps was (I miss you Anna!).
Day 4: Pergamon Museum
A Hawaiian-born sister who lived much of her life in Ireland before marrying a German (yes her accent is a cocktail of sounds) gave us a Bible tour and it was amazing...
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| Anna our tour-guide |
Highlights:
- Reliefs of the 'Dagon' priest (fish worshippers) in Babylon clearly showing where the Pope stole his hat design from
- Reliefs of 'guardian angels' - so birthdays are religious!
- A tablet showing King Hezekiah showing Merodak Maladan (the Babylonian) his treasure - big mistake!
- The Ishtar Gate -> Can't wait to meet Daniel and his three amigos in the New System!
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| 'Dani and her three companions' - cheesy I know but it had to be done |
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| going for 'American' after the Deutsch meeting |
What did we do Day 5???
Ahh how could I forget?! 'Vintage Berlin' - Kroetsburg???
I bought a mustard beret (I'm as equally obsessed with the colour mustard as I am convinced that it doesn't suit me...), Tobias took us for the best Kepap**** in Berlin and I had my first Western hair cut (in East Germany?!) in close to a year! Woohoo!
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| best kepap in Berlin |
Then to experience the Germany I'd been waiting for, we went to the infamous 'Hofbrauhaus' for some good Bavarian times! Our distinctly non-Bavarian group played along well, singing and swaying to the folk music, Tobias even showing what he was made of on the 'Oom pah pah' dance floor. There was beer, lederhosens, sausage, meatballs, sauerkraut, speck, speck and more speck. Who needs Oktoberfest?!
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| lots of speck! |
And then it was Saturday...and I had to part from meiner cousine:( Happily we were heading to warmer territory...
Enter: Espana
^ 'Hoodly' - 'cosy' in Danish
** 'Oool' - 'beer' in Danish
^^ 'speck' - 'lard' in German - 'something beautiful which makes you smile'
*** 'Livingstone girl' - a member of the Livingstone Rd residence alumni
^^^ 'cousy-bros' - New Zealander for 'cousins'
**** 'Kepap' - kebab
