Copenhagen: Day 3

The weather report this morning was promising. Partly cloudy skies and a high of 41 degrees F were forecast. But when we hit the streets this morning we found the horizon cloaked in a heavy fog. We thought, well let's hit a museum first, by the time we're done the fog will have burned off. So we headed off to the Carlsberg Glyptotek. I think Glyptotek is my favorite Danish word so far. It means museum. And, even though it is called the Carlsberg Glyptotek, the exhibits have nothing to do with the brewery. The museum houses a unique collection of Gauguin paintings and wooden carvings, as well as some other significant French impressionists. There is also a sizeable collection of ancient art (including Etruscan, Sumerian and Egyptian). The museum is funded by the Carlsberg Foundation, very active in promoting the arts. The building is a work of art in itself. The courtyard is somewhat of a greenhouse, lushly adorned with tropical plants and palm trees. The floors of each exhibition room were tiled with intricately designed mosaics. The Gaugin collection was fabulous, about 25 paintings in all, spanning every aspect of his career. The reason they have such a varied collection of Gaugin's paintings is that Gaugin's wife was from Denmark. While Gauguin was gallavanting around the world painting Breton farmer's wives or Tahitian maidens, his wife Mette was back in Europe trying to sell his paintings.

When we left the museum around 11:30 the fog had still not burned off. Regardless, we made our way to Christiansborg Slot, home of the Royal Palace, the Danish Parliament and the Danish Supreme Court. On the same site stood the original castle of Copenhagen which has gone through many incarnations. In fact, we went to an exhibit under the current palace where you can see the ruins of the former castles, the original dating back to 1167.

When we emerged from the Castle we were heartened to see the sun had finally begun to break through the fog and we caught a glimpse of blue sky. Yay, I thought, now I can take some outdoor shots. But, mysteriously, by the time we reached our next destination, the city was once again shrouded in fog. Our next destination happened to be a cozy little cafe called Amadeus. The food was great, they specialized in smorrebrod which literally means buttered bread. Smorrebrod are actually open faced sandwiches, many of which feature salmon and herring, though there were lots of others to choose from. I actually chose a curry chicken salad which was delicious. Brad had a cheese sandwich and lobster soup.

Amadeus was located near what is known as the Latin Quarter, so we took some time to explore this other part of town. Due to the fog, though, visibility was really poor and it was rather cold. I tried taking some photos to capture the eerie gloominess of the city but I'm not sure that will translate well digitally. We walked past another castle called Rosenborg Slot -- it was small but handsome. We also went to another structure called the Rundetarn or Round Tower, built in the 17th century and said to be Europe's oldest observatory. You reach the top by climbing up a spiral ramp. If the weather had complied, we'd have had a spectacular view of Copenhagen at the top of the tower. I began to wonder how Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe ever made any observations at all in this gloomy northern city.

We had dinner tonight at a Chinese restaurant, hoping to find better Chinese fare here than we've been able to find in Harrogate. No such luck. It was probably the worst Chinese meal I've ever had. Period. We are both worn out from crawling all over this city and I think are ready to head back. We leave tomorrow morning bright and early.

Copenhagen: Day 2

Today Brad took a trip down memory lane. He spent a few days in Copenhagen with his parents when he was a young lad of 14. One of the places they had visited was the Carlsberg Brewery and that is where we went this morning. He remembered the Elephant Gate that one encounters when entering the brewery complex. I was fascinated with the architecture and the Elephant gate was magnificent. Four towering stone elephants stand guard over two rounded archways through which all traffic enroute to the brewery must pass. Brad and his parents took a guided tour through the brewery. Nowadays, due to budget cuts, there are no more guided tours. Instead, visitors take a self-guided tour. A brochure and signs at the various exhibits gave us the history of the brewery and explained the brewing process. The best part, of course, was at the end of the tour when we got to taste samples of Carlsberg and Tuborg beers (Tuborg is now owned by Carlsberg).

In the afternoon we went to the National Museum and saw some wonderful exhibits on life in Denmark during the Bronze and Iron Age and also saw a special exhibit of an entire Viking ship that had been magnificently preservered in a bog. The museum has many other exhibits but it would take days to go through all of them. So we had to pick and choose what we wanted to see. After the Bronze and Iron Age exhibits we breezed through the exhibit on toys and life in Denmark in the 20th century. Also fabulous.

The brewery and the museum took up most of our day. We did a bit of browsing in shops but made no purchases, though we have our eyes on some wonderful down pillows. Dinner was at a Greek restaurant called Samos. It wasn't the best Greek food we've ever had, but it's been so long since we had any Greek food at all, it was a welcome treat.

I should mention here that this is not my first trip to Copenhagen either. I spent one night in Copenhagen back in 1985 with my friend Debbie and her sister Judy and former brother-in-law Mark. Debbie and I had been visiting Judy and Mark who were living in Germany at the time. The four of us took a road trip to Sweden to visit Judy and Debbie's cousin Ralph in Sweden. We made one stop along the way -- Copenhagen. We arrived rather late in the day and most attractions were closed. We breezed through Tivoli then found a place to spend the night. The next morning we were up early and crossing the ferry to Sweden.

I'm glad I'm spending a bit more time in Copenhagen this time around. It's a very interesting city, though the cost of living is really high. There is some interesting architecture here and the history is fascinating. The language is not as intimidating as you might think it would be. For one thing, most Danes we have encountered speak perfect English. I'm told this would not be the case if we ventured outside Copenhagen, though. I'm also finding, to my surprise, that our basic knowledge of German is standing us in good stead. I'm able to work out many phrases I encounter in advertisments and menus. So far the weather has been a bit dreary. It was just slightly cooler today than yesterday, though quite bearable. I didn't really even need gloves! But the skies have been a relentless bleak gray since we got here. And, of course, since it is near wintertime, the daylight hours are rather short. It starts darkening around 3:30 and by 5:00 you'd be able to see the stars; that is, of course, if there were a break in the cloud cover.

Copenhagen: Day 1

Happy Thanksgiving!

We are taking a short break in Copenhagen. Will be here until Sunday. We flew out of Manchester Airport as we were able to get the best flight deal with SAS from that airport. Problem is, we had to get up at the crack of dawn to make sure we got to the airport in time. It took us about 2 hours to drive there from Harrogate. We left our house at 6.15 a.m. and encountered some of the worst traffic we've seen since we moved to England. So many trucks!!! And narrow lanes. And confusing signage. But we made it okay. Checking in was a breeze and then we had about 2 hours to kill before our flight departed. The flight took only 1.5 hours, so it took us longer to drive to Manchester than it did to fly to Copenhagen.

The weather is quite mild. I wore a wool sweater and my heavy winter coat and was overheated most of the day and evening. The skies have been misty and gray. The Christmas decorations are beautiful and festive, helping to break through the gloom of the overcast weather. Since we arrived in the city too late to really go to any museums or other attractions, we spent most of the day walking about the city center, getting the lay of the land.

We stopped in at a wonderful little Konditerei (cafe) and had some delicious coffee and cake. I wanted to order Wiener Brod (Viennese Bread), the name the Danes give to what we Americans call Danish pastry, but the guy in front of me ordered the last one. I'm sure before the weekend is out I'll get to sample some Wiener Brod.

We had dinner at a country bistro called Peder Oxe. Since this was our Thanksgiving Dinner, I ordered the roast duck and am sorry to say that I was a bit disappointed. The duck was a bit dry and there just was not much meat on the bones. My veggies were tasty, but on the skimpy side. Brad had a very tasty steak and baked potato.

We went shopping in a fabulous department store, Illums. The Christmas decorations were fantastic and we saw many interesting items in the housewares dept., but the prices were sky high. The cost of living is apparently quite high in Copenhagen.

After dinner we strolled through Tivoli, Copenhagen's famed amusement park. The admission fee was a bit steep, 55 kroner or about 9 bucks just to get in. For that price we were able to stroll through the grounds and admire the lights, admittedly beautiful. We saw a couple of willow trees that had every branch lined with tiny white lights. Stunning. Everything else you want to do at Tivoli will cost you a pretty penny. Rides. Arcade games. Several cafes and restaurants. Shows. We were satisfied just to wander through the park admiring the lights.

Our hotel is very nice with the added plus of free internet access. Only one computer though and I got lucky tonight and managed to get online without too much of a wait. Nice to be able to update my blog. I haven't been able to get online for awhile as our ISP's server has been down for a couple of days.

I just got back from my first ramble. "Rambles" are what the British call "hikes" and there are some passionate ramblers in the UK. The country is crisscrossed with thousands of public footpaths, giving free access to lovely walks among the hills and dales. Sometimes the footpaths skirt right along private property and you feel as if you are trespassing. But no, these pathways are open to the public.

Today I joined a group that meets every Thursday for a ramble. The walks are usually from 5-10 miles long. We start walking at 10 and usually finish by noon. We have a designated meeting place that is easy to drive to and find parking. From there we car pool to a spot that has been selected by one of the more experienced members. At the end of the walk we all pile into a local pub for lunch.

We started our walk in Bishop Monkton, a lovely little town just outside of Harrogate. It rained yesterday and was still raining this morning when I left the house so I wondered if we would even walk today. Turns out we had the biggest turnout they've ever had. It was rather muddy going. A couple of times I took a step and just kept sliding or sinking. Halfway through the walk, though, the weather cleared and it warmed up considerably. The walk this week was all on level ground, we passed several fields with grazing sheep and even witnessed a head butting contest between two female sheep. Very strange! I thought only rams did that. We also passed by a local pottery factory, a fishery and a canal with a lock. Along the way I chatted with other members of the walk, mostly Americans, but a few British folk as well.

We ended back in Bishop Monkton at lunchtime and headed for The Lamb and Flag pub. The owner seemed a bit perturbed when saw how large our party was (about 15). He grumbled, "We can't possibly serve a group as large as yours." and effectively kicked us out. No worries. There are two pubs in Bishop Monkton and the Masons Arms had no problem with a group our size. We only ordered sandwiches and soup anyhow. I had the carrot and coriander soup (a common soup in these parts). It was very tasty. A nice comfort at the end of a long walk.

The weekend has been sunny and clear, but rather chilly. Brad is out at the driving range this morning -- his first golf outing since we moved here.

Yesterday, we took a drive to investigate an interesting building we used to pass on the way to visit Ginger while he was in quarantine. The brown and white signs pointing the way to the building informed us that it was situated in Allerton Park. We made the turnoff from the motorway and soon found ourselves on a narrow country road. Eventually we came to a sign that said Welcome to Allerton Castle, but it was unclear which of the derelict roads we were to take. We chose the one that appeared to be in the direction of the Castle (which was hidden from view at this point). We eventually arrived at the drive in front of the Castle. There were two cars parked at the front, but we also noticed that several of the windows were boarded up. The Castle did not appear to be open to visitors. There was no car park, no signs stating opening hours. We left the Castle grounds and intend to investigate the story behind Allerton Castle on the Internet.

Then we decided to go to Harewood House, a mansion situated between Harrogate and Leeds. It is the home of the 7th Earl of Harewood, George Lascelles, who happens to be a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth. George's mother was Princess Mary, daughter of King George V. Elizabeth is the daughter of George VI, George V's brother. Now that we've got the lineage sorted out...Harewood House was built in the late 1700s by George's ancestor, Edwin Lascelles. With exquisitely decorated ceilings and interiors by Robert Adam, furniture by Chippendale and grounds landscaped by Capability Brown, it is no wonder Harewood House is considered to be one of England's Treasure Houses. And it has admission fees to match: 9.50 pounds per person.

We enjoyed wandering through the mansion's lavishly decorated rooms on a self-guided tour and caught a brief lecture about a portrait by Joshua Reynolds. (We learned that Reynolds routinely painted only the face and hands; the rest of the portrait was completed by anonymous drapery and landscape painters.) Views of the landscape outside the windows were stunning. But our favorite thing was the Old Kitchen, in the basement of the house and the domain of the servants. We saw there an amazing array of copperware and a huge 1930s-oven among other cooking implements.

There is also a Bird Garden on the grounds of Harewood House, scattered over four acres of land and housing over 100 species of exotic, non-British birds. I was struck with a particular pang of nostalgia when I saw the Azure-winged Magpie, a species we saw regularly in our neighborhood in Tokyo.

There is much more to Harewood than the House and the Bird Garden, such as the Terraced Gardens, All Saints Church and Harewood Lake, but we will save them for another day, perhaps. (We'll need to purchase a yearly pass to make it economically feasible.) There is only so much Stately Home visiting one can take in a day.

It is a blustery wintry day today with a gray sky and strong winds. I just took a walk in the center of town and it began to rain. Now this is the weather I expected to find here!! Before we left for London we were experiencing one of the area's prettiest autumns. Since we had such a dry summer, the leaves turned beautiful shades of gold and red. Now the trees are bare and the Stray has a stark dismal aspect to match my mood. Perhaps a nice cup of tea and some yummy biscuits will brighten the day.

We returned from London yesterday around 1 p.m. We spent a lazy afternoon unpacking, doing some laundry and watching TV. Ginger was glad to see us and was all purrs and cuddles. I had found out about a pet sitting service that operates out of Leeds and hired a team of two pet sitters to check in on Ginger once a day while we were away. All went well . . . Ginger did not seem too stressed out, his litter pans had been cleaned and the house was in good order. The sitters kept a daily log of their visits and apparently Ginger hid from them every time they came and could not be coaxed out from his hiding places (usually under a bed) with cat treats. He always was a scaredy cat, but I thought he'd at least warm up to the sitters after a couple of days. I guess if they had stayed overnight Ginger might have been a bit more sociable.

London: Day Five

This morning we hit the British Museum, one of the few museums open on a Monday. I think by this time I was museumed out -- I was kinda wandering around aimlessly and couldn't find anything that really grabbed my attention. The last time we had been to the British Museum it was undergoing a huge upgrade of the facilities. The work has been completed now, and, though they have created a wonderful open space around the original reading room with plenty of entrances to the museum's vast collections, I felt nostalgic for the old museum layout. Before, you felt like you were wandering through an eccentric aunt's attic; now the museum has a sterile, public institution feel to it.

We had lunch at Wagamama's, a Japanese eatery. We've been craving real ramen (soup) and gyoza (dumplings) since moving from Tokyo. My miso ramen was pretty close and the gyoza were passable, but I think we will just have to go back to Tokyo for the real thing.

After lunch we went to the discount ticket booth at Leicester Square and picked up a couple of tickets for Anything Goes. The 1930s muscial revival, featuring songs by Cole Porter and a script co-written by P.G. Wodehouse, has received good reviews and we were both ready for some good escapist entertainment.

For dinner we decided to get Afternoon Tea at Harrods. Fortnum and Mason was our initial choice but, oddly enough, they don't serve Tea on Mondays. Tea at Harrod's was good, but not great. Our first pot of tea began to taste bitter after awhile and even a second pot could not dispel the bitter taste. The sandwiches were tasty, the scones passable and the sweets a bit too rich for me. One of our servers was named Domenica Amore. I struck up a conversation with her, sparked by her name. She says she hates her name because everyone teases her about it -- It translates from Italian into Sunday Love. I think it's a beautiful name. I told her that one of my sisters is named Domenica and then we lauched into a conversation about Sicily. Domenica Amore comes from Catania, south of Mt. Etna. In heavily accented English, she complained about the weather in her home town. She says it has become just like English weather -- always rainy. She also told me about the ash that was spewed from Mt. Etna. For two months you could not go out of the house without and umbrella to shield you from the ash, which was blown by the wind as far away as Malta. Domenica assured me that Mt. Etna has calmed down now. (for the time being, I guess!)

After Tea, we did a bit of browsing at Harrod's, then breezed through Covent Gardens on our way to the show, which did not disappoint. The singing and dancing were great, there was a fabulous tap dance sequence and we got plenty of chuckles out of the script.

Tomorrow we head back to Harrogate and, believe me, I'm ready to go home. London has been fun but I am worn out. We have spent a lot of time on our feet and covered an awful lot of ground. It is good to know that we can come back here easily -- it's just a three-hour train ride out of York.

London: Day Four

We decided to head out to Oxford today. A train out of Paddington Station will bring you to Oxford in about an hour. From the train station it is an easy walk into the center of town. By the time we hit town it was lunch time so we began looking for a place to eat. I was getting a bit frustrated, because all I could see were really touristy looking pubs. Then it began to sprinkle. The sprinkle turned into a rain shower and we finally ducked into a church coffee shop. Turns out the food was great! A limited menu, but all organic and delicious.

After lunch we decided to take a guided walk of the colleges. Our guide, quite in contrast to the eloquent and well-spoken Nick, was a rather odd fellow dressed in threadbare clothes. His eyes were bloodshot and his hair disheveled. I almost backed out of the walk, but a decent looking chap who had just finished a tour with the guide was gushing about what a great walk it was. Well our guide, whose name we never caught, was actually full of knowledge about the colleges, having attended Queen's College himself. He took us onto the grounds of some of the colleges and kept spouting stories and statistics. Brad and I would exchange glances with each other as our guide would stop for a long pause (was he organizing his thoughts?), teeter precariously on his own feet (was he ill or drunk?) and then launch forth into another soliloquy. We stuck it out for about an hour, then the weather got the best of us and we sought shelter from the rain. We wandered about a bit on our own when the weather had cleared up a bit and were appalled at the stiff admission prices to some of the colleges.

We got back to town around 4 p.m. -- enough time to head back to the hotel to change out of our wet clothes and head out for dinner. In the evening we did another guided walk with Nick. This one was a ghost walk in the City of London. The City of London is a distinct district within the London metropolis, and if one is to believe Nick, it is full of ghastly gorey ghost stories. We also got a good dose of history and viewed some more interesting architecture, both modern and historic.

London: Day Three

Yesterday evening we went on a guided walk with London Walks. We did the Kensington Village walk. Our tour guide, Nick, was a real likeable fellow and an excellent guide. He was witty and knowledgeable -- full of interesting anecdotes about the area. We learned about the Great Exhibition of 1851 which raised the funds for the building of some of London's greatest museums, saw the houses where David Frost and Albert Finney lived, and heard tales about some of Kensington's more notorious residents. Along the way we stopped into a couple of pubs for a quick pint (or half pint, in my case). My favorite stop along this walk was the Michelin building. Now a restaurant, it was the original UK headquarters of the Michelin tire company. The building displays the first depiction of the Michelin Man, Bibendum, and there were many motifs on the building both in stone and in lights that played on the tire motif.

We went to Sir John Soane's Museum today and what a treat it was. Sir John Soane was an architect who lived in the late 1700s/early 1800s. He filled his town house on Linconln's Inn Fields with his eclectic collection of paintings, architectural models, marble details from old buildings, and many exotic and intriguing oddities. He had so much stuff that he eventually took over the two adjoining townhouses. Before his death, Soane had the foresight to bequeath his mansion to the city as a museum with the stipulation that nothing was to be changed. The house itself is an architectural wonderland with narrow passageways, hidden courtyards, folding picture panels and inventive use of available light. We had much fun exploring the museum and its many nooks and crannies.

After lunch we went to the National Portrait Gallery. We started at the top floor and made our way down so that we'd be viewing the portraits in chronological order. This must be one of the few museums in which I looked at every entry. In each room I tried to figure who was who before reading the labels. I also played a little game in which I determined what famous current celebrity most resembled some of the older portraits. My favorite thing in the museum was the special exhibit, a national photo portrait competiton. There were some very inventive entries and it was good to see portraits of real down-to-earth people.

Today there was a parade in honor of the Lord Mayor of the City of London, who was officially installed in office to much fanfare. There were fireworks scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. We arrived a bit too late to get a good spot for viewing the fireworks (they were being set off from a barge on the Thames river) -- all I could see were the ones that went really high. I much preferred the display we had recently seen for Bonfire Night in Harrogate.

In the evening we went to see Spirited Away, a Japanese anime film we have been wanting to see ever since it was released in Tokyo last year. It was a fabulous movie and we were thrilled that we got to see the Japanese version with English subtitles.

London: Day Two

We arrived yesterday in London to beautiful sunny warm weather. We heard that it was the warmest November day in about 50 years in London yesterday. Our hotel, which we found on lastminute.com (useful website) is very near the Victoria and Albert museum, where we intend to go today. The museum opens at 10 and since we have a bit of time to spare, I popped into this little Internet Cafe between the hotel and the museum.

Yesterday we toured Kensington Palace and were lucky enough to catch a special exhibition of QEII's hats and handbags. What a fabulous array of styles...some of which were not to our taste, but fun to look at nonetheless. Later we strolled through Kensington Gardens, then paid visits at Harvey Nichols and Harrod's department stores. I had forgotten how marvelous Harrods is, although they seem to have remodeled their food hall. We found many little eateries in the food hall, like a sushi bar and a tapas bar. Don't remember seeing them there before. Well, these eateries are nice, but I actually prefer the floor space to be crammed with wondrous and exotic food stuffs as I remember from previous visits. Last night we had dinner in China Town...we've been craving good chinese food, as we have yet to find a decent chinese restaurant in Yorkshire.

Well, I'm off to the V&A...

Ginger Update

Ginger is healing quite well after his surgery. He has been wearing his collar for about a week now and I can tell he can't wait to be free of it. He keeps trying to scratch behind his ears with no effect. Tomorrow the collar comes off. Ginger will be looked after by two petsitters while we are away in London. This will be less stressful for him (and us) than putting him in a kennel.

It's Guy Fawkes' Day and all around us we can hear firecrackers being set off. Earlier we saw a fantastic fireworks display on the Stray. There was also a huuuge bonfire in the distance. This is all in commemoration of the failed plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605. One of the conspirators, Guy Fawkes, was caught red-handed with the barrels of gunpowder. We didn't get too close to the bonfire, but I've heard that it is traditional to burn an effigy of Guy and that towns and cities compete to have the biggest grandest bonfire and effigy. Maybe next year we'll be able to check out the bonfire close up. Right now we are making last-minute preparations for a trip to London. We leave tomorrow. I booked the train tickets this afternoon and just now made hotel reservations. We had a bit of a time finding a hotel that wasn't booked up for any of the five nights we plan to spend in London.

I've been so busy lately I haven't had a chance to post about the visit last weekend with Michiko, my friend from Japan, and her friend, Fumiko. We all had a great time during their whirlwind visit. They arrived last Thursday evening, laden with gifts for me and Brad. We were totally overwhelmed with their generosity. It was like Christmas here. We received some pottery, cloth napkins and drink mats, small leather change purses, a calendar, hand-litho'd postcards, gourmet senbei (rice crackers), a package of green tea chocolates (strange flavor!)...and, oh, I'm sure I'm forgetting something!! I just could not believe how many gifts they brought. Oh, yes, they also brought us a huge hunk of Brie cheese and a package of Camembert cheese they picked up at Charles DeGaulle Airport (they had been visiting a friend in Paris before coming to England). I served them homemade spaghetti and meatballs for dinner and I think they enjoyed it. (leftover from Brad's b'day dinner, but it is always better the next day ;-)

The next day, Friday, I took Michiko and Fumiko to York. Brad had to work :-( First we explored the ruins of St. Mary's Abbey, then walked along a portion of the medieval city wall before stopping off at York Minster. We joined a free guided tour of the Minster but left the tour before it was finished because the guide was too soft spoken to be heard. We kept straining to hear what he had to say until finally Michiko, uncharacteristically forthright for a Japanese woman, asked him to speak up. He raised the volume for about two sentences then went back to his sotto voce. Very frustrating. After the Minster we had lunch then walked through the Shambles on our way to the York Castle Museum (one of my all-time favorite museums). We spent a good 2 hours in the museum and finished just in time for dinner. Brad was able to meet us for dinner and then for a ghost walk! After all it was Halloween. There must have been a hundred or so people on the ghost walk, but at least this time the guide spoke loud and clear and made a campy presentation. By the end of the ghost walk I'm afraid my guests were really tired. Fumiko could barely keep her eyes open on the train ride back home.

On Saturday, the four of us went to Bettys for breakfast. Bettys Cafe and Tea Room is a must-see must-do in Harrogate. We took a very quick tour of the center of Harrogate with a stop at Farrah's Toffe Shop. Then it was back in the car for a ride on the winding back roads in the country for good views of the sheep and cows grazing in the fields. Next stop was Ripley, a little village with a castle. We took a very interesting tour of the castle. This time only three other people were on the tour with us and the guide was very personable, full of interesting anecdotes about the castle, still owned and lived in by the Ingilby family. They conduct the tours and let out rooms for functions in order to raise funds to maintain the castle. From Ripley we headed out to Bolton Abbey, one of the prettiest abbey ruins in the area. We returned home around five p.m. and I made dinner (pasta fazool) while Michiko and Fumiko packed. They were leaving the next day! A short trip but what fun it was to see them and show them the sights.

Well, now I guess I really better get packing. We leave on the 8:16 train tomorrow morning!