Field trip to Denmark: déjà vu?

This morning, all of the UC kids bundled up (it was 35 degrees!) and hopped on a bus at 8:15AM. We zipped up the coast, drove onto a giant ferry, and sailed (bus and all) from Helsingborg, Sweden to Helsingor, Denmark.

Our first stop was the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art - definitely worth the trip. Not only does the museum sits on a dynamite spot, with a beautiful view of Sweden across the Öresund, but one of their current exhibitions, on the work of photographer Richard Avedon, was stunning. Over two hundred portraits from his career’s work, of all kinds of people: his father, vagrants, and coal miners, the Beatles, Henry Kissinger, Twiggy, Bjork, Marilyn Monroe, and Hilary Clinton. Avedon also did some glam shots for fashion magazines like Harper’s Bazaar. But perhaps my personal favorite – just because it was such a time warp – were fifty portraits of prominent figures in the 1970s, including some very young, yet familiar faces: Bush Sr., Rumsfeld, Jerry Brown, and Ralph Nader.

Afterwards we drove up the coast to have lunch and then take a tour of Kronborg Castle, famously known as “Hamlet’s Castle.”

Yep, if you’ve been following closely, I’ve done this field trip before. It was a spur-of-the-moment weekend trip back in July. Lots of fun, and you can see some pictures if you click the link.

Still, it is a fun castle, and this time, camera-free, I was able to enjoy an official tour of the grounds, where we learned oodles about the warring nations of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden back in the 1600s, clever taxing gimmicks for trading ships passing through the Öresund, and exactly why the dark and creepy casemates are there (prisons and soldiers’ quarters, apparently).

Also, one of my fellow UC students, the very brave and sassy Izzy, had a go at some sword fighting against a Danish "knight" in the ballroom of the castle: who ever hits the other first wins… go Izzy!

Then it was back on the ferry! And back to Lund. Time for some studying!


Linnea

A Weekend in Germany!

Last weekend, I watched Max race in the UCI Road World Championships... an amazing opportunity. Once a year, all of the world's best cyclists gather to compete for the world title, and this year it was in Stuttgart, Germany -- conveniently not too far from Lund, Sweden.

So, I flew down to Germany on a Friday afternoon and got ready for an exciting weekend. It was my first trip to Germany, and I would not only be seeing Max, but staying in a hotel with America's top cyclists -- the ones whom I admire and idolize as some of the best in the world. Amazing. (The first time I ran into George Hincapie in the hall, I tried very hard not to squeal loudly/hug him/pass out. I just calmly walked past him -- and, for the record, he didn't even notice me.)

Saturday was the women's elite road race and Max's race: the under 23 category. I took the S-Bahn from my hotel in Möhringen to the start/finish line at Killesberg Messa. I wandered along the course, caught the end of the women's race, and then waited for the U23 race to begin. Here's Max, zipping by on his way to the U.S.A. tent to get ready.


I figured out very quickly that it would have been well worth my money to buy a ticket for the race. The race planners strategically covered all the fences and barriers around the start/finish area with opaque cloth, so enterprising fans wouldn't be able to peer through the chain link and watch the show for free. I was irked. But I didn't have 20 Euros so I settled for walking around the course and finding some good places to watch.

After the start -- blink and you'll miss 'em! -- I surveyed the beginning of the course. The peloton was in for a challenge: 9 laps of a hilly course, adding up to 170 kilometers.

I spent the first several laps taking pictures of all of the people who had gathered to watch the race. Lots of fans had camped out in RVs and had clearly staked out their spot well in advance. This race was my first ever glimpse of REAL cycling fans. Europeans take their cycling (and their soccer) seriously. I hate to say it, but American cycling fans have nothing on the people I saw. Flags, banners, campers, tables and chairs, TVs, satelite dishes, weird hats... a couple of families were even running cafes out of their RVs (cappuccino and a sandwich, anyone?).

It was a windy day and the barricades kept falling over. The fans, while enthusiastic and a bit crazy, were also fierce supporters of their riders, and quickly helped the race organizers right the fences. Luckily, the U23 peloton was nowhere near when this happened, but earlier in the day, the elite women were not so lucky: about 10 girls got taken out by a falling barrier.

The only mystery: the napping man (see picture). Why on earth would you come to the World Cycling Championships and then TAKE A NAP?? Clearly not a true cycling fan.

WHOOSH... after half an hour, the peloton flew past again. I did, rather fortuitously, get a shot of Max (going at least 30 mph).


The countries most well-represented by their fans seemed to be Italy, Norway, and (duh) Germany. Um... sprechen sie schwedisch? It's been a while since I've traveled to a place where my language skills -- Spanish, English, and Swedish -- haven't done me any good. Towards the end of the day, I had an amusing conversation with an old Italian man where I garbled away in a mix of all three of the languages.

Several kilometers into the course was the steepest climb of the race: about 400 meters long and at a 13 percent grade. (Try doing that 9 times...)



There were some beautiful views of Stuttgart, a city built over hills and valleys.


The laps were long, so it was a bit of a wait to see the peloton pass by again. A glimpse of the TV helicopter was a good sign that the riders were on their way.


The whole world was represented: Britian, Kazakhstan, Tunisia, South Africa, Iran, Malaysia, Venezuela, Belarus, Moldova, Austrailia -- and the winner was from Slovakia!



Max finished the race towards the back, but the important thing was that he finished his first race of this scale. About one-third of the racers who started didn't finish at all! It was exciting to see him do so well, and he hopes to be back next year.

That evening, after running around and figuring out schedules for departing the next morning, we decided to go downtown to relax and eat some dinner. We had just left the hotel to walk to the train station when Max realized he had forgotten his wallet. He ran back in while I waited outside. A minute later, Max came outside leaning over and holding his head in his hands. He said he had hit his head... and when he pulled his hand away, it was covered in blood.

Long story short, Max cut his head on a wall (don't ask), but it was very superficial and the team doctor had him fixed up in no time.



Ouch.


Sooooo, let's try that again. Off to dinner!


We got off at the main station, Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof, and I spotted one of those model train displays where I gladly paid 50 euro cents to "drive" the models -- you know how I love trains.



We enjoyed our beer, pizza, and pasta in Schlossplatz at a little outdoor restaurant.


Flying home out of Stuttgart, my flight was canceled! I was really bummed at first, but when I was rebooked on Lufthansa, things got a lot better. Not only did my new flight back to Copenhagen arrive two hours earlier than my previously scheduled flight, but I was upgraded to economy plus! The front of the plane (dedicated to business and economy plus) was very empty: I counted only two other people besides me in the surrounding thirty seats. I had a row to myself and I was served a meal on an hour and half long flight! I was pretty happy.


Auf Wiedersehen!
Linnea

UCI Road World Championships 2007: Stuttgart, Germany.


I will blog about my trip as soon as I have some extra time! Gotta catch up on my homework first. :-)

Day Tripper

We interrupt this reminiscent broadcast for an important update: my first trip to Copenhagen! (No, going to the airport to pick up Max didn’t count.)


Lucky me – today I got to hang out with my mom’s cousin Conni and her husband, Charlie, who currently has a guest professor gig in Denmark. They also lived in Denmark in 2003, so they used some of their insider knowledge to show me the city. We had lunch at a great café (an old favorite of theirs) and then Conni and I took a walking tour (Charlie had to go to a conference, sadly).

Talk about great first impressions – what a wonderful city! As Charlie said today, “Lots of bikes, good beer, beautiful sights – what’s there to complain about?” Certainly all of those things work in the city’s favor, but there is something else that made this visit special – my favorite childhood book, Number the Stars, took place in Copenhagen!

I have probably read this wonderful book over 30 times. The author, Lois Lowry, tells the story of Annemarie, a 10-year-old girl who is growing up during World War II, in Nazi-occupied Denmark. I realized that the majority of my knowledge about Copenhagen comes from that book, and walking around Copenhagen, I saw Annemarie’s hometown and story come to life before my eyes: the Amalienborg palace and stories of King Christian X, Tivoli, the Østerbrogade…


And by chance, I spotted an advertisement on our tourist map for The Museum of Danish Resistance – and we made that our next stop. No other sight in Copenhagen is more connected to Number the Stars than this museum. There, I found more bits and pieces of the book's story on display: the Danish Resistance, young people with immense courage; the story of 7,000 Danish Jews who escaped the Nazis, many of whom fled to Sweden by boat; the complex political decisions made by the Danish government and King to protect their people from the Nazis. It was a very powerful museum.


Afterwards, we made our way towards the famous Little Mermaid Statue, but first we stopped to admire an enormous, imposing fountain (the largest monument in Copenhagen) called Gefionspringvandet, or in English, the Gefion Fountain. It features the legend of the Norse goddess, Gefion, who was promised by the Swedish King Glyfi all the land she could plow in a day and a night. She turned her sons into oxen and went to work. As legend has it, all that earth was then thrown into the sea to become the island, Zealand, on which Copenhagen is located.

After snapping a shot of Den Lille Havfrue sitting on her rock, we walked through the Kastellet, a fort from the 17th century, and then back through the city to the train station to meet Charlie.


We had a delicious Carlsberg beer and called it a day! I'm already looking forward to going back.

Oh, and I also picked up a small souvenir:


More on the final stages of my Tour de Sweden coming soon.
Linnea

I love the weekend!
(Harry Potter, sleeping in, and a trip to Denmark.)

Friday morning: the LONG anticipated end to a three week, whirlwind initiation to the Swedish language and culture. Most of us were very nervous about our Swedish exam, which involved eight pages of grammar and a page long essay! We studied, studied, studied, and I think it paid off for most of us in the end. We celebrated with a huge party on Friday night.

Saturday also marked the arrival of a long anticipated event: the fifth Harry Potter movie! (Definitely worth our 100 kronor or $15). Saturday was also the first day in a while that we have seen some sun and temperatures over 70 degrees! A wonderful lazy day…


Today, we went to Kronborg (aka Hamlet’s Castle) in Denmark. (A brief interlude praising the public transportation here: it’s easy, cheap, and amazing. I recently bought a “Sommarkortet” summer pass which allows me to travel any distance, anywhere in Skåne, by bus or by train, for only 8 kronor or $1.25! What a deal!) So, for $1.25, I got a forty minute train ride to Helsingborg and then paid another $3.25 for a 20 minute ferry ride to Helsingør, Denmark.

Wow, what a STUNNING trip.

First of all, I have never in my life been on a ferry that HUGE. The boarding ramp was like getting on an airplane – elevated so that we could enter the ferry on what was probably equivalent to the fifth or sixth story above the water. Huge big rig trucks and cars drove up three different entrance ramps to load onto the bottom levels of the boat. And inside? Three different levels for passengers, including several restaurants and cafes, a grocery store (!), and a big viewing deck. We were all wowed.


Once we docked in Helsingør, we were truly blown away. My two friends, Melissa and Karen, and I kept looking around at the amazingly beautiful buildings, exclaiming, “ooh!” and “wow!” We also, quite a few times, couldn’t help but say, “Can you believe we’re in Denmark??” I get this feeling that in Lund we’ve been so busy getting settled in and learning Swedish that we sometimes almost forget that we are living in a foreign country. We were all struck by the beauty of Denmark – and I think it shocked us back to reality. (“Look where we are! Isn’t this amazing??”) It was a nice reminder: I do need to step back once and a while to truly appreciate the opportunities and experiences that I’ve been blessed with while studying abroad.


Anyway, the Kronborg Castle belonged to Fredrik II and is from the Renaissance. It’s most commonly known as “Hamlet’s Castle” because the castle was the setting for Shakespeare’s Hamlet. In 2000, it was also named as one of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites. It’s a major tourist attraction and we were among people of many nationalities (including Danes) who chose this beautiful Sunday to explore the castle.


For $12, we toured the King and Queens bedchambers, a beautiful ballroom, the casemates beneath the castle, and a chapel, which was the only part of the building left in tact when it was ravaged by a fire in 1629. The whole castle was VERY cool.

It was a great trip and a wonderful way to finish off the weekend.

Upcoming plans: Tomorrow, I start another three week round of Swedish classes and I’m going to reserve a Harry Potter book, and on Tuesday many of us will be attending a soccer match in Malmö. I’ll do my best to keep the blogs coming your way!

Take care!
Linnea