Oh When The Danes... Come Marching In!

 Hej (high)....... from the Wandering Berkmans!

We may be in Spoleto, Italy right now (more on that later), but we couldn't talk about the here and now without paying tribute to our wonderful Danish hosts and friends the Wornings.  They offered and we took them up on staying a month with them in their home and they couldn't have been more gracious.  And patient hahaha (yes, we take lots of naps.  yes, we walk kinda slow)

Anna and Mikael live just outside of Copenhagen so we had plenty of opportunities to explore this picturesque, clean, chock-full-of-bikes city.  Apologies in advance to all our danish friends and kin if I get some of the facts, names or spelling wrong.  Danish-- she is a tough language to maneuver!   

So many highlights! Here are but a few....

--Our stay in their summer home in Nyord with delicious meals, breathtaking views, and beautiful hikes through the country and the White Cliffs of Møn. 

I miss the pickled herring with horseradish dressing-- absolutely wrong, I'm told, but if loving this is wrong I don't want to be right.

--Many a tasty meal we cooked and enjoyed with the family. The view of the bay was not too shabby. 

-- It was great to spend time with the whole family at different points.  We taught them the joys of the game Spot It ("Dobble" in Danish) and Christine kicked our butts every time.  We want a rematch!!

--The thatched roofing of the buildings from the 18th century were particularly fascinating, as seen here in the old manor house in Liselund in nearby Borre. 

 

--Exploring the picturesque city of Copenhagen, we even "met" the Queen and the Crown Prince!  See her waving to us??  She was a little busy, on her way to cut a ribbon somewhere and couldn't stay to chat but we felt the love.

--Here's our money shot of Nyhavn, the oft-photographed 17th century canal street, with one of our dashing tour guides looking on

 

--Spirals abound in this city.  One intriguing example (first pic) is the tower of the Church of Our Saviour.  No, we didn't climb it-- again, we are those people.  Lower pic is the freaky four dragon-tailed spire of the 17th century stock exchange building.

-- We were lucky enough to be in the Copenhagen area at the same time as family Cecelia, Toke and Ida.  Over coffee in the cute town of Lyngby where the Wornings live, we caught up on family news (Ida going to 5th grade??  The fate of Lido the dog's "biscuits"?), discussed world and local issues (Cuomo-- outta there!) and planned for a hopeful reunion in New Mexico for Thanksgiving.

-- We hit the open seas (or the Sound) in the Worning boat for a 3 hour tour (cue the music!).  Don at the rudder played his role of Gilligan with skill and nary a mishap.  It was a perfect day to sail around Øresund, a small Swedish island nearby.  

-- With World Pride 2021 being held in Copenhagen and Malmo (Sweden), we took advantage of some events happening while we were there.  

We were able to attend the Human Rights Conference and heard from an impressive group of speakers.  And we saw Princess Mary, the Crown Princess!  The Danish Royalty is stalking us! 

LGBTI+ flags and their meanings were displayed around Copenhagen to show pride and educate.  Learn more here!

Malmo knew how to represent with this spectacular unicorn in one of the city's squares.  

And while the Pride March in Malmo lost some of its luster when it had to take place in a stadium for Covid precautions, the organizers did a great job keeping up the enthusiasm.  Take in this fantastic percussion group celebrating these teen marchers.  

Our stay in Denmark was a highlight of our travels.  Thank you, our Danish family, for your always amazing hospitality and warmth!!

In other news, we've been hearing for years how terrific Berlin is so we took advantage of the proximity and hit the city for 5 days.  Wow.  Diverse, a foodies delight, the history, great biking, architecture, art, museums-- we need to go back for a longer stay, no question.  

Don by a portion of the Berlin Wall.  The longer part on the bottom was to prevent people from driving into the wall to break through.  The full height was over 11 feet.  

We call this the Lego building

The New Synagogue in the old Jewish Quarter is impressive.  And guarded by police. 

The food we had at the Georgian restaurant Kin-Za became Don's new "Mueller's #9 pasta and Ragu Spaghetti Sauce" meal-- his new favorite!  

Khachapuri, this bread, egg and cheese bomb, will make your heart sing.  

And in the meantime, a little family update-- Julia is with Zach in Mexico City!  Jules misses their students in So. Korea but is excited to start their next career as they look for remote positions in writing web content and the like.  It was great to see the two of them in the same room!  They leave this week for Oaxaca to celebrate Zach's 28th birthday.  

Your Slice of Life (SOL) for this issue- Danes and their bikes.  Bikes there aren't just for a fun little ride around the block-- they are serious business and used by many as a major form of transportation and commuting.  Witness the local postal carrier in Lyngby.

Spoleto is proving to be a little jewel-- we're excited to be able to spend 2 months here.  More on our pasta and vino adventures in the next edition!  

Indtil naeste gang ("until next time" in Danish), be well and thanks for following along!

Don and Monica

denmark, sweden, germany