Last Days in Copenhagen

Last Days in Copenhagen

Spending Update for India: I spent a total of 89 days in India. As a volunteer, I spent no money for food our housing at the school, so that limited the money spent. Total spending was $449.75 for a daily average of $5.05. Since leaving Texas, I have spent 1365.80 over 127 days for a daily average of $10.75 and a monthly average of $322.63.

Tuesday, Jan. 3, Copenhagen (Part II)

I stayed inside reading and relaxing all afternoon. I had no more bouts of diarrhea, probably because of there being nothing inside me.

Grethe had bought tickets for us to go to the opera in the evening, and I had promised to take her for Indian food for dinner. We went as planned. I took her to the local place Arne and I liked which is really a pizza place owned by Indians. But they have an extensive Indian menu, too. When you order Indian food there, the lady goes to their home kitchen in the back and prepares it fresh. We shared the two dishes that Arne and I always got--checken with spinach sauce and rice and lamb with coconut curry and rice. They were both delicious, especially since I had not eaten all day.

The new opera house is beautiful inside. It's been criticized for the exterior not being more special, since a Danish architect was the designer of the Sydney Opera House and people here wanted it to be as special as that. But the interior, though very modern, is rich and elegant. The theater consists of two parts--an outer shell of concrete and glass and an inner wooden shell shaped like an apple which is the performance hall. The wooden part is attached to the rest of the building only by ramps leading to entrances. I guess that is for accoustical reasons. The lobby is expansive and open with a glass curtain providing views across the water to Amalienborg Palace (where the Queen lives) and to the Marble Church. There are 3 spherical chandeliers hanging there made of colored glass triangles wired together. The glass is tinted golden inside where many small lightbulbs are attached, but outside they are a combination of gold, blue, and a third color I don't recall. Restaurants, bars, restrooms, coat check areas, etc., are all in this outer shell.

The wooden theater itself is quite intimate and is almost totally wooden inside, too. There are 3 balconies with stadium seating so that no one's head blocks the view. We could even smell the fresh wood when we entered to take our seats (before all the cologned bodies entered).

The orchestra pit is completely visible. When they play, every instrument can be heard individually. The sound was unbelievable! The stage was huge with a very moden tapestry in rich blue, vivid red, and other colors covering the curtain and being raised just before the performance.

We saw Die Fledermaus, a German operetta performed in Danish. The budget for sets must be enormous, because they were wonderful--unbelievably complex designs of a bedroom with bath and toilet; a huge professional kitchen with views to the dishwanshing area behind it; a large men's restroom with urinals, stalls, and basins, etc. The performance was good.

Unfortunately, we had to leave after the second act. We were both tired, and Grethe faced getting up early for work. But we both also felt bad. My stomach was bothering me again, and Grethe was beginning to get a cold. By leaving then, we were home at 11:00 instead of 12:15 or so. It was great to see the theater, however. Arne and I had watched its construction with great enthusiasm and had gone to see the building from the outside one of our last days in Copenhagen together.

http://images.google.com/images?sourceid=navclient&hl=da&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLG,GGLG:2006-01,GGLG:da&q=opera%20copenhagen&sa=N&tab=wi

http://www.operahus.dk/default_uk.htm

http://www.copcap.com/composite-8663.htm



Wednesday, Jan. 4, Copenhagen (Part I)

This is my last day in Copenhagen. I'm still sick with diarrhea, but there is no time to see a doctor. Tomorrow is a travel day, and a doctor would need to do stool samples which would take more time than I have here. However, Grethe talked to her head doctor, and he agreed that they could give me an antibiotic commonly used for traveler's diarrhea. I'll start taking it tonight and continue for several days. In the meantime, my trips to the toilet are not frequent, so traveling should be okay.

I've stayed inside all day so far. It's sad I've had to miss doing so many things I wanted to do here, especially since I won't be back for at least 1 1/2 to 2 years. But I'm happy for the friends I got to see and the thins I got to do.