Seeing Everyone in Copenhagen

Spending Update for Georgia: I spent $484.83 over 17 days in Georgia for an average of $28.52 per day. Since leaving Texas, I have spent $5296.45 over 136 days for an average of $39.08 per day.

Friday, Sept. 19, 2008--Copenhagen

Grethe and I explored a new shopping area that has been built in Valby on the sites of some old factories. They have spent years clearing the site and redeveloping it, and it looks so nice now. We bought dinner gifts to take with us tonight and tomorrow night, and Grethe bought some things she needed in the apartment for the next few days.

The TV cable company here reorganizes their channels once a year causing them to be relocated on the spectrum. And TVs here have to be programmed to pick up the cable channels. They don't just automatically come through on assigned channels. Therefore, as I do each year, I helped Grethe reprogram her TV to get the channels that had "disappeared" as a part of the reoganization recently. I also helped her create a folder and store selected photos from her trip to Greenland in it that had been sent to her via e-mail.

Jens and Robert invited us to dinner along with Kurt and Finn. We were asked to arrive about 45 minutes early so I could help them with their computer. They wanted their outgoing e-mails to show a different name than they had been showing. Normally, it would be a simple task, but all the computer tabs and pages within the program are in Danish. It took me a while to figure out what to do. First, I was creating a new outgoing mail protocol. But finally, I found a tab for editing the present one. Then it became easy. I just had to find the slot with the present info they didn't like and replace it with the information they wanted to be associated with the mails.

It was a nice evening and a nice meal. After Kurt and Finn were there, we went out onto the balcony for a champagne welcome drink. The weather is so nice that it is pleasant to be outside these days. Back inside at the dining table, we started with a shrimp cocktail that I especially enjoyed because it was spicy. Then we had a very tender roast beef with Jens' usual potato salad--slices of boiled new potatoes, chopped red onion, vinegar, and oil all tossed together. Next, we had three kinds of cheeses with both red and green grapes and crackers. And finally, we had assorted chocolates and mints. Of course, there was white wine with the shrimp cocktails, red wine with the main course and the cheeses, and liqueurs/cognac with the chocolates. The conversation never failed, and it was often quite funny due to Kurt's usual sense of humor. It was a great night.

Saturday, Sept. 20, 2008--Copenhagen

I finished reading My Antonia by Willa Cather. I had bought it in a bookstore in Tbilisi for my last day there, because I had time on my hands and had run out of other reading material. Although I had read other books/stories by her back in my school days, I had never read this book which some consider to be her best. I liked it, too. I gave it 4 stars out of 4.

Morten (Grethe's brother) and his wife Helle joined us for lunch today. It was a simple table with lots of ingredients set out that can be used for making Danish open-faced sandwiches. We sat around the table and visited while each making our own as we wished. Grethe poured aquavit for us, so there was an occasional toast. And we all had beers to drink with the sandwiches. I had two kinds of herring, some machkeral salad, boiled eggs, liver paste, etc., on two kinds of bread--rye bread with whole kernals and white bread. We talked about anything and everything. It has been a year since I had seen Morten and Helle, and we always have good conversations. Morten told about working with his new American boss and asked whether some of the ways he does things are typical of the American style of running a company. Helle was interested in discussing the financial situation now and various contributors to the problem. They wanted to know about my trip to Georgia. We all sat and visited for about 3 1/2 hours. Then Grethe sent them home so she could rest a while before going to our dinner tonight.

Torben and Erik invited Grethe, me, Jens, and Robert for dinner tonight at their apartment. When we stepped off the train, Jens and Robert were there on the platoform exiting from another car. We all arrived together. They gave me a tour of the their new bathroom and new kitchen. Both have been remodeled since I was there the last time, and both are beautiful.

They had champagne as a welcome drink. Torben had prepared four small appetizers for us and had them in Chinese-style soup spoons. He brought them out one at a time. We would hold a spoon and eat the 2-3 bites of each appetizer while continuing to enjoy the champagne. The first one had a dark green base made from blended peas. One had salmon. Another had chicken. It was fun to try them all.

It seemed strange for only 6 of us to be in their dining room. I have never been to a "small" dinner party there. Typically, they have 16 to 24 guests at a time. Torben says he finds it easier to cook one dinner for 24 guests than he does to cook 4 dinners with 6 guests each.

We had a fantastic orange-ginger soup with shrimps as a starter along with white wine to drink. I asked Torben for the recipe, because it has such a refreshing taste. Here's his reply if anyone is interested: Basically, it is lots of carrots, a few onions, fresh ginger, chilli, salt and water cooked and then mashed in a blender. After that I put in fresh juice from 4-5 oranges and cream and heat it up again without boiling. Serve it hot with shrimps, scallops, lobster tail or small pices of baked salmon added and fresh bread on the side. Could also be made with curry and no oranges and served with pieces of chicken breast and red pepper fruits. The bread he served it with was his usual homemade baguetes.

Our main course was roast beef. And there were lots of side dishes--a salad of cabbage and carrots, boiled potatoes, the natural sauce from the meat, etc. (My mind is going blank now, because there were so many dishes going around the table for us to add to our plates.) We had red wine with all of this.

Dessert was warm fruits flavored with cinnamon and served with three kinds of cheeses. Then we had chocolates from Belgium afterwards with coffee and liqueurs. We were all stuffed by the end of the evening. It was so nice to be together again and enjoy such a night of food of conversation.

Sunday, Sept. 21, 2008--Copenhagen

Grethe and I had a quiet morning in the apartment. I've made an error with her, I think. I introduced her to a card game on the computer, and she seems to have become addicted! She keeps returning to the computer to play a few more rounds in hopes of winning. I have a feeling she may start playing this game on the computer at work rather than doing her job!!

Grethe left around noon for a conference, and I left a few minutes later to go northward for an afternoon with Arne's family at their summer house. Again, it was a beautiful day with sunshine and a high temperature of about 20 C (around 68 F), and the gardens were so green out there with wonderful flowers blooming. Gitte had told me in advance that it would be Arvind's birthday and that most of the family would be there to celebrate. After arriving, I found out that it is also the wedding anniversary for Evy and Arvind.

Arvind picked me up at the bus stop and proudly told me that his oldest son (Bjorn) from a previous marriage would be there with his family. I guess I had known about Bjorn before, but I don't recall information like that until I have actually met the person and interacted with him. So it seemed a surprise to me that there was an older son.

We stopped to see the changes at Evy's and Arvind's place first. Everything is just so beautiful. They have a sloping lawn down to a lake that is filled with reeds and ducks. Although I was here at the same time last year, it is much prettier this year because the summer has been warmer allowing everything to grow better.

We walked up to Gitte's and Carit's place for the party which began about 15:00. There was a big table set up inside the tent they have attached to their summer house. Their daughter Sascha was there with her boyfriend Christian. Bjorn was there with his wife and 4 children. Anita and Holgar were there. And Nils. I have known this family now for 24 years, and it was so nice to have them all together and to be with them again. They are some of the best people in the world.

Sascha and Christian told me about their trip to Vancouver during the summer. They loved the fact that it seemed so different from Europe. But they found it to be quite expensive. Nils told me about his present job and his children. Anita talked to me about my mother, since she works in a nursing home with patients with dementia and told me about Poule's wedding this past year which was based on a ceremony related to Old Norse Mythology. Bjorn's wife talked about her trip to China 15 years ago and other trips she has made or that they have planned. Evy, Gitte, and I talked about Christmas plans, and they want to make the Texanskbroed that I invented last year--a basic Danish butter cookie called Finskbroed with chopped pecans instead of chopped almonds baked on top of them. Everyone asked about my sister Sue, since they know her from a Christmas visit here several years ago and wanted to know if she will return some day for a visit.

During all this visiting, we had coffee with desserts--homemade ablekager (an applesauce type of dessert), Danish cookies, and other bought cakes. Then we progressed into dinner. The latter was based on steaks cooked on the outdoor grill with each of us having to cook his own so that no one could be blamed if it wasn't cooked to our tastes or preferences. With the steaks, we had salad (lettuce, tomatoes, mushrooms, green peppers, corn, etc.) with a homemade garlic dressing. I had a soft drink along with the kids while most of the adults had wine or beer. During a break between the afternoon desserts and evening meal, Arvind opened his birthday gifts--lots of drinks including a vodka I had brought him from Georgia, a tower stand for warm days/nights, etc.

Anita and Holgar gave me a ride back into the city around 21:30. I was sorry to say goodbye to everyone, because it had been a nice visit. But I told them I will probably be here around the same time next year and will look forward to seeing them again.

Monday, Sept. 22, 2008--Copenhagen to Palanga

I am off to Lithuania today. I will fly out just after noon and will be there for the next 8 days. I do not know how easy it will be to find places for the Internet there, so the posts may slow down (or even be non-existant) for the next week. I will spend two nights in Klaipeda, two nights in Kaunas, and 3 nights in Vilnius. Will return to Copenhagen on Tuesday of next week.