September 6
Sunday was a very relaxing day. After the long day at Ven then the barbeque, we all sort of work up around noon. After a lazy lunch where we talked for a long time, we went outside to play the Swedish game of Kubb. This is a game played with 10 wooden blocks, six wooden sticks, and a single taller block which is the ‘king’. There are two teams and each team has five of the wooden blocks in a row. The distance between team A’s row and team B’s row can vary, but the king always sits in the center of the rectangle. The goal of the game is to knock down the other team’s blocks by throwing the sticks at it, and after you successfully take care of the blocks, you have a chance to knock down the king.
We played guys versus girls, and soon the girls took an early commanding lead. They had even gotten to the point of knocking down the king to win it all, but they couldn’t do it even with FOUR chances. With our backs literally against the wall, we came back strong and ended up winning the game. It was quite fun. We played three or four more rounds. Frieder shot some video and put together a great video montage of the whole game. That evening, I looked out my window and saw some clouds turn pink. Realizing the potential for a spectacular sunset, I dashed outside in search of the hilltop that we had the barbeque on. I got a bit lost but finally was able to find it. I ran up the hill and honestly had a fleeting thought to fall to my knees when I gazed upon the horizon. On this hilltop you can see 360 degrees around you, and the extent of the sunset was just over a quarter of that. There was a low lying cloud bank by the horizon which glowed as if plasma. Meanwhile, you could see wisps of fog gathering as the cool air set upon the region. It was a glorious inspiring example of nature’s beauty. I attempted to capture it with my camera but no setting could see to do it justice.
On Monday I went to Copenhagen. I boarded a direct train to Copenhagen and arrived at the central train station after an hour. The main tourist bureau is not, as one might expect, on the premises of the central train station, but perhaps one and half blocks away. But the bureau does make up by providing extensive amounts of free publications and guides for not just Copenhagen but the Denmark as a whole. Armed with a map and knowing very little beforehand about the city, I set out to the city center. Copenhagen is an old city, as one would expect, but it appears as if it’s historical emphasis was commerce and industry rather than royalty. Vienna proudly shows its royal heritage but it is far more subdued in Copenhagen. Shopping is very very popular as there are numerous establishments for clothing, antiques, and home furnishings. One of the first sights I saw as the Round Tower, which was an old astronomical observatory that is still used today. Climbing to the top of it provides a panorama view of the city. From there I walked to a nearby park with what seemed to be a palace or royal residence, but I only saw it from a distance. I headed back down to the oceanfront where there are canals that reach into the city. The Kongens Nytorv is an enormous square that has one of these canals leading to it, and the National Theater sits here as well. There is an extremely picturesque and popular view of colorful buildings that line the canal (the shot is abundant on postcards). It is, in fact, probably the most picturesque part of the city.
My next mission was one of personal interest. I walked to a bus stop (along the way an enormous ornamented church suddenly appeared on a side street) and when I boarded found an Indian driver who appeared happy to see another desi in Copenhagen. He let me ride for free and I stood by the driver’s seat and talked with him. I got off after saying goodbye at the corner of Faelled Park. This park sits to the left of the national stadium where FC Copenhagen plays and to the right of a major hospital complex. But why did I visit this park, which has the same wide expanses as Hyde Park? Because it also happens to sit behind what was once the Institute for Theoretical Physics where Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg worked. It is also referred to many times in one my favorite pieces of literature, the play Copenhagen, by Michael Frayn. I also got to see the Institute and later I will take a tour through the Bohr archives and go see the house that Bohr lived in during that pivotal year of 1941.
Today I went to class in the morning then later went to the Swedish language introduction course. It’s gonna be a really busy first half of the semester, with classes going on every day. But the second half looks like it will be less, so that’s good. Tonight I’m going to go try the sunset again, but so far there aren’t many clouds so I don’t know how good the show will be.