Saturday, 16th October, 2009: Anni and Jens' Apartment

Well, I'm sorry I have not been chronicling my adventures more thoroughly. Mostly I've been having them, photographing them (hey kids! Check out my Flickr site at http://www.flickr.com/photos/11701835@N02/sets/72157622561738496/), and hanging around with my hosts.

It's been amazing. The city is gorgeous and old, with historical sites and sights on just about every corner (Danish: hver hjorne). Annie and Jens have been great hosts, taking excellent care of me and adjusting their lives to allow me into their home. I've been doing my very best to be a good houseguest.

Let me talk to you for a second about the food here. Holy cow. First off, Jens is a phenomenal cook. I mean, probably better than you are thinking. That good. He's been making some some delicious dinners, I'm not gonna be losing any weight on this trip.

Danish food is not that foreign to American sensibilities. These folks eat a lot of sandwiches, pasta, and other familiar fare.

A big exception is smørrebrød, a Danish favourite. Jens and Annie took me to a very fancy smørrebrød place Wednesday (Danish: onsdag). Smørrebrød is delicate gourmet ingredients laid out on a piece of bread. The chef's English was good, but her voice was soft, and my hearing is not so good...so Annie had to order for me. My favourite was roast beef with egg and bacon. I tried bites from Annie and Jens' lunches as well and it was all delicious.

I also had a French hotdog. A big long bun with a long hole in it. Squirt in some mayonnaise, slip a long hot weiner in there and you have a delicious treat. Why is everyone snickering?

The weather has been almost perfect every day. Bright shiny blue skies, cool to cold breezes. The sun goes down a bit early (it's 6.45 here and the sun is nearly gone) and it's pretty durn cold at night, but not unbelievably so.

We have seen some amazing stuff. I love those old historical things, and well, they got em here. As Eddie Izzard once said "I'm from Europe, where the history comes from." We have seen some castles and palaces, churches, and places of historical significance. It's a real playground for one who loves old stuff like this.

We also saw Tivoli Gardens, one of the biggest and most famous amusement parks in Europe. It was wonderful, but I didn't get to ride any rides, owing to long lines (plus, I didn't want Annie to get bored, she doesn't do the fast rides). We did buy some souvenirs and walk a lot. Maybe I'll get to sneak back out there before I fly back to Dallas, and ride some thrill rides.

Oh hey, I've managed to communicate in Danish (Danish: dansk...argh...that was a weird one) a bit. Seriously. A week in this country, and I'm actually to where I can read about 80% of what I see. Which is to say I can read 80% of 100% of the writing. Or 100% of 80%...no, not that latter. Not really. But I've actually gotten to where I can understand a bit of spoken Danish too. It's a very hard language, but I'm getting there. Annie and Jens had a few exchanges where I've understood almost the entire conversation. No, I'm not evesdropping, these were the ones in front of me!

I've also managed to communicate with some shopkeepers and the like. Today, Annie and I went for icecream (Danish: is), and I managed to tell the lady "I would like two flavours, caramel and chocolate turtle...which contains no shelled reptiles, it's a rich candy that is popular here). Annie complimented me, and she doesn't give out praise cheaply.