Thursday, 20th May, into the weekend

So on Thursday afternoon, I decided to go to the lecture on the role of architecture in James Bond films at the Library at the Architecture School, on Christianshavn. It was okay, not as informative or detailed as I'd hoped... On the way I thought I'd stop in at the Danish Architecture Center, which is close by, and has exhibitions, a book store, etc. As soon as I walked in there was a sign pointing me upstairs for the Jan Gehl book signing. It started right as I came in! He's a leading architect/urban planner focused on making cities more lively and pedestrian-friendly, and a huge source of inspiration for me. His new book is called "Cities for People." (What's more, both presentations were in Danish, and I understood everything. Bingo!)

This weekend is another busy one. Merete is curating an exhibition at Ordrupgaard Museum, just north of Copenhagen, called "Shades of Black." It's related to her masters thesis, which as I understand it, is about Danish artists who have been sort of ignored or underappreciated because they don't fit into a particular style or "ism". We're going to the opening on Friday night.

Fortunately the sunshine and temperature have increased a bit, since our friend Anette is getting married on Saturday. She's from Bornholm, an island that's part of Denmark but has its own dialect... the speeches should be an interesting exercise in translation not just for me, but for all the Danes, too! The wedding starts at 13:00, but should, in usual Danish fashion, should extend into the wee hours. I promised to take some pictures, and Thomas will certainly keep me busy on the dance floor. I'd better eat my Wheaties, or maybe pack a flask of espresso!

Monday is another religious/national holiday, and Thomas and I tossed around the idea of doing a tour of southern Sweden/north Sjaelland. You can take the train to Malmo, up the Swedish coast through Lund, a university town, to Helsingborg, where you take the ferry across to Helsingør, Hamlet's home town, and back down to Copenhagen again.

Thomas is traveling a lot for work in the next couple of weeks--Stockholm and London again--and then we're going to Oslo in a couple of weeks. No moss growing under these feet!