Summer! Photo of the Week #42

I’m leaving. And this is where I’m going. Cheerio!

/anna

Midsummer. Photo of the Week #42

As already reported my sister finished high school this week and she had her last exam on the 23rd of June. In Denmark we celebrate midsummer on that day – St John’s day or Sankt Hans. All over the country people light bonfires where a witch is burned at the stake. These last say 400 years we have preferred paper and cloth witches instead of real women.

So here are the two main ingredients for a total feeling of midsummer happiness: a white student’s cap and a bonfire.

/anna

The utter joy of wearing a cap

My sister just took her A-levels and along with that comes a host of both ceremony and champagne. I remember it as one of the happiest summers when I finished high school 11 years ago. And it looks like it’ll be the same for her – just look at these photos taken today when the Frederiksberg Gymnasium formally said good bye to their students.

This is my sister and two of her best friends. In Denmark you get a cap when you finish high school – a tradition dating back to the 19th Century. There are lots of rules surrounding that cap: your classmates write greetings inside it; for every sunrise you see after a party you cut a piece off the sweatband; if you drink too much and get sick the brim will be cut off etc., etc.

After the graduation ceremony the classes drive around in decorated lorries to visit all their homes. On their way they sing, scream, drink, laugh, wave. Today the sound of Copenhagen was the sound of klaxons greeting these lorries and the screaming of all these happy people.

At my parents’ place the class was served pancakes and Cosmopolitans. Wonderful combo I’m sure.

And yes – you can squint a water gun while managing a cocktail.

At some point the lorry will go to one of the main squares in Copenhagen: Kongens Nytorv, where the students will dance around the equestrian statue while singing and screaming some more. This is my sister’s class this night at 10 PM – still going strong after ten hours on the road.

I wish them all the best of luck with their lives – but first of all a wonderful time under the light skies of perhaps the best summer of their lives.

/anna

Klezmer in the hallowed halls. Photo of the Week #41

On Friday I had the great privilege of attending a concert with the klezmer band Mames Babegenush in the hallowed marble halls of the Glyptotek here in Copenhagen. I wish you could all have been there with me. Lots of fun!

These were the guys who played last year at my parents’ 35-year-anniversary-of-being-together which was also a truly happy occasion.

The concert was the highlight of a very busy week both work-wise and pleasure-wise. Seems that June is the new August when it comes to being social. Every freakin’ night. And it doesn’t stop, the coming week is just as packed with nice stuff and, oh, all too short nights.

/anna

Hooray for Greenland

Today is the longest day (*sniff*) and it also happens to be the national day of Greenland. And this year they had particular reason to wave the flag: after centuries of foreign reign they are now (almost) independent of Denmark.

Queen Margrethe II presents the independence documents to leader of the Greenlandic Parliament Josef Motzfeldt

Wikipedia writes: “Internationally, on June 21, 2009, Greenland assumed self-determination with the responsibilities of self-government of judicial affairs, policing and its natural resources. Denmark maintains control of finances, foreign affairs and defense. It is a step towards full independence from Danish rule. Greenlandic became the official language of Greenland at the historic ceremony.“

My sincere congratulations to all of us!

/anna

Tom Paine, the cat. Photo of the Week #40

I just spent a couple of days in London for a seminar at the Courtauld Institute (Sommerset House) – the prestigious institution for the teaching and the researching of history of art.

But I also got to eat and drink some good things, and one of the places my colleague and travel companion introduced me to was the pub Seven Stars just next to the Royal Courts of Justice. Being one of the oldest pubs in London it has a wonderfully authentic atmosphere. And they have a pub cat – a fact that makes the place likeable just for that.  So meet the black Mr Tom Paine who sports a white ruff and eats his dinners on the counter.

With little light in the room this is the best my camera could do, but I think the green crescent eyes are to the point…

By the way – London was great at this time of year. Too.

/anna

Roman Holiday. Photo of the Week #39

This week I spent in Rome at my best friend’s home. So many good laughs and talks. We even went to a wedding and here we are looking quite happy:

We also got to hear Cecilia Bartoli in concert with Lang Lang and a whole lot of other nice things.

/anna

There’s a first time for everything or how the Danish Parliament asked the wrong question

Today the Danes and most of Europe are casting their votes for the European Parliament. Seems that few really care – or at least fewer than for a national election. However this time there’s more to care about than usually as we are also having a referendum on the equal rights between males and females in the royal family. The question we were asked was: should the firstborn have the hereditary right no matter his/her sex? The constitution at the moment says that a boy will always go before a girl to the throne even if he is younger.

Quite an easy one to answer – right? Yeah, so I thought until some weeks ago when I realised that it was the wrong question. Because with this question they do not ask if we want total equality beyond gender. As it is today the constitution seems to agree with George Orwell: All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.

Our royal family has no right to vote or have a political opinion. They are legally immune. They receive a stipend from the state, and are requested to act as the official facade of the country. I do not condone all this, simply because it seems absurd in a modern society to have a circle of select few who are stripped of rights and duties because of their ancestry.

The Royal Danish Family

So how did I vote? For the first time in my life I returned a blank vote, and it felt really strange not to vote for equal rights between men and women. But I want to tell the politicians that they asked the wrong question. The right one would have been: do you wish to abolish the constitutional monarchy and replace it with a republic? Then my answer would have been: Yes. My sentimental heart would bleed, but I would have to abide by my own principles.

All are born equal!

/anna

Roma! Photo #38

I arrived here yesterday and I have a whole week in front of me full of good stuff. Like ice cream and Cecilia Bartoli.

/anna

Birthday! Photo of the Week #37

This week I celebrated my birthday – I’m freakin’ 30!

I had my ginormous family around for brunch and had a loooot of presents. And nice ones too. Here are some of them posing with my 30-year-old foot.

Next week I will be going to Rome for some more celebrating.

/anna