Carnaval in Copenhagen

Warm up all week, and today the Copenhagen carnaval starts with a magnificent parade through the centre of Copenhagen!

Another issue

So, apparently the burning of tires, cars and schools in Copenhagen and the rest of Denmark is a different issue than the recently reheated discussion about the Mohammed cartoons. I found a distinction and explanation on a Danish blog, but I still miss a discussion in the newspaper Politiken.

Today they started some background story about angry teenagers behaving like we saw it in France.

Copenhagen burning

I got a subscription to Politiken Weekly for christmas, which means that I since January have been a bit more updated on the Danish news, at least more than was by browsing randomly on Politiken.dk once in a while.

The front page of Politiken Weekly this week featured a picture of a bonfire on a street in Nørrebro. The text below the photo was a press release from Ritzau, saying 11 people were arrested for starting bonfires last Sunday. There was no mention of who or why.

Today I see that the front page of the Politiken online features an article about how the bonfires have spread to more cities: Århus, Nordsjælland, Ringsted, Slagelse. But still not a single reference to answer the first obvious questions of the alert reader: who did it? and why?

It is no secret that there has been a lot of attention to the Danish reprinting of the Mohammed cartoons which followed the Danish police intelligence discovery of a planned attack on one of the cartoonists. And without any further hints. I would automatically assume that these bonfires was started by angry mobs of muslims who feel their religion has again been set aside to advertise for the Danish freedom of speech.
But why does the newspaper not mention this? Are they afraid to blame someone by speculation? And can it really be that there has not been a questioning of the at least 11 people who were arrested for starting bonfires? I do not think so. But I am puzzled by the way the newspaper handles this.

International and... local

I was sort of surprised to see a Starbucks had opened in Copenhagen Airport at the shopping centre in the international terminal. Maybe I connect Starbucks too much with New York, and that cold January in London some years ago. I was also very surprised when they opened a Starbucks in Schiphol not so long ago, thinking "Wow, now they really go international". So now I can say the same about Copenhagen Airport. And then.. when I left the baggage collection hall, straight ahead of me I saw "Nørrebro Bryghus" had also opened a cafe, since I last visited the airport. Impressing, an airport with both international and very very local attitude.

Illustration courtesy: web.mit.edu

Skivlaai vs Sportskage

Today is Karins birthday (congratulations!) an as it is custom in our department, she brought cake to share with her colleagues at tea time. I must say the delicious skivlaai, though worlds apart in filling and shape, made me think of the fantastic Sportskage from Konditori La Glace in Copenhagen. The only resemblance is the name that makes you think of sport rather than of the very unsporty, heavy, non-diet, and extremely delicious filling in the cake.

Photo courtesy: La Glace

That Theatre Company

As it is now a well-kept tradition in my family, we went with everybody to the newest play of That Theatre Company in Krudttoenden. The performance of this evening was two short plays written by Harold Pinter (The Dumb Waiter and The Lover). I did not know Harold Pinter before, but maybe I should look into his works. Apart from being entertaining, the plays had lots of interesting elements concerning communication, both in terms of body language and the verbal communication of the actors.

Jesuslovesyou

Photo taken at Copenhagen Central Station end of June 2007. Copyrighted under share-alike license - attribute glyn.dk.

Arrived in NY

What a bummer to arrive before the hostel check-in opens (I _really_ need a shower after the eight hour flight). And the weather here is extremely hot - 29 degrees feels like a day for ice creams and non-stop ice tea.

Meanwhile in Copenhagen: The Copenhagen Cooking Festival

First stop Copenhagen

Schiphol has changed one of the fruit bars in the shopping area to a Starbucks Coffee - reminded me of a cold afternoon in New York sipping a steaming hot Starbucks Chai Latte. In the plane from Schiphol to Copenhagen I sat next to two blond young women, twins, wearing exactly the same outfit and makeup. I asked them politely to take their photo and they accepted, so I got a few shots at the last-minute-taxfree shop in Copenhagen. During the shot I realised that these two women were far more different than you would think by first glance. You cannot tell everything by appearance alone.

Rats

For the first time ever I saw live wild rats in the underground station Nørreport in Copenhagen. I saw three of them, large and brown, running on the platform and between the tracks, as I crossed the station at around 2am last night.
In London I have seen lots of mice roaming the underground any time of the day, but I have never seen neither mice nor rats in Copenhagen - until last night.

I arrived at my parents place at 3am and could not sleep... and of course I woke up at 9am this morning - rats!

Illustration: http://environnement.ecoles.free.fr/