…to remind myself that the 2005 Blogathon is scheduled for 6 August.

I’ve just discovered some comments left in the poetry section (turns out I didn’t have e-mail new comments checked for that “blog”) that have left me baffled. They’ve been left on Wendy Cope’s The Uncertainty of the Poet and the first one seems to refer to the poem as a painting… If anyone can shed some light on what these people are on about, I’d be very pleased indeed…

Well, Copenhagen…? I suppose this is really about Malm

I suppose y’all wouldn’t mind a bit of a report on the trip to Copenhagen, as at least it’ll give you something to read (it’s been slim pickings here, lately).

On arrival Thursday evening we found our way to the B (no &B as there was no breakfast) reasonably easily. After getting the keys and dumping the luggage we set out to locate Kruts Karport, as it was rumoured to pride itself on its whisky selection. No disappointments here, we spent the rest of the evening sampling whiskies, then wandered down to the centre of town and strolled most of “Str?get” (having a couple of hot dogs, mandatory when in Denmark, along the way) on our way back.

Woke ridiculously early (7 am or so, a trend that continued the whole weekend, actually) Friday morning, but lazed around for a while in the hope that at least a few caf?s would be open by the time we left the house. We found one, at least, on our stroll into town, and had ourselves some lovely sm?rrebr?d (Martin) and “italian bun” with frikadeller (me). Timing it perfectly (by chance, it must be said) we stumbled upon Juuls Vinhandel (whose basement is packed with whisky) just after opening, and left there with lighter wallets but heavier backpacks. And they got worse… First we found a booksale off an old church on Str?get, all books 40 dkk, where I found a couple of Haakon Mielches (I kind of collect them) and a Dea Trier M?rch (ditto) and a history of English literature with a nice long entry on Jane Austen (and I definitely collect those). Then we stopped by a few more whisky carrying booze-shops… And started on Ms Bookish’s list of good good sources for second hand books (in English), and soon our arms were growing weary and long and I uttered the wish that we were interested in something lest heavy than books and whisky to which Martin suggested that we start collecting marshmalows instead. Considered this a reasonably good idea, at the time. Anyway, we headed back to the B(not&B) to dump things and then went in search of Scotspain (another whisky-shop, yes, I know) where we again filled our backpacks… Deciding enough was enough we went in search of some decent alchohol in glasses rather than bottles, and found The Blommsday (which I kept referring to as Doomsday) Bar pleasant (they had proper cider) and Charlies Bar an ace (proper cider and som many beers and real ales on tap that Martin could have spent the whole weekend there, and, as if that wasn’t enough, about twenty different single malts, all independent bottlers, and the best cheddar flavoured crisps we have ever tried – in short, heaven – in fact, the only thing wrong with Charlies is they don’t have food – except crisps – so you have to leave the place occasionally – and oh, it gets packed because it’s tiny).

Saturday we decided to view the ?resundsbro from the train and popped over to Malm? (Sweden). Realising we’d gone a bit mad on the whisky, we thought we’d import it to Norway in batches (thus avoiding paying too much tax when importing – you’re only allowed one litre tax free each time you enter the country), by bringing it to Sweden and sending it to Linda… Wiley boozers we are… Anyway, Malm? turned out to be a pleasant place for an outing, except the Pub we wanted to end our trip in for a spot of lunch and perhaps a pint, The Bishop’s Arms, turned out to not open until four pm, and we were otherwise done with Malm? at one – so we headed back to wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen instead, and tested some of the other recommendations in the Rough Guide eating and drinking sections. Gullivers Pub did have free pretzels, but despite having quite a few beers on tap, there was no cider and not a drop of real ale, so we quickly passed on. A more pleasant discovery (not in the Rough Guide, yet) was The Brew Pub – a micro brewery – their own beer was not yet ready, but they had an interesting selection of other beers and very nice food indeed. Tried getting a bottle of champagne on the way back “home” but failed. Must check up on Danish licencing laws, as Irma had champagne in the cooler, but the cooler was locked, and they had covered all their beer in a black cloth, clearly indicating “no shopping”.

Started off Sunday with a late breakfast at Kong Pedersen (usefully situated between our B(not&B) and the Storm P. museum) – they were slooooow and somewhat pricey (well, they should have been, but due to a misunderstanding concerning Martin’s order we got a discount and ended up on the cheap side instead), but the food was worth it – gorgeous and plentiful. They also did a brunch buffet, which looked equally delish, and a test is to be recommended if you’re ever in the area. We rolled more than strolled down to the Storm P. museum, which was considerate enough to let us watch a half-hour video on his life while digesting before making a tour of the actual museum. We also saw the Museum Erotica, which was an odd experience on a Sunday morning (actually, I suppose it was early afternoon by that time), went for a quick pint at Charlies and then on to Tivoli. I got to ride the big rollercoaster (which is not bad, but only really has one good dip – the rest being loops and corkscrews which don’t really thrill me much) twice, the Golden Tower (the ride where they lift you up to rooftop height (great view) and let you hang there for a bit, just long enough to start thinking “I don’t think I really want to do this after all” before they drop you) once and Rutchebanen – which is really the best of them. Have I mentioned that I prefer wooden coasters? After Tivoli, we had another pint at the Bloomsday, a wonderful pizza at Ristorante Solo d’Italiana (or something similar) and then went over to Charlies where we settled in for the long haul (that is, until we were thrown out some time after eleven when they were supposed to close).

Monday morning it was pouring with rain, which was just as well, since it made it much less of a wrench to head for the airport and home.

I went to bed with my hair still damp yesterday. This was not a good idea. I’m trying to convince myself that it looks kind of charming with my hair sticking out like that, but I’m not doing a good job of it. If I need to go outside today – which is doubtful, actually – I’ll have to stick my head in a bucket of water first.

On the upside – off to Copenhagen tomorrow. Armed with guidebooks that list various places to get beer and ale and even cider on tap and Ms Bookish‘s list of second-hand bookshops, this promises to be a nice long weekend.

– how come time can move agonisingly slowly and dizzyingly (is that a word?) fast at the same time?

– which century is this? *

– book sales are Good Things

– so are flea markets **

– ISDN really seems slow after broadband, I cannot now imagine how I ever managed to surf the net with any pleasure on a 56KB modem

– I miss the beach at Worthing

– working from home has some odd effects***

—————

* Prompted by a notice in the papers that Princess Madeline of Sweden was refused permission to be formally engaged to her boyfriend on the grounds that it would look bad if the younger sister got engaged before the older – the older being crown princess Victoria, who has yet to find the man of her dreams, apparently.

** I got hold of several Clupea plates (though only one unchipped) and a couple of good books on Saturday’s expedition

*** One of which is profound restlessness, probably due to the lack of “opportunities” of getting out of the house – unfortunately it’s not a restlessness it’s easy to employ fruitfully, there are fewer outlets what with living in the guest bedroom (normally, when I get restless, I try to utilise it by tidying the cupboards or cleaning or similar useful things, it’s less easy to do this in someone else’s house).

(Via) Which all seems rather off. But that’s ok, we all know astrology mostly sucks.

(Via)