As Far As You Know

Made it to Copenhagen and everything has gone smoothly thus far. The airport experience was pleasant (the immigrations inspector hardly looked at my U.S. passport before waving me in). The train station just beneath the terminal has frequent trips to the heart of the city, just minutes away. As is the case in other Scandanavian countries, most people here speak flawless English. I have checked into my hotel, conveniently located near the Central Station and the Tivoli Gardens (closed until April, unfortunately) and am now fighting a bit of jet lag.

Near my hotel there are a couple of cinemas, playing mostly English language movies with Danish subtitles. So this was a perfect chance to see The Imaginarium Of Dr. Parnassus, which I missed when it was released stateside. As expected in a Terry Gilliam film, this work is long on visual imagination and pretty weird. An enjoyable diversion.

My trip to the opera here in Copenhagen might have been a disaster had I not set out early from my hotel. I took a bus to the modern opera house and arrived to find the place absolutely deserted. Clearly this place was not hosting anything tonight. I was lucky that a water bus pulled up just then and was ferried back across the harbor to Nyhavn such that s short stroll took me to the old Royal Theatre--a beautiful old fashioned building ornately decorated within.

The opera tonight was The Magic Flute, sung in German with Danish titles projected above the stage (didn't look much different to me than what was being sung!). Because I had seen this work before, I could mostly follow what was going on.

I was struck that the opera seems to be a less formal affair than it does back home. And the crowd was, on average, much younger than what one would find in an American opera house. I guess opera here is more successfully woven into the national culture.

I am taking SAS from Copenhagen back to London this afternoon. Had a good flight over here the other day on this carrier. I like the fact that the airline gives free newspapers--The International Herald Tribune among the choices--when you board. I don't like the fact that they charge you even for water and soft drinks served while in flight!

Heading off to the Copehagen airport for my flight to London. It's been a lovely 24 hours here in Denmark, but it's been cold and I haven't seen the sun since my plane dipped below the clouds on the way in on Tuesday. I can see why Hamlet was in a funk: it must be depressing to live under what seems like a permanently overcast, cloud-filled sky. But there is something to be said for this place. It's friendly, it has lots of culture and character, and it's very connected to the world in all sorts of interesting ways. The Danish people seem quite evolved and socially conscious. And I like the fact that one can live in this city with a high quality of life, get from the central train station to the international airport in fifteen minutes and hop a flight to anywhere on the continent in just a couple of hours.