Life of a gipsy, part four. Copenhagen
Finally home. Not that I have time off now, but at least I don't have to pack and rush to an airport for a little while now... Last stop was Copenhagen... I didn't remember the city being so nice, as I hadn't been there since 1991... The schedule was tight, but I didn't give up taking a walk in the city in the evening... Funny enough, they don't valorize their pretty city with appropriate lights for the incredibly beautiful monuments... it seems they are afraid to show off the beauties of the city... or is it because their TAX scheme is so crazy that they rather save on electricity? Even the Royal Palace was in darkness, what a shame... Such a lovely place...
Left from the local airport for Amsterdam to Copenhagen and return the next day... of 4 KLM flights, one was on time... I guess now I remember why I decided long ago I would try to avoid KLM for as much as humanly possible... this, anyway, makes me think on the relationship between a civil society and aviation... I will get back to you on this, cos the volcano inside me is about to blow :)
Arriving in Copenhagen, beautiful weather, but who cares? We have to go straight to work, so it could be snowing, and it wouldn't make the slightest difference for me... It seems everyone knew me up there in Copenhagen, since I had a minor disagreement over the phone with one of them, and I didn't use approved phraseology... well, good, then I don't even have to intro myself... :) In fact, this meeting was decided upon after that incident... anything for safety, baby!
We are welcomed by the lady who described me as stressed in one of emails... I asked her to re-think again at the recordings... sorry to disappoint you ma'm, I was totally pissed off, not stressed... in any case, thanks for the coffee and the Danish pastries... wow, now I give a new meaning to it... fantastic, next life I will marry a Danish baker... for this life, I'm booked :)
After a fruitful yet again LONG meeting, hop in a taxi (the only Mercs driving around in the city) and reach the downtown hotel... Grand hotel... Rene told us it's an historical place, as it's one of the oldest buildings in the city... well, you can tell that by looking at the rooms!!! Next time, get me the NEWEST hotel, I don't need history while I'm resting, but a damn luxurious place will do! After the 6 of us checked in, Rene, Andre, Miguel and Herb went to the hotel bar for a beer (or 2)... Stephen decided he needed a nap and I thought I would walk around the city for some night shots (ignoring there was lack of lights!)...
The weather was exceptionally fine, but cloudy. Start walking towards the main square, have no idea what to see or where to go. I really didn't bother informing myself, and I had no map. Just take things as they come along, and remember the way back. I have only 2hrs, as we will meet at quarter to 8 to go for dinner... Eventually I was helped out by the city maps that I found here and there... I really enjoyed the walk, now that I look back, for some reasons there was a strange atmosphere... I felt it, but I didn't know what... Now I know, although there were no decorations yet, the nice winter weather, the beautiful city and the outstanding shopping possibility somehow created a Xmas feeling... I saw most of the monuments that were still very vivid in my memory, I saw others that faded away with the years, and I even ended up in the Nyhavn (New Haven) where you can find plenty restaurants and bars... very posh place... an improvement sought by the city after that place has been the kingdom of drunken sailors in the past...
After the city tour, back to the hotel... by now, it's raining, so I was forced to get a cab on my way back... the driver, in cool and thick Danish accent, tells me there is a storm predicted for the night... ok, will be fun flying out tomorrow... The rain didn't give us to much of a break now, so we settle for a restaurant nearby, Rosie McGee's... it's a kind of mix up... the name sounds pretty anglosaxon to me, with a kind of new age nordic bar inside and strictly Danish beer... however they serve Mexican food... and a damn good one too... after dinner, I felt so tired, I almost fell asleep right there... the others talked me into staying a bit longer, as there was live music coming up... all this gipsy period was taking a toll on me...
So I tried my best to stay awake, the smoke around me made my heavy eyes itchy too... but there were many nice things to see, if you guys know what I mean... :) ... Shit, I will get in trouble for this remark, I know it already! Anyway, here is the band finally getting ready for action... five young guys (drum, keyboard, bass and electric guitar plus the singer), funny to look at as they behaved as I did when I was 18... but probably they are 18 still, so I guess it was alright for them to be like that... honestly, they put me off a bit with that... but, as soon as they start, hey, it was worth the wait... very very good music, and a gifted voice for the leading singer... I was impressed... they only performed covers, mainly from Robbie Williams, Bon Jovi, Queen, Lenny Kravitz, Nickleback, Nirvana, RHCP but also many others top of the line groups... 2hrs of pure enjoyment... oh, their name... MTW-Rocks... good job guys!
Ok, again a late night, although I start enjoying it now... I haven't been out so often for ages, I thought I was too old for that, but maybe I'm not... on my way back to the hotel, stop at a 7-eleven to get some fluids for the night... can anyone tell me why there are no 7-elevens in Italy and Holland? Is it because they are all in Taiwan and Denmark?? (Geez, you would be surprised how many they have there!!) Anyway, the guy working there wanted to make a little chit-chat, fine with me... it comes out he is from Baghdad, but living in Denmark for 25yrs already... good for you, man...
Better sleep now... the next day I have to bear with yet some delayed flights (although it was cool after take off from RWY22 to clearly see the SW-bound traffic coming from CDA)...
It's been 12 days and 4 different cities throughout Europe... it's nice to be back...
Left from the local airport for Amsterdam to Copenhagen and return the next day... of 4 KLM flights, one was on time... I guess now I remember why I decided long ago I would try to avoid KLM for as much as humanly possible... this, anyway, makes me think on the relationship between a civil society and aviation... I will get back to you on this, cos the volcano inside me is about to blow :)
Arriving in Copenhagen, beautiful weather, but who cares? We have to go straight to work, so it could be snowing, and it wouldn't make the slightest difference for me... It seems everyone knew me up there in Copenhagen, since I had a minor disagreement over the phone with one of them, and I didn't use approved phraseology... well, good, then I don't even have to intro myself... :) In fact, this meeting was decided upon after that incident... anything for safety, baby!
We are welcomed by the lady who described me as stressed in one of emails... I asked her to re-think again at the recordings... sorry to disappoint you ma'm, I was totally pissed off, not stressed... in any case, thanks for the coffee and the Danish pastries... wow, now I give a new meaning to it... fantastic, next life I will marry a Danish baker... for this life, I'm booked :)
After a fruitful yet again LONG meeting, hop in a taxi (the only Mercs driving around in the city) and reach the downtown hotel... Grand hotel... Rene told us it's an historical place, as it's one of the oldest buildings in the city... well, you can tell that by looking at the rooms!!! Next time, get me the NEWEST hotel, I don't need history while I'm resting, but a damn luxurious place will do! After the 6 of us checked in, Rene, Andre, Miguel and Herb went to the hotel bar for a beer (or 2)... Stephen decided he needed a nap and I thought I would walk around the city for some night shots (ignoring there was lack of lights!)...
The weather was exceptionally fine, but cloudy. Start walking towards the main square, have no idea what to see or where to go. I really didn't bother informing myself, and I had no map. Just take things as they come along, and remember the way back. I have only 2hrs, as we will meet at quarter to 8 to go for dinner... Eventually I was helped out by the city maps that I found here and there... I really enjoyed the walk, now that I look back, for some reasons there was a strange atmosphere... I felt it, but I didn't know what... Now I know, although there were no decorations yet, the nice winter weather, the beautiful city and the outstanding shopping possibility somehow created a Xmas feeling... I saw most of the monuments that were still very vivid in my memory, I saw others that faded away with the years, and I even ended up in the Nyhavn (New Haven) where you can find plenty restaurants and bars... very posh place... an improvement sought by the city after that place has been the kingdom of drunken sailors in the past...
After the city tour, back to the hotel... by now, it's raining, so I was forced to get a cab on my way back... the driver, in cool and thick Danish accent, tells me there is a storm predicted for the night... ok, will be fun flying out tomorrow... The rain didn't give us to much of a break now, so we settle for a restaurant nearby, Rosie McGee's... it's a kind of mix up... the name sounds pretty anglosaxon to me, with a kind of new age nordic bar inside and strictly Danish beer... however they serve Mexican food... and a damn good one too... after dinner, I felt so tired, I almost fell asleep right there... the others talked me into staying a bit longer, as there was live music coming up... all this gipsy period was taking a toll on me...
So I tried my best to stay awake, the smoke around me made my heavy eyes itchy too... but there were many nice things to see, if you guys know what I mean... :) ... Shit, I will get in trouble for this remark, I know it already! Anyway, here is the band finally getting ready for action... five young guys (drum, keyboard, bass and electric guitar plus the singer), funny to look at as they behaved as I did when I was 18... but probably they are 18 still, so I guess it was alright for them to be like that... honestly, they put me off a bit with that... but, as soon as they start, hey, it was worth the wait... very very good music, and a gifted voice for the leading singer... I was impressed... they only performed covers, mainly from Robbie Williams, Bon Jovi, Queen, Lenny Kravitz, Nickleback, Nirvana, RHCP but also many others top of the line groups... 2hrs of pure enjoyment... oh, their name... MTW-Rocks... good job guys!
Ok, again a late night, although I start enjoying it now... I haven't been out so often for ages, I thought I was too old for that, but maybe I'm not... on my way back to the hotel, stop at a 7-eleven to get some fluids for the night... can anyone tell me why there are no 7-elevens in Italy and Holland? Is it because they are all in Taiwan and Denmark?? (Geez, you would be surprised how many they have there!!) Anyway, the guy working there wanted to make a little chit-chat, fine with me... it comes out he is from Baghdad, but living in Denmark for 25yrs already... good for you, man...
Better sleep now... the next day I have to bear with yet some delayed flights (although it was cool after take off from RWY22 to clearly see the SW-bound traffic coming from CDA)...
It's been 12 days and 4 different cities throughout Europe... it's nice to be back...
posted by Raf at 12:48 PM
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