Hygge in Copenhagen or Mothers and Sons

Every year my friend and I take our sons on a trip. It is always for a few days, just the four of us going to a different city. We have been to France to check out Paris. We have seen Hamburg, Germany and last February we flew to Copenhagen, Denmark.

Copenhagen is one of those cities, I was sure I would love, even before I ever stepped onto Danish ground. And I was right. It is the most charming, lovely and most feminine city I have ever been to. It is rather small in size, perfect for walking or bicycling. There are coffee shops, "butiks" and little shops full of surprises around every corner. After spending 3 days there I wanted to move there and become Danish!          

In winter, there are outdoor ice skating rings all over the city. It doesn't cost anything to skate there and not much to rent ice-skates. It looks like a lot of Danish children go there right after school is out. We had a blast. 

One great place to relax and warm up is this place:

Our sons were the only males in there. Everything else was girlish. The cupcakes, the decoration, the tiny tables and chairs, the other customers. They took it with grace...


Last two pictures by Tea-Time, Norrebro 

And then, there is the shopping. Lots of individual shops, fewer of the chain stores that are dominating other cities now:

We stayed at the SAS Hotel that Arne Jacobsen designed in 1960. Jacobsen was in charge of everything from the doorknobs to the flatware to the furniture. Son and his buddy made friends with a very nice hotel employee and were lucky enough to were shown "Room Nr. 606". This room has stayed the same since 1960, only the TV has been replaced, otherwise it is all Jacobsen. Same employee also told us that years ago, before people were as design conscious, the SAS Hotel was being renovated and most of the now famous "Egg", "Ant" and "Swan" chairs

were thrown in the trash. Can you imagine? Some employees took a few home and can now claim to have an "original Jacobsen"!

Son in a "Swan - Chair": 

   

Smorrebrod:

 Waiting for the Royal Guards:

While visiting Copenhagen we also found a new word: "Hygge". Hygge means "cosy" but it is much more than that. If I grasped it right it is the feeling you get when you are at a beautiful place with somebody you can have a nice conversation with. Maybe some cupcakes (pink ones, of course) and some coffee or wine? Maybe next to a fire place? With lit candles? 

We felt very hygge while in Copenhagen.

R128 or Mother and Daughter on a Mission

I have been in a few office buildings and airports that Werner Sobek designed or helped to construct and was amazed that, no matter how gigantic they are, they seem light and airy, almost floating. So, when I found out that he is living in a house of his own design in Stuttgart, Germany I had to go and look at it myself. On the internet I found the address of Project R128 and only needed someone to come with me to check it out.

Unfortunately, nobody had any interest in sneeking around a stranger's home or they had more important things to do.

Picture from Werner Sobeck Engineering & Design Website 

Except daughter. "I will search for this house with you, Mom," she said. "We only need to dress up like detectives, so nobody will know what we are up to."

According to her, a detective always wears sunglasses, a trenchcoat and a hat. And he always has a dog.

Off we went. Her, wearing the hat and sunglasses, me, sunglasses and a trenchcoat. We were unrecognizeable. 

We also took the dog.

   

Unfortunately, the address brings you to a large gate, which pretty much hides everything behind it. We did try to peek over it by jumping up and down and hanging of a tree branch. To no avail.  

We then tried our luck from the bottom. This is as close as we got:

We decided to come back another time and try to make our way though the forest. But we need to change our outfits first. We are thinking camouflage.

The amazing thing about this house is, that it is "easily" (Sobek's claim) assembled and dismantled. And if you ever get tired of it, it is also completely recyclable. 

No sunshine today

Grandma Visiting II

Today we showed Grandma how the "Old World" used to look like and went to an open air museum I have wanted to visit for a long time: The Open Air Museum Beuren.

22 buildings from Swabia have been reassembled here and are open to the public. You can see a barn from 1449, a henhouse from 1910, a town hall from 1787 and my favourite, a bakehouse from 1887. There you could buy freshly baked onion pie and apple strudel. The delicious smell lingered all over the village. 

Grandma Visiting

We took Grandma to the second biggest Oktoberfest in the world. The real thing, not some cheap imitation of it...

Daughter bought her a "Lebkuchenherz" that says "Kiss me" and we had roasted almonds, wild potatoes with garlic sauce and sausage with sauerkraut. We went on the ferris wheel and on a very, very fast roller coaster. 

Fall is here and so is Grandma

She must be horribly jet legged, having just stepped of the plane but daughter doesn't have mercy. Grandma is all hers.