Goddag from Copenhagen.

Brent and I have come up here for six days. We are in a bit of culture shock coming from Bulgaria, but enjoying every minute. The posting today is from a walking tour called the "royal rumble." You'll see why. The opening photo is Brent in front of Rosenborg. This was origninally built by Christian IV in 1606 as a summer palace. It was used up until the time of Christian's great grandson, Frederick IV in about 1710. The entire castle was open to us and for an additional 20 DK (a little over $3) we were allowed to take photographs.

There are two entrances open to us: one was to the basement with the royal jewels. I tried to take a few pictures but the stuff was all behind glass so too much glare to bother. However, the rooms upstairs (3 floors) were all open. Because we are past the tourist season we were basically alone in the castle. Well, we were alone except for the guards that stand behind you to make sure you don't touch anything. The guards know enough that they really served as mini tour guides for us.



We learned a lot about the connections between the royal houses of Europe. Here we see King Christian VII. At 16 he was described as "gifted" but later was diagnosed as schizophrenic. He was a cousin of George III of England (also schizophrenic). He married Caroline Mathilde of England and they had one son (the next king, Frederick VII). This painting was done just for show as Christian never really ruled. Rather, his physician became Prime Minister and held considerable influence. He (the physician) is the father of the Queen's second child. Later, Christian's mother-in-law took power in a coup until Frederick VII was old enough to rule. Oh what a great soap opera that royal families can make.




There are a lot of very beautiful tapestries on display in the Long Hall. Each show victories in the Scanian War in the late 1600s. Unique detail in one tapestry shows lepers with significant facial scars, another depicts men very much engaged in using snuff. The king's throne at the far end is made of narwhale tusk and the ensemble with silver lions was modelled after the Old Testament description of Solomon's throne.


The current royal family lives at Amalienborg Slot. It is part of a group of 4 palaces (identical rococo mansions) surrounding a square with a statue of Frederick V on horseback in the center. The Queen was not in residence while we were there but we were allowed to tour the lower floor (3rd floor to us) of Prince Joachim's residence. Joachim is the Queen's younger son. He was recently divorced--a very rare thing among royals here in Denmark. Our tour guide suggested that the rather liberal ideas about relationships here result in people making marriage decisions only after they have give serious thought (read--lived together) to their relationship.


We have walked a considerable amount of central Copenhagen. It's been refreshing to have cool weather--although I could do without the periodic rain. We walked along a street on a canal (Nyhavn). It is lined with quite colorful apartment buildings and the canal is filled with various types of boats. We saw several open-air tour boats take off from here. It reminded me of the Jurassic Park ride at Universal studios. The boat was wide with benches and the people looked very cold and soaking wet. We decided to just get wet on the sidewalk instead.


Conveniently we found a stoop with an overhang at #67 Nyhavn to wait out a downpour. It just so happened it was the home of Hans Christian Andersen. A small marker on the door was all that told us where we were.

Besides the general touristy stuff here we have had a great time walking and jogging along canals and streets with some very tall (and mostly blonde) people. Bikes are definately the mode of transporation.


And since Copenhagen is relatively flat, the bikes appear to be the kind I grew up with (baskets and all). All roads have bike lanes and, believe me, if you try to walk in one you are in for at least bell ringing. Crosswalks are organized very well, and, unlike Bulgaria, when you step in one the cars will actually pause to let you by.

We will try to take the train to Malmo, Sweden tomorrow. I'm very upset about this European Union (EU) thing. Since we entered the EU via Vienna our passport stamps are from Austria. Entering the airport in Denmark was like flying from pdx to sfo. I'm sure taking the train to Sweden will be the same. I feel like I've travelled a long way to the land of my mother's family and all I have is this silly blog for my memory books (I can't afford to buy much of anything here-- coffee is about $5).

I hope to get those pictures of Plovdiv up when I return. I sure hope that its not just my Powerbook that is the problem. Brent's little Dell is working like a charm here in Denmark.


We'll leave you here with a photo of the little mermaid (Den Lille Havrue). She was a gift of the Danish beer baron Carl Jacobsen who was so moved by a ballet performance of The Little Mermaid that he had this comissioned for Copenhagen's waterfront. It survived both the Depression and WWII but has not fared so well recently. She has been decapitated twice in the last 40 years and both the head and one arm are no longer original. It is very far out from most tourist sites and our tour book says the vandalism is related to the view of "so bloody what" if we have a mermaid statue.

Farvel.

[new pictures posted for]: HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY BULGARIA



This week Bulgaria celebrates the 97th anniversary of its independence from the Ottoman Empire. Brent and I took the opportunity to visit the second largest city in Bulgaria (located in the south central area of the country). We took a 3 hour bus ride over the Rila Mountains to the city of Plovdiv. What we've done here is to post just a few of the 100 or so pictures from this trip. We stayed at the Trimontium Princess Hotel which was conveniently located for access to both "old" and "new" Plovdiv. From our hotel window we could see significant ruins that were uncovered while the hotel was built as well as the Roman amphitheater on the hill in the distance.

The "new" Plovdiv is the part of the city that rests in the plains below seven hills (tepe). It has a very European feel to it with LOTS of small shops and cafes. The most popular types of shops are shoe stores (oboovki). The main street is anchored by two squares. The Dzhumaya square at the north end has two pretty interesting features. One is the Dzhumaya mosque (built in 1423); the other are ruins of a Roman stadium.

Only a dozen or so rows have been unearthed and partially restored. This stadium is measured at 180 meters in length (almost 600 feet or 200 yards long) and could hold 30,000 people. The picture here is taken from the street above the ruins.

Walking up the hill to the east of the square you run into many old churches and intriguing streets. Here we show a picture of the Gate to the Fortress Hisa Kapiya built during the time of Marcus Aurelius.



We loved finding alleys going steeply downhill or uphill. We followed as many of these streets as we could, finding lots of ruins that are left open for exploration. One of the more disappointing sites was on the top of Nebet Tepe (named by the Turks as "prayer hill").




Here you find the ruins of Eumolpias, a Thracian settlement from about 5000 BC. We include one of the few pictures we could get without graffiti on the walls or stones. The views from the top of these hills are spectacular.






The highlight (well, one of them) is the Roman Amphitheater. It was built by the Romans during the reign of Trajanus in early 2nd century AD. It was uncovered during a landslide in 1972. In its day it held 6000 people. Because the theater is built on the side of the hill, the view behind the stage is of the valley below. It must have been a site to see. We paid the 3 leva each to walk through the theater (between tour groups) to get a few snapshops.


We hired a taxi driver to take us to Bachkovski Monastir. Located about 30km south of Plovdiv, the monastery was rounded in 1083 by two brothers who were military officers for the Byzantine rulers of the day. As with other monasteries, this one has gone through periods of looting and reconstruction. As you can see from the photo, there are two churches in the courtyard. The older (Archangel Church) is 12th century, while the newer (Church of the Assumption of Our Lady) is very early 17th century.



The frescos are typical. We show here just two. The one of Jesus and the ten virgins is often shown in guidebooks. We also show here the entrance to the newer church. Just inside and to the right is a 14th century silver icon of the Holy Virgin. This was kissed by almost all Orthodox visitors.

On the drive back down from the monastery our taxi driver pointed up to what looked like a castle on the hill. He must have indicated that it was something we should see, so we said "da" and off we went. The lesson here is to always listen to your taxi driver. While we had read something about Assen's fortress we either forgot about it or didn't think it was here.
The "Assenova Krepost" (fortress) was built in the 12th century by Tsar Ivan Assen II.
From its vantage point, military could keep an eye on the major road between Turkey and Greece (east to west) and from Plovdiv to the Agean Sea (north to south).

We lucked out a bit as a large man approached us on the steps up to the church and said "tourista?" "Da." "Otkudesse?" "United States." "Aaaahhh, which state?" "Oregon." "I've been to your beautiful state with beautiful mountains and rivers, and nice fish." He then proceeded to tell us he was a historian of the area and gave us a lecture on this fortress and church. What is left to see here is the medieval church (Holy Mother of God) and some of the wall of the fortress (the Bulgarian flag at the top of this posting is on the top of the fortress wall). The historian began his descent and we saw him later giving a lecture to a group of Bulgarians (from whom he secured the always present cigarette). We are always surprised to find people (all ages and abilities) climbing the steep steps to the various sites with cigarettes burning.

Which reminds me--I am getting to know my students a bit more so got the nerve to ask one of the young men (who was, of course, smoking outside the classroom door): why does everyone smoke here? He replied, "let me ask you a question: do you want to live forever?" I responded, "well, I guess I want to live longer than you do."

On our final evening in Plovdiv there was a festival with a band. I've tried to lighten up this picture so you can see "the band." The band consists of a singer, a keyboard player, AND.......an IMac. Yes, the songs are all produced on computer. There were a couple of Bulgarian songs, but many US songs from Stevie Wonder (superstition) to Saturday Night Fever songs. Lots of people were dancing and enjoying the local beer (Kamenitza). We went back to our room and watched the fireworks in the park. The only colors in the fireworks were........(check the flag)......red, green, and white. It was a nice ending for our trip.


We left the next morning for our bus trip back to Blagoevgrad. The bus stations here are very active. They have sectors (spelled in Bulgarian like CEKTOP) and you buy a ticket and wait for your bus to show up in your assigned sector. We would be in serious trouble if we couldn't read the Bulgarian alphabet.

We include a picture here of a couple of buses in their sectors. The buses vary in terms of condition. Tonight we are going to attend the Macedonian Folk festival. It is in the square right outside our office building (see picture in the first blog entry). The president of the country is here so the security is tight.

We are offline this week so I hope to get more posted by about October 3rd.