When in Denmark... (we do as the Danes do!) – Part II: We celebrate Midsummer’s Eve

Up here in Denmark, people celebrate Midsummer’s Eve, referred to as Sankt Hans Aften in Danish, meaning “the evening of Saint John”. This is a pagan celebration, dating back to Celtic times, that was subsequently taken over by Christians. On June 23rd, all over Denmark, people gather around big bonfires (usually set near or on water) to sing some songs and have some good BBQ time with friends and family. Interestingly, the same tradition exists in the Alsace region where Q is from, probably because of shared Celtic roots.

This past June 23rd, Q went down to the little harbor, where he had spotted where the bonfire would happen there a few days before. That was his last evening in Denmark until flying out to the DC area for the wedding of C’s sister (C was already over there by then).

Around 9pm, people were well into their BBQ and singing together around the fire. It was, again, a very convivial event, that the Danes seem to have a secret for. People were lining up the jetties, some were barbecuing on their boats, and since night is so short up here at this time of year, many people were heading out to sea after the singing, so around 9:30-10pm! The smoke of similar bonfires could be seen all along the coastline, north or Aarhus.

Didn’t feel lonely though in spite of C’s absence, as Q bumped into Rodrigo, his Colombian friend from the Danish class, who was there with a Danish friend. Rodrigo was going back to Colombia two days later, so this pleasant event also made for a great way for both him and Q to meet again and celebrate before their upcoming travels to far-away places!

When in Denmark... (we do as the Danes do!) – Part I: We wish the Queen a happy 70th birthday!

Alright, after our last posting some fast forwarding back to the future now with what happened here in Aarhus since early June. No wait! Keep reading! It’ll be as exciting as pictures of Bora Bora... in other ways...

Hey, at least it was also sunny then! And re-hey, wasn’t the outfit of that old lady as colorful and in similar tones to our beloved Bora Bora light blue shades?

But who is that dear old lady in bleu-ciel?

Well, she’s Queen Margrethe II, the Royal Highness that leads this country. And the guy in a grey suit that sits next to her on the carriage is her husband, Prince Consort Henrik, a French guy named Henri de Laborde de Monpezat born in the Bordeaux area (he must have seduced her —without too much difficulties— using some of these fine old nectars that they make over there with red grapes...). For the trivia aficionados, Queen Margrethe II is actually the first woman monarch of Denmark since Queen Margrethe I who died in 1412. Another interesting fact is that she studied both archeology (in Cambridge, UK) and political science (in Aarhus), back in the 1960s.

So anyway, here was the Royal couple in Aarhus, on the national holiday (June 5th), not called “Independence day” or anything like that, since Denmark hasn’t had to be independent from anybody in a long time, but called “Constitution day”. Wasn’t even a revolution for that either, it sort of all happened rather peacefully; on June 5th of 1849, the King accepted to surrender his power to his ministers, and to keep only some symbolic status. That was pretty smart: not only did he still have a head, but he also had now a life without work to enjoy! So Denmark, like England, Norway, Spain or Belgium, is a constitutional monarchy.

The Queen was actually doing that trip on the occasion of her 70th birthday, which was celebrated in Copenhagen on April 16th (we had not been invited to that one). The whole event here in Aarhus involved her arrival on her cute boat, the Dannebrog, followed by a circuit through town in an open carriage, with a whole procession of soldiers on horses dressed in fancy old-style uniforms. We were told this would end with a speech (in Danish) and a concert at a large venue in the Southern part of tow.

So here we were, standing by the Aarhus cathedral, waiting for the royal carriage to pass by, in between kids waving flags and grannies lined up in their wheelchairs, and also waving flags. It was all very fun to watch. Hopefully the little movie will help get a better glimpse of what it was like to be standing there, listening to some military music. We also appreciated the whole low key and convivial attitude, as there were no fences, only the mandatory few cops and a couple of secret service people. It was like welcoming the country’s grandmother or something...

Had we had bikes, we would have probably caught up with the whole procession a couple miles down, and watch the carriage drive by again. Instead, we took advantage of the now dispersed crowd to check out the boat, which looked like a real-size toy, or the fantasy of a kid came true! I mean, it was all there, slick and perfect, complete with flags, a shiny brass bell and a team of seamen (and women) dressed in white, with swords, and so on.

The whole experience was delightfully old-fashioned, and as C put it:”Now I totally understand why the people won’t want to get rid of this, regardless of the amount of taxes it costs them!”. And here we go: one more pioneering American conquered by Old World traditions and vintage charm ;-)

The Queen actually has her summer residence here in Aarhus (see one of the earlier posts from Aarhus), and she spends about a month every year in Aarhus. So we might bump into her at the market one Saturday morning... Stay tuned...

Quand il n’y en a plus, il y en a encore... (When there’s no more, there’s actually still some more...)

Almost four months after our return we realized we still had not had developed the film of the underwater camera we had in Bora Bora. So here we go! Nothing better to help deal with the rainy and cold weather we have had here for days than to contemplate (and remember) these shades of blue and turquoise from our “summer in winter” time! At least we had our summer only in February, so that’s less long ago than if it had been August ;-)

We took some pictures during our excursion with Damien around the island, when we fed all these yellow/black/white fish and the ones that look like they’re in jail cause of the black and white stripes. They were so many! If you come to Aarhus, we can actually take you to see some here: there are specimen among the tropical fish in the large fish tank at the mall near the university... We also took pictures of some cool corals: see the one shaped as an arch, and some deep blue/purple ones.

We also had the camera with us when we went on our little picnic adventure on this far away motu (look at peaceful C next to our poorly balanced boat...). Unfortunately all our shots aimed at capturing sharks ended up simply looking like some turquoise void (which maybe also explains why Q hadn’t been so much in hurry to have these shots developed). So sorry guys! and we apologize for not being able to display some sharp white teeth here... Oh well, they are alive in our memories, and this is what is most important! Next time maybe C should take the pictures while Q stays in the boat, pictures might turn out better...

Incidentally, along with all the stuff that we rediscovered while unpacking our boxes here in our new place, we came across an even more ancient souvenir, a picture from times long before we would have blogs, underwater cameras, digital photos, etc... Ah damn, we were so young back then! Feels just like yesterday... but we thought it'd still fit with our collection here, so we hope you'll enjoy!

First day of work and first vacation day in the same week...

On Monday May 17th, Q started work as a Science Teaching and Learning Fellow for the Department of Molecular Biology. It’s the end of the sabbatical, but Q is excited about the perspectives of the new work. And he loves the office that he has just to himself, on the second floor, “among the bosses” like a colleague told him. Part of his dream was to have his own office some day, so here we go...

The following Monday was a holiday (Pentecost/Whit), both here in Denmark and in France. So we had planned to take this opportunity to go to visit Mila, our new niece, who was born in Montpellier, France, on May 2nd, 2010. We flew there on Friday and flew back on Monday, each time via Copenhagen.

Mila is the daughter of Anysia (Q’s sister) and Mathieu, her boyfriend. She is absolutely adorable, such a cute baby! And with already such a good temperament: she started sleeping almost full nights while we were there, from about 10pm to 5am. Not bad for a three-week old baby! Q’s other sister (Sigo) was there as well, and we were all mesmerized by the little rosy wonder. Not clear “who she looks like” yet, but she definitely has Q’s hairstyle ;-)

Montpellier is in South of France, not far from the sea, and it was thus much warmer than where we came from. We had traveled over 1,200 miles plain South to get there, yet noticed how the Alps we saw from the plane were still covered in snow. People in Montpellier told us that we had been lucky, because the weekend we were there was the first nice one. So we enjoyed this weekend also as a little break from the colder weather. Q even jumped into the sea with Sigo, although it was still at about 64 F, which is cold for the Mediterranean. The beach was however surprisingly packed with people everywhere, as if we had been in July or August. They were probably eager to embrace the summer sun after the cold spring weather!

Montpellier is a city rich with history. An aqueduct from the 17th century still runs through town, close to where we were staying. We wandered through the narrow streets of the old town, dating back to about the same period, made of these white/yellow stones and decorated with light grey/blue shutters. The statue of the guy on the horse represents Louis the 14th, who was king at that time. On Sunday we pick-nicked in the nearby medieval town of Aigues Mortes, surrounded by a ‘mur d’enceinte’, a wall with towers like Camelot! The town served as a major gathering place for knights on their way to Jerusalem at the time of the Crusades in the mid-13th century.

Cafés and restaurants with terrasse abound everywhere, and we did visit a few of these... Sometimes three or four in a row, and Mila would often be with us, quietly sleeping while hanging in a mini-hamac against one of her parents’ chest. On Friday, we finished the evening at ‘La Cigale’, the closest café to Anysia, Mathieu and Mila’s home, where they typically hang out with their friends. That night was featuring a female singer and an accordeon player, both of which were quite good. The repertoire was classical French chansons, so we had an awesome experience of the French ‘joie de vivre’!

This was a fine weekend with the expanding family! We also enjoyed the break under the sun of South of France, the first of three this summer if all goes according to plan (i.e., volcanos don’t throw ashes at us!).