Celebrating the Danish National Day

Last year we startet a tradition (or at least we hope that it will become a tradition) of celebrating the Danish National Day.

The Danish National Day falls on 5 June, the Constitution Day, and the day is not celebrated like the Norwegian 17 May or the American 4 July. The Danes go to political meetings, not parades. It is the day of the political parties, not the people per se.

The Danes got their Constitution in 1849, adopting a constitutional monarcy, based on the Belgian model. It was a very volatile time, with turmoil and social revolutions all over Europe. In order to prevent this a democratic reform began, ending in the Constitution signed 7 june 1849 by a reluctant King Christian 7, the last of the Oldenburg kings on the Danish throne.

Although we were not attempting to start a parade (the Danes are very good at parades when dissatisfied with something), we wanted to make give the day a positive value. Jan was really excited about singing the national anthem and other songs from the "Højskolesangbog" (a Danish song book).

Above are som pictures from this years celebration - a brunch with some of our friends.

Sunday trip

Last Sunday, we went for a trip to a very nice area north of Copenhagen with lakes, woods and fields. Even though our map did not show the entire area, we found our way through the wilderness and got back in time before the rain began...

Ich bin ein Berliner ...

Travelling is one of our major interests, and especially to places of cultural and historical interest. This year our Spring trip went to Berlin. Although I've actually studied in Germany, I had never been there before. I found it to be a very nice acquaintance to make. Next time we are going to hire a bicycle, as walking really makes your feet tired and soar.

Here are some pictures from the trip:

Berlin 2009

17 May 2009

Last year we celebrated the Norwegian Constitution Day in Copenhagen. This is something all Norwegians do, all over the world. Not surprisingly, we did the same this year. Although it's a bit overdue, here are some pictures from the day:

To the left: Jan at the service, proudly wearing a flag ribbon; In the middle: The parade through Christianshavn; To the right: John-Arne happy because he has secured a bottle of Solo.

17 May is just like 4th of July for Americans. It's a day where we celebrate freedom, independence and human rights - in gratitude to those who defended it through our history, but primarily it is the day of the children. And it is the day when all Norwegians become children.

Showing off Copenhagen

It is not unheard of that we have friends and family visiting. And we often end up walking around. This last weekend we had Eli-Anne, a friend back from when I was active in IFES or Laget as we call it in Norway. We also worked as collegues at the Norwegian School of Theology.

Here we are at the "Gråbrødretorv" in the center of Copenhagen. "Gråbrødre" refers to an old name for the Franciscan order (Ordo Fratrum Minorum) because of their grey robes, signifying poverty and abstinence. There used to be a monastery at Gråbrødretorv, but today it's a just a lovely little square, tucked away from the more busy "Strøget".

Project 3six5 is over!

As we have written in earlier posts on our blog (see here or here), we have tried to take at least one picture every day for an entire year and upload it to our Flickr-page. We almost made it! The project began on May 1 2008, and it was not until late March 2009 that we missed our first day. In total we managed to take and upload pictures for 362 out of the 365 days. We have pictures from 11 countries, so it has been a year with quite a bit of travelling both for pleasure and for work. Anyway, it would take too long to begin to sum up an entire year here, so why not take a look at our Flickr-page instead.

Catching the Moment

Always something to laugh of when watching the telly ...