Delightful Denmark

A Hans Christian Andersen fairytale come to life -- a swan and her babies chill out on a Copenhagen bicycle path.

A famous Dane. The sign says, In this house was born atomic physicist Neils Bohr, July 10, 1885. Hey, that's just three years before my grandfather was born in Denmark!

Copenhagen commuter.

Eat your heart out Amsterdam...Copenhagen has awesome canals too!

Bicycles line up at the apartment building where Rune and Audrey live in Copenhagen.

More bicycles.

In Copenhagen there are bicycles EVERYWHERE.

At the statue of famous Danish philosopher Soeren Kirkegaard.

The Danish stock exchange - the oldest in the world.

Enjoying a Danish beer and open-faced sandwiches. One could get fat here!

Typical Danish half-timbered building.

Mai and I begin our bicycle tour around Copenhagen.

Mai treats me to fresh-baked Danish pastries my first morning in Copenhagen. It's my favoritie food in the world, after my Mom's lemon meringue pie.

Rune, Mai and Rune's French girlfriend Audrey celebrate Audrey's birthday, Danish style, my first night in Copenhagen.

My Danish host cousins Mai and Rune fetch me at Copenhagen's spiffy renovated airport.

I've come to Denmark from Paris to rediscover the country that was my home from 1985-86 when I was an exchange student (not to mention the birthplace of my grandfather), to reunite with my Danish host family, and to celebrate my Danish host grandmother's 90th birthday, which falls in the same year as my real grandmother's 90th birthday!


Only in Denmark...I arrive in Copenhagen at last, as evidenced by this uniquely Danish picture, and cycle around the city for an entire day with my Danish host cousin Mai. Stay tuned for many more fun pictures from delightful Denmark.

Paris & The French Open

My next stop was Paris to visit an old college friend and see some action at the French Open tennis tournament. For a look at more of what I saw, click here:
http://podpoet.tripod.com/paris


Old college buddy, Frenchwoman Marrianne Harari, and I on a bridge over the River Seine. Can you see the Eiffel Tower? Can you see my water bottle?

The English Countryside

My first stop was a 12-hour layover in southern England on my way to Paris. I rented a tiny car and drove all around the English countrside, seeing some sites I've wanted to see since I was a kid, including Runnymede, where the Magna Carta was signed, Windsor Castle and Stonehenge. For more photos from this first leg of my sojourn, click here:
http://podpoet.tripod.com/the_english_countryside


At Runnymede, southern England. In the meadow behind me, King John of England signed the Magna Carta in the 13th century A.D., precursor to the U.S. Constitution and the first time in history a monarch's powers were limited by decree.