Sitting on a grassy hill above the village of Gøta, watching the festivities of the surprising international G! music festival unfolding on the beach below -- and listening to the haunting voice of my now favorite Faroese singer, Eivør -- I couldn't help thinking: this is what the Faroe Islands are all about. Here was an international music festival, drawing performers from Europe and North America, in a little village that was also one of the major sites of the Færeyinga Saga, the farm of the powerful Faroese chieftain, Trondur i Gøtu (and the hometown of Eivør). And the bay around which the the three part village is stretched, enclosed by the high treeless yet oh-so-green hills of the islands, was the sight of a grindadrap, or pilot whale killing, just a week before the ... read more

Although I had been to Oslo once before, more than a decade ago, Meghan and I managed to see and experience so much that I felt I was visiting an utterly new city. On day one, between thundering downpours, we explored central Oslo on and around Karl Johans Gate, the main drag (the axis between the central train station and the palace). A particular highlight was seeing Edvard Munch's "The Scream" in person. But it was the second day, Meghan's first full one in Norway, that was the grand tour. With an absolutely beautiful sunny day awaiting us (a whole new world after the rain of the day before), we ventured first to the RÃ¥dhus to see its dramatic interior murals and then over to the Akershus Slott (Castle) with its panoramic views of the ... read more

Part 1: Is globalization a family of Pakistani origin running a Mexican burrito stand in Copenhagen? Although Denmark might strike some people as more homogenous than, say, the US, Copenhagen has more diversity in its population than one might expect. Many of the so-called "New" Danes are of Middle Eastern or South Asian descent, their families having immigrated to Denmark from the 1960s onwards. As in other parts of Europe (and the US for that matter), these immigrants have integrated to various degrees in Danish society. I have seen a significant number of young New Danes who seem fully apart of contemporary Danish life; I have also observed others, particularly of older generations, who seem more focused on their specific immigrant community. I have only been here a short while, so I won't venture to ... read more

The rain may have stopped but the wind sure has picked up! In many respects, the weather the past couple of days has been preparation for, I imagine, my upcoming travels in the Faroe Islands and perhaps Iceland. Over the past couple of days, it seems I have largely focused on the sculptural heritage of Copenhagen, both indoors and outdoors. In the late afternoon/early evening of the 7th, I took a long walk along the canal, passing Amalienborg Palace again so that I could take a peek into the grand Marble Church (closed when I was last in the area). Organ music reverberated through the immense interior, bouncing off the neo-classical statuary. Continuing up the canal, I stumbled on the Gefion Fountain, which apparently depicts a Goddess ploughing the island of Zealand (on which Copenhagen ... read more

I promise I will stop crafting alliterative titles for a while, but today’s heading more than fits Copenhagen - it is indeed a complex city. On July 4th, US Independence day, I decided to take full advantage of the gorgeous weather I had been experiencing since I arrived in Denmark (I planned well, as I will explain later) and continued my peripatetic explorations. I spent much of the afternoon weaving in and out of parks, finding Kongens Have (King’s Gardens) particularly beautiful and peaceful (as did many Copenhageners who were soaking up the sun on the lawns). As the sun began to lower - although still a long way from setting - I walked down to the present home of the Danish royal family, the four part Roccoco palace of Amalienborg. There is perhaps no ... read more