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Published: August 5th 2009
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The last couple of weeks have been, unwittingly, very pink and stretched out over what have felt like completely different worlds ....
As we were leaving it for the first (but not the last) time Germany finally offered us some good weather and pretty views as we gazed out over the early morning sea in Lübeck before the long drive to Copenhagen. A ladybird landed on each of us and we decided that these cute things were a sign of good luck and positivity given our beautiful surroundings and we agreed to come back there on the return.
It certainly felt like the weather turned as we started the long drive in the lovely sunshine. I was really pleased when we got to the border that for the first time at least one country marked our entry to it with a little bit of fanfare (it clearly doesn't take much to impress me!) flags and a few signs rather than just the change in driving speed limits got me quite giddy and a subtle change in the trees and countryside made me feel that we were back up the latitudes. The toll bridge over to Zealand island where Copenhagen
sits is quite simply spectacular - overall it's just under 7km in length with views over endless sea with only a few boats to lend perspective to the view - we were certainly somewhere different - we were in Scandanavia.
Neither of us had much in the way of preconceptions about Denmark - all we really knew was of strapping blonde haired people, a pretty picture postcard view that Jo had once seen and Peter Schmeichel! Straight away though we felt there was a welcome for us and the guide books description of the Danish as impeccable English speakers also put us at ease immediately. Infact on an overall impression Copenhagen was extremely 'Americanised' with more McDonalds than I've ever seen, lots of swanky shopping, large open roads and spaces and lots of ultra modern design. This wouldn't by any means though be the whole picture - the docks area where the little mermaid statue sits was like Liverpool docks but with crystal clear water and then we found the old part of town which was just exactly like the picture postcard of Jo's mind. Crystal clear canal water lined with pretty little boats and lined by multicoloured buildings,
bustling with a diverse cafe culture clientelle.
All this and a curious number of rainbow flags everywhere ....
It turns out that we had arrived in Copenhagen at both their Pride celebrations
and the Word OutGames! I became like Jack in Will and Grace where all my lifes ambitions had been about attending the OutGames - Poor Jo wasn't going to win!
We decided on tennis as a sport we both enjoy - whether we enjoyed it enough for the 2 hour walk it took to get to the event was questionable however! Anyway, I must firstly say how excellent it is that the event exists and so many people are getting out there, getting involved and doing something positive. The second thing I must say is that from what we saw they were probably not being held back in their sporting ambitions because of sexuality! We watched a womens doubles match - The Netherlands v USA. Sadly the Dutch got a sound beating bz an amusing American team! One of them did all the running and when the other was involved in the point she would mutter under her breath constantly - thus was the level
of her concentration! At the end of the match they thanked us for spectating (a very American thing to do) that, as we didn't think we'd done anything to deserve such thanks we muttered 'no problem' and giggled our goodbyes (a very English thing to do!)
Later that evening we went to see Transformers 2 and I muttered under my breath a lot at the characters, punched the air during the action scenes and nodded in agreement at poignant moments - thus was the level of
my concentration!
Jo simply laughed at us all that day!
As planned we broke the long drive back from Copenhagen at Lübeck. Jo was particularly excited about her day on the beach and showed a level of grit and determination that I can only admire. Despite winds that were drumming up a near sandstorm and some ominous looking clouds my lovely one managed to gut it out in her bikini. Even the most hardy and determined of German sun worshipers had retreated to the bars on the beach! Ladybirds that had been a joyous symbol of luck only a few days previous had seemed to learn a thing or two from
a plague of locusts, and after getting some out of places where only your bikini goes after a water slide, I gave it up and went for a walk! A week later Jo was still getting sand out of her hair.
I laughed at her a lot!
We were both very excited to be heading to Berlin - not least because it meant that we were meeting friends from home. One of these friends is German and had lived in Berlin for some time so would be able to take us slightly off the tourist trail. All I can say is - what a weekend! We partied hard, both on the camp site and in some of Berlins womens bars and I would like to say a huge thanks to those friends for meeting us and the generous a fun company they were.
Sunday night we went to a gay ballroom dancing night - a regular haunt of my friends. Our first whispered comment to each other in entering the place was 'what the hell are we doing here?' Within in 30 minutes though we were hooked. So much fun, no one giving a damn about looking
the part (it was so hot and it was all about comfy dancing shoes - not whether or not they matched the outfit!)
Checkpoint Charlie, the Wall, the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichgard were all so poignant. The remains of the wall is now called the 'East Side Gallery' and celebrates the 100+ artists who daubed it with their celebration of it coming down in November 1989 - and no, one of them wasn't David Hasselhoff! We had watched
The Pianist the night before coming to Berlin and whilst these tales of survival are so moving nothing has brought the horrors of those times to me as much and standing by the Brandenburg Gate looking at postcards of it and its surroundings are the war and after the wall went up.
So for me this all summed up Berlin. On the surface not terribly friendly and poor whilst underneath living a vibrant
Vie Boheme. Lots of cafe's and street culture, lots of harsh buildings and graffitti mixed with a feeling of real safety. A world on the cutting edge of much of Europes recent history but presented in a respectful manner without being maudling. When my friend and I talked about how poor Berlin still is, and I was surprised by it being a capital I suggested that eventually it would attract the big business and career opportunities of other capitals now its unified. She quite rightly silenced me with the thought .... 'Well its been 20 years'.
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