Tag: Denmark

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Copenhagen and back – via Paris

Everybody made it back safe from their travels, and it was quickly back to reality for most. That includes Duke, who had to give up his roasted chicken diet in lieu of the raw food his mommy seems to prefer feeding him.

For the last few days, John’s been off on one of his whirlwind trips to Denmark. Mostly to pick up a long-sought-after lens. He had been on a waitlist for this particular lens model for two years before getting kicked off, citing unavailability and uncertainty. The lens was, however, in stock at a dealer in Copenhagen, and by saving the VAT, he even saved a few dollars.

It was also a welcome chance to see his mom and later catch up with an old friend. As it happened, Eli’s Danish citizenship papers came through and were waiting in Copenhagen, so those were also picked up. Great to have that behind us, and Eli is a Danish citizen for the rest of her life.

The return was through Paris, where John was lucky to see the final stage of the Tour de France. With a Dane winning for the second year in a row, it’s extra special, although it doesn’t quite hit last year’s highs with the tour starting in Denmark and an unexpected win over Pogacar. Overall, it brought back memories of a 1996 trip to Paris to celebrate another Dane winning “the tour” (Bjarne Riis). Back then, John was joined by two friends – Hans and Lars – and his dad. Fun memories all around, even though we never really got to see much of the fast-moving riders

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Copenhagen, beer festival

On May 2nd, Olivia and John went through a Warriors game at the Chase Center in San Francisco. It was the first game in the playoff series and, sadly, a prediction of things to come. The Warriors lost. Not by much, but still. It was fun to be in a sporting event at the arena. Olivia and John had only been there for concerts before.

Later that week, John went to Denmark with Chris, a good friend, and former Akamai colleague. John arrived Thursday morning, immediately visited his mom, and later had dinner with Gurli in Central Copenhagen. 

Chris arrived Friday morning, and after he had some breakfast and a shower, they went to central Copenhagen to walk around. Later that afternoon, they booked an architectural bike tour of the city and had four great hours with a local architect who showed both old and new architecture.

The main reason for visiting Denmark this time was the Mikkeler Copenhagen Beer Celebration event at Øksnehallen. It’s a two-day-long affair split up into four segments. For John and Chris, the fun started at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday. After paying a hefty entrance fee, you could walk around for four hours and taste beer from all over the world. Unfortunately, there were many rumors that this year’s event would be the last. However, it’s part of a ten-day beer week in Copenhagen, and if it survives, it’s definitely worth a visit. 

The Sunday was spent on a couple of rented bicycles, riding through much of Copenhagen and the surrounding areas. Weatherwise, the wind had finally died down, and it’s such a fun and safe way of getting around. The bike rental itself was a challenging experience, and threatened to put a kibosh on the whole thing, but it all worked out in the end.

The pool is still giving us trouble and driving us nuts. The latest is that the motherboard controlling the heater and pumps is faulty and needs to be replaced, luckily under warranty. Hopefully, that will cover the remaining issues and set us up for a fun summer. Sadly, we had another downed tree from what looks to be damage from the larger tree that fell in February. That case has still not been closed. The city is taking its sweet old time processing the claim. On a brighter note, we got the Pergola installed. We moved all our garden furniture under it, making it a nice place to sit when the sun is out.

This past Thursday brought a welcome reunion with many of John’s former Akamai colleagues. The San Francisco office on Market Street is shutting down, and everybody was invited for a last farewell. John has many fond memories from that office, and it was great to see people who he had interacted with daily. Earlier in the week, Fastly organized an evening at the AT&T ballpark. John took his cousin Nick to see the Giants beat the Phillies. Cold as always, but still a good time.

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First Car for Adriana

Last weekend John and Olivia went to pick up a new car for Adriana. Olivia kept it hidden for a few days, but it was too much of a secret once Wednesday came around and sat in the garage when Adriana came home from school in the afternoon. Like with her sisters, this will undoubtedly free up Olivia’s time, and Adriana is already a self-proclaimed “great driver.”

John spent the weekend in Denmark while chasing that 3MM award with United. He spent time with his mom and saw great friends on Friday and Saturday. Unfortunately, Denmark had some of the worst winds in six years while he was there, and it was sometimes hard to walk outside when not protected by buildings. Still very cold there, but lovely to be out after 15+ hours on planes.

The winds have also been strong at home. We cleaned the yard more than once and are still looking for an excellent leaf vacuum for all the oak leaves that lands on the turf. Unfortunately, the pool sage continued, and we had to write a stern letter to get the acid wash of the plaster scheduled. We will have an update next time. The hot tub is also giving us trouble, and we can’t wait to get is all fixed. The pool cover is also acting up. “Aicham!” to quote Mr. Kim from Kim’s Convenience.

20230219: View from 8F – Copenhagen to Frankfurt
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Visit from Denmark

Thursday brought the start of the mounting tiles around the waterline of the pool as well as the spa. As no plaster would be behind the tiles, the workers had to start by applying a waterproof seal on the gunite.

The tile we got is paperbacked, meaning that you can’t see anything until the base is dry, and the paper can be removed – after 24 hours. That includes any tiles that aren’t aligned. All the adjustments will happen Monday.

Still no word from our contractor was supposed to start the patio work last week. It’s beginning to wear on our patience.

We had Hans Ole, Trine, Matilde and Villads visiting over the weekend. Great to see them and catch up!