35 Years - Another Milestone

August 23, 1990

On August 23, 1990, 35 years ago, Jens and I said, "I do," at the town hall.   Since it was 35 years ago, I wanted to do something special.  But could Jens do it?  I was going to surprise him with a big celebration.  Then I thought, no - maybe I should ask him first to see if he was even interested it in.  And if he was, then it would give him something to look forward to.  In the late stages of Parkinson's, along with losing full control of your muscles, you also lose the ability to use your face muscles.  I wanted to cry when I saw a big smile on his face with so much joy in his eyes when I asked him - Hey, Jens, what do you think about getting a room at a hotel to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary.  

We had the top floor, center.

It was not just going to be some cheapy, sleaze bag hotel - like I normally book.  No.  This was going to be something nice.  Less than 2 km or 1 tenth of a mile, stands the Radisson Blue Hotel.  I booked a room.  On the one side of the hotel tower, the view is over the residential neighborhoods, including where I live, the airport and the nature area.  But I wanted the more expensive view over old town Copenhagen.  

residential view

After booking, I looked at on-line photos again of the room.  One chair.  That's it.  Where were we going to sit?  Jens can't sit in his wheelchair for more than 20 minutes.  I needed a place to sit down too.  My back would kill me if I should have to sit on the edge of the bed for any significant amount of time.  So I changed my booking to a suite.  Maybe I should spell it: $uite.  

Big and fancy - lobby and restaurant and more.

The problem was, as with most hotels, you arrive before noon but you can't check in until 3 o'clock in the afternoon.  By that time, Jens would be half finished.  So I booked the suite for 2 nights.  This would allow me to bring in a few things a day before Jens showed up. And It would allow us to show up just before lunch time. 

And what do I do about lunch?  I had a nice conversation with my sister and she suggested just to do a few snacks in the room.  That was even a better idea.  Otherwise I think Jens would have been too tired to go to lunch and dinner in the hotel.  I ended up making lunch.  I was able to bring in most everything I needed the day before - that was Friday the 22nd.  I brought in plates, flatware, glasses, banner and flag, some food and even his shower bench.  

It was a big bathroom and a very nice shower that I knew he would love.  I knew he would love to take a nice long shower in a non-institution environment.  He must have been in the shower under the rain-drop showerhead for about half an hour.

But first before the shower, we had lunch and we toasted a glass of champagne to us for a very successful, loving, and happy 35 years. The last decade has been tough but my life is full of so much love, it almost makes me sick to my stomach.

A traditional shrimp and egg sandwich w/ mayo and tomato.  I forgot the lemon.  And a very affordable bottle of Spanish Cordon Negro.  Can't go wrong with that.  Plus Jens wouldn't be able to drink more than a glass - if even that.

After lunch, we sat at the windows again and continued to admire the amazing view over Copenhagen.

Then it was shower time. Every thing was going perfect.  After the shower we got into our cuddle mode to take a little relaxer.  Jens can get very tired very fast.  Once we got up, we moved back to the writing desk to have cake and coffee and another sip of the bubbly.  Again as we sat with cake n coffee, we continued to admire the view.  We would point out the buildings to each other and tell what we could see.  Later on, we moved to the sofa to watch a bit of tv but we eventually would turn back to the windows.  We moved back and forth between the bedroom window and the living room window. 

After a fresh shower and getting dressed, it was cake time. 

2 slices of cream cake.

And 2 slices of beefcake.

Say: Ostemad.

I made dinner reservations for 5:30 - the same time that Jens has dinner in the nursing home.  I checked out the menu on-line the same day that I booked the room.  I had to make sure there was something soft to eat.  Ravioli - that's normally something very soft. The problem with that was, it had some kind of toasted kale, drizzled as a decorative topping.  I've had it only once before and it was pretty interesting - in a good way.  But there were way too many stems so I had to carefully scrape all the garden gunk away.  If you look at the photo I posted, you will see almost something equivalent to a garden clippings that would get stuck in anybody's throat.  But we ate around it and we had a nice celebratory dinner to applaud our 35 years of marital bliss.  Gag.  No, but really - 35 years.  Wow !  I just can't believe it.

I circled the dangerous sticks in the food.

  

After dinner, we rolled our way back up to the 26th floor.  We got ourselves ready to return back to the nursing home.  Once all of that was settled, we went back down to the lobby and waited for the hospital van to pick us up.  I wouldn't have to worry about packing every thing that I hauled in, because I didn't have to check out until Sunday, 

When the hospital shuttle service dropped us off at the home, I rolled Jens back to his room.  About 40 minutes later, I got on my bike which I had left at his place Saturday morning.  We kissed good-bye and I road my bike back to the hotel to start to wind down and pack up.  I was going to go home that same evening but I ended up staying over night.  Mostly because I wanted to see the view at night time.    At the time, I wasn't sure if staying there over night was the right thing to do.  I just should have gone home.  I felt so empty and all alone.  I told my sister that as wonderful as the celebration was, I was feeling sad because I know this is going to be the last time that Jens and I will have such a celebration.  She said she could understand that I would have such feelings but that there was no reason why we couldn't do this again.  It might not be another wedding anniversary, but why not just do it again next year or something?  And I was so happy that I had that conversation.  Of course.  As long as Jens still can - we should.  So........I asked him just yesterday how he feels about getting another room for Christmas.  And there was that smile again.  So look what I just did while writing this.

THE NEXT DAY

The morning after, I got on my bike and road from the hotel to my apartment.  I parked the bike and got in my car and drove back to the hotel to pick up the shower bench.  Basically, everything else fit in my bike basket, back rack and back pack.  From the hotel, I drove straight to the nursing home.  Jens and I agreed that if the weather was decent, we would take a little drive down to the coast.  The first stop is this little shack within walking distance from the airport.

Can you see Jens in the patio?

Jens and I are on a new health kick.  Vanilla ice-cream and espresso.  We love it.  We lose all control and just suck it up.  Sooooo de-lish.  Then...... when we were ready to head back the way we came, we pulled into the beach parking lot and took a 20 minute stroll.

In the background, you can see the bridge
to Sweden and an airplane getting ready
to land at the Copenhagen airport.

In the background, you can see the same
structure that I pointed out in the last blog
about Paris.  It's one of the last photos
where the plane is about to land.
The structure is an industrial and sports
building.  It has 2 stair paths, 90 meters high
and I sometimes walk it to exercise my legs.
It's roughly the same height as the hotel.

It was a wonderful weekend and it went very well considering the big picture.  Mange tak, Sweetie for a wonderful 35 years.

Here now, are a few of the photos that I snapped from the hotel window.

Looking at a mote type of canal that goes around the parliament building.

The arched marble bridge crossing from city to the island. 

In the background center is St. Petri Church.

And just off to the side, is Church of Our Lady.

St. Petri Church

In the background is the sports arena.

In the center is the State Museum of Art.

In the foreground to the left is Nikolaj Church,

which is now an art hall.

The top of the Parliament tower.

In time, the copper will be just as green as all the other towers.

Frederik's Church known as the marble church.

Way off in the distance is Grundtvigs Church.

Copenhagen town hall bell tower.

Church of Our Savior

one of the most unusual church

spires anywhere, is this one. 

It's an outdoor stair case to the top.

This is the top of the Round Tower.  At the top is Europe's oldest, still functioning astronomical observatory.  Nearly 400 years old.  When it was built, it was by far the tallest structure in Denmark. The tower is connected to Trinity Church.  In the background is the new Children's Hospital.

Looking almost straight down out of the window is the lake that at one time served as protection for the city of Copenhagen.  At the time it was made, it circled the entire city.  Of course the city has grown miles beyond the fortification.

The Royal yacht.  

In the background is a yellow harbor water bus.

 It has a stop right in front of our apartment. 

And as I mentioned earlier, this monstrosity is the structure that is almost as tall as the hotel (not including the smoke stacks)  This is called Amager Bakke or Copenhill.  It's an activity center built on and around a power plant that burns trash and makes heat for the city.  I climb the stairs every now and then.  You can actually ski on it year round.  But it is too much to explain so click this link if you want to learn more.

Bonjour Mademoiselle

6:00 in the morning across the street from my apt.

6:01 in the morning across the street from my apt.

((Just so you know - the white text reads as the main story.  

The photos have text to explain what it is.))

 

I wrote a mail to my family and a few friends but I forgot all about it and then I came across it while  farting around on my computer.  So I decided to incorporate it into this blog post.  Open this link and play the music in another window.  Listen to the music in the background while reading this post.

6:45 and I arrive at the airport.

When I was last visiting in California, Clarke told me that she was going to go to Paris this summer.  I got really excited because it was just the right excuse that I needed to get away from the nursing home.  I promised to meet Clarke in Paris if she was cool with some old creepy guy hanging out with her.  This would be my 3^rd visit with Clarke in Paris.

Security took forever for some reason but I had

plenty of time to get a bite before going to

gate B15.  Departure at 8:20.

I also have 2 other French friends that live right smack in the center of the most trendy part of Paris.  But it’s a bit of a yawn for me because I’m not really a party person.  But this gave me an opportunity to visit my friends since they were here in Copenhagen last year, right after I had my floors sanded.  I didn’t even have any furniture yet at the time. 

Gare du Nord - the old part and the new part.

I called Patrick and Fabien and told them that I was coming to town.  Great they said.  If we have time, we’d love to see you but we think we are going to be busy.  Long story about that but  I will spare you with all the details.  If you are really interested to know more, you can ask me next time we visit or the next time we talk/write.   

The newly renovated facade of the train station.

The newly renovated facade of the train station.

The newly renovated facade of the train station.

Anyway, I left Copenhagen at 6 am, Tuesday, July 29th.  Everything went really smoothly.  I paid  few extra bucks to get a confirmed seat....... TO Paris.  In just 2 hours and 5 minutes, I made touchdown at Charles De Gaulle airport.  I got on the train to the center of Paris.  But at the last minute, I decided to get off 1 station early.  I always go to the very crazy Les Halles train station - which I love.  It's just amazing all the people and all the underground levels and all the shops at the station - 5 levels underground.  Trains on the 2 lowest levels.

Croque Madame €9.50

House rosé € 11.50

Right across the street from the train station.

I’ve seen Paris too many times.  But I have not seen the area where train station Gare du Nord is located.  Sooo… on an adventurous fluke, I hopped off the train there at Gare du Nord.  I was soooooo happy that I did.  I don’t know what it is about train stations but I really like them.  And this one was a beauty.  After wondering aimlessly inside the station, I walked outside of the station to see the façade (which, btw is a French word) of the station.  What luck!  They were just about completed with a renovation of the façade.  It was all cleaned up.   Once I stepped outside, I wanted to get lunch in one of the open cafés facing the front of the station.  I was off to a great start.

I've had way too many horrible
Danish Mexican tacos to even
think about a Kurdish kebab taco.
And just exactly how traditional 
can a Kurdish taco even be?
Try 0 %

Once I was finished with my lunch, I got up and had my GPS point me in the general direction towards my hotel.  Google maps says, at a normal pace, it is a 40-minute walk.  But I was admiring the views, the buildings and doing a bit of window shopping.  2 hours later I finally arrived at my hotel.  I checked into my room, unpacked, and went back out on the streets where I would see many of the sites that I have see before - several times.  It was very hot that day.  My plan was to go to the Eiffel tower.  This must be the 8th time that I am in Paris and I have never been up the tower.   The situation was, I used up all of my energy getting up too early on departure morning and then the 2 hour hot walk from Gare du Nord train station to the hotel.  Instead, I just decided to chill and relax in the area of the hotel instead of playing tourist.

I must say - there are some very
beautiful structures in Paris.

Who inspired whom?  
The Beverly center -1982
The Pompidou center - 1977
Both known for their unusual outside and hanging-  
on-the-edge-of-the-building escalator.

Clarke and I made contact via Whatsapp and we agreed on one of 2 cafés we could meet at.  I was a bit nervous about how it was going to go but it went really well.  Weeks before leaving, I was thinking we would just have a cup of coffee and then we would be on our way.  But we spent several hours together, walked a bit, sat in another café along the Seine River and ordered a glass of wine.  Our day started with a bit of sunshine, then a pretty good splash of rainfall at the first café, then sunshine again, then wind and a sprinkle at the second café and then we walked to Notre-Dame.  There, it was very windy with a few sprinkles.  We would have loved to have gone in the cathedral but the line was probably over a quarter mile long.  Clarke and I said good-by there.  She was going to continue to the Eiffel tower.  I had consider going with her, but it was a long haul and I needed a little shut-eye before visiting my French friends. 

The historical Jewish quarter.

google translation

Fabien and Patrick wrote to me about 2 weeks before I flew out to Paris.  They said that they were so sorry, but it just wasn't going to work out.  There were too many things they had to do and didn't have the time.  Then the day before arriving in Paris, they said that they would be in Paris very late Wednesday afternoon and they would have time only then for me to join them for dinner if I could.  I said I'll be there.  I wouldn't miss it.  We had a wonderful visit.  I was so happy they could make it after all.

Suddenly, while walking around town, I had to 
take a pee.  And what better place to take a pee
than at the Pee-casso Museum?

The next morning, I met the guys for a cup of coffee in their home.  Suddenly Fabien remembered that he had to get to the post office immediately.  He had to send off some packages before leaving town again.  I followed him to the post office.  I had been looking for a post office where I could buy stamps but all I could find were mailboxes.  I would have never guessed the building we walked into was a post office.  But luckily, I was able to get 5 stamps.  Now I just needed to get 5 postcards.

My French friends live in Lay Moray.
But of course the French don't know how to spell.
They spell it: Le Marais. 

It is the most trendy spot in all of Paris.
Here is where you will find lots of gay bars,
gay restaurant, and gay shopping among
other things that are not gay but geared
toward people like you:
young, hip, trendy and loaded with cash.

I bet you don't dare click the this link to Naked.
But if you do, I promise you, you'll be 1 step ahead.

So, I know you are familiar with my SAS flight discount tickets and all the horror stories that go along with it.  This was probably the worst of all the stories.  The short version is:  I had to cut my very short Paris trip by 5 hours.  SAS was full.  It’s the last flight of the day back to Copenhagen.  Air France had 5 departures – 3 that I could use.  At 8 am, when I looked on the apps., each of them had space.  OK – I will just take the last Air France flight which is only 30 minutes before the SAS departure - 9 pm and 9:30 pm respectively.

There is this corner in town with about 4 or 5 gay
restaurants side by side.  They were empty on the
insides but filled up with people on the sidewalk.
The funny thing is, about 90% of the people
  eating, were not gay.  Well... they weren't really
 eating, they were all drinking.  I didn't want
 to be the only non-straight person eating dinner
 so I sat on the inside.  I wasn't really hungry but
 I ordered dinner anyway.  The only other couple
inside the restaurant were these 2 young hip guys. 
They didn't order food.  They ordered champagne.
What was most funny for me was that they would
not pour themselves champagne.  They waited for
the waiter to come and pour the champagne - each
time they took a sip.

Ok so the photo may look a little scary
but this was soooooo amazing - as
simple as it was: Chicken and rice with
the most amazing mushroom sauce.
I wasn't hungry when I walked in
but I wanted more when I walked out.

WC = Water Closet = toilet = restroom.
I think this sign was installed for Americans who
have problems with where total strangers take a piss.
This is pretty much the way it is all over Europe
and most likely this way in your own home too.

After coffee with the guys and our very quick dash to the post office, we said good-bye and I went to my hotel to pack and check out.  I looked at my employee ticket apps. and now all flights were full.  Air France had a total of 24 empty seats between 3 flights - but now were full and SAS was over booked by 3 seats.  I didn’t know what I was going to do. 

Coffee time

Well…….. I ended up walking at top speed to Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre.  It’s an hour walk from the hotel and an hour back.  I went there to get an overview over Paris.  It was melting hot that day.  I rushed there and I rushed back.  All the while looking for 5 lousy postcards.  My plan was to sit and have lunch before going back to the airport.  While eating lunch, I would fill out your postcard.  I found all kinds of souvenir trinkets but not one damn postcard.  Then… half way through my lunch, I decided I would later walk on over to the Pompidou Center as it is total tourist area.  For sure I must be able to find some postcards there.

more interesting facades

But as I am eating my lunch, I take another quick look into my SAS employee apps. to see how the seating situation has developed.  OMG – 2 empty seats opened up on the 4:30pm Air France flight.  I dropped the rest of my lunch, paid my bill and ran to the hotel to pick up my bag and then ran to Les Halles train station.  4 floors underground and here comes the next train to the airport.  Believe me, this is the short version.  I got off the train at the wrong terminal – Thanks to incorrect info from Google – really.  Then I took the sky train in the wrong direction and ended up at Terminal 1 parking lot.  I was trying to go to Terminal 1 as google directed me to do but Air France flies out of Terminal 2.   The flight was going to depart soon.  I had to hurry to check in.  Finally got to Terminal 2 – the correct terminal.  Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 are surprisingly, a long sky train ride away from each other.   I checked-in and ran to gate F29.   The departure board read:  Flight Delayed.   Oh brother.  The next shock was 7 stand-by Air France employees were waiting to board the same full flight.  And me, as an SAS employee, means that I am last in line.  There were only 2 empty seats available before I left the train station.  Now at the airport, the app. says all flights full.  I wanted to cry.  But if worse came to worse, there were still 2 more Air France flights and I could still try my original SAS flight - which was overbooked.     

Clarke and I met for brunch.

In the middle of it all there came
a lot of rain - which Clarke
actually loved.   She said she
loves Paris in the rain.

                      .  

All the full-paying passengers got on.  Then the Air France ticket man says: Ok, we have to do this quickly.  All you stand-by passenger come over here!  Hand me your boarding card!  This is an old procedure.  We hand over our boarding card, which has no seat number, and they hand us a new boarding card with a seat number.  When the guy said – hand over your boarding card, I just happened to be the closest person to him.  I practical stuck my boarding card in his face.  He took it, dropped it, then picked it up, then dropped it again and believe it or not, he dropped my boarding card a 3rd time.  Eventually and he handed me a new boarding card with a seat number on it.  I ran my ass off to the airplane, found my seat and thanked my lucky star that I was on.

Before any actual plans were made, I was
thinking Clarke and I would just meet for a
cup of coffee.  But we did brunch, chatted in
the rain and then moved on to a nice glass
of French wine along the Seine.

She even gave me
Netflix tips.

But seriously – how is it that the app. says all flights are full and then, this flight that I got on, actually had 6 empty seats?  I don’t know what happened to the last 2 stand-by passengers.  It shouldn’t have been possible for me to get on but I did and I was sooooooooooo happy.

Then we strolled on to Notre Dame to see the renovations.
We wanted to go in but the line was forever long. 

Anyway.... all that to say: I ended up coming home with 5 French postcard stamps.  So don't be hanging out at your mailbox waiting for a postcard from me - sorry.

 

Along the Seine.

This day was actually very wet and
cloudy but the sun came out for 7 minutes
and I happened to be able to capture this fancy
building with a bit of blue sky.

These are our good friends Fabien and Patrick.
Jens and I have known them for years.
Great guys.

Fabien and Patrick live in Lay Moray
aka: Le Marais

This is the Le Marais area.  It used to be a
zillion cars and moped squeezed into this area. 
The area is now blocked for traffic. 
It's only for pedestrians now.
Wow, what a difference.

 

It was my last day - the day that I panicked about being able to get home.  All flights full.  I wanted to do something.  It was hot and sunny.  I was supposed to be able to wander aimlessly around the city.  I had a list of things I wanted to do.  But I had to cut my trip short by 5 hours and make a mad dash to the airport.  However, I managed to put my feet in fast gear and walk the 1 hour tour to the top of Montmartre.

Eventually I found my way to the airport. Looking back, what now seems like a just a fraction of a second, I was suddenly back in Copenhagen.

If you follow the arrow,
in the above photo,
it will lead you to my front door.

What you see in the background,
is actually only 4 km / 2½ miles
away from our apartment.

Oh I was sooooooo glad that I was able to get on board and make it back home to Wonderful, Wonderful Copenhagen.  Of course now I had to go home and then go to the market to get some groceries to make dinner.  No way,  the heck with that.  I was dying for some traditional Danish food.  I know of a little spot in the airport that makes Danish food like Grandma used to make.  I was in heaven eating this roast pork sandwich.  

Had I found some touristy postcards, and had I the time to easily finish my lunch, I would have filled out the postcards, lick this stamp on it and send it to you - Yes, you!

 

Or ree vrar

or as the French misspell it:

Au Revoir