Out Of Africa

It was my free day from the nursing home so I decided to do something a little more memorable than just staying home to dust and vacuum and online banking.  I decided to take a little drive. I could easily have taken the train but I decided to take a little drive in my never-used-anymore automobile.  And what a day for a drive!  So happy that I got air-conditioning in my car, too.  My GPS wanted to send me the short way to save gas and 12 minutes but I drove the long way, up along the coast to calm my soul.  It's a leisurely drive of only 48 minutes and with a nice view over to Sweden on the other side of the opening to the Baltic Sea.

It's somewhere around 33 years ago that I had last visited the Karen Blixen Museum.  I am sure you have heard of her name before.  She wrote the book called Out Of Africa.  The story became a Box Office hit in 1985 and it won 34 awards of which 7 were Oscars.  You most likely remember it because of the main rolls played by Meryl Streep and Robert Redford.   

 

Here is a quick "copilot" overview of what the film is about:

Out of Africa is a romantic drama about Danish aristocrat Karen Blixen's life in colonial Kenya, her struggles managing a coffee plantation, and her complex love affair with big-game hunter Denys Finch Hatton.

Plot Overview
The story follows Karen Blixen (played by Meryl Streep), a wealthy Danish woman who travels to British East Africa (Kenya) in 1913 to join her husband of convenience, Baron Bror Blixen (Klaus Maria Brandauer), with plans to run a dairy farm.  Upon arrival, she discovers that Bror has diverted their investment into a coffee plantation and largely leaves her to manage it alone.  Karen faces the challenges of running the farm, navigating colonial society, and interacting with the local Kikuyu people, providing medical care, establishing schools, and mediating conflicts.

 

Key Relationships
Karen develops a deep, passionate connection with Denys Finch Hatton (Robert Redford), a free-spirited big-game hunter.  Their relationship is marked by mutual respect, adventure, and romance, but Denys values his independence, creating tension between love and personal freedom.  Meanwhile, Karen's marriage to Bror is strained by his infidelity and lack of involvement in the farm.

The film explores several themes:

• Colonialism and cultural interaction:  Karen navigates her identity and role as a European woman in a colonial setting, highlighting ethical dilemmas and cultural tensions.
• Adventure and personal growth: The African landscape and wildlife provide a backdrop for Karen's self-discovery and transformation.
• Love and independence: The story examines the balance between romantic desire and personal freedom, particularly through Karen's relationship with Denys.

Setting and Historical Context

The events span 1913 to 1931, primarily in the Ngong Hills near Nairobi, Kenya.  The film captures the beauty of the African landscape, wildlife , and colonial society, reflecting both the allure and challenges of life in the early 20th-century Africa.

Recognition

Out of Africa was critically acclaimed for its cinematography, storytelling, and performances, winning 7 academy awards including Best Picture and Best Director for Sydney Pollack.

In essence, Out of Africa is a sweeping tale of love, adventure, and cultural immersion, portraying Karen Blixen's Blixen's journey of resilience, romance, and self-discovery in colonial Kenya.

OK - now that you got what the movie was about, the museum was about Karen Blixen's life - not the movie.  The museum is actually Karen Blixen's childhood home where she was born in 1885 and lived until she moved to her coffee farm in Kenya in 1914.  Kenya at the time was called British East Africa until it became independent of British Colonial power in 1963.  After trying to run the coffee farm for 17 years, it failed miserably and Karen Blixen returned to Denmark due to poor health.  The story goes that her husband was unfaithful and infected Karen with syphilis. This is also written in her biography.  But recent information reveals a new belief that, yes she was ill but it was not necessarily syphilis.  The museum shows doubt.  It also tells that she was medicated with arsenic and mercury to cure the syphilis.  This is most likely, the museum claims, the reason for her illness and death.  I found it rather interesting that though she "had" syphilis, she lived a very long life of 77 years after years of taking poison.

Karen Blixen was a story teller and an artist.   She started to write stories after her return from Kenya to try to earn some money. She wasn't always sure if her stories would be a success so she often used a pseudonym - often a male name. Another big success was a story called Babette's Feast which also was adapted for a screen play and won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.  Her first story was a total flop in Britain.  Karen also knew an American who had connections with a publisher and though her first story flopped in UK, it was a huge hit in USA.  Later, Seven Gothic Tales is published in both UK and USA.  Only later was it in published in Danish in Denmark.

I found her life story to be very interesting.  One of the things that was mentioned, was Karen's father lived in the US in Wisconsin for just over a year from 1872 among the Chippewa Indians.  He was trying to find peace from the ravages of fighting in war at the southern border of Denmark.  The internet is loaded with so much information about Karen Blixen, you can google your fingers off.

Here are a few links to get you started and then I will add the photos that I snapped.

This is the link to the museum.

And this one with very interesting facts on Wikipedia.

So the first thing I did was walk into the barn which was converted to a ticket office, souvenir shop and restaurant.  I bought a few post cards to send to my favorite people while enjoying a cup of Kenyan coffee and a French croissant.  If you didn't get your post card, blame the post office - that's what I do.

After the coffee, I stepped into the first 2 exhibition rooms.  I've been to many museums but this was the first time that I have ever read EVERYTHING printed on the displays - and there was a lot to read, like this:

I was mesmerized by the story.  Imagine coming from a fine and wealthy family and then moving to a completely different continent where you end up employing 1000 people and they look like this:

The Danish word MOD (which means courage) 

didn't quite make it in my snap shot.

The above shows the humanity and love Karen had for others.

The next just really overwhelmed me so much.

The book

So, as I mentioned, the museum is actually her childhood home that she moved back into when she returned back to Denmark from Kenya.  She was born and raised here and after 17 years in Africa, she moved back home to write her stories.  Eventually, she died here, too. These are her rooms in the house as they were when she died in 1962.

And this is her room upstairs where her life came to an end in this bed.

The family estate was huge.  It had livestock.  

It had a huge garden that was only for growing 

flowers to put in vases in the house.  

The flower garden was larger than 

what you see here in this video.

She is buried on the estate under a 300 year old Beech tree.

The house, as mentioned, is at the coast of the Baltic Sea.  Karen's mother owned land that blocked the creation of the marina.  But the state eventually saw to it that the harbor would be built.  It is 103 years old - opened in 1923.  On a much smaller scale at the time, it was the view Karen had from her death bead.

Across the street from the museum is the Rungsted marina with lots of eating options.  The kitchen of the restaurant that I planned on eating at with authentic Danish food was closed.  It would open in 40 minutes or so.  I found an option but I totally forget to take photos of the area.  I only have this view, partially covered by a sunscreen.  But it was a bit of paradise to sit here and enjoy a bite before returning home.

I wanted a Danish dinner but got a French veggie burger.

I must say, it was very tasty.

At least the beer was Danish.

Costco Cuckoo

In middle May, my crazy friend Nhu and I were invited to have a nice dinner and visit with Gorm and Stefan in their Copenhagen home just a short bicycle ride away from where I live.  One of the things we talked about was what a nice time Nhu and I had on our last visit to Stefan's home in Sweden in the country side.  He invited us again and we all agreed on a weekend in the middle of July.  

Nhu just bought a fancy new electric car and she offered to drive.  Pretty fancy car I must say and at a very reasonable price.  Very modern, comfortable and high-tech.  Nhu lives north of the city center, I live south of the city center and Gorm lives in the center.  Nhu was going to pick up Gorm and then pick me up after that.  Unfortunately Gorm wasn't feeling well, so he canceled at the last minute. 

At dinner, Nhu was telling us that she needed to stop off at Costco on the way.  Costco? Really?  Stefan was very interested to know what Costco was all about.  So since Nhu has a membership card, we all agreed to meet at the store just before it opens.  Who knew Costco had a store in Sweden?  

It turns out that Costco in Sweden is exactly the same as Costco in USA.  We walked up and down all the aisles looking and looking at all the items you never knew you didn't need.  And of course when you look at all that great food, by the time you hit the check-out counter, you're starving and the smell of the hotdogs and pizza lur the customer almost in a hypnotic trans to spend more money and eat.  So of course we had no choice but to follow the scent of cheap greasy food, order, chow down and eat American hotdogs in the culturally and historically rich country of Sweden.  Yes, a bite of heaven, actually.

After our big shopping tour, we went to the German shop LIDL - which is also a fun store to look around in - to buy more ordinary market groceries so that we had what we needed for dinner, breakfast and lunch.

Then back into the car and off to the potato patch.  We lost Stefan.  But luckily Nhu had previously punched in Stefan's address into her GPS.  "You have arrived" it showed. Wrong!  We were literally in the middle of nowhere.  I knew we had gone too far.  "Turn around," I said to Nhu.  We drove back about 2  minutes to the dirt road closest to the motorway.  "Turn here!"  I pointed from the asphalt road, "There! There's his house!"  I could see it way off in the distance.

We made it. Parked in the garden, unloaded the car and I mixed us a welcome drink.  Stephan dumped chips in a bowl and he set up a few chairs under the "palm" tree, as he calls it.  I thought I misunderstood him but he said it again.  "Gorm and I call it a palm tree because it gives so much shade."  It really does.  It is a huge beautiful walnut tree loaded with green balls that will become delicious walnuts come November.

We had a lot of fun sharing the latest updates with each other.  

It was so warm late into the evening.

Apparently Stefan and Nhu had a lot more to talk about because Stefan gave me the job of grilling the burgers, sausage, and veggies - which of course, I was sooooo happy to do.  Plus Nhu and I had quite a personal chat in the car from Copenhagen to Costco, Sweden.

Years ago, Jens and I visited Stefan shortly after he built his terrace - which is huge and amazing.    At that time, all the planks were wood color.  Years later, the wood has turned silver and the flowering vines have made it really cozy.  The grill was proudly parked on the terrace along side of a huge patio table.  But we ate dinner under the palm tree with tiny green coconuts.  It was so nice and no bugs for all this amazing nature.

The burgers and sausage are almost done.

After dinner it was time for dessert.  Stefan baked

amazing brownie and layered it over vanilla ice-cream.

And we topped that with fresh Swedish strawberries.

Eventually the wind started to pick up and I decided to put on my jacket.  It was still warm but the wind was very cooling.  My sister Jay grows her own potatoes, so I snapped this photo for her to show her that Stefan actually lives in the middle of a potato field.  Well...... this year.  Next year it will be a different crop.  But it is all just wonderful.

The next morning was perfect.  We could feel the day was going to be warm and it did get very warm.  But we started our day on the terrace with a very tasty breakfast and a much needed cup of coffee.  

Eventually the rising sun creeped over the peak of the roof making the shadow shorter and shorter until we could no longer move our chairs into the shade of the house.  So Nhu and I got up again to walk around Stefan's huge garden to admire all the flowers, fruit, trees, shrubs and bushes growing.  The amount of rhubarb was wild.  "Take all you want," Stefan said to Nhu.  "How much do you want," Nhu asked me.  "Gimme 6 stalks!"  I came home with a dozen.  Nhu took even more.  There was so much rhubarb, we didn't even make a dent in the patch.  

Rhubarb in the foreground.

There are several kinds of berries and roses, cherry trees, a pear tree, herbs, wild flowers, amazing vine hortensia in the garden and these Hollyhocks that I snapped for my friend, George.

Then there was this Christmas tree that I gave to Stefan some time ago. 

It used to be a tiny thing on my balcony.

Eventually it was time to pack it all up and make our way back to reality.  We had to cut our trip a bit early because Nhu got a last minute appointment with psychotherapist but I think it's way too late for any sign of  hope.  Costco Cuckoo can be a very serious mental disorder.

As we drove home, I quickly snapped these photos of the pylons of this fascinating bridge between Denmark and Sweden.

Why is it a fascinating bridge, you ask?  Because it doesn't go anywhere.  It just ends in the Baltic Sea.

Thanks for a great weekend Stefan.  Such wonderful hospitality.

Thanks for a great weekend Nhu.  So kind of you to drive and offer positive support.

 

Sing Out Loud

Jens and I went Brussels years ago.  We had a great time.  I really loved it.  I have always wanted to go back and experience it again.  For me, it was like a quiet and cozy Paris.  Paris on a smaller scale.  In 2015 I did a very extensive blog on our trip to Brussels.  My blog is actually so large, I made the blog post into 5 chapters.  Here is the link to the 1st chapter if you want to see ALL the photos - which are pretty amazing.

11 years later in 2026 Dan asked me if I wanted to go to Brussels with him and his choir.  I didn't ask any question.  I just said: YES!   

Every 4th year, there is a huge international singing program called Various Voices.  There were 120 choirs 4,000 singers from Europe and USA.   And they were all LGBT+ choirs.  I was supposed to go 4 years ago when the event was being held in Bologna.  But the day before departure, I got Covid.  I did however end up going to Bologna the following month on my own, but I missed the big event. 

I only said Yes to Dan because I really wanted to go to Brussels again and because I needed a big break from the nursing home.  I didn't really care about the choirs.   I wasn't expecting anything special but that is exactly what it was.  Special - very, very special!  Wow!!  And now I am excitedly awaiting for the next event 4 summers from now in Brighton.   

I didn't snap a million photos.  We sat too far from the stage to shoot clear videos on my cheap phone and I left my really good zoom camera at home.  I wont overload you with too many pix and videoclips but here are a few to get you warmed up.

Upon arriving at the airport in Copenhagen, I am carrying on the tradition Jens and I stared 36 years ago.  Every time we traveled, we started our travels with a glass of Gammel Dansk - Skål !

I was a bit bummed because in the old Diners Card lounge, it was small but it had everything including a full bar.  But now at the huge SAS lounge, they only had white wine and Gammel Dansk - which is a very bitter snaps.  But then I got wise and drank my money's worth.  Once I drank myself silly, I decided to take a look upstairs.  SAS actually put the bar furthest away from the public.  Needless to say, it was the busiest corner in the 2 story lounge.

 With all that I drank, I have no idea how I got here:

Notice only 2 S's instead of 3.

I recognized everything right away from the last 

time I was here with Jens.  
This was the way to our hotel last time 

and this is the way to my apartment this time.

Photos of my amazing new apartment.

Fully equipped kitchen.

Once I got settled in, Dan and his choir and I went for a group dinner.

It was baking hot in Brussels as well as in most of Europe.  The sky was very hazy and steamy.  My pix came out on the gray hazy side.  I had to do a lot of work to these photos to make them presentable.  But in real life, it is a beautiful town.

Later that evening was the welcome/opening concert.

This went on and on and on.

There were 114 choirs from Europe.

6 from the US 

and a total of over 4,000 singers.

My apartment was just around the corner from

the Manneken Piss.

This is a must-see for all tourist.

The Manneken Pis is even smaller than the Little Mermaid sitting on a rock in the Copenhagen Harbor.  It is from the mid-15th century.  But this one, the one all tourist come to see, is not the original.  That was  repeatedly stolen and damaged throughout its history.  Since 1965, a replica has been displayed on this site and the original is stored in the Brussels City Museum. 

One of the most beautiful squares in Europe with the town hall and buildings dating back to the 14th century.  I was actually able to see part of the square from my apartment window - it was so wonderful.

Enter thru one of the arches as the one above

and you come to see figures and flowers 

such as this below.

I told my neighbor that I was going to Brussels and I asked him if he wouldn't mind keeping an eye out on my place.  Our doormats are only 6 steps from each other.  He said sure and he gave me a tip.  "It's not the fanciest restaurant," he said, "but my wife and I go there often to eat."  "You go there often???"  It turns out his daughter and her family lived right around the corner.  I had to give it a try.  It was a bit out of the city and the 2 guys that I was traveling with, weren't really interested in the 17 minute long journey on bus 71.  for me, it turned out to be a very well worth excursion.

The restaurant is in the building but I just had to sit 

on the terrace under all the trees.  It was really a 

wonderful experience.  

I ordered the local trout.  It was some of the best

fish I have ever ordered.

The trout was baked or fried in vat of butter

and covered in toasted almond slivers.

Once I completed my delicious lunch, I walked back to the city center.  The restaurant was lake-side, so it made for a very lovely walk back to town.  

Upon returning to town, I came across these gardens.

Later that evening, it would be another group dinner with Dan's choir.
Mussels and fries are served at just about every restaurant in town.

I of course ordered them.  So de-lish.

Gotta have mussels in Brussls.

Chocolates, pastries and treats flood just about every street.

The town hall square at night is so fascinating.

My phone camera does not do it justice.

And this is the view 

of part of the square 

from my apartment window.

The following day I hung out with Stephan from Germany.

That's Dans husband.  

We were there to enjoy the sites and concerts.
We are not the do - re - me - fa - so - la - ti -da kind of guys,

but we are great supporters.

After a coffee and soda, we went to see a few choirs.

There were 2 choirs from Denmark.

Below is the choir Dan is in.

The choir is called Carmen Curlers.

I learned just a couple of years ago that Carmen Curlers were actually a Danish invention. In 1969, the US company Clairol bought the entire Danish company and the rights to produce and distribute the product world wide.  In 1990 US closed the company in Denmark and moved production to Asia.  Then in 1993, Remington bought and put their spin on it.  

But all of that is for another blog.

And there were several comical choirs.

And then there was the very powerful 

Barcelona choir.

Afterwards, Dan, Stephan, and I went out to eat.

And then later on we met up at one of the very 

festive street parties with the rest of the 

Carmen Curlers as well as other choirs.

The following day I got up early.

The town was very quiet.

I got on a tram headed for the

Atomium.

Yes, that's right, the 

Atomium.

The tram was so cool.

I don't know if it was supposed

to feel like stepping into a

time machine,

but it did.

The Atomium is a 102 meter / 335 feet tall landmark in Brussels designed to represent an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times.  It was constructed in 1958 - a very good year - as the centerpiece of the Brussels World's Fair aka Expo 58.  It was built as a tribute to scientific progress and Belgian engineering skills.  It consists of 9 stainless steel spheres, each 18 meters / 59 feet in diameter, connected by tubes that contain escalators, stairs, and an elevator, allowing visitors to access 6 of the spheres.  The top sphere houses a viewing floor and upstairs is a 2 story restaurant with panoramic views of Brussels.

The structure is modeled after a cell of an iron crystal, symbolizing the atomic age and humanity's faith in scientific advancement. I really could feel it the moment I stepped off of the tram. Its futuristic design reflects the optimism of the 1950s and Belgium's role in nuclear research at the time. 

Originally intended to last only 6 months, the Atomium became a permanent symbol of Brussels due to its popularity.  Today, it serves as a museum, art center and cultural venue, hosting exhibitions on science, technology, art, and history.  It attracts over 800,000 visitors annually and is considered one of the most iconic landmarks in Belgium. (remember the manneken piss?)

It really is worth your time to check out the Atomium website if you are into this kind of thing.  For me, it was very exciting.  There are also numerous wonderful photos if you google "Atomium."

It was very hot and very hazy this day - well...... actually each of the 5 days that I was there in Belgium.  But it did clear up a bit as the day went on.  Here are a few pix from when I got off of the tram and approaching the imposing structure.

Thanks to Dan and Stephan, who had been there a few days before my arrival, they said, - Eddie, book your ticket on line today and get there early because they are closing early due to the heat.  That's what I did - I ordered my ticket via my phone.  The following morning, I was first in line and first in the elevator up to the top. 

Each sphere has 2 floors for tourist and a "basement" for servicing the building.  The upper floor of the top sphere is where the restaurant located.  And the restaurant itself had an upper floor.  I was in awe of just how amazing this structure is.  It's ½ a year older than me. When Jens and I were in Brussels back in 2015, I was sorry that we didn't make it here.  I knew that one day I would be back and I would make it a point to visit the Atomium.  So this was exactly what I did.  When I got to the top, sat down, and ordered lunch, I just sooooooooooo much wanted to share this experience with Jens.  Well.... I ended up crying when my phone rang a mile high in the sky.  It was Jens calling to say hello.  I was just so touched by it all.  Jens couldn't be there physically with me, but he was there with me ear to ear and I was describing it all to him while forking amazing salmon sandwiches into my face.

I thought it was going to be awful tourist food

but it was so delicious and reasonably priced.

Below: This was my view while feeding my face

 and trying to de-code Jens' speech.

A view from another window.

The building is one of many convention halls.

The restaurant is at the top and it goes completely around the sphere.  It even had an upstairs section but I don't think there were any windows up there.  Didn't matter because I didn't notice it until I was leaving.

Here now are a few random pix and vids from some of the different spheres which are connected by escalator.

Do you recognize 

Elisabeth Taylor?

Here you can clearly see 

the structure of the spheres.

When I think of Benny Goodman,

I think of Jacob Biddulph.

There were light shows in the 

escalator shafts.

One of the spheres had light shows on both floors.

This is a connector shaft without an escalator.

another photo of the sphere structure.

One of the windows had pink glass.

It was fun to look out and see another

sphere where you just came from.

This is the last escalator going down

and leading to where I started the tour.

After I turned and touch every trinket and souvenir in the gift shop, I make my way back to the tram to go back to town.  But first I take a few more photos of the Atomium because now the sky is starting to clear up.  

I zoomed in on the top sphere where I had lunch.

I wrote "with this window at my back" because

if you scroll back up to the restaurant photo, 

you can see the tiny corner window at my back.

This is how I know where I was.  And it couldn't be the

opposite side because the view of the field is to the left.

And of course I snap my last photo 

of this wonderful experience

at the Atomium 

from the tram platform 

just before the tram arrives.

Tonight is a huge concert.  It's outside of town.  I ride along with Dan and Stephan and a few of the choir members.  I wish we were taking the train but the choir didn't wanna deal with it.  "We'll take an uber," they tell me, "We'll get there much quicker."  Wrong.  There was so much freaking traffic because there was some other rock and roll or punk rock concert almost adjacent to where the Various Voices concert was taking place and all of that was not far from the Atomium.  There was so much traffic that the police had closed some of the roads which meant that we would actually have to get out of the uber and walk about ½ a mile.  We got to the ceremony venue at the last minute.  But I can tell you, it was definitely worth the struggle to get there.  It was a great concert with loving voices singing their hearts out loud.  I enjoyed it sooooooooo much. 

A few pix now from this evenings concert.

There was also some very weird stage entertainment.

There were several all women's choirs.

The emcee's of the evening.

This is some well known 

entertainer in Holland,

I guess.

Then plenty more choirs sang their song.

And then the entire reason why we, Stephan and I, came.

Dan's choir - Carmen Curlers

It was only me who could record this video.

The choir was singing, Stephan was out of power.

And I only took photos of the evening saving what

little space I had left on my phone.
I moved as close to the stage as I could get.

Unfortunately, Dan is standing behind the

conductor's podium.  That's Dan in the

red cap and shorts.  You can only see

his face on the screen above the choir.

When the concert was over, 

we walked to the train station.

To get to the train station,

we had to walk past the Atomium.

Then we and several members 

from several choirs got on 

the tram back to town.

Then early Sunday, was the closing ceremony.
Dan and Stephan left a bit early because they had 

an early flight.  Dan was flying to Copenhagen

and Stephan was flying to Berlin.
I had a much later flight and that allowed

me to watch the entire closing ceremony.

When the last choir sang their song, the thank-you's

were said and the Various Voices flag was passed on

to the delegation of Brighton Beach, UK.

And you can believe, I will be there.

What a wonderful experience this turned out to be.

Thank you Dan and Carmen Curlers for the invite.

Thank you Various Voices for putting on such a

wonderful, positive, joyful moment in my life.

But wait !!
 It didn't end there.

Once I got to the airport and checked in to go

back to Copenhagen, I found a place to grab 

a beer and a slice of pizza and then I could hear 

piano music.  The suddenly people started 

singing.  It was the Polish choir still singing 

their hearts out while waiting for the departure

sign to post which gate to go.

Well............ if you made it this far on the blog,

then I would like to invite you to click onto 

this link to see a professional Youtube video of

 the Various Voices event.  I posted it last because 

I actually just got a mail link myself to the video

after I was halfway writing this blog post.