We arrived at their flat, five flights above Skt. Hans Torv with a splendid view of the square and church facing it. Kierkegaard's grave lies nearby up a tree-lined blvd.
We walked to the Rosenborg castle and the botanical garden there and watched the changing of the goose-stepping, black- hatted guards.
The Kirks took us to their favorite Turkish buffet and we attended the Royal Danish Ballet production of Flemming Flindt's Dodens Triumf
We have grown intimate with the Kirks, sharing the details of our private lives, staying up past three in the morning in their lovely living room, listening to Danish music, lounging on their plush leather sofa.
Katrina is a delight to converse with, intertwining philosophy and sensuality in an irresistable blend. Alan is a paragon of consideration and kindness, taking Darryl and me on a walking tour of the city, including Christiana with its drug culture, squalid houses, aging hippies, and alternative values. As firecrackers went off like gunshots, several guys yelled at me for videotaping. Alan came to the rescue as I turned the camera off.
We celebrated New Years Eve at a party in the outskirts of Copenhagen, a costume party to which Katrina went as a mermaid, Alan as a devil, Darryl as a puritan woman named Goodie, and myself as Poncho Villa. The Danes took Darryl for a milkmaid.
We brought food, and with a number of guests from South America, we had an ethnic feast. Darryl's sweet potato pie, made with yams from the Turkish grocery store in Katrina's neighborhood was the hit of the party. We also got to meet Little Red Riding Hood, especially dear to Katrina.
We danced and heard all sorts of music until midnight; then, we all ran out into the snow to see the dazzling display of fireworks from every part of the city. We huddled and drank champagne and welcomed the arrival of 1996.
No account of Copenhagen would be complete without mention of a few highlights of our trip:
1) Hamlet's Castle Elsinor, to which we went by train through lovely, snow-covered fields and forests,
2) the museum/gallery Louisiana, with its contemporary art exhibits, including an erotic photography show, and sculpture garden on the banks of the Baltic sea, including Calder mobils and the like.
3) the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek with its green house atrium, ancient sculpture, and paintings by Bonnard, Pissaro, Gaugin, Vuillard, Monet...
4) Tivoli, which was closed but along the gates of which we walked and from which occasional fireworks arose.
5) Toldbod Bodega, the Danish restaurant where we had such delicious traditional food.
6) the Tyco Brahe planetarium and, in town, the tower where Brahe observed the heavens.
7) Stroget, the pedestrian street that winds through the old section of town and provided our morning coffee, "danish," and cheese.
Watch this page for future photos.
