Spring in Denmark

It is the first spring I have experienced in Denmark in many years.  The sun is shining, the birds are singing, the flowers are blooming, and the ducklings are out.  I had forgotten how nice a time it can be here.

Denmarks Liberation

It was 66 years ago today that Denmark was liberated from German occupation, by nature of the Germans in Norway, Holland and Denmark capitulating to the English. In these days of earthquakes, terrorism and environmental alarmism, it is worth remembering that the second world war is the most devastating and atrocious event humans have inflicted on ourselves. Nothing matches it in destruction or evil intent. That is not to belittle the hardships incurred by current events, far from it. I just cannot help celebrating all the little, and big, milestones leading to Nazi Germany's defeat.

Almost exactly three months later, the US dropped the first atomic bomb on Japan. Naho and I went to Hiroshima to visit the Peace Park, just before the new year broke. I succeeded in hitting the site on one of the three days in the year that the museum is closed. Still, we enjoyed the Cenotaph (pictured right) and the park (pictured below). You can also see the Memorial through the Cenotaph. The park had several peace-oriented inscriptions, commemorating the victims and expressing hope that mankind has learnt from the events. Judging the decades since then, that has sadly not been the case.

Not being able to visit the museum, we instead spent the rest of the day at beautiful Miyajima.

Wonderful Copenhagen

I am one step from posting pictures from the previous trip from a current trip, and trying really hard not to get there. Back in Denmark, I spent an evening walking through Copenhagen and taking these pictures.

The first picture is interesting: my brilliant friend Hans is running Xena Networks out of the yellow building on the right, but I had no idea he was in there when I took the picture.

Best of Both Worlds

I am home after a trip to the Pacific Northwest and Denmark. Above is a picture of Mt Hood, taken from near the place where I was staying with friends in Portland. Though Mt Hood is much smaller than Rainier, it is much closer to the city, so Portland gets similar images of it as Seattle does of Rainier.

Japanavia

As I travel around Japan, I notice many details that are distinctly Scandinavian. Sometimes the illusion is so complete as to be uncanny. Following are some pictures that are not that interesting in themselves, except that they could have been taken in Japan or either Denmark or Sweden. To be sure, a native or an expert might notice a revealing detail, so do not take it in a technical sense.

Often, I will see a building or a tile pattern that looks similar to something I might see in Denmark, but something is a little off. For instance, the brick-sizes and methods used in masonry differs slightly, so that a brick building may only look familiar at a distance. Sometimes I cannot put my finger on it. At other times, I will see a house that looks perfectly Danish, but a mountain in the distance or a sign in Kanji destroys the illusion.

To be honest, I am not certain if I initially saw a couple of these patterns, then started looking for them. I will say that they keep jumping out at me in ways that do not happen in other parts of the world.

Poor Norway gets left out. I do not see the wooden construction particular to Norway and northern Sweden, and the mountains near the cities are not dramatic enough.