The Stare Down

I went on and on about my fabulous new cykel in my last blog, and now that I've gotten the hang of it, I truly enjoy it. But because I'm an American and I refuse to ride it in the rain, I spend most of my days taking public transportation. That's just a fact of living in Denmark.

While on the train, or bus, or wherever, you begin to notice a lot of things. Human behavioral type things. One, is that no one says "Excuse me" when they get up, sit down, or push you around. Two, is that people stare. Especially if you don't fit the 'norm.'

I thought it was just me, but my husband has started to notice it as well. In the US, we're told as children that "Staring is rude" so naturally we don't do it. If someone stares at you for an odd amount of time, chances are A) they think you're attractive or B) they may have a few screws loose upstairs.

However, if it becomes uncomfortable, all you need to do is stare at them back and they will snap back into reality and look away. Not in Denmark! That human behavioral register doesn't exist here. I've tried it. All you get is a really uncomfortable stare down...and then more stares.

Easy Rider

It's Spring and I decided that I will join the gangs of other bicyclers on the Copenhagen bike paths and start riding my brand spankin' new cykel to Danish class...hver dag!

First of all, just writing this sentence gave me butterflies in my stomach because the bikers here are no joke. They are serious, experienced, 'been riding their bike everyday' people since they were like 5 years old. (Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, but still. A long time).

It's also been a long time since I've ridden a bike. Now, I would hop on one every now and then during vacations over the years but the last time I seriously used it for a mode of transportation was when I rode my ten-speed to the swimming pool during summer back in high school. Yep, that long ago.

So I'm easing into it. Got the bike, next up is the helmet. That was a promise to the husband and one I'll gladly oblige since my first spin around the lake in our neighborhood was a bit shaky. Almost wiped out trying to jump a curb when I realized I had turned into a bike path...going the wrong way. It was the exact same feeling you have when you turn down a one way street driving a car.

All I have to say is this. Whoever coined the phrase: "It's just like riding a bike" must have always ridden one. Or maybe after a 2nd and 3rd trip I'll get the hang of it and then the point is moot. After all, my helmet's just too cute to waste!

Beautiful Barcelona

My husband and I just visited Barcelona and were overcome with how gorgeous it was. Architecturally, we knew Gaudi was going to be impressive, but we were not prepared for the everyday beauty of ordinary buildings. It makes the city feel like a walking museum.

One of the first things I noticed (besides the buildings) was that motor bikes are as common in Barcelona as bicycles are in Copenhagen. People smoke more, it's still allowed inside restaurants and bars, and the food is small but very fatty. Our modest Danish systems were shocked into vacation mode after the burst of flavors of our first tapas dinner.

There are two differences I noticed that were my favorites. One is that they eat really late. I prefer our 7pm Danish dinner time to the 10pm Spanish time to be honest, but what makes this one of my favorite things is the fact that 6 or 7pm is still considered "the afternoon" in Spain. Even the ATM's say: "Buenas Tardes!"

My favorite experience of all though was how warm the Spanish people were. They don't speak a lot of English but that doesn't necessarily matter to them. They will continue to talk to you in Spanish thinking that somehow you will magically understand them. What ends up happening is a lot of funny moments and shared laughter after "deer in the headlight" stares. Embarrassing at first, but endearing in the end.