Yesterday’s adventures in Malmo: Malmöhus Slott – the moated castle that houses the Malmo Museum; the City Library with its contemporary architecture and glass-enclosed, naturally lit space (while I charged my phone, I found an anthology of Tagore’s work which starts with The Post Office); Lilla Torg – a square that dates back to 1592 (some buildings signal its medieval past), now filled with restaurants and craft shops; Stortorget – once the biggest market square in Northern Europe, built in medieval times with its historical Town Hall (from 1544, rebuilt in the 1860s) that is absolutely stunning and a statue of King Karl X Gustav; finally a sumptuous dinner at Mello Yello (I had Mellos Toast, a mix of crayfish and prawns served on dark bread, with cumin-pickled fennel, apple, dill and rye chips)
Yesterday afternoon: we walked from the Turning Torso to Sundspromenaden (the harbourside walk that runs along the water) to Slottsparken, the main park in Malmö. It has a windmill, a moated castle (Malmohus Slott), a cafe in the garden which overflows into a greenhouse (Slottstradgarden Kafe where we had lunch), and the most abundant, colorful flowers that seem to grow organically. Breathtaking!
Yesterday afternoon we took the metro to Freetown Christiania, a commune in Christianshavn, which began in 1971 as a squatted military base. Pusher Street, famous for its trade of cannabis, which is illegal in Denmark, was just removed in April 2024 to reduce gang activity. This community has its own laws and rules, one of them being to photograph responsibly and avoid taking pictures of its residents. Another is not to run because it creates panic. No violence and no cars. It’s super hippy of course and the wall art in some places is stunning.
This morning we took it easy. Had coffee (hot chocolate for me) with a cardamom bun and some sesame sourdough bread with butter and cheese (unbelievably good) at Collective Bakery which is 3 min from our apt in Norrebro. We walked another few min to Assistens Kirkegard which is both burial ground and green oasis mixed together – 250 years old and the final resting place for famous Danes like Soren Kierkegaard, Hans Christian Andersen and Niels Bohr. What a wonderful morning stroll with the husband.
More from yesterday: a secret garden behind a restaurant; a return to Frederik’s Church and its rococo architecture; Kongens Nytorv – the largest square in Copenhagen laid out in the 17th century by King Christian V; Agnete and the Merman – bronze statues submerged in one of the city’s canals depicting a merman and his seven sons, urging his daughter Agnete to return to them (inspired by a Danish folk story, created by Danish sculptor Suste Bonnen); St. Nicholas Church’s 90-meter high spire; and the stork fountain at Hojbro Plads.
Loved the work of Katherine Aertebjerg and Ovartaci at the Nikolaj Kunsthal, a unique modern art gallery inside the former St. Nicholas Church.
In their artwork “imagination is a tool of joy, creativity and liberation, but also the source of dark and angst-ridden sides of the complex human mind. For both artists spirituality, gender, identity, sexuality and transformation are central to their art and way of seeing the world. Both of them also suspend the boundaries between inner and outer worlds in works featuring composite figures of animals and people. Although of different generations, Aertebjerg and Ovartaci approach art as an existential investigation of life.”
Copenhagen adventures today: Torvehallerne – a foodie hot spot where we had a cardamom bun and smorrebrod, open-faced sandwiches that are considered a national dish; the Round Tower; Hojbro Plads; Thorvaldsen Museum which celebrates the work of Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen (the scale of his scultpures is breathtaking); more in next post.
From our walk yesterday: Frederik’s Church with its spectacular dome; the Royal Danish Playhouse – one of Copenhagen’s most modern buildings, a mix of brick, glass and stainless steel; and finally Nyhavn – the colorful buildings and beautiful harbor that define Copenhagen. The sun was setting by then and the light was pure gold.
Kastellet – a star-shaped fortress that was once part of the city’s defense system and is now famous for its bright red barracks; the Little Mermaid – a bronze statue commissioned by Carl Jacobsen in 1913 that’s become a symbol of the city; the Gefion Fountain – it depicts the Norse goddess Gefjon who plowed the Danish island of Zealand out of Sweden, according to legend, and transformed her own sons into oxen; Amalienborg Palace – where the Danish royal family resides today (we saw the changing of the guard); more in next post.
Today we woke up late (jet lag), had lunch at Mevlana’s and then did this wonderful self-guided tour. We walked a lot. A lot. Here’s where we went: Rosenborg Castle (1600s) and its gardens (known as Kongens Have) – stunning public space where we saw a statue of Hans Christian Andersen; Nyboder – yellow barracks once the homes of Danish sailors and their families, now inhabited by regular folx; more in next post.
finally a picture from my last trip to rochester in aug, where i attended a beautiful wedding, spent hours having profound discussions with friends in their lived-in gardens (thank u karen, ruhi and tom) and their welcoming homes – sometimes until after 2am (thank u matt, molly, maysaa, mazin, ayesha, tabassam, erica and rajesh). #grateful
ashwaq and i became friends in 2017 when i had a chance to invite her and others over for dinner at our house in pittsford. a young teacher from gaza, she was visiting the US thanks to a state department program. she radiated warmth and optimism. there was an immediate connection. we stayed in touch on facebook since that day.
in 2021, she participated in the warp & weft project and contributed a story in arabic about the unique problems of managing a pandemic in gaza, a densely populated concentration camp, cut off from the rest of the world. later ashwaq was kind enough to join us for a zoom meeting, where many warp & weft writers gathered, even though it was the middle of the night in palestine, that too during the month of ramadan. there had been israeli air strikes on gaza right before then. ashwaq told us patiently how she and her family had managed to survive, yet again. always gentle and gracious, my dear ashwaq.
i kept checking in on her after oct 7th. she would respond whenever she was able to get online. she was still ok. trying to leave gaza and move to canada where she has family. but the canadian government kept delaying her application. when she was finally allowed to evacuate, israel destroyed the rafah border. she was trapped along with millions of others. i kept checking in, feeling like a useless robot who offers the same empty words of concern and solidarity. like a dull broken record. do prayers actually work? do they? i don’t know.
i had not heard from ashwaq for a while. yesterday i saw the picture of a beautiful young man looking in the distance. he had been martyred. ashwaq and her family were tagged. i couldn’t breathe. my friend’s son, a vibrant young man, full of smiles, full of life, full of hopes and possibilities. gone. i saw a video of my friend praying over his body. he was wrapped in a white shroud with blood stains on it. oh god, i too have children. what horrors are these? what incomprehensible horrors. what incomprehensible pain. why are some humans permitted to act like apophis and deploy limitless hatred and savagery? what have they done? such unspeakable harm and irreversible injury. such final death. we ask for justice, god. nothing less than justice. may such evil be extinguished. ended.
may justice prevail. for my friend and millions of others. may justice shake the world to stillness and wash over us like rain.
