Dagmar

She's back. When my mother's boyfriend came from Jutland to Copenhagen today he brought her home from two years stashed away in Aarhus. She belongs to the fast streets of Copenhagen, but the time spent on the other side of the water hasn't been all good for her. Especially since she's been locked away in a shed for a whole year. Her polished features are rusty, and the tires need a little air, but then she'll be good to go. And I can't wait to plant my behind on the soft seat, wrap my fingers around the (slightly rusty) handlebars and drive off into the sunset. Ah, Dagmar, I've missed you.

Days

 Tine came over Wednesday afternoon. The sun was blazing down on the city and we made coffee and had scones on my roofterrace overlooking the chimneys and the zoo tower in the distance.

 Thursday was NP's 19th birthday, and I went to Fredensborg to have breakfast with the rest of the family. Tradition says you can't have a birthday in our family without French toast - and of course flowers around the plate. Which makes it sort of boring when your birthday is in December where all nature is usually hiding under a coat of snow...

Rosa waiting to see if someone accidentally drops a piece of French toast...

Sky over Fredensborg.

A year

Tonight I'm missing Berlin more than ever. The last days spent in Copenhagen have been nice, and I haven't been so sad about leaving my city, but today it hit me when I saw some photos on a blog. A year ago I went to the library in Prenzlauer Berg and walked past the abandoned something around my house that's now demolished. The next day I moved properly into my gigantic rooms and I remember sitting in the sofa, windows open to the heat outside, and someone across the street was playing piano. I was utterly happy. It'll be better, I know.

Summerhouse

As mentioned I went up to the north-western part of Sealand to my friend Anna's summerhouse. It's right by the water, an old late 60s' wooden house with no internet, but great atmosphere and room to slow down. We were six girls who've known each other since high school, and we spent the sometimes-sunny-sometimes-rainy hours beer bowling, playing cards and kubb and Bezzerwizzer, reading Politiken, listening to acoustic guitars, drinking wine, dancing a bit, grilling, toasting marshmallows, drinking beer, eating cake and gummi bears and licorice. And laughing. A lot. We also rescued a toad that for some reason was stuck in the stairs leading up to the house....

 The winning beer bowling team...

 ...and the losing one.

 Anna's dad made this grill-device from an old washing machine...

 "Anna, I think you should come and see this..." said Kristiane Friday morning, and when we all came out and saw the unfortunate toad stuck in the stairs we all burst out laughing. It took some oil, some water and a lot of wriggling for Klaudia and Anna to rescue the little guy, but then it jumped off into the wilderness and hopefully survived the huge amount of stress and panic that must have gone through the little body.

Going back to Copenhagen Saturday morning. Four busses, an S-train and two hours = I'm back at Vesterbro.

Kaffe

As I mentioned, Chris and went to Kaffe on Tuesday, one of the many many Istedgade coffeeshops opened up within the last few months. The façade is covered in decorative wood and inside it looks very Danish right now: a little cluttered, old stuff supposedly found in a barn somewhere on the countryside, but more likely found overpriced at a city vintage store... But I liked it. They have a breakfast special with a croissant, coffee and a bun with cheese and butter for only 50 kr = cheap! We exploited the very few rays of sun scattered over Vesterbro that day and gulped down the coffee on the little bench outside that had words about the neighborhood carved into the seat. All while the trendy Vesterbro-moms catwalked down the street and moustache-men met up on their fixies. Aah, Vesterbro...

 A very strange lamp....

 Beautiful Chris.

Æg

I boiled the perfect egg this morning. I woke up 8.13, the sun was shining through my windows and I was wide awake. Made a cup of coffee, a bowl of yogurt with fruit and sunflower seeds - and the egg. It was perfect. Right now I'm in Fredensborg in the north. Where there's always silence, and where the bus only goes a few times a day. Tomorrow I'm heading to my friend's summerhouse with my high school ladies, so I'll be silent for a few days. On a map it's not so far, but it's supposedly a 2,5 hour journey with several trains and busses... Tschüssi!

Night

Linda from Aarhus is in Copenhagen this week with her family, and I met her in Istedgade for an early night coffee. We sat at my favourite place, the nameless coffeeshop overlooking Vesterbro's Enghave Plads. They're building the metro there so the square is looking different every time I'm there. Yesterday it looked OK with a blue sky above, opened up again after having been screened off for months. Children were cycling around the old tree, and the hipsters were sipping coffee under their moustaches while the sun went down. After coffee we walked all the way to Rådhuspladsen and into Inner City, before we said goodbye and she headed towards Christianshavn and I walked all the way back to Vesterbro. For once Copenhagen was dressed in summer colours, and it made everything a little better.

 In Eskildsgade they're building a concrete monster.

 Vesterbros Torv

 Hotel Savoy in Vesterbrogade is one of the least Copenhagen-esque buildings I can think of with the Eastern-looking windows and decorations.

 The old industrial building at Rådhuspladsen is also changing. Whether this glasswall is coming or going, we'll have to wait and see.

Indeed. Sometimes you need a licorice to survive the Danish weather. Especially in the summer...