Dansmuseet (Museum of Dance) in Stockholm is one of the best museums I've seen so far. I only went to the free part. It was a big hall with glass cases with dance costumes from all over the world. And even though is was by no means fancy or surprising I still find it absolutely amazing.
It didn't take me that long to go through the exhibition, however, I felt almost every emotion possible by the sight of ballet dresses and African masks. They had TV screens showing examples of tribal dancing and along with the sound of drums I almost felt like the costumes in the glass cases were going to move.
Obviously they didn't, but never the less, I think it shows that - in spite of the quite plain way of showing off the exhibited pieces - the viewer is able to get caught up in the story told through the costumes. And I guess that is what costumes are meant to do?
As I said, I didn't see the part of the museum where you have to pay, but I will definitely check it out the next time I go to Stockholm. And should you be in the neighborhood I really think you should at least go to the free part. I mean, it's free, if you don't like it you can leave and you won't feel bad because did I mention that it's free?
Last but not least, their cafe is quite popular. People who work in the area go there for lunch. The food wasn't THAT amazing, but it was alright and the staff was friendly.
http://www.dansmuseet.se/
Friday, June 25, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
When in need of time to think things over
I just ate ice cream for breakfast...
Well, I haven't been updating as often as I would like to. I could apologize, but since nobody seems to be reading any of my blogs I don't really see the point. Anyway, I write for my own pleasure :)
The thing is, I wanted to keep my personal blog personal, and this blog more like a subjective travel guide. But now my personal life is messing up my time to write travel blog posts.
I feel like I have so many good tips to share and NOT writing them down makes me feel bad, and then THAT just makes me even more stressed out, and THAT! my friend makes me even less productive. So I try to not feel bad about not getting everything done. Like, I can't remember when was the last time I vacuumed my room. And I don't care. It doesn't effect anyone but myself.
My point is: right now I'm simply too busy trying to figure out what to do next, to remember what I did when I was in Warsaw...
The good news are that I've just returned from Hamburg and that I'll be moving to Copenhagen terrifyingly soon which means even more places to write about! Yay!
In case anyone is actually reading this: I don't mean to sound pitiful, it just sometimes happens. Especially when I realize that there are things that I HAVE to do that are more important than the things I WANT to do. Then I feel sorry for myself.
Well, I haven't been updating as often as I would like to. I could apologize, but since nobody seems to be reading any of my blogs I don't really see the point. Anyway, I write for my own pleasure :)
The thing is, I wanted to keep my personal blog personal, and this blog more like a subjective travel guide. But now my personal life is messing up my time to write travel blog posts.
I feel like I have so many good tips to share and NOT writing them down makes me feel bad, and then THAT just makes me even more stressed out, and THAT! my friend makes me even less productive. So I try to not feel bad about not getting everything done. Like, I can't remember when was the last time I vacuumed my room. And I don't care. It doesn't effect anyone but myself.
My point is: right now I'm simply too busy trying to figure out what to do next, to remember what I did when I was in Warsaw...
The good news are that I've just returned from Hamburg and that I'll be moving to Copenhagen terrifyingly soon which means even more places to write about! Yay!
In case anyone is actually reading this: I don't mean to sound pitiful, it just sometimes happens. Especially when I realize that there are things that I HAVE to do that are more important than the things I WANT to do. Then I feel sorry for myself.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
When in Copenhagen, find the Distortion party!
I'm on the train back from Copenhagen (where I'll soon be living, yay!) and I just thought I would share with you a little info about us Danes: We have nice homes. And why do you need to know this, you wonder? Because. Contrary to people in for example Southern Europe (who have, generally, no clue about how to pick out nice furniture - sorry!) we spend A LOT of our lives indoor. This has undoubtedly something to do with the fact that it's raining like 80% of the time. But when it's not raining we get excited and run outside and get a sunburn and skin cancer and destroy our livers by consuming large amounts of alcohol.
There are, however, times when it seems to be more important that the sun is shining. Like in the time of a music festival.
We have quite a few. The most famous one being Roskilde. SPOT might be my favourite. And a couple of days ago I experienced Distortion for the very first time. Well, I didn't go to the actual festival since I'm not that into electronic music. But when people have told me that Copenhagen turns into a big outdoor party venue, they really didn't lie. I'm not going to pretend that it was the best party of my life, but I really found it fascinating to see all these people dancing around in the streets.
That is basically what summer nights would be more like if I were in charge :)
Right now I can't tell when Distortion is going down next year and where the streets parties are going to be, but IF I'm still blogging in a year's time, I'll try to do a post about it.
I really love big cities in the summer!
There are, however, times when it seems to be more important that the sun is shining. Like in the time of a music festival.
We have quite a few. The most famous one being Roskilde. SPOT might be my favourite. And a couple of days ago I experienced Distortion for the very first time. Well, I didn't go to the actual festival since I'm not that into electronic music. But when people have told me that Copenhagen turns into a big outdoor party venue, they really didn't lie. I'm not going to pretend that it was the best party of my life, but I really found it fascinating to see all these people dancing around in the streets.
That is basically what summer nights would be more like if I were in charge :)
Right now I can't tell when Distortion is going down next year and where the streets parties are going to be, but IF I'm still blogging in a year's time, I'll try to do a post about it.
I really love big cities in the summer!
Sunday, May 30, 2010
When in Europe, watch the Eurovision Song Contest
This is the absolutely most terrible show in the world. And with more viewers than Superbowl!
It used to be a way for artists to become famous outside of their own country, but nowadays it's just a really, really expensive joke. Seriously, most of these people wouldn't be able to strike a note even if their lives depended on it. It's more than three hours of ridiculous costumes and gimmicks. Everything about it makes me cringe. Imagine ballroom dancing but as a song contest...
In case you don't live in Europe and you are unfamiliar with all of the Eurovision traditions and dos and don'ts and rumours, try to see if you can find someone who actually cares about the contest and who wants to watch it with you. If they live in Western Europe they will (without a doubt) spend HOURS telling you about how the Eastern European countries have taken over the competition and that they ONLY vote for their neighbor countries. They will tell you that if a small Eastern country wins it has nothing (Nichts! Nada!) to do with the fact that their song is better than the British participant, but rather that they've created a Eurovision Song Contest mafia and bribed (is that the past tense of 'to bribe'?) the jury and who not. Obviously all obscure small countries on the boarder of Europe and the Middle East have that much money!
If I were a homosexual man I would love this show. That's probably the only good thing I can say...
It used to be a way for artists to become famous outside of their own country, but nowadays it's just a really, really expensive joke. Seriously, most of these people wouldn't be able to strike a note even if their lives depended on it. It's more than three hours of ridiculous costumes and gimmicks. Everything about it makes me cringe. Imagine ballroom dancing but as a song contest...
In case you don't live in Europe and you are unfamiliar with all of the Eurovision traditions and dos and don'ts and rumours, try to see if you can find someone who actually cares about the contest and who wants to watch it with you. If they live in Western Europe they will (without a doubt) spend HOURS telling you about how the Eastern European countries have taken over the competition and that they ONLY vote for their neighbor countries. They will tell you that if a small Eastern country wins it has nothing (Nichts! Nada!) to do with the fact that their song is better than the British participant, but rather that they've created a Eurovision Song Contest mafia and bribed (is that the past tense of 'to bribe'?) the jury and who not. Obviously all obscure small countries on the boarder of Europe and the Middle East have that much money!
If I were a homosexual man I would love this show. That's probably the only good thing I can say...
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
When in England, buy magazines
Being a sucker for freebies I can't help but love how British magazines almost always come with a little extra. Not only are they stuffed with samples of foundation in colours waaay too dark for my skin tone, but quite often they include a regular product.
When I went to London a couple of months ago I knew I was going to check out the magazine racks, only to see if I could find something cool and arty and different than what I can buy in Denmark. But what did I end up with? Two glitzy women's magazines about how to style hair and what eye shadows to match with a floral dress. Why? BECAUSE THEY GAVE ME FREE THINGS! I got some sort of hair care product that honestly doesn't do anything. But hey, the magazine was £2 and it entertained me during my flight. The other magazine might have been Marie Claire and it was like £3,50 and included an article about Danes being the top favourite sperm donors in the world and 50 ml of a Neal's Yard facial cream.
Does this post have a point? Ah... yes. Au contraire de most of the other places I've bought magazine (Denmark, Sweden, the USA...) England actually sees the opportunities that lies within the idea of "if we give people something for free, they will like us and then they'll buy our product and we will be rich and famous". Because of course they don't just give away things because they want to be nice, they do it a marketing trick.
But who cares? Free things are, well, free :D
When I went to London a couple of months ago I knew I was going to check out the magazine racks, only to see if I could find something cool and arty and different than what I can buy in Denmark. But what did I end up with? Two glitzy women's magazines about how to style hair and what eye shadows to match with a floral dress. Why? BECAUSE THEY GAVE ME FREE THINGS! I got some sort of hair care product that honestly doesn't do anything. But hey, the magazine was £2 and it entertained me during my flight. The other magazine might have been Marie Claire and it was like £3,50 and included an article about Danes being the top favourite sperm donors in the world and 50 ml of a Neal's Yard facial cream.
Does this post have a point? Ah... yes. Au contraire de most of the other places I've bought magazine (Denmark, Sweden, the USA...) England actually sees the opportunities that lies within the idea of "if we give people something for free, they will like us and then they'll buy our product and we will be rich and famous". Because of course they don't just give away things because they want to be nice, they do it a marketing trick.
But who cares? Free things are, well, free :D
When in Sweden eat a kanelbulla
Yesterday my parents asked me to bake some cake for a meeting they were having, and while considering my options my mind wandered along all the sugary wonders I've EVER eaten :) And then I remembered... A small cafe in Stockholm with an impressive selection of tea and a flair for making really good coffee and on the desk something that looked somewhat like this:
I guess 'kanelbulla' is best translated into 'cinnamon roll' - white bread with sugar and cinnamon filling. You can get them anywhere in Sweden, from 7/11 to organic bakeries, but the quality will vary. I usually make them myself, however, the best one I've ever had was the one I ate in Stockholm. It was huge, perfectly mushy and the amount of filling was just right. It was spicy and sweet, but not overwhelmingly sticky.
If you're in the area I would suggest that you check it out. The cafe is quite small and cozy, the back wall is covered in cans with different kinds of tea (you might need a moment to choose) and they make good coffee. They serve proper food, too.
Café 60, on the corner of Sveavägen and Kammakargatan.
Oh, and in case you were wondering; I ended up making a strawberry-rhubarb pie. From what I've heard it was AMAZING! And thanks for saving a piece for me, mum and dad...
I guess 'kanelbulla' is best translated into 'cinnamon roll' - white bread with sugar and cinnamon filling. You can get them anywhere in Sweden, from 7/11 to organic bakeries, but the quality will vary. I usually make them myself, however, the best one I've ever had was the one I ate in Stockholm. It was huge, perfectly mushy and the amount of filling was just right. It was spicy and sweet, but not overwhelmingly sticky.If you're in the area I would suggest that you check it out. The cafe is quite small and cozy, the back wall is covered in cans with different kinds of tea (you might need a moment to choose) and they make good coffee. They serve proper food, too.
Café 60, on the corner of Sveavägen and Kammakargatan.
Oh, and in case you were wondering; I ended up making a strawberry-rhubarb pie. From what I've heard it was AMAZING! And thanks for saving a piece for me, mum and dad...
Monday, May 24, 2010
When in Berlin, visit the DDR musem
When it comes to museums I'm like a 5-year-old. I like to touch and open and discover. And this is exactly what the DDR museum is all about!
It's basically a collection of things from when Germany was divided into East and West and the East part was Communist and called DDR (Deutsche Demokratische Republik). I'm not going to try to explain anything about what it was like (because, to be honest, I don't think I'm in any way qualified to do so), but I'm pretty sure that this museum is spot on. If you know next to nothing about the DDR I would recommend that you check out the movies Goodbye Lenin and The lives of others. That should give you an idea of what to expect.
But back to the museum! Even though it's fairly new, it's by no means high tech or overwhelmingly fancy. The first thing to catch the eye is an old Trabant. An old Trabi that you get to touch and open and sit in. Afterwards you walk around and open closets and drawers and take out books and toys and clothes. There's an area showing what apartments used to look like. There are TVs showing TV shows from back then and ear phones playing the smash hits.
And my favourite part?
Learn how to dance the DDR way!
All in all I think this is a nice museum, suitable for almost all ages and it shows a very important part of the German history in an easily comprehensible way.
http://www.ddr-museum.de/en/
It's basically a collection of things from when Germany was divided into East and West and the East part was Communist and called DDR (Deutsche Demokratische Republik). I'm not going to try to explain anything about what it was like (because, to be honest, I don't think I'm in any way qualified to do so), but I'm pretty sure that this museum is spot on. If you know next to nothing about the DDR I would recommend that you check out the movies Goodbye Lenin and The lives of others. That should give you an idea of what to expect.
But back to the museum! Even though it's fairly new, it's by no means high tech or overwhelmingly fancy. The first thing to catch the eye is an old Trabant. An old Trabi that you get to touch and open and sit in. Afterwards you walk around and open closets and drawers and take out books and toys and clothes. There's an area showing what apartments used to look like. There are TVs showing TV shows from back then and ear phones playing the smash hits.
And my favourite part?
Learn how to dance the DDR way!
All in all I think this is a nice museum, suitable for almost all ages and it shows a very important part of the German history in an easily comprehensible way.
http://www.ddr-museum.de/en/
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