cycling

A friend shared this great little video of a bike ride from Copenhagen city center to the beach in Amager.  Enjoy :)



Ocean On Bicycles from Jean Pichot on Vimeo.


As I noted before in one of my first blog entries about Denmark, cycling is truly a way of life here.  Everyone I know here cycles.  The streets are designed with cycling in mind.  It's the easiest, fastest and cheapest way to get around the city.  Remember there is a 180% tax on cars, plus expensive gas and insurance, plus parking permits, plus finding a parking spot can be an impossible task in the city center.  All of this makes a bicycle the premier choice for most residents of Copenhagen.

 cycling mural in Copenhagen

On a daily basis, I cycle as my main way of transportation.  I cycle for my health.  I cycle for my mind.  I cycle for my waistline.  I cycle for the environment.


Especially after hearing about the most recent oil spill in the States (in the town of my alma mater), I feel even better about my cycling habits, and I'm thankful that Denmark has adopted such an environmentally friendly way of life.  I feel abandoning my car for biking or public transportation is just a small step in the right direction.  My heart continues to break as I read about the struggle in Kalamazoo, MI to contain 800,000 gallons of oil, along with the continued struggle in the Gulf.  Hopefully, one day, we won't be dependant on oil and can put an end to such tragedies.

When living in a city that cycles, it's important to remember where you left your bike, as you can see here:

I'm employed!

As a new, legal Danish resident, I now have clearance to work here.  In between travels, Pedro helped set me up with a nice little summer job with cruise ships.  It's been keeping me pretty busy and it's nice to be able to avoid dipping into my savings everyday.  

The uniform is similar to that of a flight attendant and the job consists mainly of long days of pointing and smiling.  We work with guests arriving at the airport and checking-in to board the ship, departing from the ship and transporting to the airport, and last but not least, excursions around Copenhagen.  Excursions are the best part because it allows me to practice my skills as a local tour guide. 

It's great fun to talk to these travelers who, on these specific cruise lines, are primarialy American.  Most of them haven't recognized me as American right away and even insist I have lost my American accent.  I find this hard to believe, but there have been a shocking number of people who have mentioned this to me.  It seems I've become more neutral speaking.  Am I losing my identity as an American after only 4 months?!  I didn't really think this was possible and I'm not sure I like it.  Or, are Americans just terrible placing ALL accents, including American ones? 

Maybe it's a good thing to ease up on my old Mid-West accent, but I'm secretly hoping that after a day with my American friends and family, that my old self will come back.

I'm also hoping our laptop is fixed before my next travels.  Instead of opting for that shiny new computer, we turned in our mac to be repaired.  Unfortunately, they said it would take up to 21 days before we get it back.  I'm waiting until it's back so I can upload all my most recent photos and travel photos from Turkey.  In the meantime, please be patient because it would take me days to get them uploaded on this machine.

In 16 days from now, Pedro and I will be motorbiking through Germany, Belgium, France and Spain.  Then, two of my best girlfriends are flying in from Los Angeles and we will do a girls tour of Spain and Morocco.  Next, come the Victors.  My family will all be here to meet and celebrate our wedding with Pedro's friends and family.  After the party in Murcia, the Victors will tour parts of Spain, Belgium and Denmark.  Since I'll be traveling almost 2 months straight, I will try post mini updates along the way.  But won't promise anything.

Technical difficulties

It's been a few weeks since my last update. again.

This time I blame a destroyed Macbook.  Pedro spilled a bottle of water on our laptop on accident and in the meantime, we're using an ancient computer.  Said ancient computer is not so good with photo updates or for typing for that matter.  So, I'll be offline until we get our new, shiny computer.

We're shopping this week and I hope to be back with updates soon. 

I have many, many updates to report including: 

•    mid-summer witch burning,
•    spontaneous trip to Turkey,
•    watching World Cup in Europe vs The States,
•    intense and slightly horrifying experience at a Turkish bath,
•    Effesus tours and photos of ruins,
•    finally getting residency approval,
•    Roskilde Festival,
•    mexican food substitutions, and much more...