Tivoli:LIGHTS

What a feast for the eyes.. Tivoli always provides a spectacle, but we were really lucky with running into a fireworks competition, as well as seeing a light show by the Tivoli lake.

Christmas tree

Alright.. I don't even know why I'm posting this.. Just like these shots of our Christmas tree..! Please note the Danish flag in the background of the first image - never knew my folks were so patriotic ;.)

everyday/everyone/everylife

Despite being half in the shade, half in the sun, a pixelated Mona Lisa smiles anonymously from her determined location.

Some determine their location in life more than others, some are more than half in the shade. Some don't smile. All are made up of a variety of expressions that declare the personality and character - a pixelation of the individual.

And why this sudden interest? Nice picture. Thought provoking. Snapped in London on a bright morning where autumn seemed to be ignoring the fact that winter is supposed to be in charge.

Merry Christmas to all!

I hope you have all enjoyed the first few days of the holidays , I for one have been relishing the lovely Christmas feasts! Below are some images of the dinner we had on Christmas eve, which is the day that Danes traditionally celebrate the holiday. So - here's the duck on the lovely decked table (next to it is the waldorf salad):


... and here's a plate of duck, together with all the trimmings!


The keen onlooker will note that a lot of the dishes we serve for Christmas are the same as we serve for Thanksgiving... I must admit that the fact that we are a family of diverse natianal backgrounds has caused some confusion in the upkeeping of traditions - what to do when, why we do it and who we are doing it for! But it's nice.. we have our own hotchpotch of cultural identity that every single one of us can relate to and call our own. I guess that's really what it's about. Creating a nice and comfortable framework that all can relate to.

Speaking of culture. Our Catholic landlord couple in London definately don't see it that way. Talking to them about how we would go home for the holidays, they asked us whether we were Catholic or not..? As we both shook our heads and smiled, Maria, the corpulent short woman, said: "But then why are you celebrating Christmas?", totally ignoring the fact that also other churches celebrate the birth of baby-jesus. Not that I belong to any of them, but still...!

It seems so odd to me that Christmas is in fact a religious celebration. To me it's about being with the family, the ones you care about, sharing time. I guess that's just my modern interpretation of a religious feast. Not being religious and still celebrating religous events is actually a very odd occurence. And nevertheless, basically the whole country is doing it these days (ignoring the fraction of actual believers). As more and more of us become non-believers, we are living in a culture based on Christian values, with holidays marking Christian events in the holy text of the Bible, while not believing one word of it - enjoying the days off from work and the opportunity to be with family! Make sense of it, whoever can...

I for one am a perfectly happy culprit. Great to see my brothers, parents grandfather + half of my inlaws. Unfortunately illness prevented us from seeing the younger section, but I'm sure we'll get to see them soon, somehow.

home, sweet...

It was a long journey home to the "butter hole", as Denmark's called, but it was all worth it. We were received by K's dad at the airport, and were transported safely home to Aalborg under a cheerful chatter, to a table of Danish food!

Since then we've had (more) lovely home-made food and have wandered around the inner city, all decked in holiday trimmings - lights and fir, red bows and christmas hearts. Lovely. Especially all those smells, of glögg, burnt almonds, æbleskiver, really help. I'm nearing a remote realisation of the fact that christmas is just around the corner, about time, I think! The mild weather does seems utterly out of place though - 10 degrees C on the 20th of December is just plain odd!

The plan for tomorrow is to finish the gift shopping during the day and then to have a traditional Northern Jutland christmas meal... very interesting, according to the descriptions!

Venice:DENSITY

Venice:RED

reflections:1

The year is nearing its end, and once again I am prompted by this societally constructed/determined temporal delineation to reflect upon my current state..

I have recently been boring near friends with my exasperation over actually having to do large amounts of schoolwork during the holidays. I realize that many people in many situations and studies have done exactly the same before through many years. In my case, it's just the fact that I usually haven't had to perform this tortuous action during family visits, which has made me quite stressed and annoyed.. So, forgive me for going on about it.

I guess it's just when you only have so many days to see family and friends, it's annoying to have to do things that you could do elsewhere, while in proximity of said relations. I'll just have to be time-efficient, I guess.

It's been a weird term. Since beginning at uni, my approach has ranged from "will I do well?" to "man, this should be piece of cake" straight over to "they actually DO expect me to work my ass off!". My own interest in having time to spend with long-time friends, getting to know new ones, as well as the city, may have attracted my interest a bit too much, too. I guess I was fooled by the feel-good manner of the course - I'm used to getting more direct confrontations with the shortcomings of my work.

I don’t understand the concept of tutors being diplomatic about the work of the class, and yet expecting us to pick up on what is lacking… I just want an up-front comment that I can deal with!

My perception of the apparent lack of criticism during the middle of the term has definitely given a backlash.. I was not focusing enough on the main subject, spent too much time on random research (which I do find extremely inspiring though). Lately I've been getting more into it, producing some thought work that actually makes sense. It's nice. But it's also really taxing. Especially since it’s group work. It just takes more effort and energy. We have been getting on quite well in my group, 3 girls of seemingly different backgrounds, and I have learnt a lot about many things through our co-operations, both academically and personally.

I do continue to find the food issues extremely interesting :.) I don't know how they find the energy to keep answering questions on what they eat for this and this occasion, or in which manner or how to prepare a certain dish. I just like to visualise the differences in our culture in order to understand myself - and them - better.

caffé

I have finally grown up. I now drink coffee basically every day, we're even making lattés at home in the evening! Going to Italy definately cemented the growing tendency - they make nice, smoove caffé down there!

holidays!

After a tough last week with an immense amount of thinking about growth patterns of cities, I today had the interim crit for the project I'm working on. Being true to the world that all architects know (and loathe and love) I've had some quite late nights lately, trying to perceive some sort of structure in the complexity of city growth. As I am really busted right now, I think I'll save the bit of what I have learnt for a later post, perhaps sometime closer to Christmas. Now I just need to sleep.

13 days til Christmas

December is a third gone, and I haven't really picked up on it yet.. Quite odd, usually I really enjoy getting into the yuletide spirit, but this year I haven't even realized that I'll be going home for Christmas in little more than a week!

School's keeping me busy these days - had an intensive workshop over the weekend with my group. Interesting, but draining. I do, however, have a much better understanding of the South East of England now, so I guess we're doing the right thing..!

I'm literally falling asleep now. zzz zz z...

Uni

I did expect uni to be more demanding, but maybe it's just because I'm not doing enough.. you know, self-motivation and all that. I will for sure need to work during the Christmas break (which sucks), since I have an essay and a project to hand in early January. And I haven't really begun on any of them yet. Man.

I guess there's really only one person to blame. My boyfriend! hehe :.) Nah, really, the way he's been working makes me feel even worse. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to get to it. And not surf the web for no reason at all.

Which way, Venice?

Fancy a romantic weekend break? Then choose for Venice! Romantic gondola trips down the Grande Canal, lovely little coffee shops for a quick espresso and the most amazing historical buildings. Venice really has it all!

Or how about the architectural experience: To appreciate the grandeur of the beautiful churches littered throughout the city (at least one on each original island), and the Square of Saint Marc, the Doge’s Palace, the campaniles reaching to the sky, demarcating the open spaces of the city. What magnificence, what splendour!

There are many reasons why visitors come to Venice.

I came for the architecture, the city structure and naturally, a dose of Italy. Wandering about Venice gives a feeling of having entered another time. The romantic canals, denoting the underlying historical islands that constitute the city, lined with age-old buildings showing the wear and tear of centuries. The (conscious?) lack of upkeep lays visible the historical depth of the built form of the city, and the feeling of experiencing another time stays with me yet. However, after a while in this wonderfully different cityscape of bridges, canals, courtyards and small churches, I realize that others like me are everywhere… more tourists, all over, shooting away with their cameras (just like me!) in order to preserve the experiences they are taking away from their stay in the city of Venice. They are not following me, and yet they are everywhere.

Although I am sure that the Venetians are thankful for the constant influx of foreign currency into their economy, as well as the job opportunities this creates, it does create a situation of discord. People actually live in this city too. So, what does it mean for the city?

Venice is a city frozen in its tracks, presenting to tourists the historical values and beauties and at the same time supporting the lives of modern people in modern times. Perhaps it is a bit schizophrenic! The financially important tourist economy demands a preservation of the historical values (the main attractor) which means that the city cannot physically develop itself into a modern city. Its value lies in retaining the environment the way it is now, so that everyone can taste a slice of the old city. Really, it is a Disneyland of Venice - an institutionalised history, which, for the right price, is always accessible and consumable.

It is, however, also a (somewhat functioning) inhabited city. People live and work here.

Mainland visitors leave their vehicles at the large parking island by the road connection over the lagoon, passing to softer modes of transport: walking or boating. The fact that the islands of the city are car-free ensures that the pedestrians are having a field day (especially those that are not handicapped or have difficulties walking…).

Venice has several faces. The grand façade, illustrated by the storytelling of the Doge’s Palace, and other representative buildings constructed to induce awe in visitors. The age-old homes and workshops with cracked facades in variety of earthy tints. The Biennales of all varieties of arts.

Although I find great inspiration in the visibility of the layers of times in the city structure and the buildings, bridges etc., I have a disconcerting feeling. Is it right to “freeze” a city at a certain point in time, in order to make history readily available? At earlier times people made do with books and images. Is the spatial experience necessary? Does it convey more than simply the physical environs? The culture of the habitation is lost in the whirlwind of global tourists passing through canals and over bridges, and the few remaining Venetians have become not only custodians of the heritage of the city, but also themselves installations in the museum that is Venice.

Are we not robbing the world of the chance to see another Venice - a modern Venice, which might hold as much, or maybe even more value and quality as the historic city does?

This infatuation and obsession with historical monuments that are canonised onto the “things you must see before you die”-list, is rather an expression of a society that is in a standstill; hesitating to look ahead. I guess finding that balance between appreciating historical examples and developing and pushing forth new ideas is not to be kidded with…

I am split. Maybe it's because of my being a Libra.