iphone photos

Aarhus and the women’s museum

KvindemuseetI went to Aarhus. It would have been a pleasant trip if it wasn’t for the many hours waiting for the connection flights. Although it was very cold, this was a nice place to walk around and watch the (some very stylish) locals going about their lives.

I found this cafe with really nice bread and cinnamon rolls. I had some pretty good breakfasts there.

More interestingly, Aarhus has a few good museums. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to go to the modern art museum – ARos. They also have a museum for Women – Kvindemuseet. That really confused me, why do we need a museum for Women? This one is even more specific, since it’s dedicated to the women of Denmark. I am not sure what to make of this…. My first instinct is to think that a culture that needs to have a dedicated museum to celebrate the achievements of women, is because they might not be celebrated otherwise… I hope I’m wrong! They do have a brilliant poster!

Here more picture of the cold yet sunny Aarhus.

 

 

5 fun facts about Portugal

In anticipation of my trip to Portugal in November, here are 5 fun facts about Portugal that you might not know:

  1.  Marmalade is the Portuguese word for quince jam. The word for quince in Portuguese is Marmelo and the jam you make with it is Marmelada.
  2. The Ukulele is a Portuguese instrument in its origins. Portuguese emigrants introduced this Instrument to the Hawaiian culture in 1880s, influenced by the Cavaquinho a similar instrument popular in Madeira (one of the Portuguese islands).
  3. In some Arab countries, Persia and Greece the word for Orange is very similar to the word Portugal – this is because it is believed that the Portuguese were the ones who introduced Oranges (originally from China) to these Mediterranean countries.
  4. It was a Portuguese queen (Catarina de Bragança) who married the English king Charles II that introduced the habit of drinking tea to the English Royal Court.
  5. The Portuguese eat more fish and shell fish per capita than any other country in the world – not sure if this is 100% true but, yeah, the Portuguese like their fish a lot 🙂

The power is up…

My commute to work is shorter now, which is nice on the one hand, but on the other hand I don’t really have time to read or do anything interesting…

This week I noticed how cool all the power cables on my commuting route actually are. In the UK the power is on the train tracks, and in winter the train schedules always get affected if the tracks get too cold or too wet, here the power is up, so I am hoping there will be less drama in winter….

How do you get to work? Do you have to commute too?

commuting

Mix it up!

Somalian girls

My plans for today were quite boring! Initially, I wanted to go to the flea market in Frankfurt, but then realised I had to go shopping for formal clothing for a meeting on Monday. I thought my Saturday was ruined … But as I arrived in town, I started noticing some really attractive spicy smells coming from the pedestrianised area … What a wonderful surprise! There was lots of food booths and lots of lovely multicultural faces around!

This was international Darmstadt day! (or something like that) It was great! Lots of really nice food, everyone was in a good mood dancing to the exotic sounds from China, India, Africa, Russia…

After living in London for so long, I can really appreciate how great it is to have all these different cultures mixed up in one pot. I mean, what would England be without Indian Curry and Germany without Döner Kebab?!!! 🙂