Saturday = Funday

Today was a good day off. I woke up and got some weinerbrød for breakfast, a little treat for Daniel and me after a hard week of work. We ate our "Danish", drank our coffee, and headed out to explore. The Black Diamond is pretty cool. It is monolithic and right on the canal. There were large chunks of ice in the water, and trying to sketch outside was miserable. Daniel seemed to manage it, but I went in and got some hot tea to warm up. I actually had the same vantage point from inside the Royal Library's Cafe. Although Denmark boasts sustainability, I think this building missed the boat more or less, as most of the facade is a dark stone mined in Zimbabwe, shipped to Italy to be cut and polished, and then arriving in Copenhagen to be hung on the building. That is quite a large carbon footprint. The building itself however is really comfortable, beautiful views and grand spaces. I plan on going back a few more times.

After the Black Diamond we walked over to the Danish Jewish Museum. This was mainly an architectural interest, but I think we learned a few things about the Jewish history of Denmark. We came away with mixed feeling towards the design. This was an extremely old building where none of the structure had been renovated and the interior architecture was your typical Libeskind craziness. Not a singular perpendicular wall with slits of ambient light everywhere. What pissed Daniel and I off was the over craftsmanship and the lack of local context. It seemed as if Libeskind designed these interior spaces before even seeing the building. There were certain edges and angles that should have been changed on site, but they weren't, so it looked ridiculous. I still think it was beautiful. Rectilinear wooden sheets with a half in gap in a running pattern on acute and obtuse angles. It was very interesting. The floor also shapes the space, constantly shifting ever so slightly. It was worth the $8.

Then we walked to a cheap sandwich shop that is delicious. It's call Eat Me. I had a pastrami and mozzarella sandwich with spinach tomato and pesto on it, and Daniel had a chicken and mozzarella sandwich with the same toppings. We decided to walk and eat. "It hit the spot," as Daniel said. We got to the train station, which was packed. I jumped onto a full train thinking Daniel would be right behind me. I turned to see him smiling at me as the train's door shut and we jolted toward Nordhavn. Not to worry, there was a train for him about 2 minutes later. That may be the best part of where we live - all of the lines go to from Svanemøllen to Nørreport - we can hop on any line. Anyway, we finally figured out laundry!!! we have clean clothes and warm socks again... almost time for bed.