Am I in Seattle or Copenhagen?

One word = rain! It poured all day through without a break. But I must share; I was like a kid in a candy store. Mind you after 12 days in San Francisco where I had the privilege of experiencing a most unusual late summer heat front that pushed temps into the 100’s, this was like heaven. Yes, going to pay the price for being soggy, but clothes are now draped around the room and drying and I have had a hot shower and feeling better.

What a great day to be sure.

But let me pause for a moment and share how yesterday became the launch day of my blog. I had been trying to decide when? Well, it was my Dad’s birthday. He’s been gone now 10 years and we used to have great discussions, about all sorts of topics. I think that is why I enjoy my morning chats with my boss, Mark. Oh they are unique at times and oh do we have different opinions, but there is the respect of that different opinion.

Dad and I would have these talks at all sorts of different times. Mind you, I was never in the realm of his sports talks. He took sports just a bit too seriously for my tastes. There were times I thought his head would blow up when a play would not go right or a ref made a bad call. But once you got outside of sports he would be impassioned and make good arguments. It was about the word.

So, it made sense to begin this column of “the word” on what would have been his 87th birthday. At the same time any good journalist should cover the who, what, where, when and why besides the how.

WHO influenced me? Uncle Markie hands down with his blog. He has been doing it for over a 1,000 postings and some are too funny and others make you pause and go – huh? You can go and see what got me interested at http://blog.unclemarkie.com/. His is so much more unique but over time I might work on that.

WHAT is it for? The postings are of nothing in particular other than sharing thoughts and experiences of my life. It seems that I have been blessed with a hell of a lot of good times and opportunities and so why not share them with others. Stop by if you like or move along and have a good day.

WHERE do I see this going? Do not have a clue in the world and feel the less planning the more fun it will be.

WHEN do I post? Each day unfolds differently as I have discovered so I will post when I can. Yesterday I mentioned 3-4 times a week. We shall see. Not going to have my feet to the fire on this one.

WHY did I pick the name I did? Many of you know I am involved in the Radical Faeries (although I am not that radical to be sure). One of the things that came out of that involvement is a name – Snowbear. I love the snow and am bearish like. Well, a few years back I split with a partner of several years and decided to search for a different animal to relate with. Through my research I discovered that the swan has the same energies in Native American rituals. Well, we had swans in Lithia Park in Ashland when growing up and thought cool. So I took the name Snowswan.

Well, I decided to change my email address from Snowbear@aol (now, now – it was the mid 90’s and aol was hip then!) to Snowswan@aol but it was taken. And so I began trying different things and then I remembered a fellow faerie who took a French name and so I thought I would be all that and a bag of chips and tried Swandusnow@aol (yes, seriously I did!). And guess what, it took! At the next gathering I announced I was “Swan-du-Snow” from this point forward and well that is a mouth full and soon Swanda became the shorten version of it. It was at this time I met many of the dear friends in the faeries who are so much a part of my life. Well, once you meet, that name sticks and Swanda has.

Mind you, I flipped back to Snowbear a few years back and took Snowy as a fun name…but for several people Swanda is how I am known and will always be known. So in only 3 paragraphs we got the first word.

As for Fabulous…do you really need to ask? It is what it is! I am an ego-centric pig at times and own that. But a gay ego-centric pig and so I had to use Fabulous! My Ya-Ya’s will verify that for you!

And therein the name was born – Swanda’s Fabulous Blog.

So let’s get back in the car and talk a bit about this day. Oh yes, I had not forgotten, stick with me, I usually get back to the main story, but y’all know you were asking where the hell that name came from? Yes, I know you were.

I shared with you yesterday about the plan for today. Well, let me tell you I have been a good trooper and was where I was suppose to be and did what I was told to do. We began with “Danish” and have been told to be careful on how I refer to that. A joy of correctness in a blog!

Decided to be really basic and have a Kringle. It is made in the original Danish way, where the pastry is made out of layers of flaky, buttery crust, enclosing a filling of almond paste and raisins, then topped with sugar and sliced almonds and finally twisted into the traditional pretzel shape.

The Kringle was brought to Denmark by Austrian bakers who were hired to replace Danish Bakers during a strike. Danish bakers were on strike as they wished to be paid in money rather then bed and board. When the Austrians left, they also left behind, the methods of rolling butter between the layers of dough, then letting it rest before shaping and baking.

Can you answer me this? If it was brought to Denmark by Austrians then how can it be made the original Danish way? So confused! I took the little card at the café and wanted to be sure to share this. Also, before moving on it is so more obvious why Americans have weight issues. Over here breakfast is very simple, not a platter laden with piles of greasy food. A biscuit and coffee and then simple lunch makes up the first half of their day. I need to keep some of these practices in mind. Yes, in mind, but also in motion and not go backwards.

It was off on the boat ride and what a festive time and I tried to get people to laugh. Yes it was gray out, all the better to see the yellows and blues and greens on the buildings. Cute and adorable…on the surface and yet the cobblestones were at every turn waiting to take you down. They are mean and deadly to anyone who is overweight and happens to have issues with an ankle – Hello, hello, that would be ME! The perky little guide with the oh so original name Heidi. Oh please where are the Betha’s, Helga’s and Doris? Come on, do they really think we buy into the fact that the 4 guides all happen to have “H” names. Heidi, Hannah, Helen & Herma.

We board boats for the tour. Nyhavn is part of the original Copenhagen Harbor all the way back to the founding of Haven, as Copenhagen was then called, in the 12th century. We go along and there are so many boats in due to the weather and yet the stunning colors of the buildings serve as a nice backdrop for this. When in Nyhavn, the Danes really get into a typical Danish term "Hygge" - relax and forget all about the worries of life. Now it's time to have a good time with friends. That's all that matter. Yea, say that to the dozen or so people still sulking. Can you believe it!?! Yes, we lost and I have been getting more and more clarity on why. More on that in a bit. Come on people, relax, enjoy and oh it is time to attack more cobblestones = oh joy!

We head to the main square and I opt to hop a tri-bike. Meet the group in the center of town and not dying by then. We are nearing time for lunch break. Two people would be in heaven right about now as I am standing in the town square and there are a plethora of hot dog carts and more than a few of what the locals call beer bars, not pubs. Interesting to be sure. As we enjoy a dog (and oh do you pay for the privilege to enjoy a wonderfully done hot dog in the center of town) Hot dog stands, especially those around Rådhuspladsen, offer polser (steamed or grilled hot dogs) with shredded onions on top and pommes frites (French fries) on the side. You learn that in less than 10 years the number of breweries has exploded. With about 18 back at the turn of the century soon there will be like 150 plus. Amazing to be sure, but beer is taking its’ rightful place in this city.

Mind you, Copenhagen is home to over 2,000 eateries of all sorts and food has taken on a religion like status here. Somehow we got a reservation at a place know for fish tonight. It makes it an almost religious duty to import ultra fresh fish and shellfish three times a week from Greenland, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands. Oh my…but we still have a museum to enjoy.

Well, not exactly a museum, it is a living and breathing design space. There are two exhibits currently – “it’s a small world” which I initially thought would be about Walt Disney, but it is not. It is about the future of design and how things are getting smaller and smaller. All I can say is phones are small enough! The 2nd exhibit was a way cooler for me. Called “Short/Cuts – design from the 20th century” and it had stuff like the disposable razor and a Mickey phone and there was even Tupperware. How many things came into our lives last century is really amazing. The DDC does so much to encourage people to follow their real working ideas and to make films and share ideas. Very cool!

They offered a guided shopping trip and I passed and if it had not been raining I would likely have tried the mass transit, but I wanted to dry off and have a quick nap before dinner and then the finale of the evening, Tivoli Gardens. So I jumped in a taxi and headed for the hotel. It is how you say things I have realized if they will take advantage. I was firm and short – The Admiral Hotel please, and got their straight away.

Dinner was set for 18:00 (they all use 24 hour clocks over here) or 6pm. This is early by any stretch of the imagination, but the only way to fit a multi-course dinner in and the show. And so it was to be.

NOMA is the name of the restaurant which is short for nordatlantiskl mad, or North Atlantic food. It’s relatively new and so we were able to snag a table for 8 of us tonight. This showcase of Nordic cuisine has received favorable press in it’s strive to be true to Denmark’s true fish houses. We almost missed finding the place in that it is within an antique, stone-sided warehouse.

We kicked off the night with the sea bay shrimp which won us over with its fragrance of a lime-flavored mousseline sauce.

Platters of fish poached, grilled, pickled, smoked, or salted according to old Nordic traditions, then served in ways that are sometimes more elaborately decorated. Tonight we tried (in order) zander (sort of like perch) is a classic coming with a tarragon-flavored cream sauce, halibut in a foamy wasabi-flavored cream sauce, plus crayfish, blue lobster, salmon freshly salted. I do not think I need to try lobster smoked again!

But we were not done; they had only finished the fish course…To beguile jaded palates, the chef offered Skagen or Serrano ham with lusciously ripe avocados and crisp fresh greens. Wow, it really perked me up.

In came autumn fresh partridge and field gathered mushrooms. The menu is delicious, and full of flavor with combinations that might not be thought of at first.

And then came the old stand by…the plate-size Wiener schnitzel with fresh green peas and bacon.

The salad course was AMAZING - foie gras with dried wild goose breast and beet root stalks and parboiled carrots.

For dessert, the plum tart with clotted cream may be an acquired taste, but it captivated us. Coffee and Armagnac were sent from the kitchen, a real topper.

Thank goodness we began when we did as we rolled out of there just before 9pm and had to make our way cross town in less than 30 minutes in the rain, yes, it was still pouring. We did it and Tivoli Gardens was a gem even in the rain. No rides, but the lights were on and the production was moved indoors. I decided to opt out of the production; too much had just happened this day. I needed to pause and I did. Relaxed and chatted with a couple of people.

Yes, the whole Olympic thing came round. I happen to believe that the map was one of the biggest things to influence the members voting and also the desire of the new IOC president to take the games where they have not been. Yes, they have not been to Chicago, but they have been to the USA. I am still a bit tipsy from this evening as I had my share of wine and vodka this night. What a night. Company, I think not. Sleep is needed, but I wanted to put this to paper before I slept. It is just after 1AM and I am tired yet, thankful no structure Sunday. So for now I bid you a good night and if this works, you will see what map I refer to, it was presented by the Rio Committee.