Goodbye Denmark, Hello London, Goodbye London, Hello Dublin
I made it through the Roskilde Festival in one piece! It was an amazing experience despite losing my phone. I think the experience would have been greater if I had gone with a group of friends though but I did meet some interesting characters here and there. All the festival volunteers, Roskilde media centre people were very nice and helpful. Before I left the festival site on Sunday morning back to Copenhagen – the last thing someone at the media centre said to me was “See you next year!” and I told him “I hope so!” I’m so happy the weather was great this year. Last year it rained and it was muddy everyone. Aziza told me that people from places like Norway & Sweden who made the trek to the fest left after a day or two because it was just unbearable, cold, and 3 feet in mud. Every year is a gamble I guess but if the opportunity arises again I’ll be there.
I didn’t stay the last day so I missed acts like Cat Power, At the Gates, Slayer and Jay Z but I think I saw more than my memory capacity could handle for 2-3 days! I managed to catch Clutch, Radiohead, Santogold, Grinderman, My Bloody Valentine, LIARS, Judas Priest, Gnarls Barkley, Neil Young, Tings Tings, Chemical Brothers and a couple more… I did the camping experience, setting up tent, being cooked alive in the tent in the hot sun, waking up to cold temperatures in the morning, taking “open” showers – but I think I had a rather sheltered experience considering the media village was my “comfort zone” away from the mad max world. My restricted camp site looked like the Shangrila compared to the camp site regular festival goers stayed at. Plus the toilets in the media village were exceptionally clean most of the time. I don’t mind roughing it out next time – as long as I am with somebody else. Strength in numbers I guess.
My final night in Copenhagen I spent with Aziza and her family. I cooked rendang for them which turned out wonderful! Who knew “just add beef” would work so well! I brought a long with me a couple packets of Brahim’s Rendang mix with me and the package says “add beef and 250ml of water and leave to simmer for 20 minutes”….in actuality, it took nearly an hour to get the beef tender enough and 250 ml is a little too much water for one packet. I used only 250 ml of water for TWO packets…. Being in Denmark has settled my chocolate and sweet intake for the rest of the year though! Surprisingly, no danish pastries – just a variety of chocolate, fresh cream X 3….
Having my last floderboller with Aziza....
And now I am at the Stansted Airport again waiting for the check in to open for Ryan Air so I can hop on a plane to Dublin. I hear it’s cold and rainy there! You know, I have no idea what to do there. But my stay wouldn’t be complete without going to the Guiness factory and having a pint. I hear Dublin is like a replica of Fells Point in Baltimore…or rather, Fells Point is like a replica of Dublin. Here I go again ….