Kunst Haus Wien (Vienna Art House)

To my own surprise, my favorite city of this Easter travel is Vienna, the capital of Austria. I had thought before that Vienna could be the most boring one, compared to Prague and Budapest, but it turned out to be a delightful surprise.

I love it basically because it is a very comfortable city to stay in: convenient transportation, clean streets, friendly residents, beautiful city parks, great concerts and ballet at affordable prices...It is a pleasure to simply be there. Plenty to see and plenty to do. Or doing nothing, which is also a delight. That's what I felt about Vienna.

Also in Vienna resided a very admirable architect - Mr. Hundertwasser (1928-2000). People say that Hundertwasser is to Vienna what Gaudi is to Barcelona. "Kunst Haus Wien" is one of his designs that exists in today's Vienna. I love the playful colors he used in this house. The house looks brilliant and lively under sunshine.

Kunst Haus Wien viewed from outside:Poster for current exhibitions:Table and chairs designed by Hundertwasser (colorful shadow under sunshine):According to my observations, "Every museum has a museum shop" (when art meets commercial stuff...lol):

So the conclusion is, Vienna is a lovely place to go, and don't miss Kunst Haus Wien if you go to Vienna. :) For more info: http://www.kunsthauswien.com/index_en.html

2010.4.16 Dainsh Queen's 70th Birthday

Yesterday was the Danish Queen's 70th Birthday. I went with my friends to see the Queen wave at people from her balcony. She also sat in a carriage pulled by horses, waved at the people standing on both sides of the street afterwards. I had a glimpse of her when she was only two meters away from me. She looked really elegant and beautiful. Yesterday was great fun~~.

Kids led by their teacher to see the Queen.

Budapest: A Lovable City

I love the city Budapest a lot. It has abundant historical architecture, beautiful river and bridges, and friendly people. Before I went there, many people told me that Budapest was not a safe city and one should be very careful travelling to there. But it turned out all right. And acutally I found Budapest a city that one outsider can feel close to at some point or another.

A small tip:Budapest is well-known for its Turkish baths. One should not miss it while visiting Budapest.

City view from the Royal Castle. The Chain Bridge.

Lovable houses in Buda.

The most impressive place for me in Budapest is actually a small city square, where modern art sculptures are displayed and young people gather to play skateboard, rollerskating and other extremem sports. Bathed in sunshine of April, it is a place that I feel full of life. Also there I saw the most good-looking young girls and boys I had ever seen in Budapest, and maybe in Europe. But I cannot find out the name of the small square, nor did I take any photos that day. Sorry about that. :p

I guess it is sometimes better just to keep the place you love most in your own imagination, rather than recording it with photos or anything. :)

Back from Easter Travel & Prague

First I'd like to say sorry for the lateness of this post, because I have been travelling on road for the past two weeks and internet access is really unstable. *_* As compensation I will post two or three posts in a row to share with you some interesting bits of my Easter travel. :)
Basically I have been to Prague, Budapest, Vienna and Salzburg (such a long trip...- -。) Overall I think travelling is denifitely a good experience. It strikes me with so many new ideas and feelings when I see something I have never seen before, and think of some issues I have never thought of. During the trip when I got a little bit tired, I did miss Copenhagen a lot, and the easy cozy life of living in a well-facilitated city where people all speak wonderful English. Without going away for some time I might never have realized that I actually started regarding Copenhagen as my second home.
I think Prague is a city to be viewed from the top, especially at night, when it is breathtakingly beautiful.

The hospitality of Prague people really made a very good impression on me. Once I was wondering through different streets so happily that I could not find my way back to the Old Town Hall Square, two Czech girls walked with me for twenty miniutes to lead me there. Because they speak very little English, we could hardly communicate with each other, but they took out their English textbooks from their bags and managed to say to me, "Go...with me." And they just simled at me all the time.
I also went to several concerts and performances in Prague. My favorire is a Czech musical "KUDYKAM". Though the entire play was in Czech language, and I could not understand what the lines and lyrics were about, I still enjoyed it tremendously because of the fabulous music, stage design and acting. See more info at http://www.opera.cz/en/repertoar/kudykam.html

Exploring the Vntage Shops in Copenhagen

During a dinner, some Danish students told us that by Danish standard, going to a shopping mall to buy H&M is not considered a really cool thing to do. Instead, people love exploring those vintage shops to look for some really special clothes and designs. Entering these little shops is like entering various small worlds. I guess girls must know better about this joyful feeling when one discovers something really cool and unique. Let the photos speak for themselves. Definitely a feast for the eyes. XD

WHY eating and drinking are both IMPORTANT in Denmark

I was kind of surprised that my whole weekend was about eating. My landlady invited me to her family dinner, where I met her parents, siblings, two nephews and a niece and we ate for hours till it was 9 o'clock. A Japanese girl also invited me to her place to have lunch, which turned out to be a mini Asian gathering because there were Japanese, Chinese and Korean. We ate from 1 o'clock to 6 o'clock, chatted a great deal about girl stuff, and came to the conclusion that Asian people do have a lot of similarities concerning cultural backgrounds, values, social realities and lifestyles, which made it way easier for us to make friends than with European people. It is quite true that when we are in our own countries, we know how different these three countries are, but when we are all in Europe, we suddenly feel that we are actually quite similar because we somehow all belong to the Asian category.

Actually life in Denmark, now as I see it, is to a great extent about eating - eating and drinking. There is reason to this tradition, of course; based on what Danish people say and some outsiders' guess, the reason could be: the cold winter. Denmark is located very north, so its winter is both very long and tough. They may have 5 months of winter when the sun rises at 9 o'clock in the morning and sets at 3 or 4 o'clock in the afternoon. The coldness just keeps people staying at home, and long time of darkness and little sunshine can really make people feel depressed. So, there is nothing else to do at home except eating and drinking some alcohol, which both keep people warm and make them happy. Then when summer comes, they love to sit in the yard, drinking tea, and enjoying the precious sunshine.

This may also account for why Danish homes are usually decorated with much taste/style/sophstication - people simply spend so much time at home, so how can they stand it if the interior design looks terrible? XD

Also according to my landlady's brother, the traditional Danish food is very heavy (huge steaks with gravy, boiled potatos) because weather was cold and Danes back at that time were usually farmers. They did a lot of manual work so they need lots of meet and heavy food to give them strength. I was lucky enough to try some real traditional Danish food at my landlady's parents' home. I have to say it tasted really good and I enjoyed their tradition very much.

What I enjoyed most was actually the dessert after the dinner (p.s. dessert after meal is another Danish necessity). It is pear with liquor (heated on a pan), plus cream and ice-cream. To put alcohol in dessert, that is to me, very Danish. But my landlady's family told me that it was nothing traditional, but something invented by them. So, stereotypes are most of the time wrong. :)

Some “facts” about Denmark

Time flies! I have been in Denmark for 36 days now. Listed below are some things that I have learned about Denmark so far.

1."The Dannish humor" is largely based on irony, which takes a while for foreigners like me to grasp what a Dane actually wants to say each time irony is spontaneously used - things like "what a lovely weather we are having today" while snow storm was whirling outside the window.

2.Danes keep the world record of the amount of alcohol consumption per person. Danes do drink a lot, considering what a small country it is and how small the population is.

3.Danes love their country. They have a certain pride about being a Dane; no need to be taught to be patriotic and they naturally are. Danes are believed to be not modest at all, but they may not say to you that they feel really good about themselves. They just keep the pride in theri heart. :) That's why I don't really feel that Danes are proud and arrogant; instead they are very polite and friendly toward foreigners - willing to help if I need to find my way to somewhere.

4. Danes love lighting candles in their homes. Candles, music, a couple of good friends and a nice meal make a perfect "hygge". "Hygge" is a Danish phenomenon/ a Danish way of life. "Hygge" may be best translated as "being cozy": good food, good chatting, good atmosphere. Danes just know very well how to enjoy life.5. Dannish design is fantastic. The most well-know Danish brands are "Royal Copenhagen" (porcelain) and "Georg Jensen"(silver articles and designs). All the Danish homes that I've been to are, with no exceptions, decoreated with good taste (antique furniture, candle holders, lamps or modern IKEA style, etc.) This somehow reveals that the quality of life here.

6. Spring is coming! Copenhagen has been sunny for four days on end now (one week ago it was incessantly snowy or cloudy). Snow may disappear very soon and green life is coming to be. Spring is said to be the most beautiful season of Copenhgaen and everywhere is green. So I'm really looking forward to the warm weather and the liveliness of spring. :)