Prince of Denmark!

...OK, so I'm not really the prince, more like the purveyor, OK, not really that either...I really just took a peek at Denmark, but I thought I'd share it with you!

When I went up to Flensburg for an audition a few weeks ago, I thought: What the heck!  I'm like 20 minutes from Denmark - I might as well go across the border!  So I did!  

So, the area I was in is really just a little tourist spot for Germans who venture across the northern border, this little strip was basically all there was to it!

The rules of Denmark-ian travel!

A bit of the countryside.

There happened to be an antique store in the little tourist town...

...which was open (in Danish and German!)

I found it interesting that the Lord's day of rest was called Lørdag in Danish!  Hmm...

There were some really cool things in the antique store - I know some relatives (Mom, Dad, Jared, Aunt Joan, and Uncle Wayne, among others) who would have had a blast!  Some of these pieces were older than our country - wild, huh?

I thought this roll-top was gorgeous!

Beautiful dining table.

And, of course, the basement Spejl/Spiegel (mirror) showroom!

Had I been accompanied by two of the previously mentioned relatives, I'm fairly certain we would not have left without this! ;)

Flags marking the border.

On my way back to Deutschland, I stopped at a bus stop that had a beach overlooking Denmark on one side and Germany on the other!  This is a bay side house on the Denmark side.

The trees had just come into bloom - it was lovely!

It was not, however, in my humble Floridian opinion, NEARLY warm enough to be in the water!

It really was peaceful, though.

There was a quaint and inviting foot path that ran along the water's edge, and had I not had to get back to HH in time to teach that evening, I would have surely given it more than a cursory a look!

It looked like home (almost!)

It seemed a bit windy for sailing, but these folks didn't seem to think so...

One last look across the water to Denmark...

In more current news, Sid and I are missing all our US friends and family,  but we're doing well.  Sidonie has a vocal workshop at school today (I know, on Sunday - boo!) with Willemijn Verkaik (the original German Elphaba in Wicked.)  The school brought her in to give a workshop to the second and third years students as well as select first year students, time permitting. (Sid was one of the first year students selected!)  I'll let you know how it goes and if there was time for Sidonie to sing!  

I'm meeting with the director of the Rover Rep tomorrow to discuss a reprisal of portions of the show I directed for them earlier this year, and to discuss ideas for next season.  I also had an audition for some free-lance voiceover work here, so we'll see if anything comes of that.  I'm going to begin giving some private actor coaching in the near future and I just finished a brief stint as the fight consultant for a show called Cosi that the Hamburg University is putting up in a couple weeks!  

We love and miss you all.  If we aren't in individual contact as much as we'd like to be, please forgive us.  The time difference makes it difficult :( but we do miss you all terribly!  We hope to see many of you if we're able to make a trip to the states in the summer.  

Love and hugs!

Happy **th Birthday!

So, my beautiful wife had wonderful plans, as she always does, for my birthday.  Because my birthday was on a Monday, when I had to work and she had to be in school, we began celebrations on Saturday after Sid got out of class.  She told me to meet her with a jacket on and to bring my camera...

First she took me to meet our friend Evelyn for some yummy lunch at Alex: a really neat restaurant that overlooks the Alster (a big lake at the heart of town.)  If you come to visit, we'll take you there! ;)

Our friend Evelyn

After our yummy lunch at Alex, Sid took me shopping for sunglasses (my pair at the time was bust-ed!)  So we walked around the Europa Passage shopping center and looked for some sunglasses while Evelyn ran an errand.

After finding some super-cool shades for a reasonable price, we met up with Evelyn again and were joined by Lara.  We all went for a self-propelled paddle boat ride around the smaller portion of the Alster!  (There are two parts, the larger of which allows motor boats and the smaller of which is for sailing etc!)  It was SO much fun!  There was a pretty strong breeze, so it was a little nippy, but quite a lot of fun!

Our windy boat ride!

Our boat: Hugo! (I called him "Hoo-go" which all of you Lost fans will appreciate!)

We spent half an hour or so on the lake, having a ball looking at all the sail boats and swans!  On the way back, I found some more things to take pictures of! ;)  

And Sid decided to take a picture of me taking pictures!

After that, we met up with some friends to have a BBQ, but as it turned out, the place we were going to go didn't work out, so Sid and I went home for a relaxing evening.

On sunday after church, we headed out for another adventure!  We visited the beautiful town of Stade - about an hour from HH and one of the oldest surviving towns in the area (during the war, most of the downtown area of HH was destroyed, so you have to venture into the countryside a bit to catch a glimpse of old Germany.)

Town Square

A WAY-COOL cathedral we found in Stade!

So, these old buildings look kind of like the "antiqued" buildings in the states, only the were "antiqued" by time and not chemicals - crazy, huh? ;)

Sid by the cathedral

There were, of course, also beautiful natural things to photograph...so I did! ;)

Another Cathedral

This building was literally COVERED by these vines!

The very-old town hall!

This portion of town looked almost Parisian to me...

This is apparently someone's dwelling...

...as evidenced by their SATELLITE DISH!  This is the ultimate combination of ancient history and modern technology!

On my birthday proper, we didn't get to see each other until the evening, but when Sid came home, she brought yummy vegan Thai food! (Yes, we found a restaurant!!!) and we watched a movie together - all around, it was a WONDERFUL birthday weekend.  Thanks, Baby!  I love you!

For Mom:

We found a bookstore in Stade (closed, of course, because it was Sunday) that had a huge Eric Carl display!

Apparently, it's some kind of anniversary...

For Jared:

I thought you'd get a kick out of the  bicycle painted PINK!  Totally something I could see you doing!

I haven't taken a lot of pictures of it, because most of it's hard to get to, but there's a TON of graffiti all over HH - you'd love it!

For Dad:

They were doing construction on this building, and had apparently torn off a portion (which I'm sure is easier said than done) but take a look at the size of those beams - wild, huh?

Love and hugs to all, and to all a good night...OK, so it's really mid afternoon, but how uninspired does: to all a good afternoon sound...?

Until next time! :D