Denmark (and a detour to Frankfurt)

We enjoyed a lovely trip to Denmark this summertime. I wanted to share some photos but have been delayed due to some travel detours, etc.

We arrived in DK on a trip we planned about a year earlier. We were sad to miss the companionship of friends, who were unable to join due to an unfortunate bout of COVID19. Alas, BA.4 and BA.5 seem to be making rounds. Nonetheless, we found our way from Copenhagen to Fyn and then Jylland for a nice initial leg of our trip and enjoyed visiting with friends and family.

Of course, the Tour de France kicked off in 2022 in Denmark. Perhaps this detail was inspiring?! We were fortunate to get a first hand view with our family in Holbaek, DK.

Then we were off to our trip’s second leg. Typically, when we travel to Bornholm, we travel across Øresund Bridge, then south from Malmoe to Ystad, and we make the trip as efficient and quick as possible. On this trip, we decided to enjoy a little time in both locations, and really enjoyed both places.

We really enjoyed our time on Bornholm. We stopped by typical sites: Hammershus, Gudhjem, Svaneke, and Bornholms Kunst Museet. We valued many visits with family and friends. It was a great week.

Without getting into all the details, this was also about the time that the SAS pilot strike and US Chapter 11 filing rudely intruded into our plans. Consequently, our flights back to the US were cancelled and we ended up taking a one-way detour to Frankfurt and then, a little later than expected, took another one-way trip back to the USA. It was quite a screwball, but we took it in stride and enjoyed Frankfurt.

Frankfurt is a cool city with deep historical ties to the foundations of global finance, including as home to 18th century financier Mayer Rothschild, who formed a foundation of the global financial architecture with his five sons, who established correspondent ventures across London, Paris, Vienna, and Naples. Our family enjoyed the shopping, architecture, and reading about the history of this former city-state, which was quite important to the Holy Roman Empire. 

The impact of Goethe looms large in Frankfurt, with plaques, streets, museums, universities, and squares designated to his impact on the world. I am almost done reading The Sorrows of Young Werther; The book is quite beautiful and evocative. As much as I enjoyed Frankfurt (and appreciate Becca and the kids tolerating my interest in walking to look at the ECB building) I suspect we will not return as a family. Neither the draw of Frankfurt as a present and historical financial hub nor the legacy of Goethe compensated for negative impressions (e.g. odors, homelessness, and people apparently suffering from mental illness) which I think bothered Becca and the kids.

Distance… is like futurity. A dim vastness is spread before our souls; the perceptions of our mind are as obscure as those of our vision… But alas! when we have attained our object, when the distant ‘there’ becomes the present ‘here,’ all is changed; we are as poor and circumscribed as ever, and our souls still languish for unattainable happiness.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: The Sorrows of Young Werther

I have really enjoyed reading Goethe. Amongst the interesting things about him are his command of language, influence in fields beyond literature (e.g. botany and the theory of color), and, to me, many of his ideas. I am interested in the ideas of the stoics. There are times in Werther where I feel Goethe asserts in compelling ways his conviction about stoic ideas, and maybe also about mindfulness and CBT…

All learned professors and doctors are agreed that children do not comprehend the cause of their desires; but that the grown-up should wander about this earth like children, without knowing whence they come, or whither they go, influenced as little by fixed motives, but guided like them by biscuits, sugar-plums, and the rod,—this is what nobody is willing to acknowledge; and yet I think it is palpable.

I know what you will say in reply; for I am ready to admit that they are happiest, who, like children, amuse themselves with their playthings, dress and undress their dolls, and attentively watch the cupboard, where mamma has locked up her sweet things, and, when at last they get a delicious morsel, eat it greedily, and exclaim, “More!” These are certainly happy beings; but others also are objects of envy, who dignify their paltry employments, and sometimes even their passions, with pompous titles, representing them to mankind as gigantic achievements performed for their welfare and glory. But the man who humbly acknowledges the vanity of all this, who observes with what pleasure the thriving citizen converts his little garden into a paradise, and how patiently even the poor man pursues his weary way under his burden, and how all wish equally to behold the light of the sun a little longer,—yes, such a man is at peace, and creates his own world within himself; and he is also happy, because he is a man. And then, however limited his sphere, he still preserves in his bosom the sweet feeling of liberty, and knows that he can quit his prison whenever he likes.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: The Sorrows of Young Werther

I think it can be tempting to turn travel into an exercise in “seeking distance/futurity”; I imagine travel arising from such motivations often concludes with some disappointment. “…when the distant ‘there’ becomes the present ‘here,’ all is changed; we are as poor and circumscribed as ever, and our souls still languish for unattainable happiness.” In contrast, though, this trip, in particular, felt wonderful, especially the opportunity to visit so much with family, across the (not really huge) span of Denmark.

It also felt quite nice to return to home to Pennsylvania! Especially after the debacle with SAS…

Thank you for reading my post!