Good news [Lonewolf Ed] - Page 100

I thought I'd start a new thread for updates on my cancer treatments and whatever else is going on, since the bad news thread title is misleading now.

My last treatment went better than the previous two and my chest wound is still closed up, which is a good thing. My arm is getting slightly stronger and I hope to resume lifting dumbbells next week. I need to build up my strength again, because I am going back to Denmark in May and I am extremely pumped about that! I'd like to be able to schlepp my own checked bag and not have someone else lifting it for me.

It's going to be a fabulous trip, 6 weeks and a couple of days for me. My brother is going along as well as my friends Chipp and Rod. Chipp is staying close to 3 weeks and has not gone with me over there since 2006 so he is also very pumped to be going. It will be Rod's first trip and he will be there for 2 weeks. I will get to be a tour guide. Also, I am throwing a party in my favorite pub of all, the wonderful, ever-magnificent Irish House in Aalborg on May 7th. The owner and I are friends and he will give me a little discount. We'll have Irish stew and brews in the cellar and I hope to have around 25 family and friends there. I might bill it as the "Fu** Cancer Party." A few months back, I was not sure I'd ever be able to go over to Denmark again or if I'd even be alive, but the cancer hasn't gotten me yet. I'm doing a number on it, instead.

Some other cool things I plan to do when I am back in my ancestral lands include a wine tasting in a castle, touring another castle and the northernmost manor home in the country, and visiting Skagen, the top of Denmark, where you can stand on a little patch of beach and have one foot in one sea and one in another. They also have a brewpub up there I am wanting to check out. I will start and end my trip in Aalborg and spend 5 weeks in an apartment I rent that is very close to the beach. I can hardly wait for May 4th to roll around!
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I took my cameras along the past two days, but it has been raining and cloudy both days, so the girls look pretty much the same with their rain gear on. Last night as I was heading back to my hotel, I heard some commotion and went to see what it was. A line of military and fancy-dressed people came out of the church carrying large Danish flags. I had no idea what was going on. They stopped outside the church in two columns and someone in a very nice suit gave a short speech. I got a bit of it on video. Then I headed for the hotel and saw two guys dressed up in what looked like medieval castle guard clothes carrying a flag. I asked if they were part of the group coming out of the church and they said yes. I asked what it was they were doing and one told me it was Valdemar's Day, where they officially present the flags to various groups, from the Scouts to military units, and government officials. In all my years of coming to Denmark, I have ever seen or heard of this day or the ceremony.
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Originally Posted by Lonewolf Ed:
I took my cameras along the past two days, but it has been raining and cloudy both days, so the girls look pretty much the same with their rain gear on. Last night as I was heading back to my hotel, I heard some commotion and went to see what it was. A line of military and fancy-dressed people came out of the church carrying large Danish flags. I had no idea what was going on. They stopped outside the church in two columns and someone in a very nice suit gave a short speech. I got a bit of it on video. Then I headed for the hotel and saw two guys dressed up in what looked like medieval castle guard clothes carrying a flag. I asked if they were part of the group coming out of the church and they said yes. I asked what it was they were doing and one told me it was Valdemar's Day, where they officially present the flags to various groups, from the Scouts to military units, and government officials. In all my years of coming to Denmark, I have ever seen or heard of this day or the ceremony.

European holidays are trippy. When I lived in Czech, they still celebrated the day the Russians came in and drove the Germans out.

Talk about trading poop for piss.
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I was at my beloved Irish House for the final time today and stayed to watch England v. Wales in soccer, er I mean, futbol. I filled out a card guessing England would win 2-1 over the Welsh sheep shaggers, and I was right! I won a Carlsberg t-shirt and Carlsberg sunglasses. I was feeling lucky until halfway back to the hotel, there was a clap of thunder and it pissed down rain on me.
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Originally Posted by Lonewolf Ed:
I was at my beloved Irish House for the final time today and stayed to watch England v. Wales in soccer, er I mean, futbol. I filled out a card guessing England would win 2-1 over the Welsh sheep shaggers, and I was right! I won a Carlsberg t-shirt and Carlsberg sunglasses. I was feeling lucky until halfway back to the hotel, there was a clap of thunder and it pissed down rain on me.

Sounds like you've had a wonderful trip, Ed. Hey, have you shared CP with any of your European brethren? Wonder what they might think of this fine place?
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I am in Copenhagen, well, Nivaa which is a suburb, but it's about like when I tell people I live in Kansas City because if I say Olathe, they say "Where?" Anyhow, here I am, staying with my dear cousin Anne-Marie and her family. Her husband told me news that a certain few of you will take interest in... Yesterday, the cops raided Christania and tore down the pot sellers' tents and booths. I thought they just let the people do their thing in there, selling and smoking weed and hash, but I was told that every few years, the police come and rattle the cage. When he told me about it, I could hear Tommy Chong in my head saying, "Oh, man, that's a drag, man."
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Originally Posted by Lonewolf Ed:
I am in Copenhagen, well, Nivaa which is a suburb, but it's about like when I tell people I live in Kansas City because if I say Olathe, they say "Where?" Anyhow, here I am, staying with my dear cousin Anne-Marie and her family. Her husband told me news that a certain few of you will take interest in... Yesterday, the cops raided Christania and tore down the pot sellers' tents and booths. I thought they just let the people do their thing in there, selling and smoking weed and hash, but I was told that every few years, the police come and rattle the cage. When he told me about it, I could hear Tommy Chong in my head saying, "Oh, man, that's a drag, man."

haha. nice!
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I went with my family to test drive a Tesla 90DX or some such, 6 seater. I have never been up close to an electric car before and I must say, it's impressive. There was a problem with the SIM card in that it won't work in Denmark yet, but otherwise the salesman would have shown us how you can park the car and "call it" to come to you with your cell phone. There are super-charging stations all over the country which are used for long distance travel, otherwise you just plug it in overnight like your cell phone at home. The drawback is the extremely high tax on the vehicles here in Denmark. That 6 seater is 1.3 million Danish kroner, thanks to a 150% tax which was until this year, 180%. You do get to pay the tax over 5 years, though, but still, once paid, you're looking at a 200,000 dollar car.

And I just got back to the house after my sweet 10 year old second cousin Benedicte took me for a walk to the harbor. She was delighted when we saw two adult swans and three babies huddled together. Where they live, off to one side of the house, you can get a glimpse of the sea before the trees are fully bloomed out and on the other, there is a forest, so the girls have two very nice options for places to go and play.
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My last full day in Denmark is dwindling down to the evening hours now. I spent the day in Helsignor Castle, the setting for the play Hamlet, and the village nearby. I loved touring the castle. I fly back to KC tomorrow, with a delightful 7 hour layover in Newark airport. Groan. It has been a magnificent trip for me and I can hardly believe that my time is nearly done here. It does not seem like I have been away for 8 weeks. In some ways, I am ready to get back to Kansas and my own bed, but in other ways, I want to stay here longer.
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Originally Posted by Lonewolf Ed:
My last full day in Denmark is dwindling down to the evening hours now. I spent the day in Helsignor Castle, the setting for the play Hamlet, and the village nearby. I loved touring the castle. I fly back to KC tomorrow, with a delightful 7 hour layover in Newark airport. Groan. It has been a magnificent trip for me and I can hardly believe that my time is nearly done here. It does not seem like I have been away for 8 weeks. In some ways, I am ready to get back to Kansas and my own bed, but in other ways, I want to stay here longer.

I almost thought you might just stay there this time, after two months it must kind of feel like you do live there now

Close family all over the place, the bartenders know your name at your fave pub... everything a guy could want, an American abroad but far from alone

But welcome back to an America in deep, churning turmoil...have a safe flight!
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