Packing the Essentials for Europe

It was a pretty surreal experience packing up my life on St. Thomas.  I had been there for 10 years, apparently acquired a lot of stuff & had become somewhat of a pack rat.  I had moved into my perfectly sized studio apartment only 2 years previous and didn’t really think that I had that much stuff! 

The plan was, to pack my suitcases with the essential for Europe, store some things in a storage space at Tillett Gardens and the rest, well; I didn’t think there would be that much left.

Now, the phrase ‘essential for Europe’ was a little tricky.  There was great debate among my friends and I about whether 3 suitcases and my personal item were too much.  Please keep in mind 1. I am a girl 2. The weather this time of year is tricky and 3. Well, lets just say that I like options!!!

Step one was to invite my Fashion-ista friend Lisa over, have a couple of drinks & go through my closet.  I was instructed not to pack or save anything that was ripped, stained, need repairing or didn’t fit correctly.  I also had a rule of my own, that if I hadn’t worn it since I had moved, it clearly wasn’t moving again.  However, in hind-sight, my rule kind of sucked, since I had lived in the TROPICS and was moving to a more uhhh temperate climate and let’s just say, I could now use a couple of more of those long sleeved shirts and a less of the tank tops :/ 

Step two was to go through the rest of my apartment & decide what should be stored & what should be given away.  THIS was a little easier, since I really didn’t have that much space to keep a lot of kitchen or home furnishings.

Step three, probably the hardest, was to organize my art studio.  This is where the pack rat in me really came out.  I am an artist that uses a lot of recycled & repurposed items in creations, I like to experiment with different medias and try new mediums. What can I say?!

On the last night that I spent in my apartment, July 30^th I remember having kind of an epiphany.  In the previous week, I had disassembled my gallery, sold all of the art supplies from my art supply store, had packed up my suitcases, stored 10 plastic cartons & given away or sold 3/4 of my possession.  It all kind of hit me, what I was doing and whether or not I was crazy.  So, I got out my computer and wrote for this blog.  Here is an excerpt:

“I keep reminding myself that I am only packing, organizing and giving away, THINGS.  Inanimate objects that can always be replaced.  And I guess that I am replacing them with other, living things that are so much more meaningful in life.  Love and Happiness and Adventure and Inspiration, things that every human needs to survive.  Do I REALLY think that I will miss my BCBG Tutu skirt in Denmark?!  Well… maybe a little. 

Maybe it is these items that bring me comfort and a feeling of stability, the same comfort and stability that I feel when I come home to my little apartment.  It is mine and the Tutu skirt is mine and… breath in, breath out.  Focus.  Sip of vodka/soda… focus. 

Do I feel like as long as I have all of this stuff I am ok?  Should I be repeating the mantra “Less is More” and making some sort of correlation about  ‘baggage’? 

Wow.  There you have it!  Funny that in the last 2 years I have rated all of the guys that I have dated with how much ‘baggage’ they have.  Everyone has a ‘personal item’ and most have a ‘carry-on’.  However, if you have ‘checked baggage’ (divorced or kids), let alone ‘additional items’ (jail time, alcoholic, drug abuser, no job, no car ((this is important on St. Thomas!)), or no close-toed shoes ((one of my quirks)),) serious consideration has to be made. 

So, should I be thinking about how much baggage I am taking with me?  I mean, come on ladies, it’s 3 months!  Are 2 checked bags too many?”

Which brings me to really wishing that I had packed more warm clothes.  And the fact that I DO feel lighter, freer and a little liberated not having an apartment, a car, any keys or possessions to bog down my life.  I definitely purged a lot of stuff and a lot of ‘baggage’ that I may have been carrying around with me.  I feel as if a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. 

The experience overall was life changing and completely worth it, however, I do miss the Tutu skirt from BCBG & cannot wait to wear it again :) 

The Welcome Home Dinner

For the last two weeks, I have been on my own in Denmark.  On my own to translate, drive on the right, read Danish road signs, wear wool socks and 3 layers on the chilly nights.  Also, on my own to run free, explore, sleep late, eat copious amounts of popcorn & chocolate in front of the tv, stay up late drawing and drinking wine. 

My host & sweet boyfriend Sune, is a Marine Engineer on an oil rig in the North Sea.  He works on the rig for 14 days straight, but then has off for 21 days straight.  Hence, being on my own for 2 weeks.  Needless to say, his homecoming was greatly anticipated. 

I have loved to cook for as long as I can remember.  During my time on St. Thomas, I had the opportunity to work at a gourmet restaurant, attend fabulous Chaine des Rotisseur dinners, learn from several gifted chefs & host dinners of my own. 

Luckily, Sune enjoys food & cooking as much as I do and has an incredible kitchen.  So, I eagerly created a menu for Sune’s return from the rig yesterday.  Diligent recipe researching, translating Danish groceries, converting quantities on my iPhone and 3 days later, I had completed the perfect 5 course dinner. 

Hummus with Homemade Tortilla Chips & Prosciutto Wrapped Breadsticks drizzled with White Truffle Oil

Insert Picture of Baked French Onion Soup (Apparently we were too excited to take a picture, but it was delicious!!  And the long cooking process made the apartment smell AMAZING!!) 

White & Red Grape Granita Intermezzo

Layered Eggplant & Basil Oil Marinated Chicken Parmesan

 These were sooo good & light, that we each ended up having 5!  

Tiramisu

After all this and one minor catastrophe that shall remain nameless, I still love cooking & can’t wait to do it all over again!  

PS I would like to thank www.cookography.com

 

My Fairy Tale first month...

Since I have arrived in Denmark, I have felt like I have been in a fairy tale; the last month has been wonderful.  I have spent good, quality time with my sweet boyfriend, cooking, adventuring, boating & meeting his family & friends.  I have had time alone to sleep late, stay in my pajamas all day, create artwork & explore.

Kolding, the city that I am based in, is a charming seaport city on the mainland of Denmark.  It is at the head of the Kolding Fjord, in the southern region & a perfect mid-sized city, with a population just slightly larger than St. Thomas. 

One of the showpieces of the city is the old castle Koldinghus, founded in 1268.  It sits on the hilltop & dominates the view from all points in the city.  I can even see a little part of the tower from the kitchen window!  The lake, garden & castle have been a great inspiration to me already, with their pleasant & effortless charm.  

The weather here has been, well, sporadic.  Coming from St. Thomas, where is is 85 and humid, 365 day of the year, 60 degrees and gray is kind of a shock.  I was prepared & do come from Wisconsin originally, but let’s just say the when you get a warm, sunny day, you take advantage !

Saturday was one of those days, and I decided to go on a road trip to the Egeskov Castle on the island of Funen, about 45 minutes away.  I have always loved castles & fairy tales & am always trying to let my inner Princess radiate from my artwork.  This castle & the grounds that it lays on, were exactly where I yearned to be for a day, a month or, maybe I will just move in :)

The castle dates back to 1554 & was built on a foundation of upright oak trunks & is famous for being the most well preserved moat castle in Europe.  Views of the castle are breath taking, but for me, it was walking around the 18 different Gardens that enchanted me.  Around every corner, (or 280 year old hedge!!) I found another beautiful treat.  

The Scent Garden, The Fuchsia Garden, The Kitchen Garden, The English, Renaissance, Dahlia, Water, Grey, White... it was a Wonderland!  

I feel truly blessed to be able to explore & become inspired at such magical places!  Although I am thoroughly enjoying taking photographs, I have lots of drawings in the process!!  Pictures to come, I promise :)

Berlin with Biggi !!!

Before I left St. Thomas, I found out that my good friend Biggi Dodson was going to be in Germany while I was going to be in Europe !  Getting together was a must.  Biggi would be traveling to her hometown of Dusseldorf and then onto Berlin, which is where we met. 

Sadly, I must admit, that I never had an overwhelming desire to visit Berlin, but was delightfully surprised.  On the 5 hour drive from Kolding, I volunteered to drive for a bit, which necessitated a quick reminder of Manual Transmission driving.  It had only been 6 years & it was like riding a bike... until we accidentally got to Berlin before pulling over to switch drivers & I remembered that I have forgotten how to slow down!  Clutch, brake, gears, gas?!  AHHHH!  Thank god there wasn’t much traffic & we did some practicing on the freeway before we got off!  :) We stayed in a little place called Alex Hotel that was perfectly located & had a complimentary, delicious breakfast!

Our first stop was the Berlin TV Tower, which was highly recommended!  We were informed that after buying the tickets, there would be an hour & 45 minute wait, but we could leave & come back during this time.  They didn’t tell us that it would take an hour of waiting in line to buy the tickets.   Ugh.  We decided to walk around a bit during our 1 hour & 45 minute wait, during which, my shoe fell apart, thanks to the humidity & mold of St. Thomas.  We looked for glue or shoes: we found rude German shoe sellers & a new pair of KangaRoos!   Velcro pocket & all!  

Donning my new ‘Roos, we went back to the TV tower, expecting to zip to the top, catch the view & meet up with Biggi & the kids.  Oh, no, no.  We waited another 10minutes to get to the security check-point, 10 minutes to enter the gate to get to the elevator line, 20 minutes in line to the elevator. After 3 hours+, when we finally got to the top, we decided that we were NEVER GOING TO LEAVE!  Cause this view HAS to be worth the wait!    

It was a beautiful view and looked quite interesting!   There wee signs all over describing what we were seeing, however, they were in GERMAN!!!  Sweet!  :( So we walked around, took some pics, and promptly went to the bar to get a drink :) 

After our anti-climactic 3 hour+ Berlin TV Tower extravaganza, we went to the Dali exhibit!  NO WAIT!  It was a great showcase of hundreds of prints, drawings & movies.

That night we walked to Cafe Seeblick, the cafe that Biggi used to work at when she lived in Berlin.  It was quite helpful that Sune had taken German in grade school, so we could decipher some things & the waitress was awesome & pulled out her iPhone to help translate, but Thank God we are both adventurous, love food, and not picky eaters because we thought we ordered chicken & beef, got chicken & fish :) Oh well!  It was delicious either way!  

The next day we discovered Tacheles.  This is truly an amazing gem of Berlin.  It is a 9000 square meter art center that is known for its murals & graffiti.  It was built in 1907, originally as a department store, served as a Nazi prison, cinema & was taken over by artists in 1990.  It was scheduled to be demolished & was reevaluated to later become a historical landmark & “center of development and realization of individual ways of thinking, of the creative contamination of art and living as well as the testing of artistically and urban ideas.”

We spent about 2 hours here, visiting artists in their workspaces, roaming the sculpture garden & intently gazing at the walls covered in graffiti.  See more at - http://super.tacheles.de/cms/

Next up, we got a little bit of conventional German culture. We went to the Reichstag Building, hung out in the sun on the lawn for a half hour later, it started raining, walked 10 minutes to the Brandenburger Tor & it was sunny again. The German weather could not make up its mind!  

 

And, for the piece de resistance of Berlin = Biggi!  We met Biggi & her friend at a bar & had beers & then onto The Currywurst!  This is a Berlin favorite, basically a pork hot dog with a curry ketchup over it, served with fires!  Yummmy!  

Lastly, White Trash bar, where we watched a great band, from none other than Denmark!  We dancing the night away and were quite hung over the next day, 'nuff said!  What happens in Berlin stays in Berlin :)

It was truly surreal seeing Biggi in Berlin, even though it was for a short time, it was priceless!