Mermaid.....Danish......Copenhagen....

Denmark reminds me of Shakespeare's Hamlet and Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid".  I have to admit that I like Danish cheese also. In 2018, decided to visit this country again as a tourist. Last time I visited it was a business trip and hardly had time to visit the castles. This time a much-awaited vacation and stayed in the Marriott Copenhagen. 

The Baltic Sea breeze was soothing. the sail boats, trawlers, the ships and the usual harbor hustle bustle were perfect setting to visit the Viking Museum. After the museum visit, we headed to see the iconic Mermaid.  The little mermaid is a bronze statue set up on a rock in the harbor facing the Langelinie promenade. Edvard Eriksen sculpted the statue. The sad look of the Mermaid or I could be imagining that she looked sad. 

The next day visited the Kronborg Castle popularly called as the Hamlet's castle immortalized by the English bard Shakespeare!  It was about an hours' drive from Copenhagen winding thru the farms and the coast. The guide narrated the history of the castle from 1400's, the fires that engulfed, rebuild, Swedish control and how Danish took it back etc.. etc.. 

Enjoyed a nice lunch in the city of Elsinore with a veggie wrap and the famous Danish Havarti cheese.  The concierge in the hotel recommended VeVe a Michelin starred restaurant near the promenade for dinner. The best in the menu is the special Danish Cake Lagkage. The stars in the sky were competing with the modern lights in the harbor and the promenade. I was thinking about Hans Christian Andersen and the fairy tales I read when I was in kindergarten. 

PEACE ON EARTH

All content copyright © by Sobana Iyengar.

Seoul.......38th Parallel.........DMZ.....

In June 2019 boarded the flight to Hong Kong  enroute to Seoul. After a stopover, took a flight to Seoul. The airport is far from the city. The chauffeur from the Marriott welcomed me and gave a small pamphlet on the city attractions.

Korea’s history dates back to 12th century BCE with the Joseon dynasty and another prominent Jin state I the 3rd BCE. The Dutch named it Manchuria for Korea and some provinces of the.northernmost China. The pattern of European powers conquering and dividing the ancient kingdoms of Asia continued along with the inter dynasty clashes between the Han dynasty from China and Korea. Finally in 1945, the country was divided into North. Korea and South Korea at the 38th parallel.

“Welcome to the Gangnam district and the Marriott”!, the concierge welcomed me with a big smile. I must have of dozed off while reading the history.
Next morning, my guide took me to see the infamous tunnels, DMZ, and Dorasan the last train station at the border. The poignant history of families divided between the two countries reminded me of the Berlin Wall. Hopefully, one day the sense of humanity prevails that will wash away all the petty feelings of differences. 

Near DMZ one can find the signs of land mines. The yonder Mount Kumpang looked beautiful reminding that nature does not divide or discriminate people.

Our guide gave us the precautionary warnings and the strict guidelines when passing thru the demilitarized zone. We passed the strict passport control process and also received the stamp for our DMZ visit.

The Dorasan train station was opened jointly by the then American president George W. Bush with a good intention that a day will come when North and South Korea will be connected by rail. There is a good contingent of American military personnel at the base supporting S. Korea to control its borders. The wish list is endless to see peace in this part of the World. We all boarded the bus to go back to the city.

                                                              PEACE ON EARTH
All content © Sobana Iyengar