From Anna

Mike and I are in Copenhagen. We spend a great week following and playing warm up for a Swedish fiddle group, -*Spelstine* four women who just make the most gorgeous Swedish flok arrangements on three fiddles and a viola d'amore-, around Denmark to places and friends Mike remembers from the Chaps tour, an Ecofarm near Alborg, a strawbale house project in Arhus, a fish restaurant on a tiny Island down South, a banjo player friend in the old City of Ribe which has a fantastic history of vikings, bishops and kings, a tragic tale of a rich deep harbour silted up leaving the city to fall in decline ( we know a story about that), and on to a huge converted cow byre and farmhouse in the middle of the soppy country, Cafe Ellegaard, which hosts weekly concerts through summer. Everywhere we went there were tables laden with big pale yellow blocks of cheese, baskets of black bread and bottles of beer.
Then the fiddleplayers finished their tour and we made our way over two long bridges to the city of Copenhagen, where no one knows us and everyone is busy and we felt very left to our own devices after being so spoiled in the country. I like being left to my own devices. My brother gave me a brilliant little device at the airport which we call Nigel, it's a phonenetcameranavigatorwebsurfgadget which talks to me. It told us how to find the car on the little island of Fanø when we got lost outside the fishrestaurant and it should show me around Denmark except when the battery runs low. So I also have three maps and we spend yesterday getting orientated, now I know which way is the harbour, what are the canals, I know three of the churches and the palace of King Christian the Ninth, I know Østed is a very cool cobbelstone shopping street full of East European buskers wearing gloves and playing fiddle or accordeon. I found an enormous round tower but I can't find it again and I have a cross on one of the maps to show where the car is parked far far away so we don't get another 510 kroner parking fine.
They like our music in the pub!! I can't tell you how much of a relief that is. We've been put up in tiny bare rooms above *The Viking* which is another pub, there are no showers, we have to go to the Townhall square for those, there's a fountain with a charging bull, and a showerblock, the person who puts us up is called Jono the pub owner but we haven't seen him though there are signs on the washing machine not to use it without asking Jono, the people in the pub are not interested in who's playing but very strict on the beer and food ration and you just lose a lot of energy if nobody shows the slightest interest in your comfort or efforts, but, if a couple of Danes in the crowd come up, shake you hand and say "hey, we like your music man, where are you from?" it seems to all fall back into place and you know you have a niche on this side of the world even without a gorgeous Swedish womens fiddle orchestra.
Mike is very happy we have found a computer terminal, he's picking up a bit, making his own stupid jokes. A bit of a home boy Mike is, doesn't like feeling left alone and disconnected, even for a day orientering through this beautiful city. But he works hard and plays well. He won't go in the roller coaster of Tivoli.
The European cup soccer is on, it's huge. We watched the game between Holland and France last night and Holland won 4-1, it was a lot of fun, I texted with my mum and dad who were watching the game with the girls and my brother's family at his place in Amsterdam, and I texted Matai and Andrew who were playing their own games In Dunedin at the same time (Matai scored twice, Andrew once, his first goal in ten years he wrote:)) and I punched Mike in enthusiasm every time Holland scored, Mike won't sit next to me anymore, and we yelled with the rest of the pub.
We started at 11 pm, and played till 3.30am, as I said, it makes a difference when the crowd is happy and they were, dancing, spilled beer, somebody kissed my hand, some boys sat and stared at Mike's fingers for ages, people came up in the breaks, asking about New Zealand, commenting on the repertoire (great, different, but great) and somebody came up and played harp. A typical pub gig, no more or less, and exactly what I was hoping for. Get this, when we walked out at 4.10 am it was light outside!!!! All the drunks, the stuff that happens at 4.10 in the morning, in broad daylight, well, morninglight. It was just wrong.
Time's up. It's good to know the family is doing well, my beautiful soccer and lego boys at home, the girls all around holland in the arms of their extended family and me here, I like it, everything is turning out better than I hoped for, I'm enjoying this Europe trip immensly, the people, the music, the places.
Missing Matai and Andrew, little arms and big arms around my neck. Looking forward to coming back too, it's all good. If you see Matai, give him a big big hug from me and make sure he's not secretly growing.

Bye for now, the cobblestones and bronze spires are calling,
Lots of love from Anna