Here is an article I wrote a few years back on my travels to Denmark which I would like to share. It was published in one of the local Malaysian magazines, but I forgot which one. Sorry! Hope you enjoy the read.
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One of the girls whom I was closest to during my month at the Miss World pageant in 2004 was Lene Solling, a.k.a. Miss Denmark. We got along very well and remained in touch ever since. A few months after we all left for home to continue on with our reign, I got an email from Lene which was titled “Surprise! Here comes the bride…” The contents, as one could infer from the title, was a wedding announcement with an invitation to none other than moi. Naturally, I accepted and my wedding trip to Europe soon began.
Please fast forward to August 2nd 2005. Excited about my first European trip, I flew from Kuala Lumpur to Los Angeles via Taipei, met up with friends there for 2 days. Flight to New York was delayed by two hours, missed my direct flight to Copenhagen, waited for the next available flight 4 hours later which was via Stockholm. After the long and arduous 30 hours of painfully flying, I FINALLY arrived in the designated country but not the destination. I had to catch a train straight from Copenhagen Airport to a small town approximately two hours away, Odense, hometown of Hans Christian Andersen (author of popular children’s stories such as Hansel and Gretel and Thumbelina).
As the train slowed toward the platform, all my aches and pains around my body disappeared miraculously as I saw my friend jumping and waving with excitement from afar. Although we’ve remained in touch after all this while, we had so much to catch up such that the 45 minutes drive home was barely noticeable. The scenery along the way was remarkable. The surroundings was picture perfect. It seemed that I was transposed into a Monet painting. I was enveloped by luscious plots of green farmland on my left strategically spotted with windmills and the gorgeous blue sea meeting the horizon on my right. I couldn’t wait to reach her house as I was looking forward to a badly needed shower.
Upon arrival, you would think “Finally!” but no! There was still more bad news to come. Lighting had just struck her house. Thus, there was no electricity and no hot water. Great! I thought to myself, I should instead go and buy lottery immediately! Not to mention that after reading about all the hot summers that Europe had been getting over the past year and people dying from heat stroke, I had packed all my summer clothes. Bad decision! It was freezing cold at 11 degrees Celsius on a ‘warm’ day. Unsurprisingly, the wind chill only made it worse.
After a ‘nice cold’ shower and meal, it was time to relax and enjoy the daily Danish life. Lene and her husband Tom had just bought a very old farmhouse. Apparently, the previous owner committed suicide in the barn, which may I add, was next to the room I was staying in. He shot himself in the head with a shotgun and my friends showed me a picture of how he looked. Nice! As one would imagine, the visual image gave me many sleepless nights.
As the wedding was just around the corner, there was much to be done. Lene took me on a quick tour around town before heading to her parent’s house. Talk about quick as the town only had no more than 5000 residents. The bank only had 2 customer service desks. At her parent’s house, we were greeted with much love. Approaching us with an apron and covered in blood, her father proudly showed off the main course for the wedding dinner. Mmm…delish, poor little bloody lamb.
As it was a small wedding with only 10 tables, it was definitely what you would call a family affair. Her dad prepared the main dish and the tent, Tom helped with the tent, the music and drinks, her mom was in charge of food, her aunt – the cake, her cousin and bestfriend – the decorations, and me – photography and partly decorations as well.
On the day of the wedding, everyone was overwhelmed with excitement. Her father, who was in a nervous wreck, kidnapped me in his 1945 Beetle and took me down his memory lane with his baby girl just before walking his daughter down the aisle. With no mobile phone on hand, imagine the ordeal the whole family was going through as the father’s English was just as good as my Danish!
As we all arrived in church at 3pm, the guests started to arrive. The lights were dim, and the candles were lit. As the organ played the wedding march, the beautiful bride held tightly onto her father while coming down the aisle. She was the most gorgeous bride I had ever seen and you could tell it was her happiest day in her life.
After an extremely emotional ceremony, the newly weds rode the horse carriage back to the house and met all the guests there. Family and friends ‘fought’ to garner an opportunity to take pictures with the beautiful new couple.
The dinner started at 6pm and it started off with toasts from the bride, the groom, the parents, the best friends and everyone else that felt compelled to say something. Then guests were passed lyrics which close family and friends had written about the newly-weds and everyone sang along to tunes of popular children songs. Frank Sinatra of Denmark entertained guests while dinner was served and everyone danced the night away.
The next day after a much needed rest, the family gathered in the tent to help clean up. With hangovers, everyone was in much laughter as we went through the photos and the crazy moments of the days before. Suddenly, a surprise gift from the Danish Gods, it started to rain hail stones that afternoon. Everyone was surprised as it has never happened in the summer before and we joked how lucky I was. Yes, I tend to bring mayhem wherever I go.
It appeared as if my ‘good luck’ was not about to end anytime soon. As I returned to Copenhagen on the 5th day, there were twisters as I looked out my window on the train. Missing my rice as I had been having bread and cheese EVERYDAY with EVERY meal, I was dying to have my rice upon arrival. I had to stay one night in Copenhagen before I could return to New York, so I was determined to make the best out of it.
Walking around Copenhagen with your luggage isn’t exactly the ideal way to get to know the city but I did get to have my rice! Walking around Copenhagen’s main square and passing by the famous Hotel d’Angleterre (where the famous such as Madonna and equally the infamous such as Mafia boss and the likes stayed when in Scandanavia) and the Royal Palace, I eventually ended up in Krustinia, Denmark’s “Amsterdam”.
When it was finally time to end the trip, I was a bit sad but nevertheless, an unforgettable trip that I had thoroughly enjoyed. Next trip back, I will definitely be more prepared to face good ole’ mother nature and her surprises.
