Double Wars in Nordmark

[abendgules]

Forget the flatside/holy side....the mosquitoes won.

Back to work, back to the routine, still struggling to type.

This was my first Double Wars in 6 years, and the first at the 'new' site. We enjoyed a mostly hot and sunny week of fighting, fencing, food and drink, classes and saunas.

Thankfully I'd booked one extra day of flop time, to allow myself to return to modern-life pace just a bit more gently; I've found that if I return straight to work I'm fairly useless for that day.

Quick travel observations:
Copenhagen airport is my new favourite airport: quick, courteous, well-connected, easy to get around.

Copenhagen the city definitely merits more time to visit and explore - goncalves, Robert and I managed only a stolen hour to whip through the national museum, running into a selection of other DW attendees, filling time between flights, on our way out. Unfortunately, the museum's air conditioning works about as well as English A/C does (ie. not very).

I'm beginning to think that modern paving and shoes are harder on my back than unpaved ground and medieval shoes. I spent 10 days mostly on my feet on grass and hard ground, wearing flat turnshoes and wooden clompen, with no lower back pain.

But I had a very familiar pain and stiffness in my lower back within 2 hours of putting on my running shoes again, to pack up the pavilion and load the vehicle, and was truly tight and footsore by the time I got home having walked through parts of Copenhagen, Heathrow, and then Hackney in those runners.

Swedish/Danish quiet areas on the train really are quiet - we were politely corrected for chatting while sitting in this section (in England it's mainly to keep people off their mobiles). It was blissful.

Paying sticker-shock prices for meals doesn't feel as painful in foreign currency.

Buying beer in the beer&liquor store doesn't guarantee it contains alcohol. Just ask goncalves.

Swedish grocery stores have an entire aisle dedicated to knakkabrod (what most Cdns know as Wasa crackers, rock-hard baked crackers in every flavour) - sort of the way the English have an entire potato chip aisle (but almost no crackers).

Long early summer nights at high latitude give the mosquitoes an extended dining hour. The time from around 8.30-10.30pm was brutual, and particularly awkward when holding court when everyone is politely trying to stay put and attentive.

Sir Peregrine was regaling us with 'they're not really that bad, honest - you should see them at home' stories about the mosquitoes in northern Sweden where he lives with his family. After this week, I think we're looking at an early winter visit to Frostheim instead of a summer one.

Lots more to tell, but it'll keep a day or so.

Comments

[my-stitching.livejournal.com]

David and I were in Copenhagen for a few days last month and it really is a lovely place to visit. We enjoyed ourselves there and plan to return. But I know what you mean about prices being easier to take in a foreign currency. We sort of kept track in our heads, but when we returned home and surveyed the damage... wowza!

[armillary.livejournal.com]

Mosquitoes aren't big until you need both barrels of the shotgun to bring 'em down.

-- born and bred near the arctic circle

[suelet.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you had a good time.