Elsinore

A few days of sun and warm enough temperatures for things to finally start growing a little, hovering around the 11° mark, today it has been up to 13°. For some reason, this spring-like weather in the actual spring has gone unanticipated by Canadian Tire. I went there today to try and get some potting compost. Their garden centre is shut whilst it is being remodelled. Last time I went, before going to England, it was shut whilst being remodelled. 'There's going to be a grand re-opening when it's finished,' the enthusiastic shop assistant assured me, 'but I need supplies now, and not only that, but I can see the bags of those supplies in your closed off area.' He gave me an 'I'm sure you understand,' type of look.
Thus, Home Depot got my custom.

Sleepy has got us hooked on the Danish detective serial, 'The Killing', or 'Forbrydelsen'. According to Google translator, this actually means 'Crime'. I like that it's sub-titled, it's nice to hear the original language. Danish sounds as though it is gargled, I can't imagine how they communicate with one another, I find it difficult to pick out individual words. I only know a few words of Danish, but what I do know has all been used in this, or almost all.

When I was fourteen, we went to stay with my parents' friends in Copenhagen, or rather København, during the summer holidays. We came back and immediately bought duvets, yoghurts and with a new appreciation for Danish pastries, known as Vienna bread to the Danes. We also brought a massive and extremely smelly Havarti cheese that didn't increase our enjoyment of the ferry crossing and long drive home.

In the serial, one of the characters is called Vagn, as was my parents' friend, and I remember the youngest son of the family, quite a large boy, and older than my sister and myself, constantly yelling something that sounded like 'Mooah!' (Mum and actually spelt 'mor'), and the children say that a lot.
The friends had a sommerhus and we went there, and learnt to be polite after a meal and say, 'tak for mal!' To my (now) embarrassment, we also learnt to say 'nej til EF', no to the common market. For some reason too, we were allowed to drink Schnapps, which burnt the lining off the back of your throat.

One of the noticeable things on the TV programme is the prevalence of smoking, even inside the house, and when we were in Denmark, my mother, a fairly committed smoker herself, was somewhat put out by the habit of our hosts of stopping after each course and smoking at the table. Of course, the average British table at that time really only ever saw two courses, the main one, and pud.

We were also taken to Hamlet's Elsinore - Kronborg Castle, although neither of us had studied Hamlet at the time, so it wasn't the enriching experience it should have been.
Our Danish obsession will end this weekend, whether we want it to or not, and I won't be buying the jumper, in spite of their apparent popularity.