Helsingør

Don’t recall how long it took us to get into Helsingør from Copenhagen via train but it was a very wet day and I wasn’t looking forward to get out of the train station. This wan’t the first time: We have been to this city over a hundred times in the past, in all seasons spread across a two years period of exile in South Sweden. But, considering this in many ways a nostalgic trip, had to stop by the cities and places we have roamed in the past.

In the breaks between downpour from moving clouds wind blew through the narrow streets of the city, sometimes gusts of wind from the sound strong enough to deter walking. If I recall it was early morning (courtesy: jet lag) on a weekday therefore, the city seemed desolate. A typical midday would look much crowded, especially with tourists and locals frequently from Sweden who buy tobacco and alcohol products in the city market.

About twenty minute ferry ride connects Helsingør with Helsingborg (Sweden) where I worked for two years. After walking around the city we sat in the ferry deck and sailed back and forth a few times across the waters to rest our feet, before returning to Copenhagen via train.

A day away from Copenhagen

Over the past several centuries we have built remarkable cities and have made every attempt to make each one look unique and reflect the culture of the people living in it. But more than the significance of these creations in human history, I admire and prefer what lies outside and often out of reach for most part, throughout our existence, the Earth in its nascent form.

Sixty minutes driving south of Copenhagen starts to look like sixty minutes driving outside of most of the cities in upper northern hemisphere: The farmlands, trees, wide open land, crops, windmills, barns. I would not call it as attractive as any national park or preserve but it was a relief to get out of the city for a change, after we rented a car for the final two days of the trip. While I have been in and around Copenhagen over the past, had never been to the island of Møn before. As any other adventure, this was not planned for months or weeks - it was a fifteen research on the internet the night before, in attempt to find something new and different to do in Denmark before flying back home, and also a destination the weather forecast approved my not weather-sealed Sony photography gear.

And so I picked Møns Klint - a six kilometer stretch of tall chalk cliffs over Baltic Sea.

We picked a short hike that takes one through a prairie to steep stairs winding to the seaside with the white cliff to the back. At the end of the hike, there were no trail markers in a foreign language, nor buildings or structures to indicate the location of the place on the planet. For a brief moment, I felt I was not too far from home.

Brugge

We missed the train out from Brussels Airport because we took the last flight from Copenhagen, arriving a few minutes after departure of the last train for the night. I could have planned it better, perhaps. Fast forward an hour and half checked in to the hotel, unpacked, and ready to start the next day explore the city of Bruges (or Brugge). The excitement could not keep me from falling asleep for we were dead tired from lack of sleep and jet lag since a few days before the short hour-something flight and another hour-something taxi ride.

I did not know about this city until we watched In Bruges ten years ago. Medieval canals and bridges, brick roads, horse carriages and ancient towers: things one would expect to see in the European south. But here is the catch: You are not in the south, you are close (or might as well call it inside) Scandinavia - clean, less chaotic, less crowded part of Europe in the west. It seemed to me as the perfect spot to get away and unwind especially in winter when nobody is around.

And, I wasn’t disappointed.

It never came across as a city I would want to photograph rather the appeal was purely in terms of getting out of town and relax. So naturally I did not pack an array of lenses and photography gear for this trip. It is possible I am slowly embracing mobile photography over using pro gear, for several reasons but the most important one being portability.

One evening however, we got into bed early so we can wake up before the morning hustle and take a few photographs of the city before sunrise.

The weather was perfect, sunny in the morning with occasional drizzle through the afternoon and then cold night time, often below zero and sometimes a little bit of snow. The city core is small enough to navigate on foot in an hour, or even less if you do not stop every corner to take photos like we do.

Would I travel again to Bruges? Perhaps I would but perhaps with a wide lens next time.