Berlin.

After 2 days in Berlin, I really do not know where to begin. Berlin is a really amazing city, and a Mecca of sorts as far as architecture goes. I really enjoyed the Jewish History Museum. The building had within it 3 different very moving rooms in memory of the Jews killed during the Holocaust. In addition to be really emotional, it was also quite educational. As I think I stated while in Amsterdam, I visited Anne Frank's house and purchased her Diary. I just finished it today (the 6th book I have read this summer!). I feel a new simpathy and horror for the events. Traveling can definately open your eyes to so much if you allow it.

I am staying with a guy I met through a website that pairs travelers. Their goal is to make traveling as inexpensive as possible, so you can send a quick email about yourself, and then a local can let you sleep at their home while you visit their city. I am staying with a guy named Albi, who is originally from Hungary. He is a student of Economics here in Berlin, and has been a perfect host! It has been great to have a home base, and some one to chat about the days events with. This cost saver has been a Godsend!

Less than a week to go...I am now debating going to Munich, and may go to Luxenburg City, Basel, and or Ronchamp instead...so many options out here! I will decide at some point tomorrow I guess...but I may stay here one additional day as well since I have barely cracked the surface of Berlin!

As an aside, I have decided to write more often. After reading a few books this summer, and keeping this log, I want to develop this skill further. Who knows, maybe someday I can replace Rick Steves and write travel books in my own flair.

Lars and Esther

My first city in Germany is Frankfurt, which I have been for the last 2 days. There is nothing better than getting to a new city, and knowing people that live there. Lars and Esther are both professors from the U or Oregon, and have really made my trip to Frankfurt special. Esther arranged for me to sleep at her architecture office (for free!) which is located in an ideal spot to catch the tram to downtown Frankfurt. Lars showed me around his firm, and took me to a very swank dinner/club with his girlfriend who is also in town. We have been able to sit and enjoy coffee and tea together, and have a very nice visit. I happened to also luck out and be in Frankfurt as they were having a museum fair, and was able to go into all of the museums here for only four euro in total. Tomorrow I leave for Berlin...but after such a nice introduction to Germany, I am very ready for the challenge!

Belgium

Brugge is absolutely a picture out of a fairly tale book. With narrow cobblestone streets, a moat-like canal hugging the historic center of the city, a belford tower, and a medieval castle in the center market place you cannot get any closer to the quintessential classic European city. Although travel books chalk this city's sentiment up to contrived, I absolutely loved it. Brent, Megan, and I took a guided historic walk around the city, and all of the intricate details of how the city and nation of Belgium were formed were brought to light. This city has a very unique style of architecture, and a deserved pride in its unique mixture of different typologies of buildings. We had a delicious dinner which we collected from a fancy bread and cheese store in the market, and a chocolate shop located just off of the market square where they prepare all of the small shop's chocolates in their downstairs kitchen. The canals in this city ar no longer connected to the port, but their pressence, as well as the windmills around the perimeter are a essential piece to this town. The day and a half I spent there was just what the doctor ordered after my disappointments with Amsterdam.

Amsterdam

After 3+ days in Amsterdam, I am thoroughly disillusioned. I had this romantic notion of the canals, and cafe culture, and how it all blended together in this seamless fabric of a quirky European city. I am sad to say, this is the first European city that has not lived up to my expectations. The city was quite dirty, albeit I arrived on the last day of a garbage strike. Also quite to my surprise, the cafe culture has been effected due to the legality of certain substances. I had expected these legalities to only minimally affect the city culture, but in my summation, it has very much taken over the sentiment here. Although I was able to visit Ann Frank's house, which was very impacting, as well as the Van Gough Museum, which was quite inspiring, my trip to Amsterdam really left me disappointed. I was able to say goodbye to friends from Denmark, and continue on my way, which was nice, but I really wish for some changes to this little city. That is at least this one traveler's opinion.

I was able to attend my second futbol game in Amsterdam which was a blast. The people of Europe certainly go nuts over this game, and it makes me wonder what is wrong with Americans and the way the support their favorite sports...we have nothing on the Europeans.

Books This Summer

Tivoli...the last night together...

Right in the center of Copenhagen is Tivoli Gardens. It is suppose to be a sort of tribute to Japanese Gardens, roller coasters, and carnival rides. If it were not in the exact middle of the town, you would never consider a visit. But since it was our last night together, the clan all rounded up at Tivoli last night for one more round of togetherness and good times. Although some felt the laser and water show was amazing, I was left thinking it is amazing what people will pay money for...but to be quite honest, the ambiance of the place was quite nice, and the whole night went off without a hitch (which is not par for the course with this group). The night ended at the fountain that Brax went swimming in *as accounted for in a previous post)...but alas, no Danish Baths occurred.

Nora...GetCandyGetCandyGetCandy

There have been many memorable people from my studies here at the Danish Design School; Nora is certainly one of them. An architecture student from University of Washington (St. Louis), she has a spunk and honesty that always (well maybe not always) is great to have a round. Nora can make you laugh in a minute by simply talking about candy. Her favorite thing in the world is candy. I am thankful she has a big toe, and can swim fast, because if she could not, candy would be the death of her. She loves candy, as you can see from the picture here. She also loves her new husband (not really) Luke, who you will meet in a future entry. Nora will never be able to successfully purchase sunglasses, I am certain! She loves copper rings with Jemstones. She has coined a phrase that will always be with me..."I don't want to loose my drunk"...and she has a way of spilling things on her shelf...All in all Nora was a blast to have around and I look forward to keeping in touch.

Why Are There Two Chairs?

So, as usual, things do not go exactly as planned. I was all set to be done with my chair 3 days early, and have a nice leisurely weekend and last week here in Copenhagen. I sent my steel frame to the finishers where they were putting on the chrome finish...and when it came back, and I put the seat on the frame, one of the welds popped. Since the chrome was already on, we had a problem...after we re-welded the connection; the chrome burned off near the weld...which meant I would need to have the chair re-finished. There was, however no grantee that the finish would come out to my liking the second time around, so at noon on Saturday (with a day and a half to go) I began from scratch on my second chair. After 2 sleepless nights, and a lot of extra work, I completed the second chair. It came out so much nicer than the first one, and only took me two days; instead of two weeks...surprising how much you can learn doing something twice. So ultimately I ended up with two chairs...both of which I am quite happy with. I brought them to Mailboxes Etc. this morning, and am having them shipped home (which was another fun expense that far surpassed my expectations...$500 big ones!)

So I have 3 days left in Denmark, and plan on making the most of it. Tonight I am going to Tivoli Gardens which is there big theme park in the middle of the city...tomorrow I am going to try to go to the Louisiana Museum...and Sunday I plan on taking it easy, and getting everything ready for my departure early on Monday for Amsterdam.

Getting Closer

So, here are the last of the process photos...today I will get it back with the matte chrome finish, and put the leather seat on. But here is a glimpse of it in its current state...after this chair post, I will get back to posting more exciting installments...

This is the chair all sanded in the closed position with the wall hanger.


Tape is holding it all together, but soon a leather strap will do the job.



Cutting and sewing leather is not as easy as you would think...luckily there was a friendly lady here to help...the final image of the whole chair will be posted later today.


I still need a name for the chair...now that you can see it better, anyone have a suggestion??

The Chair Continues

So I know this is not the most exciting addition to my blog, but this has taken up 80% of my waking hours...so here are some images of the two frames. This first photo shows the first frame sanded down, and the second placed in the jig ready for welding.
Additionally, here are some images of the sanding process. To sand down the weld, I am only using hand tools, so each corner takes about 2 hours to complete. Perfection is not going to happen, but I think in the end it will look pretty good.
Once all of the welding is done, the chair is going to go out to a steel finisher, where they will put a mat chrome finish on. I should be all done with the welding and sanding after 2 more days, then be able to work on the wall piece, and seat material. I will pretty much use all of next week for this, and may be done early enough to have the weekend free...keep your fingers crossed for me.

Copenhagen Nights...

Just a photo I took the other night on the street...a glimpse into the rough life out here...

Suggest a Name...My Chair in Progress...

So here I am, finishing up my first week in the shop, and I thought I would give you a little sneak peak of the progress I have made on my chair. These are the rough steps, with a lot of detail missing in the middle, but you get the point...

So here is the raw steel, cut to rough lengths. From these pieces, I cut each to the proper angel, and then fit them into the template I made for myself out of wood.

Here are the pieces assembled and ready for welding. Originally I was going to Tik weld the corners, however there is something wrong with the machine, and so I am Wik welding instead. The first of the two frames is now welded, and the second frame is in the slightly larger template. Today I will weld the corners, and begin to sand and buff the steel.

Over the weekend I hope to complete the seat material, and get the whole thing ready to go out to a shop that will put the brush chrome finish on. The stool will have used about 5 meters of steel (1 meter less than the max), and will sit about 50 cm off the ground. I am also designing and building the hook for the stool to hang on the wall when not in use. More photos will come as the completion approaches...but here is a little snippit.

If you think of a clever name, please post a reply on this site, or email me...I need to come up with one...the basic shape is seen above (you can click on it to enlarge), and the seat will be made out of some found signs in plastic from Copenhagen...the whole thing is suppose to serve a dual purpose, hang on a wall as art, and be able to sit on it when drawing or admiring art.

Hookah

So on the list of firsts this summer is an evening at a Hookah Bar. To be completely honest, I am really not sure how I found myself there...but alas, with 6 friends, and a random guy who said maybe 4 words all night, I found myself in a very dimly lit Hookah bar waiting around a very strange contraption.

The Hookah, to me at least, looks more like broken chandelier. An ugly broken chandelier. After choosing the very macho flavor of apple, we all took turns partaking in the Hookah. I have occasionally had a cigar at poker nights, and even had a clove a couple times, but that is pretty much the extent of my tabaco experience. Hookah has some small amount of tobacco...but you cannot feel or taste it...it was a very strange feeling to be breathing in a pipe, and not know it, except for the water bubbling in the bottom of the chandelier, and the distorted smoke coming out your nostrils and mouth. Although I will probably never do it again, it was fun, and I felt like a noblemen of an ancient Indian province.