Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/09/20
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I grew up in Denmark, specifically its second city, called Århus. Last week I gave a talk at a conference in Copenhagen, and of course I took the opportunity to stay with my father there for a few days, and we also made a nostalgic trip to Århus, which he left in 1989 and has not visited for several years. Århus has about 250,000 inhabitants and is located in eastern Jutland, the only part of Denmark which is on the European mainland. The town and surrounding area have had a booming economy for the past decade, and a lot of things have changed since I lived there (until 1983). One of the most pleasant changes is shown in my main picture. The small river which runs into the sea at Århus was covered up in the 1930s to widen the main road to the port. As a result, when I lived there, this street (called Åboulevarden) was decidedly unattractive, with somewhat dilapidated buildings and heavy traffic rumbling towards the port. A few years ago a new ring road was completed, leading port-bound traffic around the town centre, and the river was uncovered again. As a result, Åbouvelarden is now one of the most attractive streets in the town, especially in the summer: http://www.wajsman.com/2002_37.jpg (M7, 35mm Summilux, Kodachrome 64) The first alternate shows one of the many pedestrian bridges that have been built over the river: http://www.wajsman.com/2002_37alt1.jpg (M7, 24mm Elmarit, Kodachrome 64) Århus has a brewery, Ceres, which is one of the few remaining breweries in Denmark that has not been swallowed up by the Carlsberg Group, which controls 85-90% of the Danish beer market. In the summer, Ceres brings out its antique beer trucks: http://www.wajsman.com/2002_37alt2.jpg (M7, 35mm Summilux, Kodachrome 64) (For the last two alternates, you may want to get out your map of Europe...) As mentioned, Århus is in Jutland, but the rest of Denmark is spread over many islands. Copenhagen is on the island of Sjælland, and when I was a child in the 1970s, the country was criss-crossed by ferry routes. During the past 10 years two huge bridge projects have been completed, one 18 km long, linking the island of Funen with Sjælland and another, 19 km combined bridge and tunnel linking Copenhagen with the Swedish city of Malmö across the Øresund strait. So most of the ferry companies are out of business now. I am always fascinated by these huge bridges but find them difficult to photograph. The last two alternates show the two bridges across Lillebælt, linking Jutland with the island of Funen, and hence making it possible to drive from Århus to Copenhagen without using a ferry. The suspension bridge in the foreground is relatively new, from the 1960s or 1970s, I think. In the far background you can see the old bridge, built in the 1930s and today used by trains: http://www.wajsman.com/2002_37alt3.jpg http://www.wajsman.com/2002_37alt4.jpg (both alt3 and alt4 taken with Bessa R2, 24mm Elmarit, Agfa Scala 200) The complete PAW index is at: http://www.wajsman.com/indexpaw2002.htm and comments/critique are always welcomed and appreciated. Nathan - -- Nathan Wajsman Herrliberg (ZH), Switzerland e-mail: wajsman@webshuttle.ch mobile: +41 78 732 1430 Photo-A-Week: http://www.wajsman.com/indexpaw2002.htm General photo site: http://www.wajsman.com/index.htm - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html