Nicole the cocolatier

On Friday Nicole went to Manchester to attend a chocolatier course, which was a birthday present. She left with the 07.00 flight from London to Manchester, being slightly nervous about what to expect.

I didn't hear a thing from her the entire day and only when I met up her in Manchester in the evening did I get to see what she had been up to...

The course was scheduled from 9.30 in the morning to 15.30 in the afternoon. Initially they went through the history and the theory behind chocolate. Apperantly the chocolate beans grow on trees and when they are ripe they are plucked and barried underground until they ferment.

Apparently the Venezuelan 47% chocolate is the best type (according to Nicole's taste that is).

Thereafter they started on making pralines with all sorts of filings. Some where with a nougat type, some with coconut.

After having done those they went on to make truffles which I think Nicole had a hard time with because the cream and the chocolate started curdling when she added the hot coffee for flavour. The second batch went a little better. She teamed up with another guy, who instead of coffee used brandy for flavouring. The coffee flavoured where the best...

Later in the afternoon they went on to make a coating for a cake and chocolate lollipops.

All in all she came home with more chocolate than we could possibly eat during our continued stay over the weekend in Windermere in the Lake District.

Copenhagen Ultra Light

So far the Blog has contained advice about what to do in Copenhagen during
a weekend break in the summer or in the winter. Only now is there also
advice for a 60 to 90 break, should you arrive via Copenhagen airport...

Although Copenhagen town center is only 11 minutes away it is far better
just to exit the terminal building and walk right, past car park 12 and
over to Statoil. Buy yourself 2 Hapsdogs for DKR 45 and enjoy..

This should not take longer than 30 minutes and thus you still have time
to explore all the tax free bargains...

Apparatus for tail wind whilst cycling...

Jacob Haugaard was around 10 years ago elected into the Danish parliament by proposing:

1. Tail wind on all bicycle lanes
2. Nutella in the army food rations

I think he wished that he had patented his ideas:

Check out www.patentlysilly.com to see for yourself.

A word of warning, Do NOT start browsing the other PATENTED inventions on this website unless you have HOURS to kill.

Personally I can recommend:

1. Article of Clothing with a Novel Attachment Means
2. Bottle Cap Necktie
3. Solar Powered Candle AS WELL AS Lightbulb changing device
4. Illuminated Wreth for the front of a car

And so it goes on as long as you want it to...

France & Barcelona pictures available

France & Barcelona

Sep 5, 2006 - 121 Photos

Click on the thumbnail above to view some of our best holiday photos...

New sofas

 

Visit to Carcassonne

Tuesday we visited the medieval town of Carcassonne.

They say it is one of the best kept medieval fortress in France and maybe
even Europe. It was impressive to walk around in this fully functional
town, catering so nicely for the tourists...

All the towers and walls are intact and quite a few also still have wooden
walkways around.

We are learning and this time we enjoyed our "artisan" (homemade) lunch and
only went exploring for our coffee.

After having explored the rest of the medieval town and spent a good EUR 12
on bisquits for the evening, we devided to take a walk through the
remaining town. The town has a really good atmosphere in the shopping area
as well. We made our way up to Gare SNCF abd bought tickets for Perpignan
to Barcelona on Friday morning. This was the only thing we weren't
completely sure was possible.

At the end of the day we raced home to the house to make a braai.
We made lamb chop for Nic and a nice steak for Mic. I have enjoyed the
steak with a nice bottle of Carbades feom the neighbouring town...

It is 21.45 and we are still able to sit on the terrace, drinking coffee
and our EUR 12 bisquits... They are allright.

Miraval, Carcassonne, Languedoc

This morning we left Avignon to drive to Carcassonne. We stopped at Pont du
Gard the amazing aquaduct sloping exactly 7 percent (As I remember) to
create the perfect stream of water in Avignon.

As we left, I estimated that we would arrive at Bentes house at 18.00 in
the evening. 18.03 and we pulled in, in front of the house. Scandinavian
precision...

Bente had told is the house was just north of Carcassonne, but in actual
fact we ended up 26 kilometres of winding streets later.
The situation is so remote, that I have got to ask Bente where and why she
has managed to find it in the first place?

The drive from Avignon to the house was mostly done on country roads. The
area is truly spectacular. Wine fields as far as the eye can see, until you
engage on the mountain drive. It is in fact more like driving through a
canyon with steep mountain sides both to the left and to the right.

We did the mistake of leaving Avignon, feeling confident that we would find
a supermache that was open on a Sunday. Eventualy wgen we arrived at the
house we had missed both lunch and dinner opportunities.
After having settled in the house we drove 12 km back to Corgues s. Orbitel
where we managed to find the only open restaurant. 2 entrecotes latee, we
were happy people and we could drive back to the house. We are now very
comfortable with road and I am almost not put off by the thought that I
have to drive 7 km to the nearest patisserie in Las Tours.

Although we had glorious plans about using this place as a base for endless
exploration, I think we both agree, that we will be content with sitting
and reading books in the swirley bench, listenibg to the mountain stream.
Only interupted by the churchbells LITERALLY above our heads.

Avignon, Provence

We stayed for quite a while in Cassis and to be honest I think we both
regreted not to have booked another night in Cassis. After having layed on
the beach and walked in the Calangues, we were finally ready to continue to
Avignon.

After getting lost in Cassis (seemms compulsary) we left for the motorway.
We spent more time queuing for toll booths than actually driving on the
motorway and subsequently EUR 10 later we arrived in Avignon.

My Dad and Anne had recommended Hotel Medieval and after getting lost in
Avignon also we managed to cheque in. In best French style you plonk your
car in the street (which isn't much wider than a Citroen Xsara Picasso)
with your hazards on untill you are ready to continue, preferably with
between 2 to 4 cars having waited behind you...

The English receptionist at the hotel was so nice that he managed to uplift
the entire stay at Avignon with his helpful advice and general interest.

From or top floor window we have a nice side view to Pepes Palace...
Apparently the pope back in the old Roman days prefered to stay in Avignon
as opposed to Rome. Just as Queen Margrethe prefers Fredensborg to
Amalienborg...

Avignon in August is a nice town but very quiet. The shops are generally
very funky and you do get the feeling that the citizens are very
innovative.

We had a lovely lunch in the sun in the garden of Pepes Palace. Hereafter
we decided to spend the afternoon visiting Chateauneuf de Pape.

In Chateaineuf de Papel we decided to drive back to Avignon and enjoy the
meal in the town. We managed to find a nice restaurant that speciallised in
crepes and thus we had savoury and sweet pancakes for dinner.

Cassis, Provence.

We had reserved a miniature car from home and were quite chuffed to
reallise that the car had been upgraded to a Xsara Picasso, which is a
large family minibus type of a car. Only later in Avignon, should we
realise that unneeded space in a car is NOT a plus.

Anyways, shortly after having landed, we were on our way to Cassis via
Marseille. Initially we wanted to stay in Marseille, but after being lost
there for a little hour, we were quite glad to continue.

Cassis at Cape Canaille, is a gorgeous little natural harbour. It is the
starting point to walk alpng the Calangues. This is essentially to be
walking on the cliffs and looking far down into turquise canyons. People
are kayaking and doing all sorts of water sports. Qe had bought salami and
baguette at the market and had the most scenic view with our lunch.

Only after hour first lunch at EUR 40 did we realise that French cuisine is
very different. When the menu is in French and the waiter only speaks
little English, the food order leaves room for surprises...

The room at Hotel Le Golfe was well worth the money and we would stay there
again. We had a scenic view from the balcony via the harbour front to Cape
Canaille in the background, amazing.

Airport security

As the security has tightened at UK airports recently, we were courious
about how it was going tp be, flying at 6.05 in the morning from Gatwick to
Marseille.

You are not allowed to bring any cosmetics and very few types of liquid on
board a plane these days.

Although being asked when checking in, about cosmetics, people still had
these items when approaching the scanner. Security personnel were walking
up and down collecting last minute items, and there was a lady behind us
that have to give up her entire cosmetics bag. The security officer adviced
her that she could keep the pouch.

After having walked through the scanning area in socks and holding up the
pants we were finally ready to fly. They now also want to scan your
shoes...

Copenhagen in the Summer

Stroeget (best compared to Oxford Street) is probably the longest shopping
street in Europe, closed for motorised traffic.

The street is connecting Central Copenhagen from east at Kongens Nytorv to
west at the city town hall. Local tip is to go off Stroeget and visit "Graabroedretorv". The restaurant "Peder Oxe" is very popular amongst Danes. The historic square in itself is also well worth a visit.

Also just off Stroeget is "Vandkunsten", "Loengangstraede", "Brolaeggerstraede" all medieval street. If you can find cafe Sorgenfri (I think BadstueStraede), they are famous for there luxurious open sandwiches as only the Danes can make them. (Don't forget Snaps if you are having herring)...

On Amagertorv right at the middle of Stroeget is Illums Bolighus which I think have the most comprehensive collection of Danish design items for sale. Just to browse and see how stuff you only thought existed as plastic merchandise has been developed in stainless steel and rubber....

Kongens Nytorv:
Is the East connecting point of Stroeget. It is a big open square (Trafalgar) with Copenhagen's probably most expensive hotels (d'Angleterre). What is probably more interesting is Magasin (du Nord) which is in my opinion the best department store in Copenhagen. Whether the weather is good or not you should try walking down Nyhavn (at one o'clock past the royal theatre) when you enter the square from Stroeget.

Nyhavn is the colourful house front you see on every single tourist book. During the summer it is the best place to sit and have a pint of beer and maybe even lunch. The all try hard but Nyhavn 17 is particularly popular.

At the end of Nyhavn further East is Amalienborg, walk down to the end of Nyhavn and bear left walk along the water down towards the castle. This is where the Queen lives.

If you are in the mood for more brisk walking, this will take you all the way down to "Langelinie" and the little mermaid. rather than seeing the little statue, bear left and walk up to the parks of Kastellet which is the oldest existing parts of the Copenhagen defence walls.

***

At the other end of Stroeget at the town hall you MUST pay a visit to Tivoli
This is a bustling amusement park (Not like Blackpool or Brighton!, more like Kew Gardens with
restaurants and rollercoaster's).

Don't come during the day but plan an evening out here. Arrive at 18.00 walk around, find a suitable restaurant, eat etc. and walk the calories off in the park afterwards. Make sure to
stay till midnight and enjoy the light show to say goodnight at the little lake. It is well worth watching 5+ times (We have done that...Ask for the time I think it is around 22.00-23.00 on Wednesdays and Saturdays.)

Try not to go on a Friday due to the FRIDAY ROCK which is fantastic but as it is a popular Danish band on 25/8 you won't enjoy it but the park will bepacked. Where else do you get a concert ticket for 6 pound?

Recommendable restaurants in here are:
Bernstoffs (also accesible from outside on Bernstoffsgade (reserve table!)
Restaurant Viften more like a cafeteria but some restaurants are very
expensive and this is good value for money which not all are...
Groeften is where the celebrities like to hang out
Hercegovina is "Yougoslavian" food and very bustly.
Divan 2 generally very good but also pricey.
Don't forget to finish with a pint of beer at Faergekroen. Fantastic atmosphere...

If moving outside the centre:

Christianshavn has got some cute canals and "vor frelser" kirke is quite
cool with its staircase on the outside of the church spire.
Don't bother too much about Vesterbro as this is the rougher BUT up and
coming area.
Noerrebro is where a lot of students are living, thus many "funky" cafes and
restaurants. "Sankt Hans Torv" is worth a short visit.
Splitting Noerrebro from Central Copenhagen are the 4 "Lakes" which are artificial but place for a nice walk.
OEsterbro is the nicest residential part of Copenhagen but besides from "Rosens kvarter" and "Brumlebyerne" it is quite residential.

***

Traffic wise Copenhagen airport is very well connected with the town. Don't bother with taking a taxi in, as it will cost you an arm and take 3 times the time.

In the basement in the arrivals (terminal 3) is a train that takes you to the central station in 11 minutes. Before leaving the arrivals terminal, stop at the ticket booth just before the escalators and enquire about "klippekort" (If you are planning to take buses and trains around). A blue
one with 10 x 2 zones cost DKR 105.00 and each person will need 4 zones into the town centre (4 stamps for 2 people).

***

If you are into art, Louisiana north of Copenhagen is a very famous museum with after Danish terms a comprehensive collection of art together with short term exhibitions.

Helsingoer is on the same train stretch as Louisiana museum. Helsingoer is a quaint town, famous (in the world) for being were Hamlet said his famous words. (The the Swedes it is known for its liberal approach to alcohol)...

Safer browsing

McAfee, one of the main players on the virus security software market have acquired the service called siteadvisor, which gives you an indication of a web sites security when you are browsing it.

In addition, when you Google something, it provides a traffic light indication to whether a site has been reviewed and considered safe, mediocre or unsafe.

The community works such that if a site has not yet received a recommendation, you can submit it for review.

The traffic light is based on tests for pop-ups, browser exploits, phishing activity, adware, spyware and malware.

The service can be downloaded as an extension to Firefox and is free of charge.

Barclays Banking, masochism or insanaty

When moving across to the UK, Barclays Bank was recommended by Den Danske Bank. I am struggling to see why.

Their financial services are un competitive in any ways possible. Their credit cards are charged at around 20% which has received plentiful comments from the Ombudsman. The fact that they paid Jennifer Anniston GBP 2M for a TV ad that ONLY made the headlines because of that fact does not halp either.

Their mortgages will always be higher than other high street banks. Their marketing consists of hand written signs in the banks by desparate employees trying to meet their head office targets. I would imagine the consequence of not meeting the target is to be sacked as there is always new staff in the branches, which you as a customer has to "appreciate and accept" ??? Maybe thatg is also the reason you always wait minimum 20 minutes to be served, because all staff goes to lunch at the time their customers come to see them. After lunch they are just way busy with their mobile phones and chatting across the barriers about football.

Back to the cosequence of being sacked - don't worry there will be something better for you out there...

Try and file a complaint? You are left to send an email to a service that still hasn't responded to my letters. If you manage to get hold of a telephone number to one of their branches as I once did, prepare yourself for a mouthful for calling them on that "secret" number...

Should you go into overdraft they will charge you a "learn the lesson fee" of GBP 30 per day if new transactions occur...... Imagine coming home from a 3 day holiday where 3 transactions have caused you to overdraw with just GBP 10 - that holiday will cost you an additional GBP 90 - enough to go to Paris for a weekend break.

Did I forget to mention all the other services they manage to sell you each time you go into the bank? And also remind me to tell you about the GBP 3.5 billion they distribute to their shareholders each year...

Free mobile and landline telephony!

There is no doubt that internet telephony is the way forward. Many ideas are revealed these years. Not to forget Skype that was sold to eBay for around USD 3.5 BN.

This new service from jajah.com deserves a mention - and an incouragement for all friend and family to sign up.

The charge to call a non registered user is reasonable but the real benefit comes when both parties are registered, as the call from landline to landline (or from mobile to mobile) is then completely free .

How it works is basically that the caller logs into jajah.com and makes a selection of whom to call (address book or dial-pad) and from which phone he/she wishes to call from. The callers phone will ring and then shortly after the recipient is called.

Initially before subscription, you get 5 minutes of free talktime, which I used on a quality test of the service by calling my Dad. He was busy cutting down the apple-tree in the garden!!!

The quality from UK landline to DK landline is top notch.

Even when you subscribe you get around GBP 1.88 (presumably the equivalent of USD 3.00) to enable you start talking.

So please subscribe and lets enjoy free communication as long as it will last...

Regular breakdowns at Copenhagen Airport

This was the weekend, we went to celebrate my Dad, Erik's, 60th birthday and his retirement.

Usually we return back to the UK on a Sunday evening but this time we thought we would like to utilize the entire weekend and thus fly back on the Monday morning.

Oh what a mistake. Although we thoroughly enjoyed Sunday evening with a picnic in a park, the relaxed feeling was somewhat offset with the stress of Monday morning at the airport...

This time we flew with Sterling Airways from terminal 2. Before we entered the airport terminal, we could see the orange screens, and all the people through the sliding doors. At first I thought orange = EasyJet and people = charter holidays which equals = not my problem!

What a mistake. The entire building was full of people waiting to check-in with Sterling. Initially we tried to maneouvre down to the end of the queue in the other end of the building but eventually we just stepped into the queue somewhere. This later turned out to be the general plan as people generally proclaimed the situation to be a state of emergency....

As usual there was very little communication and what was even more worrying was that the message that was broadcasted was a pre-recording... They seem to be used to the situation??

Eventually after 90 minutes of queueing we were checked in, only to re-iterate the exercise at the security gate. Here people were now coming to the conclusion that all flights but theres would be delayed and thus most people had an average of 6 - 20 minutes to board the plane and thus they should be in the front of the queue. No worries, we did the same....

Besides from all this there was some PSIP (Potentially Self-Important Person) on the plane as we boarded from gate B1. this gate is located at the ground floor, away from all fingers and passport controls.
We sat waiting in a row of chairs facing a speakers chair. When we got to Gatwick we were welcomed by a row of limousines picking of the passenger (could not see whom because of the wing).

The only lesson to be learned is: As staff was walking around the airport announcing that people to this and that destination now had to come forward in the queue, you may as well sit down at Cafe Karen Blixen and enjoy breakfast whilst watching the farce around you until your destination gets preference....

Belbin Team Profile test

At a team meeting in Suresnes (Paris) I was introduced to the Belbin method of testing individual team members personality to create a complete team profile.

In essence any team needs to cover all of these personality characteristics: Plant, Shaper, Coordinator, Implemeter, Resource Investigator, Monitor/Evaluator, Team Worker, Completer/Finisher, Specialist.

After the meeting I was asked to enhance the flip-chart which grew (I am a plant!) into a complete questionnaire with chart and everything.

Therefore if you fancy taking the test, try out the following spreadsheet (click on the link). At the bottom after the chart is a PDF attachment, describing the details of the characteristica as well as the strenghts and weaknesses.

Let me know your results...

Weller's auctions

Herbert, my Swedish colleague, told me about Weller's auctions the other day. Basically every Tueday, they have an auction of unwanted retail items.

These items can be returned goods, factory refurbishments etc. that are completetly fault free but possibly without box.

I have had a look at the auction items and they include everything from trousers and socks to LCD TVs and agricultural machinery.

The auction is in Chertsey, which isn't far from Kingston at all.

I would like to go there one day and check out all the fab items you presumably can get at bargain price.

Visit to Paris

After an early start to the day and a long days work did I manage to get to
enjoy Paris.

This morning I managed to sort out a biometric passport to France,
P.E.G.A.S.E
This consist of a chipcard which is associated with your fingerprints. When
you enter the contry you enter a secure box and apply your fingerprints. No
need to queue for passport control anymore.

Nicole, rocking at Knebworth

Nicole has in her capacity as marketing executive for Kinetic Partners been working long and hard on arranging the company's presence at the Hedgestock event at Knebworth 7-8th June 2006.

5% good weather and 95% hard work made Kinetic Partners presence such a success that they were even featured on CNN! (click the link to see the video clip).

Also the BBC and New York Times covered the event.

With the World Cup also launching that week, Nicole decided their theme should evolve around the footie and thus she hired a fake grass carpet and two football tables. With the main price being 2 tickets for the WC semi final, there was plenty of interest in taking part.

Knebworth is well known for hosting massive rock concerts, Robin Williams played there around 2 years ago, which basically resulted in the collapse of the public transport in the area by the sheer number of spectators travelling at the same time.
This time it was the Who's turn to play and they performed their first live concert in 2 years for the people in the hedge fund industry, who all paid GBP 500.00 in entrance fee for the exhibition. The proceeds went as a charity donation to the Teenage Cancer Trust. (which is tax deductible in the UK for the contributing company - nice one).

Legitimate music download

At the time of our wedding, I was looking into downloading some important Danish tracks that could be played at the wedding.

There are a number of Danish providers, such as TDC Musik and Bilka Musik where you can find the Danish artists that you can't find abroad. They both accept international creditcards as long as they have been issued in Denmark!? so what is the point?

This negative experience put me off music download for a time and only here the other day did I decide to give it another try.

I decided to give the English equivalent of Bilka Musik a try, Tesco, Britains largest supermarket chain. All went well and at GBP 0.79 per track it seemed reasonable. I chose 5 popular songs and entered my credit card details for the charge, GBP 3.95.

I managed to download the WMA formatted files. As the HiFi in the lounge is connected via the KiSS DVD player to the PC, I got my self ready for a blast. I managed to find the tracks and pressed PLAY... Error - the files are subject to Digital Rights Management....

If you consider an average CD to contain 13 tracks and cost 12.99, I would think that by paying GBP 4 for 1/3 of the number of tracks, it would be fair to asume I can play my music in the car, on the DVD player in the lounge, on the PC etc. etc.

Nothing has changed SONY and Billy Bob Gates have got it as they want it. You are guilty as sin of trying to copy music and that is it. Theoretically they should take legal actions against anybody downloading legal music, because that is at the end of the day what is happening... It is the same as restricting a Renault Clio to drive faster than 30 Mph because it is a car designed for driving in towns and do shopping and you can't have genuine intentions by taking it on the motorway...

The world is controlled by a bunch of short sighted fat cats. Just remember how the national mail companies where complaining about danger of collapse when the email was invented. No one was to send a letter anymore. At the end of the day their roles have changed because people are buying box after box of goods on the internet which is then sent by mail and thus they are still making great revenue. (The fact that the fat cats aren't cost-contentious and thus making losses because of bureaucracy is not the stamp buyers fault).

Same scenario is now happening with the music industry; only that the music industry is retaining their profitability as people are so buzy filling up their prestigious MP3 players with rights managed music such that they don't have time to dispute the fact that they lock themselves down. The last 2 years Apple's iPod has been the thing. Nokia is now launching their new N91 and in essence that means that all the gadget addicts that has to have this one instead now have to purchase their music all over again...

It is great however to see how Gnarls Barclay's Crazy song is stirring up some sheit by reaching number one without releasing a CD..

TV License for you PC ?!

It was with great interest I read my Danish news paper, Politiken Online, today. DR, Denmarks Radio, the national equivalent of BBC and SABC, have managed to get approval for legislation which grant them the right of charging TV license fee if your PC is capable of viewing DR news and media.

All liable media are charged as a non-optional package of DKR 2,150.00. At least most Danish households are already having TV and radio and thus it is not going to be an additional expense, which is probably how they managed to get the legislation through. In the event you do not own a TV or a radio, you will now have to pay license because you have a PC!!! I am sorry to say that I don't see the why having a PC for doing internet banking, gadget shopping or publishing a web site is any of DR's business....

Any other business reporting to shareholders would have to create a secure domain where you by entering credit card details would be granted access to the chargeable material and thus it is a mystery how DR has managed to justify this ludicrous charge. Who said there is no longer a monopoly in Denmark?

The question is whether you get a rebate for a dial-up modem as opposed to a fast broadband connection? Furthermore you today have the benefit of being able to review archived material but the good stuff is always removed after 4 weeks - is that going to change now that people are paying for having access?

In essence this is just another tax to a suffering business and I suppose the next proposal is for TV shops with window displays to pay license per pedestrian walking by their windows?!

GPS satellite navigation

After Andrew introduced me to a 2,800 KM long demonstration of his Navman satellite solution, which went pretty smooth, I had to get onto the wagon.

The demonstration was our trip from Kingston to Kokkedal to collect furniture over a bank holiday weekend. The only thing that went wrong was that I drove all the way there and back, including Copenhagen sightseing in flip flop sandals. This is another story though.

My solution is an installation of TomTom version 3 which enables for download of speed camera locations and all the point of interests (POIs) you can think off. I can find any cashpoint, petrolstation, Tesco, B&Q etc. in the UK.

TomTom doesn't deal with POIs very well and thus I have installed checkPOInt 3.2 on my Pocket PC. Via a client software on your home PC you can select TONS of interesting points. There are loads from the UK e.g. buslane cameras, Sainsbury, etc etc and for Denmark Bilka, Foetex, Brugsen, Netto etc are represented. Should you find errors, you can update their database here.

Every time I synchronise the Pocket PC (PPC) with the PC, it checks my selected interests for any updates and thus there should be NO danger for missing a shopping opportunity anymore.

As TomTom (although expensive enough) doesn't incorporate European maps with their UK version, I bought a discontinued version of the Navman software, which allows me to download European maps to my PPC every time we are going to Continental Europe. These maps are a couple of years out of date but works perfectly fine for our needs.

Regarding the GPS receiver, I waited a year or two before buying and thus benefited from the extensive research & development resources that are put into this field. By having 12 receivers, the unit called GlobalSat BT338, is capable of receiving from a pocket or a glove compartment, which the first versions weren't. (They almost had to "see" the sky to work).

As there is an extensive development going on, the products are continously enhanced and thus it is recommended to browse pocketgpsworld for latest reviews.

Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK

You have probably already heard about the new legislation regarding application for Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK (ILR). In short this impacts us as the "probation" period has changed from 4 years to 5 years.

For the past 2 years we have been eligible to apply for a fiancees VISA and subsequently Nicole would for 2 years have had the freedom to work where-ever she would want to. Had we gone that route, Nicole would in two years time be able to apply for ILR.

As we have been in the firm belief that if Nicole could remain working for her sponsor she would as of April this year be granted ILR and thus a British Passport holder as of next year.

With no notification the rules were changed as of 3rd April such that you now require 5 years of sponsorship before being eligible to apply for ILR. This rule change happened on the same date as Nicole was eligible to apply and thus we went to the Immigrations office in Croydon to defend our case albeit with no luck.

We wrote a letter to our local MP, Edward Davey, whom confirmed the ridicolous in the new law and promissed to write to the Homeoffice. We still haven't seen this letter.

We have now taken contact with a VISA agency whom have confirmed that I am eligible to back-date my application (as a EU citizen) for ILR upon which Nicole will be eligible to a two year probation period as opposed to the normal 4 years. And yes, new VISA - new counter... You can apply for 10 VISA's and sit here for 40 years and still not be eligible to stay in the UK.

Having said this there may finally be a bit of light at the end of the extended tunnel.

Tourist in Copenhagen (winter advice)

Strøget:

Strøget (best compared to Oxford Street) is probably the longest shopping street in Europe, closed for motorised traffic.

The street is connecting Central Copenhagen from east at Kongens Nytorv to west at the city town hall. Local tip is to go off Strøget and visit "Gråbrødretorv". The restaurant "Peder Oxe" is very popular amongst Danes. The square in itself is also well worth a visit.

Also just off Strøget is "Vandkunsten", "Løngangstraede", "Brolaeggerstraede" all medieval street. If you can find cafe Sorgenfri (I think BadstueStraede), they are famous for there luxurious open sandwiches as only the Danes can make them.

On Amagertorv right at the middle of Strøget is The Royal Danish Porcelain factory's exhibition which is very much addressing the tourists BUT on first floor getting close to Christmas they have an exhibition of "Royal" Christmas table settings which (even as me being a guy) are quite impressive.

Kongens Nytorv:
Is the East connecting point of Strøget. It is a big open square (Trafalgar) with Copenhagen's probably most expensive hotels (d'Angleterre). What is probably more interesting is Magasin (du Nord) which is in my opinion the best department store in Copenhagen.
Here up to Christmas you should try find a table in Hviids Vinstue, right next to Magasin. It is the oldest still existing bars in Copenhagen, and there Gluhwein (Gløgg) is to die for (well a tradition at least). This place is ludicrously busy so don't expect to get a seat anywhere.

Just east of Kongens Nytorv is
Nyhavn:
Which is the colourful house front you see on every single tourist book. During November it is too cold to sit outside, but still take a walk down and maybe have a look in Nyhavn 17, which is one of the most popular of the bars, they are all bars.

At the end of Nyhavn further East is Amalienborg, walk down to the end of Nyhavn and bear left walk along the water down towards the castle. This is where the queen lives.

If you are in the mood for more brisk walking, this will take you all the way down to "Langelinie" and the little mermaid. rather than seeing the little statue, bear left and walk up to the parks of Kastellet which is the oldest existing parts of the Copenhagen defence walls.

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At the other end of Strøget at the town hall you should pay a visit to Tivoli. At summer it is a bustling amusement park (Not like Blackpool, more like Kew Gardens with restaurants and rollercoaster's). During the winter most of the amusements are closed but there are winter stalls with Christmas decorations and what not. More important is, if you didn't get your Gløgg at Hviids Vinstue, try find a place in Tivoli to enjoy it.
The "Lake" is likely to be frozen (artificial don't worry) but it might be too early I don't know. If it is frozen this is the Copenhagen version of a ice skating ring.

If moving outside the centre:

Christianshavn has got some cute canals and "vor frelser" kirke is quite cool with its staircase on the outside of the church spire.
Don't bother about Vesterbro as this is the rougher BUT up and coming area.
Nørrebro is where a lot of students are living, thus many "funky" cafes and restaurants. "Sankt Hans Torv" is worth a short visit.
Splitting Nørrebro from Central Copenhagen are the 4 "Lakes" which are artificial but place for a nice walk.
østerbro is the nicest residential part of Copenhagen but besides from "Rosens kvarter" and "Brumlebyerne" it is quite residential.

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Traffic wise Copenhagen airport is very well connected with the town. Don't bother with taking a taxi in, as it will cost you an arm and take 3 times the time.

In the basement in the arrivals is a train that takes you to the central station in 11 minutes. Before leaving the arrivals terminal, stop at the ticket booth just before the escalators and enquire about "klippekort" (If you are planning to take buses and trains around). A blue one with 10 x 2 zones cost DKR 105.00 and each person will need
4 zones into the town centre (4 stamps).

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If you are into art, Louisiana north of Copenhagen is a very famous museum with after Danish terms a comprehensive collection of art together with short term exhibitions.

Helsingør is on the same train stretch as Louisiana museum. Helsingør is a quaint town, famous (in the world) for being were Hamlet said his famous words. (The the Swedes it is known for its liberal approach to alcohol)...

Ryebread recipe

Day 1
500 gram Rye grains
340 gram Wholewheat flour
70 gram Rye flour
0.75 litre Luke warm water
Sour dough from last batch

Day 2
600 gram Rye flour
2 tbsp Salt
2 tbsp Syrup
0.75 litre Luke warm water



Stir all the ingredients for day 1 together i a large bowl.
Cover the bowl and let it rest for 24 hours.

1) Add all the day 2 ingeredients and stir thoroughly.
2) Lubricate 2 baking forms with a thin layer of oil (the more oil the more crusty bread).
3) Take dough aside to generate sour dough for next batch. Put it in a small container and sprinkle genereously with salt.
4) Distribute the remaining dough evenly in the 2 baking forms and set aside to rest for another 4 hours.
5) Brush a thin layer of oil on the top of the bread (the more oil the crustier).
6) Bake in the oven at 200 C for 90 minutes.

If you don't anticipate to be baking the next batch within approx. 3 weeks, freeze the sourdough otherwise just keep it in the fridge to become nice and sour!!!
Be warned that if the container is not thoroughly sealed, the lid can burst open and make a mess in the fridge.

Don't be shy to ask for sourdough. I won't be able to accommodate your request immediatelly but will take dough aside next time I am baking.
The secret is to plan in advance. There is only 20 minutes worth of work here but the resting does take the entire weekend and thus you need to sure you are at home 28 - 30 hours after you start baking.

Enjoy baking and enjoy a great traditional Danish lunch box.

What is RSS feed

The RSS feed is a simple method of streaming basic text across to a so-called RSS news reader.

This has become really successful for news publishers and "selling adds" (such as Loot, Den Blaa Avis, Friday-Ad) where content is constantly updated and thus it is more important to bring the latest messages across than flashy photos etc.

If the user is interested, he can usually click on the header and be taken directly to the publishers site. With Google as mentioned below, this means you can have dussins of RSS feeds of whatever takes your fancy on your personalised desktop.

The most popular readers are myYahoo and Plucks.

My favorite is the Google personalised home: (Point A applies for whatever you choose).

A) Click on the RSS feed link here to the left. Copy the URL (page address) to clipboard.
B) Log in to http://www.google.com
C) Click on personalised home in the top right corner
D) Click on Add content in the top left corner
E) Within Create a section, paste the URL from our website and you will ALWAYS know whats boiling.

Teenage control

Welcome to Britain, were the teenagers are ruling - and they know it...

Here is the latest attempt to try and control them - and I love it...

Mosquito, teenage control

In short it is a loudspeaker, that kind of like a dogs whistle, sends out a really high pitch tone that can be picked up by humans. As hearing deters already from the early twenties, only the yobs will be annoyed by it. Apparently you have to hang around for 15 minutes before it gets unbearable and thus the passing by baby in a pram won't be affected.

Think about when you were younger; you always knew when there was a TV on, even if it was muted. That is the kind of tune it sends out.

The whole thing can be bought online for GBP 495.00 (+VAT)

Airbus A380 has landed in Heathrow

I wouldn't normally characterise myself as being a plane spotter but when I heard on the news that the new Airbus A380 was going to land in Heathrow's terminal 3 to check the feasibility for landing and handling the plane, I had to go up to the 4th floor to assess the monster.
After flying from Berlin via France (passing over the factory) it landed at exactly 13.20 BST

The plane is huge when compared to the other planes that landed before.
Even when the plane had landed, it was still possible to follow the movement of the tail and thus determine where the landing strip is. It kind of looked like a sharks tale moving across behind the buildings in the foreground.

At present 16 airlines have signed contracts for purchase of the planes. Each can be build within a couple of days.

Singapore Airlines will be the first to put it into route traffic between London and Singapore.

Claud Butler Levante

After patiently waiting for 3 weeks through sun and summerly spring, I finally had my new bike delivered yesterday - on one of the worst gayle force windy days in a long time....

The bike is very lightweight and with the cardboard packaging I was as sight and a half in the car park, as I only had one hand free and thus the bike was flying in the wind around me at shoulder hight!!

I didn't expect it delivered yesterday and thus as I was driving in the BMW unable to fold the backseat down. I tried shuffing it through the sunroaf without any luck. Finally I managed to squezze it through the rear door such that it was lying diagonally across the car. This meant I had to lift the steering every time I had to kick down the clutch. Not the greatest for road safety, but we managed.

The bike is VERY nice with 24 gears with STI levers such that the gears are integrated in the handbrakes. It has got carbon fibre front and stronger wheels such that it has got fever spokes.

With my new lights from Aunte Elvira and David, I was able to cycle over to Michelle and Andrew on my first night. This I managed in 24 minutes each way, which is not bad considering I haven't been on a bike for 10 years.

Welcome to the copetown blog

You are now reading the very first copetown blog. the copetown site is great for publishing photo albums and retain as a reference. The reason for the blog is that I often come across information that I would like to communicate but it is realy to small for publishing on the site or I have simply forgotten about, when I finally have the time to be dealing with it.

The blogs are not going to relate to one subject. To stay in project management terms, I think the scope is:

A place to share knowledge and experiences that interests us and would be of use/interest for family and friends.

a This can be
a Interesting web services
a cool downloads
a useful service providers
a day to day experiences
a Travel or accommodation recommendations
a Great shops
a Latest gadgets

I hope you will find it interesting and wish for a long and prosperous blog life.