vivi torontali

Not caught up? Read Episodes 1-14 here.

This past week I’ve sleepily trudged through many early mornings in an effort to chase an action-packed day. Though the crisp early autumn air chills the tiredness out of me for ten minutes, the crowded but silent morning commute train makes my eyes heavier than a bag of bricks. Waking up at six in the morning has never been my cup of tea– I envy anyone who can wake up before the sun and feel refreshed. Luckily I’m on a train that early in the morning to open a café where I can drink all the coffee my heart desires. Unfortunately I can never quite finish my drink, as the restaurant gets busy with customers from the moment we open. I’ve been taking on some extra hours lately because I needed to switch shifts in order to go on a trip to Aarhus, and the hours I took on for others ended up being more than what I was originally scheduled to work. There’s nothing better than taking a weekend off and making more money than expected as a direct result.

You may be wondering why I was going to Aarhus in the first place. I recently started dating a Copenhagen man who is currently doing a Masters degree there. I prefer to keep the details private, though when opportunity strikes to visit him and be a tourist once again, it’s impossible to resist. So, I bought a surprisingly affordable FlixBus ticket, and off I went.

The three and a half hour bus ride was the reason for one of my early mornings. I stopped at my local bakery and got myself a croissant, a strawberry cake and a coffee, and made my way to the city. The bus station was right next to the hotel my family stayed in during our first week in Denmark. When I boarded the bus I was assigned an aisle seat on the lower level. Two girls approached me: one of them was assigned the window seat next to me, and the other was assigned a seat on the second level. They asked me to switch with them so that they could sit together. I ended up getting a window seat on the second level with no one next to me. It was absolute heaven. Three and a half peaceful hours spent taking a nap, listening to music, drawing, and taking pictures and videos along the way. After crossing the Storebæltsbroen (Great Belt Bridge) that connects the islands Sjælland (Zealand) and Fyn (Funen), the bus stopped briefly in Odense, the third largest city in Denmark. The largest city is Copenhagen, the second largest is Aarhus. Odense is also the birthplace of Hans Christian Andersen, author of fairy tales such as “The Little Mermaid” and “The Ugly Duckling.”

In the early afternoon I arrived in Aarhus, immediately greeted by a handsome man and a huge downpour of rain. We rushed into a food hall at the station and had some burgers (key to my heart). He then showed me around the city center. We went around the shopping streets and up the Salling Rooftop, which is a glass lookout structure atop a large commercial building. It offered great views of the city, including the main streets, the famous art museum AROS, the city hall clock tower, and the Aarhus cathedral. While it is a distinctively Danish city, I found it to be quite different from Copenhagen– the architecture is much more industrial and the university students are the beating heart of the city, whereas Copenhagen is more catered to tourists, workers, and the royal family. Once the rain finally passed and the sun came out, I was able to see a rainbow.

The next day, we went to see AROS. The museum is famous for the rainbow panoramic skywalk on top of it. We started off with a coffee and got in line to purchase tickets. To our pleasant surprise, we were able to get free admission. Normally a ticket would have cost us 150kr per person, roughly about $24 USD. The art was incredible: there was a 4.5 meter tall hyperrealist sculpture called Boy (Ron Mueck, 1999), a spiritualist painting combining motifs from multiple different religions called La Toile judéo-chrétienne (Victor Simon, 1937), and a more subtle beauty called Le Styx (André Bauchant, 1939). It took me a second to see the ghostly figure of a girl in Le Styx, but once I saw her I was mesmerized. After looking at all the art, we went to the rainbow panorama and walked around a couple times. When the glass color changed, it was like abruptly entering a new reality. Our last lap around was spent singing the Coconut Mall song from Mario Kart.

After a lovely weekend full of fine wine, fantastic food, and a screening of Borat, it was time to leave the City of Smiles and go home. I wasn’t as lucky with my seat this time around– I was assigned to the very back of the bus, the second seat in a row of five. It was cramped and I was quite uncomfortable and hungry, but I was able to nap a little and draw a lot. 

My dad recently received a two-seater work van as a result of his colleague angrily quitting one day. He has been able to drive it to and from the ornamental plastering studio. While I was out of town, he mistakenly drove to work without his license and had to call my mom to bring it to him, so she was able to pay his studio a visit. Lucky for me, she is the best at capturing photos and videos so that I can put it in my blog. If my past descriptions of what my dad does for a living wasn’t clear enough, here is a real life example.

In other news, my sister started her new job, and my mom still hasn’t found work. If you know of a job opening that allows her to sit instead of stand, do let me know. Because I’ve been away from home more than usual, Nudli has been missing me and getting extra excited and playful when I come home. Additionally, I’ve been slowly progressing on my table runner. I haven’t been writing about that lately since having a busier life was bound to slow my progress. I’ll have an update by next episode for sure. Even if you don’t live in the City of Smiles, I hope you’ve had many reasons to smile this past week.