A sabbatical from my sabbatical

Although it's wonderful to have time off from teaching and service responsibilities to do some research, I am not interacting professionally with anyone in Denmark and so am a bit isolated. However, I am fortunate to be able to take advantage of my European vantage point to visit a collaborator in Valencia, Spain. (I say fortunate both because my collaborator is willing to deal with me for a couple of weeks, and Kyle is willing to single-parent for a couple of weeks. Muchas gracias to both of you!)

I was here once before for a Sweet Summer Sabbatical in the summer of 2006. At that time we started a project that has now been published. I also had a blog of sorts, which has some pictures of Valencia and my impressions of the city at that time. We also spent time in Germany that summer, because both Kyle and I had meetings there.

I will collect stories and take pictures for a future post over the next couple of weeks. I will just note for now that I am staying in what seems to be a very nice dorm in the city center in a building that used to be a palace, and am currently passing time until dinner becomes available at 8:00.

A little history

The flags are at half-mast until noon today in Denmark, to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the beginning of the Nazi occupation of this country.

Spring break

Last week was spring break. Since we haven't been any farther than Copenhagen for two and a half months, we decided it was time to get out of town for a few days. We started on Tuesday by taking a bus north to the town of Helsingør. One of this city's claims to fame is that it is home to Kronborg Castle, which is the setting for Shakespeare's Hamlet.


After looking around the castle and grabbing some lunch in town, we hopped on a ferry to Helsingborg, Sweden. There, we toured around a bit. Probably the most interesting thing we saw was Kärnan, a tower which is the only piece remaining of a Danish castle that used to be here.

The next day, we took a train to Höör, Sweden, where Kyle's Mother's pen-pal Marianne and her partner Åke live.
We had a very nice visit, and the girls had a great time playing with their dogs.


I've posted a few more pictures here.