It's hardly surprising that the legend, discussing the <a href="/blog/merchants-harbor">origins of Copenhagen</a>, features a goddess and a king. The very meaning of the word "legendary" ("remarkable enough to be famous" - as well as "described in, or based on legends) implies that legends focus on prominent beings rather than common ones. Gods. Heroes (semi-gods or mortal beings with supernatural powers). True leaders.&nbsp;Not every nominal leader (as in "Head of State", "Chief of Staff" and such) is a Leader. Christian X of Denmark, who reigned for 20 years in the first half of the 20th century, was. The latter part of his reign was marred by World War II, and of all Scandinavian countries, Denmark was, in a way, hit the hardest by it. While Sweden turned itself into the key source of strategic raw materials for the German war machine, thus managing to maintain its formal neutrality, and Norway's landscape provided ample opportunities for a guerilla war, Danish flats were perfect for deploying German tanks. Openly resisting the invasion under those circumstances would have been tantamount to bringing doom to the whole nation, and it was not before German armies got stuck in Eastern European swamps that Danish Resistance started to shape up. The initial defiance was moral rather than expressed in military actions - and its precarious nature called for a brave leader of unquestionable moral authority. The king answered the call. He never stopped rubbing it in the face of German occupational forces in one way or another. One such slap in the face was "forgetting" to send birthday greetings to Adolf Hitler. Even more embarrassing for the Germans was his habit of parading the capital on his horse day in, day out - and never taking any guards with him. "But Your Majesty should be protected when exposed to common people" - the Commander, personally responsible for the king's well-being, tried in vain. "My people are those who protect me!" - that answer alone would be enough to earn Christian X his place in history. Full of dignity and grace, the king's equestrian statue in Copenhagen makes that place come alive.

small_christian-x.webp

thumbnail_christian-x.webp

christian-x.webp

Christian X

Earlier I mentioned Man's unique ability to create new concepts by rendering existing things a new meaning. Now I should trace this ability to its origin - the human mind that is so wonderful that it can reimagine reality itself. Impressive as they are, many wonders of the material worlds are, in a way, byproducts of that primary wonder of Imagination. Legends and fairy-tales are just several examples of tools necessary to create those byproducts.Even though the English park named after Sir Winston Churchill is within short walking distance of the Little Mermaid, one would think that the spirit of the famous politician and sybarite, combined with personal charisma associated with his name, should define the ambience of the place. The very first artwork – a statuary - one stumbles upon in the park seems to confirm that impression.The statuary features a strong, muscular woman vigorously lashing four lathery oxen – and the whole group exudes power, energy and purpose. The title of the statuary, Gefion Fountain, alludes to the story behind the mise-en-scene. The story has it that King Gylfi of Sweden wanted to stay in Goddess Gefion’s good books without having to show too much generosity – so, he offered the goddess some land as a gift. To be precise, as much land as she and her family would be able to plow in one night. Gefion was quick to agree and happy to oblige – so, she turned her four sons into oxen and urged them on. In the next eight hours or so the family herd plowed quite a chunk of land, carved it out and threw into the sea. That’s how the island of Zealand/ Sea Land was created. Quite naturally, the island needed a harbor to maintain its connection with the mainland. Once built, the harbor began to serve various purposes, including commerce – and, eventually, it became known as the Kaupmannhoevn/ “Merchants’ Harbor”. Over centuries the name gradually transformed into Kobenhavn, otherwise known as “Copenhagen”…

small_gefion-fountain.webp

thumbnail_gefion-fountain.webp

gefion-fountain.webp

Merchants’ Harbor

This blog entry simply consists of several pictures and just one simple sentiment:&nbsp;May 2022 turn out to be a WONDERful year full of beauty, joy and happiness.<h2>New Zealand</h2><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dpwp8vga3/image/upload/v1650408272/7kwonders/new_zealand_1_35d151c003.webp" alt="new-zealand-1.webp" srcset="https://res.cloudinary.com/dpwp8vga3/image/upload/v1650408273/7kwonders/thumbnail_new_zealand_1_35d151c003.webp 208w,https://res.cloudinary.com/dpwp8vga3/image/upload/v1650408274/7kwonders/small_new_zealand_1_35d151c003.webp 500w," sizes="100vw">&nbsp;<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dpwp8vga3/image/upload/v1650408272/7kwonders/new_zealand_2_4e7ddcc4fd.webp" alt="new-zealand-2.webp" srcset="https://res.cloudinary.com/dpwp8vga3/image/upload/v1650408273/7kwonders/thumbnail_new_zealand_2_4e7ddcc4fd.webp 208w,https://res.cloudinary.com/dpwp8vga3/image/upload/v1650408274/7kwonders/small_new_zealand_2_4e7ddcc4fd.webp 500w," sizes="100vw">&nbsp;<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dpwp8vga3/image/upload/v1650408272/7kwonders/new_zealand_3_13cbf37dd2.webp" alt="new-zealand-3.webp" srcset="https://res.cloudinary.com/dpwp8vga3/image/upload/v1650408273/7kwonders/thumbnail_new_zealand_3_13cbf37dd2.webp 208w,https://res.cloudinary.com/dpwp8vga3/image/upload/v1650408273/7kwonders/small_new_zealand_3_13cbf37dd2.webp 500w," sizes="100vw"><h2>Norway</h2><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dpwp8vga3/image/upload/v1650408272/7kwonders/norway_1_af8db5ac79.webp" alt="norway-1.webp" srcset="https://res.cloudinary.com/dpwp8vga3/image/upload/v1650408272/7kwonders/thumbnail_norway_1_af8db5ac79.webp 222w,https://res.cloudinary.com/dpwp8vga3/image/upload/v1650408273/7kwonders/small_norway_1_af8db5ac79.webp 500w," sizes="100vw"><h2>Canada</h2><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dpwp8vga3/image/upload/v1650408272/7kwonders/canada_1_0cfadfd0c4.webp" alt="canada-1.webp" srcset="https://res.cloudinary.com/dpwp8vga3/image/upload/v1650408272/7kwonders/thumbnail_canada_1_0cfadfd0c4.webp 207w,https://res.cloudinary.com/dpwp8vga3/image/upload/v1650408273/7kwonders/small_canada_1_0cfadfd0c4.webp 500w," sizes="100vw"><h2>Great Britain</h2><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dpwp8vga3/image/upload/v1650408271/7kwonders/great_britain_1_583cccb8dc.webp" alt="great-britain-1.webp" srcset="https://res.cloudinary.com/dpwp8vga3/image/upload/v1650408272/7kwonders/thumbnail_great_britain_1_583cccb8dc.webp 105w,https://res.cloudinary.com/dpwp8vga3/image/upload/v1650408273/7kwonders/small_great_britain_1_583cccb8dc.webp 337w,https://res.cloudinary.com/dpwp8vga3/image/upload/v1650408273/7kwonders/medium_great_britain_1_583cccb8dc.webp 506w," sizes="100vw">

small_new-zealand-1.webp

thumbnail_new-zealand-1.webp

new-zealand-1.webp

Happy New Year!

Christmas is a time for fairy-tales. That's why this Christmas entry will be devoted to the main character of a famous, controversial and somewhat glossed over fairy-tale.&nbsp;Wikipedia readily tells us that a statue of Her was created in 1913 by Edvard Eriksen – and Ellen Price, the ballet-dancer, who was posing for the statue, lived a long a productive life. The statue had been commissioned by a local brewer who fell in love with the original 1837 fairy-tale by one H. C. Andersen. It’s not completely without interest that the brewer’s name was Carl Jacobsen, and the beer he had produced echoed that name… In other words, the creator of Carlsberg beer was instrumental in bringing about the statue of The Little Mermaid…&nbsp;What Wikipedia doesn’t emphasize is the actual work of art – grey slippery boulders touched by weeds, right next to the water, and a tiny figure of a young girl on the top of that wet pyramid. As if embarrassed, the girl is hiding her tail somewhere behind her back, her face is calm and sad at the same time. Indifferent to all the fuss around her, she is looking wistfully and searchingly beyond the sea, wishing and hoping for her Prince to return. Wishing and hoping for 108 years, and counting. A longing that is never to materialize, yet never to give up, is a heart-rending but, strangely, also live-affirming feeling bringing both tears to one’s eyes and a smile to their face. Such is the power of that inner beauty that that slip of a girl, barely seen from passing ships, has turned into the most important symbol of Danish capital, Copenhagen, if not Denmark as a whole…

small_little-mermaid.webp

thumbnail_little-mermaid.webp

little-mermaid.webp

Merry Christmas

Even if the beauty is in the eye of the beholder, things like Wellington's "<a href="/blog/seasonal-wonders">living statues</a>" catch the beholder's eye for a reason - and the reason is that they are cute, funny and quite original. However, if you go for a walk in some local woods and stumble upon a cluster of evergreen trees, you might easily pay no attention to them (or, quite literally, not see the trees for the wood). It takes the magic of the Christmas season to turn a routine object into a powerful symbol of goodwill, celebration and intrinsic happiness thus creating what might be called a "wonder of convention".&nbsp;St. Catherine, the Patron Saint of Montreal, might have never met Jesus Christ, but it was obvious that the street bearing her name was quite familiar with the tree named after the "Saviour from Nazareth" and devoted to his birth… It was on a rather nice and not even especially cold evening that I found myself strolling along St. Catherine. The street was full of hurrying people, as it probably always is on any given day, independently of the season. Christmas was still weeks away, and there was no particular reason to expect any of its special features to come to the foreground. I stopped at a rather big intersection as the light was red, and suddenly…there it was: a Christmas tree in its full attire, fresh and festive as if smiling at all those watching it. It seemed that people around me caught the mood and started smiling back, at the tree and at each other. Probably I was getting delirious for an instant…

medium_christmas-tree.webp

small_christmas-tree.webp

thumbnail_christmas-tree.webp

christmas-tree.webp

A "Wonder of Convention"

The wonders I've mentioned so far are permanent - when created, be it by Nature or Man, they are there to stay. However, there are also what might be called "seasonal wonders" - summer festivals, autumn fairs, spring awakening rituals pertaining to many indigenous people around the world... One of the most celebrated and cherished seasons for a significant part of Mankind is Christmas.&nbsp;While the Cascade is Wellington’s permanent feature, the City's living statues must be a Christmas bonus. A sitting lady with a basket and a gentleman with a cane standing next to her – both are dressed all in white as to resemble a miller and his wife if not a pair of angels!&nbsp;<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dpwp8vga3/image/upload/v1650406729/7kwonders/friendly_ape_37cf2bc3d3.webp" alt="friendly-ape.webp" srcset="https://res.cloudinary.com/dpwp8vga3/image/upload/v1650406729/7kwonders/thumbnail_friendly_ape_37cf2bc3d3.webp 208w,https://res.cloudinary.com/dpwp8vga3/image/upload/v1650406730/7kwonders/small_friendly_ape_37cf2bc3d3.webp 500w," sizes="100vw">The second statue – “a friendly ape” in a red nightcap and a light brown animal skin, covering him from head to toe, that was standing on a bench – actually sprang to live when a passerby dropped a couple of coins into his collection box. He shook hands with the donor and the two of them posed for a picture.<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dpwp8vga3/image/upload/v1650406746/7kwonders/salvation_army_orchestra_4ec2093fb7.webp" alt="salvation-army-orchestra.webp" srcset="https://res.cloudinary.com/dpwp8vga3/image/upload/v1650406746/7kwonders/thumbnail_salvation_army_orchestra_4ec2093fb7.webp 208w,https://res.cloudinary.com/dpwp8vga3/image/upload/v1650406747/7kwonders/small_salvation_army_orchestra_4ec2093fb7.webp 500w," sizes="100vw">A Salvation Army orchestra, that was performing not far from the living statues, had a collection box of its own but it looked more like a red bucket held by a non-playing orchestra member. The whole group was wearing the Army’s very distinct uniform: black shoes, black trousers, red jackets and black caps with a red ribbon. They looked very solemn and – considering the place and the occasion – extremely funny.

small_miller-and-wife.webp

thumbnail_miller-and-wife.webp

miller-and-wife.webp

Seasonal Wonders

Many wonders - and most of those mentioned in this blog - are majestic, imposing, breathtaking or awe-striking. Many but not all, because some of them are just cute - which doesn't make them any less eye-pleasing and heart-warming. Neither does creating them take less talent, ingenuity and imagination...&nbsp;..right in the middle of the street there is a swimming pool featuring a “helmet tree” – a black metal frame with many red, yellow and blue plastic helmet-like objects attached to it at different heights. The “helmets” are turned upside down, filled with water and perfectly balanced. Once in every ten seconds or so the uppermost container tilts to spill some of the water into the “helmet” one level below, and a chain reaction begins thus creating a little – and elegant – water cascade.

small_helmut-tree.webp

thumbnail_helmut-tree.webp

helmut-tree.webp

Helmet Tree

"What a Wonderful World", full of wonders of all kinds, shapes and forms - yet, many people can't travel far and wide to see even a small percentage of them. So, they have to concentrate on nearby wonders and try to make the most of it. Some succeed to make up for a lack of quantity by adding quality and turning a wonder into a full-blown miracle...&nbsp;...a magnificent artistic creation floating high above the street level and sprawling over a perfectly laid out English garden, full of blooming flowers scattered along broad paths that led to a unique set of stairs. One can choose either the right or the left flight, but the middle one is reserved for pilgrims who “ascend to the main entrance on their knees in order to honour St. Joseph”, the patron of this church, the largest of its kind in North America. I could hardly believe that in reality anybody would resort to such an eccentric behaviour, and I was inwardly admiring the inventor of such a conspicuous decorative device as this “propaganda flight”, when I saw no less than three people doing exactly what the flight was intended for. That made me look at the statue of St. Joseph at the entrance to the garden with fresh appreciation. On the one hand, even though the earthly father of Jesus Christ is recognized as a saint in a number of faiths, he seems to be a relatively minor figure in the European religious tradition.&nbsp;On the other hand, St. Joseph is extremely important and quite famous all across the American continent – so much so that a city in California (San Jose) is named after him. He might owe this recognition to the fact that the Catholic Church had entrusted him with no less than eight offices, including such sensitive ones as “The Solace of the Suffering”, “The Hope of the Sick” and “The Patron of the Dying”. Yet, impressive as those titles are, one picture is still worth a thousand words, and “Niches of Crutches” are among the very first displays to greet the Oratory visitors. There might be hundreds of them: crutches, canes, walkers and other similar devices donated to the church after they have been made unnecessary for those recently healed through the powers of the Saint...

small_st-josephs-oratory.webp

thumbnail_st-josephs-oratory.webp

st-josephs-oratory.webp

St. Joseph's Oratory

The <a href="/blog/holmenkollen">Holmenkollen Ski Museum</a> presents a frozen history of a remarkable transformation turning two waxed pieces of wood into a social phenomenon conquering a whole nation. Even though Holmenkollen itself is one of the most important winter sports Meccas on Earth, the significance of the museum exhibition by far transcends sports as such. It's not by chance that the visitors are greeted by a statue of none else but Fridtjof Nansen recognized by the popular vote as "the most famous Norwegian of the 20th century" - Nansen's presence serves a symbolic reminder that one is about to enter a SKI museum, not just a museum of the sport of skiing. Unique pictures, historic documents and other exhibits serve to reinforce that message.&nbsp;When elite detachments of the Norwegian army were put on skis in 1716, the soldiers were unlikely to think about Olympics and world championships, or even personal bests. Likewise, Nansen himself was far away from Chamonix in France where the very first Winter Olympics took place in 1924 - yet, as early as 1888, he decided to pay a visit to Greenland. Five years later he started his march for the North Pole...It's easy to guess that during those and many other expeditions he traveled on skis.&nbsp;While skiing as a sport isn't exactly ignored by the creators of the museum, it's partially presented from a somewhat unusual point of view. Even those who know that modern technologies play as vital a part in athletes' success as talent or hard work, might be baffled by the similarity between a ski-builder's shop and a high-tech laboratory. It turns out that the most important word in the above-given definition of skis "two waxed pieces of wood") is _waxed_. Be it wood, composite or fiberglass, a perfect fit for the weather during the race can literally make a champion. That's why waxing professional secrets are closely and jealously guarded, and the best professionals are often called "magicians" or compared to such renowned violin-makers as Guarneri, Amati and Stradivari. By analogy, Sondre Nordheim, who in 1870 designed shorter skis with curved sides facilitating turns, was nicknamed "Ski Leonardo da Vinci"

thumbnail_fridtjof-nansen.webp

fridtjof-nansen.webp

Fridtjof Nansen

From the Blog