How I got to Copenhagen, met some interesting people and kicked-off a blogging contest.
The post is in english for apparent reason. The Th!nk about it blogging contest is international and I should probably start brushing up on my written english.
Day One: High in the air, low underground
It all started with a double flight – first from Ljubljana to Zurich and then from Zurich to Copenhagen. In my mind, I imagined all sort of things that would go wrong, from missing my connecting flight, sitting on the wrong train and getting lost in the city of Copenhagen.
A funny thing happened to me at the airport/train station. After flying for four hours, I bought a ticket for the subway and the cashier told me that Denmark has its own currency and I should change Euros as soon as possible. Nevertheless, I paid in Euros and in return got a ticket and two coins of change. Since Danes have a sense of humor and creativity, those coins came with a hole in them and I thought they were tokens for the subway. I just could not understand, why did I get two instead of one 😀
After coming to the hotel I unpacked and then proceeded to the cafe Apropo where we met for a nightcap. Another culture shock – the prices of alcohol were pretty steep. After that it was time for bed.
Day Two: Think local, act global…or is it the other way around?
The second day was reserved for the lectures and a round table. The lecturers were from the European Comission, European Journalism Center, Dannish government and others. The round table featured journalists from Spiegel, National Geographic, IPS Europe and others. For full list, check out the program (.pdf, 150 kB).
I was most impressed with the journalist from Spiegel, Gerald Traufetter, who offered a cool and reasonable journalistic approach to reporting on climate change. Another excellent presenter was Søren Hermansen, Environmental innovator from the Samso Island who managed to become and example on sustainable energy sources. A really good lecture, filled with examples and good practice.
We also had a workshop for filming material with Flip HD camera. And giving out 80 cameras to journalists turned out to bring the filmmakers in everybody. Quoting Lara Smallman, one of 80 bloggers: “If I see another Flip Cam shoved in my face, I am gonna flip out!”
After the lectures some of the bloggers went back to the hotel by train, but some of us managed to get lost and decided we are doing some sightseeing. We managed to catch these sights:
In the evening we went out, eating in a organic restaurant Bio Mio. They were serving meatballs with sauce and kuskus with onions, raisins and vegetables. Very good, highly recommended.
And after the dinner we managed to pull off another Thinkcast. All in all, it was a good day for science.
Day Three: Wind of change
The last day was reserved for the visit of the eco village Dyssekilde in Korup. We got the full tour of the place and then separated in groups by three and two with a mission – interview a villager and ask him or her about his or her way of life and all the things that make life in an eco village special. I got paired up with Daniel Nylin Nilsson from Sweden and we managed to do the following piece:
I am suprised by the quality of the footage since the camera is really tiny. I`ll post a proper review in the following days. And the village looked like this:
After the village trip some of the bloggers left for the airport and some of us went back to the hotel to spend the few last hours in Copenhagen. So me and my greek friend Fotis Mavromatidis went hiking around the city, trying to locate the famous Denmark Seamaid of Copenhagen. The city is quite beautiful with statues and interesting buildings. I managed to shot the following sights:
After that, I went back to the hotel, packed my bags and went to the airport. The flight was calm and I even managed to get some sleep on the way home.
The overall experience was great. I meet some very interesting people, saw some very interesting places and had a marvelous time. Now it`s time to think about it…
