Corona chronicles from Denmark: Day 10 of quarantine

Posted on April 11, 2020 by Anulik

March 20. Day -1 till my birthday – yay! Another day of sunshine, another day of discovering new sides of beautiful Copenhagen. We stayed close to home, taking a sunset walk around Vesterbro and admiring the early signs of beautiful spring. The walk finished off with Andreas, aka the master chef, serving the most delicious salmon baked in the oven with pumpkins. Our first home cooked meal in a long, long time. For sure not the last since in a few days we will finally start receiving our weekly home delivery of fresh produce.

Tomorrow is my birthday. We usually either celebrate it by travelling or in a company of friends. This year it was initially planned to be the latter option with some home baked birthday buns (another of Andreas’ specialties), warm cocoa and hygge talk. Alas corona had other plans for the world and for my birthday. It is going to be a memorable day for sure. So long until then.

What spring dreams are made of

Ready to pop <3

Joe has been corona secured

Good evening Vesterbro!

Sleep well

Dinner delights. The most delicious salmon I have ever tasted! Home cooked meal – first in a long, long time. Rediscovering the love of cooking

Photos © Ani Movsisyan & Andreas Eriksen

Corona chronicles from Denmark: Day 9 of quarantine

Posted on April 8, 2020 by Anulik

March 19. Deserted H.C. Andersen boulevard, bolted Glyptoteks Have, a sea of daffodils, sun and smiles. A city of silence and calmness, of spring and hope.

Today a little variation is added into the corona mix. Nothing wild. Just deciding to take an early morning walk in the neighbourhood to start the work day instead of moving from the bedroom straight to the office room, aka sofa, at the break of the dawn.

Sønder Boulevard bathing in morning sun, quiet streets and beautiful strokes of spring everywhere.

Walking towards Glyptoteks Have – there is a bolted gate, Rodin’s The Thinker trapped inside along with a patch of spring and precious works of art. Who knows what goes on in the mind of The Thinker these days?

Crossing the street to one of the busiest avenues in Copenhagen – H.C. Andersen boulevard. It is devoid of cars – apart from a few lone riders here and there, the jam packed, noisy and polluted boulevard is totally silent.

The cars are gone, however the spring has arriving bringing with it a yellow sea of daffodils adorning the boulevard.

Crossing the street towards the ‘power house’ of Denmark – Christiansborg. Silence reigns also there.

The city looks both so eery in the silence that has fallen over it and ever so charming – glowing even brightly in the sun without the usual buzz of the traffic, of the pedestrians and of the tourists.

Cruising around, the steps lead us back to our hood – Vesterbro, where the cherry trees are starting to bloom and spread a pink veil all over Sønder Boulevard. It is a beautiful start of the day.

Photos © Ani Movsisyan & Andreas Eriksen

Corona chronicles from Denmark: Day 8 of quarantine

Posted on April 5, 2020 by Anulik

March 18 – same story, work and nothing much else. Andreas went out for a bike ride, sending home this picture. The Little Mermaid – feeling all alone in the dark of the night.

The Little Mermaid – feeling all alone in the dark of the night

Photo © Andreas Eriksen

Corona chronicles from Denmark: Day 7 of quarantine

Posted on April 5, 2020 by Anulik

March 17 – yet another busy work day. Ventured out into the morning sun to fetch some bread and flowers. So far getting into the routine of evening walks wasn’t quite a success. Let’s see what tomorrow brings.

Photo © Ani Movsisyan & Andreas Eriksen

Corona chronicles from Denmark: Day 6 of quarantine

Posted on April 5, 2020 by Anulik

March 16 – super busy day in my home office. Total physical inactivity. Didn’t venture out at all…

Spring

Posted on April 5, 2020 by Anulik

Photo © Ani Movsisyan

Corona chronicles from Denmark: Day 5 of quarantine

Posted on April 5, 2020 by Anulik

March 15 – first Sunday in confinement. Today is also the day where a new routine of almost daily evening walks is established. I am actually starting to see a positive light in this crazy pandemic situation.

Spring is my all-time favourite season and has always been. No doubt about it. Being a spring child myself, I love how the nature is awakening, the beautiful blooms everywhere, the sweet scents of white cherry blossoms, yellow daffodils, purple muscari, the chirping of birds greeting me every morning when I open my eyes. Yet it is this year and because of stupid corona that I have started to truly and deeply appreciate the beauty of spring. Spending long hours walking in many parks in and outside the city taking pictures of nature, I have developed a whole other level of love towards spring and the beauty it brings with it.

This time of year the crocus – first flowers of the spring, are covering the grass in one of the central parks of Copenhagen – Kongens Have. The park becomes our first destination of the evening corona walks. My trusty Leica on my shoulder, covered in layers of winter clothes and boots, off we go into the chilly March air. The temperatures are still below the minimum threshold of double digits. It is usual for Denmark, the winter cold likes to linger on well into the spring. The days have started becoming longer and longer though. Another positive sign. It is in the times like this when you start appreciating the small ray of sunshine that are everywhere, yet in the busy and hectic lives we often lead, they become invisible and pushed to oblivion.

On the way back from the beautiful walk we stop at the supermarket to get some supplies for the dinner. Surely the hoarding of a few days before has had its beautiful impact – fresh veggies are totally wiped out. Obviously poor broccoli didn’t make the cut.

All I needed to make me smile is – my darling coriander! There is a love-hate relationship towards coriander in our family. Andreas hates it – alas he will never become a true Armenian as coriander runs in Armenian genes. Today coriander makes it into our shopping basket, luckily it is not a popular herb in Denmark, so it didn’t suffer much the crazy hoarding effects.

Photo © Ani Movsisyan & Andreas Eriksen

Corona chronicles from Denmark: Day 4 of quarantine

Posted on March 31, 2020 by Anulik

March 14 – another day in confinement. I am starting to get used to the situation. Most of the day is spent lazily in the comfort of the sofa right by the window while rejoicing in all the sun shining through the March sky.

The main activity of the day is a short walk in the neighbourhood, far from cashing in those 10000 steps a day. Andreas on the other hand is back on his biking saddle.

Photo © Ani Movsisyan & Andreas Eriksen

Corona chronicles from Denmark: Day 3 of quarantine

Posted on March 29, 2020 by Anulik

March 13 – news of the day is that Denmark is to close its borders from March 14. The second wave of hoarding starts among some people as they hurry across the border to Germany to fill up their cars, bikes and whatever moving item they can find with absolute necessities. The essential hoarding items this time are: beer, soda, shampoo. Of course toilet paper and yeast and still high on the list.

My day is spent on working in the company of a fresh batch of flowers – red tulips this time. Apart from signalling the arrival of spring, tulips also remind of my childhood. Having grown in a house with own field of tulips where I would run around as a little kid amidst the red and yellow beauties, they always bring a smile to my face.

Photo © Ani Movsisyan

Corona chronicles from Denmark: Day 2 of quarantine

Posted on March 29, 2020 by Anulik

March 12 – Denmark has woken up to a new reality. Apart from the major food/toilet paper hoarding that seems to have happened all over the country, a sad feeling of panic feels the air.

The day is spent on work, trying to comprehend the new reality and staying glued to news. Everything is marked as breaking news intensifying the fear and feeling of panic. I am not feeling particularly cheerful, the prevailing mood is gloomy and anxious.

We just venture out to buy some bread and food supplies for the day. I notice fresh lavender in the neighbourhood store. This is what I need to put a tiny smile on my face. Two pots of lavender come home with me.

Another aspect to look forward to is that we decide to make the best of the home quarantine and finally subscribe to a weekly home delivery of organic, fresh produce that comes with exciting food recipes. In the recent years the busy work life and the fact of living right in the middle of the city with all kinds of enticing take-away options and restaurants, had taken over the love of cooking, and we had slowly descended into a routine of take-away food (healthy for the most part) and dine outs. Here was our chance to finally revert back to healthier work-life balance and after taking for months about starting the food subscription finally take action.

The sun of the previous day suddenly gets replaced by crazy hail and snow storm. It lasts a short while, but the doomsday feeling it leaves behind is enough to send you into a depressive mood.

It is March 12. Day 2 of quarantine. Overall feeling is that of uncertainty and anxiety. Small things that made me smile: pretty lavender and the prospect of starting to cook some nice meals again.

Photos © Ani Movsisyan & Andreas Eriksen