A Surreal Flea

I think I have spoken about my obsession with "junk" from other countries before, and hallelujah, it's Loppemarked time again! I made the most of having a child and husband free afternoon to explore one of the biggest markets in Denmark, at the Bella Center (after Brunch the other day!). Believe me, going by myself is the stress free alternative to having to constantly listen to "I'm hungry", and "I need the toilet", when you are trying to look for treasure (and the children are just as bad!)... Luckily a couple of others decided to join me on the journey there, as I think I would have ended up in Sweden otherwise, but in retrospect it's actually very easy to get to. The Bella Center is quite a strange looking building, I know conference centres aren't known for their style and grace, but the inside reminded me of a giant Scout Hut (not that I have been in many you understand), and it's next door to an even stranger looking hotel! I have also come to the conclusion that I prefer the smaller private Loppemarkeds, as you get much more interesting stuff from private vendors at a much cheaper price, but it was interesting to have a rummage through the hundreds of stalls all the same.

I am not sure if it was just me (it probably was), but I actually found my afternoon at this particular market quite surreal, let the following pictures help illustrate this for you...

If you have a penchant for staring at stuffed birds in a melancholy fashion, then this market was the place for you.



If you are looking for a special gift for the couple that have everything, then you missed the opportunity this time I'm afraid, I think someone actually bought this.



If you specifically wanted to buy a stuffed owl "in flight" (perhaps for the Labyrinth fan amongst your friends) from two sisters having an attic clear out (and who must clearly live in a fascinating house), then I suppose they might be there next time if you are lucky....



These were not the only strange scenes I witnessed, just look at this poor man...



This is obviously a desperate cry for help (although the sceptic in me believes that this (along with placing himself under the giant knife and fork) was a deliberate ploy to being told to "just leave, and go to the pub". I didn't see him again (and he was quite hard to miss), perhaps it worked!)?

There were a couple of items I did see that I loved though, how cute are these?



I nearly bought them, but they were a) extortionate and b) I thought that the wooden floors in our rented house wouldn't thank me very much!



I did however buy this, from a very lovely man who explained that the artist's son is a now a famous stunt man. Each side depicts a season and I really like it (my children are not sure about it though, apparently because it has "nakeds" on it!)! If you fancy visiting a flea market should you be in the vicinity, have a look here, you should be able to find one to go to!

The Lobster Market...

This morning I went to the last local loppe (or lobster market as my 3 year old insists it's called) market of 2010. The hardy stall owners didn't seem to mind the cold strong winds and neither did the crowd of prospective buyers (I spotted my first snowsuit wearers today it was that cold, I also wore my English winter coat, I guestimate that my Scandinavian one will be coming out in a month or so. The winter tyres also go back on the car tomorrow, a sobering thought!). I have really enjoyed my jaunts here first thing on a Sunday morning throughout the summer, foreign junk is always a lot more interesting than that of your own country, and English car boot sales these markets are not. Yes there are the usual household stalls with pre-loved toys and clothes and shoes (I still can't believe how people will buy tatty second-hand shoes), but amongst them are the more interesting antique stalls selling Scandinavian bits and pieces from years gone by. The cupboards of Danish Mormors hold plenty a Royal Copenhagen vase from the sixties and seventies, stuff not wanted by many Danes nowadays (their cupboards are full of them too), but some of it is wanted by us "tourists", who scavange amongst the piles of Fajance looking for good deals. It might be a coincidence that things seem to go in phases here too, last week was definitely a Barbie week, but that could have been because I had my five year old with me so I wasn't tuned into the finer antiques! The week before there was a glut of strange cross-stitched samples on various stalls. Do stall-holders look out of the window and think, well it definitely looks like the kind of day that people would buy a certain item? My finds this year have included a couple of paintings, several vases and bowls and beautiful scandinavian jugs. Today I bought a wooden balance bike for my son for a mere 50KR. I am going to miss this market over the winter, but luckily the big flea markets carry on in the halls and auction rooms of central Copenhagen so my shelves won't be getting a rest just yet.

A Proper Loppe & A Good Friday!

After the not so successful trip to hunt down Danish antiques the other day, and after finding a huge list of Antique Loppermarked's on the Internet, yesterday we went to the Easter Loppemarked held at Forum (a big concert venue in Copenhagen). It did not disappoint! It was packed to the brim with hundreds of stalls, with an incredible array of antiques and other knick-knacks, and no new junk in sight! I could have quite happily spent the whole day there, but it obviously wasn't the most exciting place for children. We probably had an hour and a half if we were lucky before the meltdown stage began, but I think the promise of a hot-dog for lunch if they were good definitely bought us some time! I made a couple of Scandinavian purchases, which will serve as a reminder of our time here, a Norwegian Egersund 1950's jug , and a Royal Copenhagen 60's/early 70's vase . I need some spring branches to go in that, it's quite a strange shape, but I think it's lovely all the same!...Speaking of twigs, the Easter "tree" has been expertly decorated and I will post some pics of that on Easter Sunday, just to be topical!

Today we went to the Frilandsmuseet, I have no idea why we haven't been here before,it's not too far from us and we all thought it was great! It's an outdoor museum that consists of original historic buildings (mostly houses) from all over Denmark, that they have moved and rebuilt, covering about 85 acres of land. It was quite busy today as it's obviously good Friday, so we missed out on a cart to pull the children about in. A little bit of moaning ensued about all the walking, understandably - it's a big place, but it was well worth enduring it! It was really educational and I think our two learned a lot about life in times gone by. They were really interested in the interiors, especially the tiny beds for children. My little girl concluded that she preferred life today, with electricity, warmth and running water. I think my little boy thought he preferred modern life, as we have chocolate! He couldn't understand why there weren't any chocolate eggs available in the historic Easter activities! Both of them thought they saw the Tomten at various stages, which was really sweet, it's a favourite story of theirs (by Astrid Lingren), I can see why, although it's Swedish, the buildings look the same as in the book! If you are not familiar with the Tomten here he is: - the books are lovely!



Next time we will make a day of it and take a picnic...

I missed my family today, it looks like I always do on holidays. Lots of love to you all xxx