Like most people, I had a staycation this year. Mine entailed checking out a stack of travel guides from the library and looking through and scanning old travel photos, as physical photo albums seem to be quite the thing of the past.
I took the most photographs on my trip to Denmark in 2003. I was so afraid I’d miss out on something that I compulsively shot an inordinate amount of film. The images that stuck out the most for me were of my stay in Aalborg (about 140 miles northwest of Copenhagen) and visiting Lindholm Høje. This Viking burial site overlooks the city in a very eerie way.
Supposedly the size and shape of the rocks show a person’s status, just like today. According to Lonely Planet there are 682 graves on this former settlement. I didn’t bother counting. The guidebook also mentioned that there was a fifteen minute walk from where the bus would drop you off, but no mention of a military post right next door with guns being fired. Hearing the sounds of war while I approached this burial ground was very unsettling. As I looked around at all the graves, with the city churning on almost without noticing, I realized that this was very different from what most Westerners experience. While this may not have been a battle site, it certainly had a feel of war to it.
It’s easier to accept war when you don’t hear it or see its outcome in person.
http://amovieaday.blip.tv
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
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