Entries about palaces

I visited Copenhagen in May of 2005. 2005 was an unusual year for me. My ex partner and I were into the tenth year of our relationship and it was a rocky year. I think we both realized things were changing in our relationship but we were not sure where it was headed. We were both holding onto something that we knew was slowly coming apart. We traveled to Copenhagen together but spent very little time together in the city. He had a business conference he was attending. I was part of an internet travel group called Virtual Tourist at the time. I was planning to meet a group of friends from the site who lived in the Copenhagen area. I had not met them in person but was looking forward to meeting them for the first time. This was to be my first of many times meeting Virtual Tourist friends while traveling. He was not overly interested in meeting my online friends. So between his business conference and my spending time meeting new friends we spent very little time together. We did have some good times on the trip. We spent several days in Norway and enjoyed ourselves. But for most of the time in Copenhagen we saw very little of each other. It was truly a time of transition. Our relationship did not endure the rest of the year. Looking back in hindsight I can see it all starting to end here in Copenhagen. This photo of me in front of the Rosenborg Schloss is the perfect memory from the experience. It's just me standing alone in front of a beautiful palace having my photo taken by a complete stranger. And although beautiful the photo is flawed. The person taking the photo blurred the photo and cut off the very top of the palace towers. At a glance all looks good but close up you can see the problems. Just like my relationship with my ex partner at a glance all looked good but close up you could see the problems.

Before our visit ended I took my ex back to see the castle. My photo of the Rosenborg Sloss came out much better than the one taken of me by a stranger. It was perfectly cropped. It was in focus. The color was beautiful. And there is no one in the photo. It was empty just like our relationship. It's just the palace by itself. Coincidence? I don't know. But looking back all these years later I can see the symbolic difference in the two photos.

I enjoyed.my time meeting new friends from the internet in Copenhagen. My buddy Claus became a life long friend. I still see him on occasion when I travel and when are in the same city. We have great times together and have shared many experiences over a drink. I also met my friend Jon. We are still internet friends and have met several times again while traveling also. And I met a delightful lady named Charlotta. Charlotta and I are still friends on Facebook and chat on occasion. Of course Virtual Tourist has long since disappeared. But we are all still friends and still keep in contact. The friendships have endured. The relationship with my ex partner ended. It's been my gain. All of the conversations we shared on Virtual Tourist have been deleted. Our photos are gone. But our experiences will live on. There were a lot of stories shared between friends on Virtual Tourist. And there are even more stories I have shared with friends on Facebook. But this is the first time I have shared this one. My friends I met that day had no idea my life was in transition. But to this day I am glad they were there and helped me cross that bridge.