Exotic scandinavian encounters
2005.10.28
Those of you who’ve already visited my own personal weblog must have seen this picture. I got not explanation of what it actually is. The only thing I know is that, when I visited Sicily, I stumbled across this funny building which must date back to the 19th century: there was a Danish vice-consulat in Taormina, Sicily, which was eventually transformed into an Italian travel agency. And i keep wondering why there was a Danish consulat in this tiny Sicilian village (which is probably, by the way, the most beautiful on this island…). If you happen to have any clue, please leave a comment, it will be greatly appreciated.
Then, a couple of days after Taormina, we went to the Etna and stayed in another small village, Nicolosi. To my surprise, there was a “Danish boutique” in the town, selling funny stuff directly imported from Denmark, apparently. I couldn’t enter this shop, though, it was closed during my stay in Nicolosi, but i’m still wondering who had this funny idea: opening a Danish boutique in the Italian middle of nowhere, dedicated to a scandinavian country…
And then, yesterday, I read this article about a the small town of Tranquebar [Danish: Trankebar], laying on the Coromandel Coast, in the Bay of Bengal, which remains a living museum of more than two centuries of Danish heritage in India… In 1620 Tranquebar was chosen by the Danish East India Company for the foundation of “Dansborg Fort”, which became the most important outpost of Danish trade and culture in India until the colony was eventually sold to the British India Company in 1845. Today, the town is back to life after the tsunami and it proudly remains the most important centre of Danish heritage in India.
