Harry

Harry is the DSB (the Danish government's rail transportation authority, more or less. "More or less" because I'm too lazy to look it up, but I'm pretty sure that's what it is) male mascot. There's also a female version of Harry. At least there was a giant, stuffed female-like Harry in the Central Station in Aalborg, sitting with the legit Harry. I think they might have been holding hands. I'm not sure what the deal is with that, but maybe I could find out something by "reading" the Danish tabloids. (By reading I of course mean looking at the pictures with a furrowed brow and focusing my eyes on each page long enough to give the impression that I actually can read Danish.)

I'm a big fan of using other people's words, saves me time and often they say it better than I could, so here are some comments on Harry from a website about internet games:

"Every Dane knows Harry - a furry purple hand puppet who has been a frequently viewed guest in Danish media as the principal character of a series of very popular TV-adverts for DSB (The Danish National Railroads) for the last 5 years.

Go 3D motor racing, golfing and 4-acrossing with DSB (Danish State Railways) and their extremely popular furry, purple mascot Harry.

Titoonic developed three web games with Harry for the DSB corporate web site to promote and attract users to register on ‘Mit DSB’, a personal web space for travellers. Registration is required to play the games: “Harry Golf”; “Harry Race”; and “Dirty Harry.” “Harry Race” was developed in Shockwave, while the other two games were built in Flash and with “Dirty Harry” featuring a video captured 3D version of Harry.

The Harry character - and the TV-ads that defined his universe - was developed for DSB by Bates Copenhagen. Harry has won several TV advertising prizes in his 5 years as DSB’s mascot."

Apparently I didn't have to look that far for confirmation of the role of DSB. I especially like the two references to the "Dirty Harry" game in the third paragraph. While I can easily imagine what "Harry Golf" and "Harry Race" involve, I'm not sure about the details of "Dirty Harry"...

In conclusion, one of my friends bought me a Harry as a thank you for some hostel booking. One of my new Europe goals (which include seeing the fjords in Norway, visiting Stonehenge, and enjoying a Finnish sauna, among other things) is to show Harry the wonderful world of Europe and record his journey in pictures.

Here's Harry... (well, not right here, since I can't attach photos...)