Today we took the train to Rosekilde. Besides learning how to use the train we had a glimpse of village life, and viking history.
There are two sights the travel books talk about for Rosekilde, the cathedral in which the kings of Denmark are laid to rest and the Viking museum. But, the village itself is a treat. It seems to be a lovely small town. The main street is a walking street, a great place for people watching and for pastry!
As we left the train and walked toward the cathedaral and Viking museum we saw an old cemetary that we HAD to walk through! It was a traditional graveyard with old irregular headstones shaded by huge trees. One of the trees had apparently died or broken or something but it had been turned into a fantastic scuplture sprouting out of the trunk. We walked out of the cemetary and onto the main walking street of the town.
The cathedral is lovely, the outside is red brick and the inside is white washed plaster. The good news is they take great care of the inside, the bad news is that they were doing it while we were there. All of our views were interrupted by scaffolding. Despite this minor distraction we saw the tombs of the Danish kings and queens from the 1200's forward. Some of the tombs were huge marble altars in their own chapels and some were quiet (relatively) sarcophagi. I wonder how they decide who gets the bigs ones and who doesn't. Nor thinks is depends on who pays for the new side chapel--don't know enough to argue with that, but then he doesn't know enough to know that has any validity.
We walked out of the cathedral and down to the fjord to the Viking museum. The museum was started when they dredged up five ships from the fjord. The ships were scuttled to help protect the land from the invading Norsemen around 800 ad I think-- apparently unsuccessfully. However, when the ships were raised the archaeologists began reconstructing the ships and eventually built a recreated sea-going ship that they sailed to Dublin and back in 2007-8. They took 25 years to do the research and building. After assuring that the specifications for the ship were accurate they began to build it using traditional tools and techniques. There are a number of other recreated ships in the harbour and some still under construction. It seems that they also have a school at which they train the sailors and craftsmen.
A truly fascinating place and well worth learning about the trains.
Back to Copenhagen. Did I mention how I ticked off the line at the Magasin du Nor deli area? Well when we got our first meal, we got some trail mix, apparently I was supposed to weigh it -- still don't know how I supposed to know that but I didn't and with a great sigh the checker went a weigh it. The lady two back in the line was shooting daggers with her eyes at that one. I was afraid to check how she felt when I neglected to tell the long-suffering checker that my card was without pin, and he had to reenter something so I could sign. Tonight when we bought our wine and foccacia-- I chose not to buy ANYTHING that might require weighing just to avoid any further international incidents.
Barack and Michelle are arriving in the next two days. Nor and I are taking credit for leading the way. Of course it could be that they need to clean up yet another ugly American incident! There is a huge stage being erected in front of the city hall which given the banners on the building must be a part of the event. It all seems to have to do with the Olympics. If you tune in you will see where we were, since we are leaving for Berlin the morning the President arrives,
It should be noted that I am really not learning a lot of Danish reading the subtitles from old Murder She Wrote and NCIS reruns. NCIS had to travel to Arizona to solve their murder tonight, so I was able to watch Arizona from Denmark! Georgia and Susan would be pleased to hear that I keep looking for Dora the Explorer but haven't found her yet.
Nor is falling asleep across the table from me, so I think it is time to end for the day.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
The Sun is shining in Copenagen
Just a side note, when I sign in to update my blog, the sign in information is in Danish, it is scary how much my computer knows.
Tragedy struck right after I finished blogging the other day. Nor's i-phone shorted out. And hard as it is to believe there is NO Apple Store in Copenhagen. Rick you may not want to visit here. Anyway, without his i-phone Nor is without his podcasts, GPS, right arm, movies and third son. He is really taking it much better than I would. Fortunately, we still have my i-phone and the little laptop.
We saw Rosenborg Castle today. It is right in the middle of town, although when it was built in 1661 it was out of town. It is filled with momentos and furnishings from the 1600's forward. We purchased a little guidebook and took our own time to see what we were interested in.
There does seem to be an interest in bodily functions around here. I don't recall ever seeing the privy on other castle tours but here we was the the king's inner sanctum and of course were introduced to the privy in the Round Tower. While the King's waste went into the moat I shudder to think where the stuff went from the round tower, which is attached to the church and is not on the water.
There were three floors of rooms to visit, each facinating. On the top floor, were the thrones and silver lions from the 1600's used in the coronations. One room off this huge room was filled floor to ceiling with venetian glassware. There were shelves all the way up the walls with glasses and platters and decanters. On the otherside of the room was a small bright room used as an office by the king, with a silver desk and chair. In the walls were locked closed cabinets that used to contain the royal regalia, the king had the only key and no one could see the regalia without his permission.
There were a number of goblets that used a nautilus shell as the bowl set on a pedestal of gold or silver.
In the basement, guarded by Danish soldiers were the crown jewels and other magnficent silver and gold items. Amber is most popular here and there were lovely examples of the use of amber, including carved goblets and chests.
Ivory too is used alot here, there were some lovely examples of deliciately carved statues and goblets.
We wander the beautiful grounds and then walked to the National Museum.
The museum tracing the history of Denmark from pre-history through today.
We spent too much time with the pre-history and had to rush through the next 2000 years. When we come back I will definitely spend more time on the middle ages to 1800's. Once we got to the 20th century it was clear that the country was much more globalized, with the Beatles and Star Wars being given pride of place as important parts of the culture.
Back the Magasin du Nord for wine and other food for dinner. Back to the hotel to rest some really tired feet.
Tomorrow Rosekilde and the Vikings!
Tragedy struck right after I finished blogging the other day. Nor's i-phone shorted out. And hard as it is to believe there is NO Apple Store in Copenhagen. Rick you may not want to visit here. Anyway, without his i-phone Nor is without his podcasts, GPS, right arm, movies and third son. He is really taking it much better than I would. Fortunately, we still have my i-phone and the little laptop.
We saw Rosenborg Castle today. It is right in the middle of town, although when it was built in 1661 it was out of town. It is filled with momentos and furnishings from the 1600's forward. We purchased a little guidebook and took our own time to see what we were interested in.
There does seem to be an interest in bodily functions around here. I don't recall ever seeing the privy on other castle tours but here we was the the king's inner sanctum and of course were introduced to the privy in the Round Tower. While the King's waste went into the moat I shudder to think where the stuff went from the round tower, which is attached to the church and is not on the water.
There were three floors of rooms to visit, each facinating. On the top floor, were the thrones and silver lions from the 1600's used in the coronations. One room off this huge room was filled floor to ceiling with venetian glassware. There were shelves all the way up the walls with glasses and platters and decanters. On the otherside of the room was a small bright room used as an office by the king, with a silver desk and chair. In the walls were locked closed cabinets that used to contain the royal regalia, the king had the only key and no one could see the regalia without his permission.
There were a number of goblets that used a nautilus shell as the bowl set on a pedestal of gold or silver.
In the basement, guarded by Danish soldiers were the crown jewels and other magnficent silver and gold items. Amber is most popular here and there were lovely examples of the use of amber, including carved goblets and chests.
Ivory too is used alot here, there were some lovely examples of deliciately carved statues and goblets.
We wander the beautiful grounds and then walked to the National Museum.
The museum tracing the history of Denmark from pre-history through today.
We spent too much time with the pre-history and had to rush through the next 2000 years. When we come back I will definitely spend more time on the middle ages to 1800's. Once we got to the 20th century it was clear that the country was much more globalized, with the Beatles and Star Wars being given pride of place as important parts of the culture.
Back the Magasin du Nord for wine and other food for dinner. Back to the hotel to rest some really tired feet.
Tomorrow Rosekilde and the Vikings!
Monday, September 28, 2009
Day two in Copenhagen
Yes I know I should blog daily but then I have to have an internet connection daily to do that, so I will be as daily as I can be.
Nor and I arrived in Copenhagen after an uneventful flight from Phoenix. Uneventful, except for the very agile seat mate I had who was able to leap from the window seat over two seated passengers to the aisle. Nor has noted that the seats are getting much smaller and the space much narrower between seats--just can't fool the guy!
We arrived early in the morning at the Copenhagen air port and despite the excellent instructions from Barbara about what to do, we stood somewhat in a 'stunned mullett' pose for awhile as we decided where to validate our Eurail pass and where to get the Copenhagen pass. We did figure it out and then jumped on the Metro for a quick ride to Konges Torv (sp) metro stop. We came up right in front on Bente's favorite store Magasin du Nord. I think I will stop with the (sp) just understand that anything that doesn't look like English has the (sp) designation behind it.
We again took our SM (Stunned Mullett) pose and figured out which way to turn to get to our hotel. For anyone who knows us it will come as no surprise that Nor thought we should turn right and I was sure we should turn left. Again for those who know us, either would have been correct, we just have different ways to get to the same place.
We took the right hand turn ( I am holding out for a big one to insist on my way) and arrived at our hotel is just a few minutes. We thought we would have to just leave our bags and sightsee in somewhat used clothes but again in keeping with the now established tone of this trip, our room was available. So up we went.
We cleaned up a bit and set out for our first taste of Copenhagen. We walked along the waterfront to Nyhaven. This area is on an inlet and has reclaimed the former warehouses as resturants and bars. A number of sailing ships are moored infront of the warehouses. It is a great start to our tour.
With the help of Rick Steves, we walked around the center of town, we walked around the Konigs Nytorv, a huge circled ringed by the National Theatre, a former palace turned art museum, the hotel Angleterre and Magasin du Nord.
Around the center of the circle is a new exhibit called 100 places not to miss, it consists of 100 (imagine that) kiosks with images on each side, each image is about four feet by three feet and shows a place that everyone should want to see It includes, New York city, Copenhagen, Africa, Cuba, and lots of other truly facinating places and images.
We walked on and soon found ourselves on Stroget, the wonderful walking shopping street. Because it was Sunday and really early, we had the street pretty much to ourselves. We walked along and ended at the City hall and Tivoli. Tivoli closed in mid-September so we will have to wait for our next trip to see the gardens. At this point jet lag and the lack of sleep really caught up with us so we walked back to the hotel about noon. Up to our room for a three hour nap.
We took off again and walked to to the round tower and Trinity church. We sort of took a round about route so by the time we got there, they were about to close. Our route had taken us down some narrow little streets off the Stroget so I can't really say that we wasted our time.
We walked back to Nyhaven for dinner in a charming resturant. We chose to sit outside and people watch as we dined. I had a fish stew and Nor had beef with bernaise sauce--very good, as was the beer and wine.
To the hotel and to bed. End of the first day.
Day two began with the full Danish breakfast, eggs, sauage, potatoes, cheese, smoked salmon ( o yes Barbara, I thought of you) breads, juices WOW!
We decided to walk toward Amaleborg which is a ring of royal palaces. We toured the museum, that was in one of the palaces. We saw restored rooms, amazing silver and lots of photos of the family.
Back outside we moved on to the Marble Church. The church is totally round under a dome that is second only to St. Peters in size. We walked back to the palaces to watch the changing of the guard and then walked up the harbor to the Little Mermaid statue.
She is a lovely statue, and she looks out to the sea that she wants to return to.
We then walked over to the fortifications. They are in a star shape and a still a military installation. this is a lovely part of town and we wondere4d why Rick Steves did not put this as one of his three triangle sights.
We then walked over to the Anglican Chuch which despite its sign was all locked up.
Now we walked back to the center of town to again visits the round tower and Trinity Church. The church was truly lovely. I have noticed that none of these churches have had any stained glass windows.
We walked up the round tower for some amazing views of all the spires and rooftops of Copenhagen.
We walked back to Stroget and over to the Danish Design Center. An interesting small museum, that was featuring a show about sustainable living.
On the way back to the hotel we stopped at Magasin du Nord's basement to pick up our choices of a grazing dinner en suite.
Thus ends our second day (September 28)
For those of you who wonder, I will be adding photos at somepoint. Forewarned is forearmed.
good night all. We do miss everyone. We have toasted you with each meal, along with the wonders of Copenhagen.
Nor and I arrived in Copenhagen after an uneventful flight from Phoenix. Uneventful, except for the very agile seat mate I had who was able to leap from the window seat over two seated passengers to the aisle. Nor has noted that the seats are getting much smaller and the space much narrower between seats--just can't fool the guy!
We arrived early in the morning at the Copenhagen air port and despite the excellent instructions from Barbara about what to do, we stood somewhat in a 'stunned mullett' pose for awhile as we decided where to validate our Eurail pass and where to get the Copenhagen pass. We did figure it out and then jumped on the Metro for a quick ride to Konges Torv (sp) metro stop. We came up right in front on Bente's favorite store Magasin du Nord. I think I will stop with the (sp) just understand that anything that doesn't look like English has the (sp) designation behind it.
We again took our SM (Stunned Mullett) pose and figured out which way to turn to get to our hotel. For anyone who knows us it will come as no surprise that Nor thought we should turn right and I was sure we should turn left. Again for those who know us, either would have been correct, we just have different ways to get to the same place.
We took the right hand turn ( I am holding out for a big one to insist on my way) and arrived at our hotel is just a few minutes. We thought we would have to just leave our bags and sightsee in somewhat used clothes but again in keeping with the now established tone of this trip, our room was available. So up we went.
We cleaned up a bit and set out for our first taste of Copenhagen. We walked along the waterfront to Nyhaven. This area is on an inlet and has reclaimed the former warehouses as resturants and bars. A number of sailing ships are moored infront of the warehouses. It is a great start to our tour.
With the help of Rick Steves, we walked around the center of town, we walked around the Konigs Nytorv, a huge circled ringed by the National Theatre, a former palace turned art museum, the hotel Angleterre and Magasin du Nord.
Around the center of the circle is a new exhibit called 100 places not to miss, it consists of 100 (imagine that) kiosks with images on each side, each image is about four feet by three feet and shows a place that everyone should want to see It includes, New York city, Copenhagen, Africa, Cuba, and lots of other truly facinating places and images.
We walked on and soon found ourselves on Stroget, the wonderful walking shopping street. Because it was Sunday and really early, we had the street pretty much to ourselves. We walked along and ended at the City hall and Tivoli. Tivoli closed in mid-September so we will have to wait for our next trip to see the gardens. At this point jet lag and the lack of sleep really caught up with us so we walked back to the hotel about noon. Up to our room for a three hour nap.
We took off again and walked to to the round tower and Trinity church. We sort of took a round about route so by the time we got there, they were about to close. Our route had taken us down some narrow little streets off the Stroget so I can't really say that we wasted our time.
We walked back to Nyhaven for dinner in a charming resturant. We chose to sit outside and people watch as we dined. I had a fish stew and Nor had beef with bernaise sauce--very good, as was the beer and wine.
To the hotel and to bed. End of the first day.
Day two began with the full Danish breakfast, eggs, sauage, potatoes, cheese, smoked salmon ( o yes Barbara, I thought of you) breads, juices WOW!
We decided to walk toward Amaleborg which is a ring of royal palaces. We toured the museum, that was in one of the palaces. We saw restored rooms, amazing silver and lots of photos of the family.
Back outside we moved on to the Marble Church. The church is totally round under a dome that is second only to St. Peters in size. We walked back to the palaces to watch the changing of the guard and then walked up the harbor to the Little Mermaid statue.
She is a lovely statue, and she looks out to the sea that she wants to return to.
We then walked over to the fortifications. They are in a star shape and a still a military installation. this is a lovely part of town and we wondere4d why Rick Steves did not put this as one of his three triangle sights.
We then walked over to the Anglican Chuch which despite its sign was all locked up.
Now we walked back to the center of town to again visits the round tower and Trinity Church. The church was truly lovely. I have noticed that none of these churches have had any stained glass windows.
We walked up the round tower for some amazing views of all the spires and rooftops of Copenhagen.
We walked back to Stroget and over to the Danish Design Center. An interesting small museum, that was featuring a show about sustainable living.
On the way back to the hotel we stopped at Magasin du Nord's basement to pick up our choices of a grazing dinner en suite.
Thus ends our second day (September 28)
For those of you who wonder, I will be adding photos at somepoint. Forewarned is forearmed.
good night all. We do miss everyone. We have toasted you with each meal, along with the wonders of Copenhagen.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Trip Preparation
As I get ready for our trip to Europe, I thought this might be a good way to keep a journal of our travels and to let others know what we are doing and seeing.
I am at the point of planning that I have all the tickets and vouchers, far more travel guides than I can use, both hard copy and electronic. I have over-packed and repacked twice.
I am at the point of planning that I have all the tickets and vouchers, far more travel guides than I can use, both hard copy and electronic. I have over-packed and repacked twice.
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