Friday, June 15, 2012

Other Photos from Denmark



The Aros Museum - Rainbow




The Old City Museum, Aarhus


A Taste of Denmark



Denmark is a country of rolling hills, beautiful farmlands and coastal shorelines.   Our tour of Denmark started with a visit to one of the highest points in the country.  Himmelbjerget, or Sky Mountain, is only 147 meters high (this compares to Mount Everest which is 8,850 meters) but provides a nice view of the countryside.  


After a picnic lunch, we took a small ferry boat aptly called the Viking which took us from the town of Ry through some lakes to the starting point for our walk up.  At the top we had an ice cream cone even though the weather was a bit on the chilly side.  It seems that Danes eat ice cream regardless of the weather. 



We had to visit the Moesgard Museum to see the famous 2,300 year old Grauballe Man, the world’s best preserved bog body.  The museum was a trip back to prehistoric Denmark with archaeological findings that took us through the iron age and the bronze age.
  



You can say that summer is not complete without a visit to a fair, adventure park or circus.  It was just my luck that the circus was in town in Aarhus.    It was the famous Benneweis Cirkus, which is celebrating it’s 125th anniversary this year.  So nice to feel like a child again, watching the elephants, seals and horses coming into the ring.  What great fun!




Then it was off to a visit to the Glass Museum in Ebeltoft where we saw some fantastic pieces of glass art.  Danish design never fails to impress.  We took a nice walk through the old village and coffee at an inn and visited a traditional farm house in the town that has been kept intact.  It's so wonderful to see the history of Denmark.  The beautiful thatched roof houses, cobble stone streets, and the architecture that is so unique to this country. 





And to top of the week, we celebrated Inger’s 75th birthday with  friends and neighbors who dropped in with gifts and good wishes.  Of course there was plenty of cakes, fresh Danish strawberries and coffee served. 
Inger's 75th Birthday, Afternoon Coffee and Cake




During the past week and a half, we took several nice drives through the countryside and up the coast.  We went as far as Aalborg one day where we met up with Mads and took a tour of the town and his university campus.  Along the way we stopped at places Jens remembers from his childhood - his Grandfather's farm, the sea side where he spent summer days and of course, a trip with a Dane would not be complete without a stop for some ice cream.  :-)  

Our trip to Sweden and Denmark

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

The Bridges to Aarhus

If you measure a straight line from Panama City, Panama to Aarhus, Denmark we have travelled 9,164 kilometres, crossed 7 time zones and have moved north more than 47 degrees.  The day time temperature has gone from 30+ degrees celcius to just around 15 degrees.  We are close to the land of the midnight sun now and it is light from around 4:30 AM to 10:00 PM.  

It has been such a good trip so far.  We've had the chance to meet up with dear friends in Sweden having no time to worry about jet lag with dinner parties lasting till the early hours of the morning three nights in a row.   A stay at the Hilton in Malmo helped to get us on the right track.  

On Monday, we drove from Lund, Sweden to Aarhus, Denmark crossing several bridges.  The newest of them is the bridge that joins Sweden's South coast to Copenhagen, Denmark.   The eight kilometer Oresund bridge was completed in 1999 and officially opened in 2000.    

This trip to Denmark, I hope to take some time to get to know the country of my partner a little more.  We'll have almost two weeks to visit with family and friends, celebrate my Mom-in-law's 75th birthday and explore the Danish countryside.  



Connecting Sweden to Denmark

The Great Belt Bridge


Lillebaeltsbro Bridge