Denmark
-
Botanisk Have – September 2003
The University of Copenhagen Botanical Gardens are AMAZING! Over a dozen large greenhouses are surrounded by acres of outdoor annuals, perennials, ponds, rock gardens, and lush trees. Our day in this garden was a redolent treat. After the garden we met Ellen and Søren at the Canal Kafeen where they treated us to a “traditional” Danish lunch – herring, cheese, and beer 🙂 The curried herring and smoked herring were particularly good. Refreshed, we walked past the Caritas Well on Gammeltorv and took a tour of the Royal Copenhagen Porcelain Factory (souvenirs!).
-
Nordjylland – September 2003
Ellen’s mother’s parents, Gert and Karen, invited us to visit their Summer House in Nordjylland (the northern tip of Denmark). Ellen drove us from Copenhagen to the Summer House. Along the way we went on a walking tour in Vejle, visited the Skagen Museum, played in two oceans, and visited Ellen’s parents in Aalborg. You can make your own Jelling Stone! (For more info on what the Jelling Stone is, look in the album for the Midgard Fountain that we saw in the pedestrian area in Vejle.) Click here to download the Jelling Stone kit as a PDF file. I found the PDF at http://www.runsten.info/
-
Rosenborg Slot – September 2003
We spent one morning at Rosenborg Slot, the castle in the center of Copenhagen which houses the Royal Danish Collections and the Crown Jewels. The castle is surrounded by the Rosenborg Castle Gardens (commonly referred to as the King’s Gardens), which are the country’s oldest royal gardens (established in the early 1600s). We toured the castle and had a nice lunch at the little cafe on the castle grounds.
-
Roskilde – September 2003
Roskilde, generally recognized as Denmark’s first capital (ask someone from Jelling and you may get a different story), is home to the Vikingskibsmuseet (Viking Ship Museum). We took the train from Copenhagen to Roskilde and enjoyed a vikingtastic day this city by the fjord. The museum was hosting a special exhibit titled “The Vikings in Ireland” which included artifacts from dig sites in Dublin on loan from the Irish government. As we left the museum we were treated to the beginning of the Roskilde Universitet Årsfest – the annual commemoration party and semester kick off at RU. The “You can’t use your hands” wrestling on a floating platform was tremendous…
-
København – September 2003
On our second day touring Copenhagen we decided to walk from Ellen and Søren’s’s apartment to the Danish Royal Residence of Amalienborg and then on to wherever we might go. That made for a little bit of a walk. Fortunately we got a chance to use some of Copenhagen’s ‘City Bikes’. The city of Copenhagen operates a generous scheme, called Bycykler (City Bikes), by which anyone can borrow a bicycle for free. Motivated in part by a desire to limit motor-vehicle traffic in the city center, private businesses and the city council sponsor approximately 2000 bikes for the Bycykler program. The bikes can be found at hundreds of bike racks…
-
Copenhagen – August 2003
We took the night train from German to Denmark, arriving the next morning at Københavns Hovedbanegård (Copenhagen Central Train Station). Ellen met us and led us back to her lovely apartment. Ellen and Søren were wonderful hosts – I hope we can return the hospitality in the future. Ellen and Søren’s apartment faces the Søerne. The view out their windows is spectacular, as you can see in the picture. LisaDiane and I spent a few days exploring the city. We visited the Round Tower, shopped along Kobmagergade, and explored Nyhavn.
-
Denmark and Germany – September 2003
LisaDiane and I celebrated my graduation with a trip through Denmark and Germany in August and September of 2003. We visited Ellen and Søren in København (Copenhagen), Kerstin in Bamburg, Maren, Stephan, and Felix in Hamburg, Karen and Gert in Nordjylland, and Nina, Ejnar, and Anna in Aalborg. We played the part of backpacking, camera toting, Rick Steves guided, train riding tourists the whole way. I can’t wait to go back. (Note: The trip began on August 26, so I’m placing this post on that date.)
