DANISH MEMORIES

                                    Memorable Bits and Pieces

As usual I took the Texas heat with me to Denmark. One fellow packed up and went home after the first day and a half. Sitting on a curb during a rest about day 3 I began to wonder about my sanity. I was soaking wet, my head was wet making my helmet a bit uncomfortable, sweat was running down my back, I was huffing and puffing from the steep hills and to add to my misery we picked up a headwind.

     By mid afternoon looking out over the ocean I approached our guide saying, “Be honest with me, is the whole trip going to be like this? Don’t give me any rhetoric! Just tell me the truth because I’ve about had enough.” He told me there was little left of the day and the next day forward would be much smoother. He assured me I was a better biker than I gave myself credit for---we were all having problems.

    I did stick it out; it did get better; I saw and learned much; and I’m glad I didn’t quit---not really part of my personality anyway!

We ferried among many islands and biked on the islands of Sealand, Fuen, Areo, Lang-land, Lolland, and Falster over paved paths, streets, gravel, through forest, through many wheat fields, along the sea, and up and down lots of hills. We biked the entire length of one island. Once again my bike saw me safely through it all with no mishaps.

We utilized many ferries, including a postal ferry and one huge ferry that carried big trucks and trains, to get from one island to another. We met some interesting people on ferry rides.

The little cobbled town of Aeroskobing is memorable because it was like a fairy tale town. The resort season was coming to an end so there were very few cars or people. The small houses and shops were painted in pastel colors. Many of the doors were decorated with brass and plaster motifs. The houses were close together, almost joining, on the narrow streets giving the appearance of a make-believe village. It was a delightful lunch stop.

One day we stopped at Hesnaes to view all the thatch roof houses. Some of these homes also had thatched sides. The very thick thatching needs to be replaced fairly often. The picturesque homes are quite a fire hazard. The village was quaint, charming and uniquely Danish.    

The Admiral Hotel in Copenhagen is a converted 1787 warehouse with exposed beams and thick brick walls. The original granary had a rustic charm. The graceful brick archways were accented with 12 X 15-inch beams 200 years old. It was unique and we enjoyed a lovely stay.

Radhus (City Hall) is a landmark between the train station, Tivoli, and the Stroget. The 345-foot high tower has 300 steps leading to the top. The building is full of Danish symbolism inside and out. The golden statue is of Bishop Absalon, who founded Copenhagen more than 800 years ago. The Round Tower was built in 1642. Polar bears climbing on the roof represent Danish protection from Greenland. An iron gate in the center of the floor is an elevator for the transport of 1200 chairs.  The building itself was inspired by its equivalent in Siena, Italy.   

Opposite the Stroget a unique clock sits in the tower. Hourly weather girls appear on bikes in fair weather and under umbrellas if rain is predicted.

It’s only a short walk from Nyhavn to the infamous Little Mermaid statue. She is much smaller than most people expect. Sitting just a few feet from shore in shallow water she has been beheaded twice by vandals. Hans Christian Anderson’s story made her famous. She was given to the city in 1913 by a brewery icon.

The Stroget, running through the heart of the city, is a mile-long pedestrian thoroughfare. Road traffic was banned in 1962. King’s Square (Kongens Nytorv), site of the Royal Theater and Magasin Department Store, is on the east end of the Stroget.  The largest square in the city is home to the French Embassy and the five-star Hotel D’Angle Terre. The statue in the center of the square is of King Christian who enlarged the city in the 1670s by adding the square. The western end of the Stroget ends at Town Hall Square.

While biking through the forest along the Baltic Sea we stopped at the General’s teahouse. The owner. a munitions manufacturer, built, a manor house a couple kilometers inland, but his teahouse was his favorite. Each afternoon he would go to the teahouse to have tea while gazing out over the Baltic Sea. During a stay there Hans Christian Anderson wrote the Elephant Story which was not very successful.

Church towers are always built on the west side of the church. The tower usually was added after the church was built. Churches also are always built on a hill. Many churches have frescos, hundreds of years, old painted on the ceilings.

Copenhagen has 50 museums and 2000 restaurants, many of them spilling out onto the streets as open air cafés.

In Copenhagen the Latin Quarter, an area near the university is where priests and professors once lived. It is so named for the Latin scholars not the Latin people. Many of the 1600s buildings are used as college dorms today. Most are built as a square with a small driveway on one side leading into a center courtyard.   King Christian IV built a large round tower in the Latin Quarter. One can walk to the observatory at the top for a magnificent view of the city. Gold letters on the side in Latin, Hebrew, and Danish translate to: ‘lead the crown into wisdom and justice’.

DANISH MEMORIES

                                 Interesting Denmark
                             

When biking in Denmark, almost without exception, all of our rest/pit stops were at churches. The restrooms were well stocked and very clean. This seemed a bit unusual to me, but the guide knew where all the facilities were located and there was no rigmarole in searching for a key or roaming the grounds to find the common room. It was really nice and much appreciated!

            We ferried among many islands and biked on the islands of Sealand, Fuen, Areo, Langland, Lolland, and Falster over paved paths, streets, gravel, through forest, through many wheat fields, along the sea, and  up and down lots of hills. 

            We rode many kinds of ferries. The largest carried big trucks as well as trains. There were four train tracks on the loading deck. The ferry berthed where the land tracks ended at the end of the pier and the trains just rolled onto the ferry. It was an interesting operation to watch. The smallest ferry was a hand pulled one and an interesting one was the postal ferry.

Kirke means church. We visited many centuries-old churches. Many had frescos hundreds of years old. We saw the oldest fresco in the country, painted in 1120, over the altar at LyngeKirke. Most of the churches were originally Catholic. Reformation came to Denmark in 1530, and now most of the churches are Lutheran. In Texas we look for water towers; in Denmark one looks for the church tower which is always on the highest part of the church grounds. Chevrons in alternating colors are common from floor to ceiling in the graceful arches in gothic churches.

We stopped at Hesnaes, a quaint, charming and uniquely Danish village, to view all the thatched roof houses. Some of the homes even had thatched sides. The thatching was very thick but needs to be replaced fairly often and really is quite a fire hazard.

            We biked through the forest along the Baltic Sea. We stopped at the General’s teahouse. A couple of kilometers inland  there was a manor house. The owner, a munitions manufacturer,  made a lot of money and built the teahouse so each day he could visit it  and have afternoon tea while gazing out over the Baltic Sea.

            The Little Mermaid statue, a gift to the city in 1913 by brewer Carl Jacobsen, is quite small and sits on a stone in shallow water a few feet off shore. She is about a quarter mile from the palace.

            It is always fun to watch the changing of the guard at a palace. I’ve been fortunate to observe the one at Amelienborg Palace in Copenhagen on each of two visits.