ROOTS - not the movie - 3

The Danebroge at the stern of one of my brothers motorboat.

     We have arrived, my brother Frank has picked us up at the airport and we are headed to his home on the island of Moen (Møn). Being just a bit jet lagged, which is of greater consequence when travelling west to east, we are tired and also hungry. Airplane food is OK, but a real sit down meal is much better. It takes a little over an hour to drive from Kastrup Airport to Frank's home, a distance of about 122 km / 77 miles. Here I meet for the second time in my life Frank's wife Lone and their massive dogs, English Mastiff's. We arrive just in time for lunch and since it is a great day outdoors, it is served in the garden.

Having a proper Danish lunch. Pickled herring, a nice selection of cold cuts,
a variety of sliced cheese, real pumpernickel bread,
a beer, or two and of course with a glass or more of Aquavit (Water of Life).
http://www.danish-schnapps-recipes.com/danish-schnapps-aquavit.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akvavit

     Then it was time to unpack and get things sorted out. The dogs are curious as to who these two new people in the house are and they, the dogs, are sloppering constantly.

One of the dogs showing off his Texas baseball cap.

 

     After lunch it was time for a good walk to stretch our legs after being cramped up in an airplane for many hours.

 

     We did this again after dinner. Since my brother Frank and his wife Lone live on a little narrow country lane out among the farm fields it was an enjoyable walk.

A house down the lane from my brother Franks' house.

 

Getting off the paved road and onto the farm roads.

Note the very long shadows; it is already late in the day.

Frank in his "open sports car".

 

     After the walk it was time to plan the next few days. We need Danish currency (Kroner) and we need a way to get around. We need to confirm times and dates to meet old friends from school. But mostly we need to get some real sleep.

    

     We need the sun to set, which it finally did at 9:57 PM local time, after a day of sunlight at that location that was 17 hours 32 minutes long. But, and this is the but, it is still daylight outside, just not as bright. At about 11:30 PM it turned a bit darker, but at 3:30 AM, there was light on the horizon again and at 4:25 AM the sun is rising. The first night it was difficult to sleep.

 

    To add to the interest factor, the bedroom we were in was upstairs, the bathroom is downstairs; the dogs sleep at the bottom of the stairs. When one is over a certain age one generally suffers from old man disease meaning a certain amount of trips to the bathroom must be planned for. How are the dogs going to react. There was only a bit of growling at the first trip down the stairs, after that they didn't even bother move.

    

     Day one in Denmark is complete. Tomorrow is a new day.

     More to follow in the next post.