ROOTS - not the movie - 15

    We have arrived in the little town of Nr. Nissum (Seminarie by) in Jylland and it is a Sunday afternoon.
http://www.kulturarv.dk/1001fortaellinger/da_DK/nr-nissum-seminariebyen (This liink is in Danish so use Google Translate).
Just up the road a very short bit is Nr. Nissum Kirke by
http://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissum_Kirkeby (this link is also in Danish)

We spent time with my brother Max, his wife Mariann and their daugthers Berith and Nina as well as two grandchildren.

Trying my luck.

Berith about to make a goal.

Max is looking at the lay of the land.

Max is giving me pointers on how to hold a golf club.

About to swing but I had to ask if they had their windows insured.

Silje looks very serious in this photo.

Silje and her brother Sixten

     The following day we were on our own as Max and Mariann own a very successful business which they had to tend to. http://www.allflex.dk/ (again the link is in Danish). 

     So what to do? Check out their bikes and go bike riding in the area, which we did. How far did we ride, quite a bit, according to Google Earth we did about 12.5 miles / 20.1 km. The tour took us up to Nr. Nissum Kirkeby and a stop at the church, then on to the village of Fultrup with a beautiful old church, 

The cemetery at Fultrup Church

The cemetery at Fultrup Church

The Sanctuary of Fultrup Church

The Sanctuary of Fultrup Church

Note the intricate details.

then on to the city of Lemvig http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemvig 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemvig_Municipality

Lemvig is not immune to storms although it is not on the North Sea Coast

http://wn.com/lemvig (this link is in Danish)

http://www.visitdenmark.com/denmark/lemvig-museum-lemvig-gdk606840

Here we toured the harbor, I have to look at all the boats, it is in my genes. There were sailboats and fishing boats and powerboats, and I didn't take single picture, which I do not understand. After touring the little harbor it was time to tour the church which is an attraction in itself. And then it was time for lunch. We found a nice little cafe with tables outside and were deciding what to order. On a white board they had listed the lunch special of the day as well as the beer of the month which was BB. Since I consider myself reasonably well educated on the beers of the world this one I had never heard of so I called the waiter and asked him what it was. His reply is rather funny "Oh, that means much better than Budweiser". In reality this is a beer from the land of the original pilsner Czechoslovakia and the name is BB. I must admit it was a good beer. The it was time to head back to Nissum Seminariby. On the way into Lemvig we had descended a rather large hills at great speed, now it was time to go up the hill, and the Danes that bicycle this on a regular basis just whizzed by us while we were huffing and puffing and finally had to get off the bikes and walk up the hill. It was a nice ride all together in fantastic Danish summer weather, temperatures in the mid 70's and very few clouds in the sky.

      That evening we went out to eat somewhere, I can't remember where, but along the way my brother suddenly stops the car and says "Everybody get Out". He wanted show us the view. I took a series of photos which if spliced together would from a panoramic with the first frame being on the left of the photo, so use your imagination.

      I have tried to find the restaurant on Google Earth but have not had any luck. It is somewhere on the western side of Lemvig Bugt (Lemvig Bay) but it may have been at Hotel Norre Vinkel, I can't be sure. I did not take any pictures, too bad.

More to follow in the next post.

Kayak Ocean Crossing

For all of you paddling enthusiasts out there.
Try this for size.


http://www.news-journalonline.com/article/20140417/NEWS/140419501?Title=Ocean-crossing-kayaker-could-arrive-Friday


May all of you and your families have a Most Blessed Easter.

ROOTS - not the movie 14

   As I begin to write this post (April 2014) I have to remember that what I am writing about took place almost 7 years ago.

   We have now completed two weeks in Denmark and it is time to move on the next brother on the list, who was born second, with me being the oldest. This involves a car ride to Odense, a train ride to Stuer, with a lot of nice countryside along the way.

   Odense is the 3rd largest and also one of the oldest towns in Denmark, dating from about 988, celebrating its 1000th anniversary in 1988 as an incorporated township.  Think about this for a moment; Odense dates from 463 years before Christopher Columbus was even born. So when we in the US say "way back when, we are usually on talking in months or at best a few years". When in Odense they say "way back when, it has real meaning".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odense
http://www.odense.dk/welcome
http://wikitravel.org/en/Odense

Odense is also the home of the famous author Hans Christian Andersen
http://denmark.dk/en/quick-facts/map-of-denmark/odense/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Christian_Andersen
http://hca.gilead.org.il/
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/contributor/hans-christian-Andersen

Odense is the location of the famous Lindo Shipyard
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odense_Steel_Shipyard
https://www.google.com/search?q=lindo+shipyard+denmark&rlz=1T4ADRA_enUS364US364&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=e0pAU6fSC8ulsQTe3oCgAw&ved=0CD0QsAQ&biw=1583&bih=670
http://www.shipsandharbours.com/manufacturers.asp?id=27

Our destination today is the train station where we will board the train bound for Stuer, at least some it is bound for Stuer, some of is bound for Germany, we discovered.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odense_station

    Tickets are purchased and we say our good byes and board the train in car number # 4. The train leaves the station and is suddenly moving at a high rate of speed. This is an all electric train. At one point I am standing with my head out a window trying to take pictures and the conductor politely states "You should really pull your head in". About 15 seconds later there was a WOOOOSSSSSHHHH - we went under a bridge and the space between the railcar side and the bridge support was probably not more than a hand width. Lesson learned, keep head inside and forget about pictures.

     The route takes us from Odense to Middelfart (here we go again with the jokes - see previous post), across the Little Belt, to the town of Fredericia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fredericia
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/217713/Fredericia
http://www.danishnet.com/info.php/travel/fredericia-50.html
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=fredericia&qpvt=fredericia&FORM=IGRE

 Just before arrival it is announced that cars three and four will be diverted to a train bound for Germany. Oppppps, we gather our luggage and huff it up through those cars all the way to car one.
Then it is on to the town of Vejle.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vejle
http://wikitravel.org/en/Vejle
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=vejle&qpvt=vejle&FORM=IGRE

Here there is a change of train - talk about precision and team work. We pull in to the station on say track 6, those passengers continuing north cross the platform to track 5, which takes about two minutes, the doors close and off we go, even before we are seated. Up through the beautiful Grejsdal (Grejs Valley) and onward.
http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grejsdalen This link is in Danish so ask Google Translate to translate.
http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Europe/Denmark/West/Vejle/Grejsdalen/photo75873.htm

Shortly thereafter we pass through the official birth place of the united kingdom of a christian Denmark - the small village of Jelling famous for the mounds (graves) of the king and queen. King Gorm den gamle (Gorm the Old) and Queen Thyra. Their son, Harold Blaatand (Harold Bluetooth) brought Christianity to the country in 965 AD, and although still officially a Christian nation in the fold of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, with the reigning monarch as the head of the church (a trick learned from King Henry the VIII of England), Denmark is now, for all practical purposes, a land of agnostics or atheists. We only catch a glimpse of the mounds as the trains speeds through. Here are some links, some of the links have additional buttons for more information.
http://www.visitvejle.com/ln-int/denmark/the-jelling-monuments-gdk607895
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jelling_stones
http://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jelling_Kirke < use google translate for this link.
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/28310171
http://www.fortidensjelling.dk/jelling32.htm < use google translate for this link
http://jelling.natmus.dk/om-jelling/tradition-og-historie/aosmann-isfron-1797/ < use google translate for this link.

We continue on our journey, passing through verdant pastures, through small villages to the town of Herning, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herning,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herning_Municipality,
http://wikitravel.org/en/Herning
where the doors of the train open, people scramble off and on, and about 90 seconds later we are rapidly increasing in speed. Then it is on to Holstebro, another fair size town which could be Kansas City KS of Denmark.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holstebro
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/269666/Holstebro
http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/Denmark/Ringkoebing_Amt/Holstebro-162876/TravelGuide-Holstebro.html

And then finally to our destination Stuer on the Limfjord, where my brother Max, his wife Mariann and their daughters' and 2 grandchildren pick us up.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Struer,_Denmark
http://www.struer.dk/webtop/site.aspx?p=15312
http://www.struerhavn.dk/ < use google translate for this link.

In order to fortify myself during the trip on the train I purchased two "hvidtøl" before leaving Svendborg.
They were enjoyed on the trip and brought back memories of my childhood and an occasional "sneaked" beer. At one time or another every Danish town with any self-respect had a brewery and each brewery made a great variety of beers. As a boy, when others collected stamps or coins, I collected beer bottle labels, and had a large collection. Here is a link to some information about Danish beer.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_in_Denmark
http://www.beermerchants.com/denmark.html
http://denmark.dk/en/lifestyle/food-drink/danish-microbreweries/
http://www.beerindanish.com/

Since the incident with the head outside the railcar window it appears that only one photo was taken during the rail trip and that is of Norma enjoying a cold coke and the view out the window.

More to follow in the next post.

ROOTS - not the movie - 13

     Today, which again was almost 7 years ago, Norma and I are off on an excursion to the city of Varde on the Jylland peninsula, the only part of Denmark attached to Europe proper. The reason for this excursion is two-fold; my brother Max belongs to a group that plays hunting horns and they are in a competition in Varde. In addition, Varde is well known for its miniature city. So off we go across the island Fyn to Lillebælt which means "Little Belt" and is the sound or narrow "belt" between the island of Fyn and the Jylland Peninsula. The last town or city on the Fyn side is the city of Middelfart - yes,  you can imagine the jokes about that particular town - they just can't do a real fart, just a middle one. So in order to understand the meaning of the name follow the link attached: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middelfart

Note on European highways, the exit name is in blue and the exit in green.
Here we are just 1000 meters from the Middelfart exit.

     Then it is across one of  two bridges which are interesting; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Belt

First is a link to information about the new bridge: 

http://www.visitdenmark.com/en-us/denmark/the-new-lillebaelt-bridge-gdk614479

If one drives the new bridge during high winds one can be in for a surprise. This is a suspension bridge and as such it will sway considerably in high winds, enough to at times reduce traffic to one way.

Then a link the old bridge which was actually a work brought about by the great depression which not only hi t the US but also Europe and most of the rest of the world, and because of it, the depression, Hr. Hitler of Infamy came to power:

http://www.visitdenmark.nl/nl/denmark/the-old-lillebaelt-bridge-gdk614471

And a link to some images of the bridges: 

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=lillebaelt+bridge+denmark&qpvt=lillebaelt+bridge+denmark&FORM=IGRE

     After driving some time across Jylland http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jutland we arrive in Varde

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varde     http://aroundguides.com/Varde and find the location of the 

hunting horn blowing competition. Via one or two phone calls we meet my brother Max and his wife Mariann and find a place to sit. Here are a few photos of the horn blowers. They played tradition hunting notes as well as a number of jazz pieces which surprised me as the horn has no keys or valves as does most musical horns, meaning that every note must be made by the mouth and the amount of air passed through the horn (middelfart?)

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=hunting+horns&qpvt=hunting+horns&FORM=IGRE

My brother Max is the seventh head from the right, he is the tall one.

Again Max more or less in the center, and he is the tall one.

Max playing his hunting horn.

      Then it was time to visit the other attraction in Varde, the miniature city. This is a most interesting place; everything is 1/10th scale, brick by brick, door by door, window by window, roof tile by roof tile, house by house, building by building, of the City of Varde. One feels like a giant in a very small place. In Danish it is called "minibyen" or translated "mini town". It is a reconstruction of Varde ca. 1866 after most of the town was destroyed by arson. The reconstruction is made by a number of very good craftsmen.
http://goscandinavia.about.com/od/denmar1/qt/minibyenvarde.htm
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=varde+miniature+by&qpvt=varde+miniature+by&FORM=IGRE
http://goscandinavia.about.com/b/2012/10/24/minibyen-varde.htm
http://www.visitdenmark.it/it/denmark/minimurerne-i-varde-gdk609623

     So we took off looking at this little wonder of nimble fingers.

The invasion of the giants.

The church, which is still standing (the real full size one)

A street view of the buildings.

And to give it perspective.

An aerial view

Norma in the middle of town

A close up of a balcony. Also note the roof tile.

My brother Max and his wife Mariann in front of the church.

An aerial view over one of the streets.
Norma is in the background.

     Then it was time for a nice dinner, and since it was a nice Danish summer evening we decided to eat outdoors at a little cafe named "Sillasens Hus" on the city square which is located right next to City hall (Raadhuset). It is said that this is the oldest original building in the city of Varde but I have not been able to find any history on the building. Had we known that it is also one of the models in the mini town we would have photographed it there as well.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g227590-d1125067-Reviews-Sillasens_Hus-Varde_Varde_Municipality_South_Jutland_Jutland.html

      It was a fantastic meal with three courses and three bottles of wine and, and, aaaand, hold on to your seats now, a rather hefty price tag. When the waiter brought the bill to my brother I happened to see the total; Danish Kroner 1,900.00 or about US $325.00

Here we are waiting for the dessert.
Notice that I have managed to make the flagpole grow out of the back of my brothers head.

Sillasens Hus restaurant in the town of Varde, Denmark.
Well worth the visit, especially if someone else is footing the bill.

      The it was time to head back to Svendborg, about 105 miles / 175 km away.

     This was the end of a great day. More to follow in the next post.

ROOTS - not the movie - 12

      Today, which was almost 7 years ago, is a day of relaxation without actually going anywhere or having a specific agenda. We had a leisurely breakfast, sat around the house and talked, we walked the neighborhood and we went to the grocery store for some needed items and to the bank to change traveler checks into Danish Kroner. While at the store we were in for a surprise, as we found some TEX MEX hot sauce, and there is a big but attached; this stuff was made right next door in Sweden and the price in US dollars at that time was about $4.50 per jar not including OMS and MOMS, which we call sales tax. The direct translation of OMS and MOMS would be a "transaction fee" and "more transaction fee" - isn't that what our current president proposed to raise revenue - whenever currency changed hands he wanted a piece of the action for the federal government, in addition to the taxes already being assessed.

     Denmark is a land of old and ancient windmills and some are decorative pieces only and my brother has one in his backyard. They seem simple enough to build out of wood. This particular model is of the windmill at EGESKOV MØLLE, which means Oak Forest Mill. Here is a link to the history of the mill and there is a button on the page where one can get the information in English.
http://www.egeskov-moelle.dk/page3.html
http://www.sologstrand.com/holiday-denmark/buildings/egeskov-moelle.htm
and here is a link to a short youtube video, but the language is Danish
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7NFiUEgBmY
This particular mill was even depicted on the 10 Kroner note
http://www.tomchao.com/eu/eu14.html

     There are many other windmills in Denmark and I have added a few links below.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_windmills_in_Denmark
https://www.google.com/search?q=danish+windmills&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=Ie4VU-TODKb22AX2vICYAw&ved=0CCQQsAQ&biw=1455&bih=691

      Then we had a nice dinner, BBQ, but not Texas style. The meat was Crown Deer from Australia. Crown Deer are also referred to as the "Red Deer". It was very good. The dinner and company was enjoyed. At this dinner we met my sister in laws son and the son's wife, but I must admit I can't remember their names.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_deer
http://50mmfromtheworld.blogspot.com/2011/02/kronhjorten.html
So the obvious question is this; why would one buy crown deer meat from Australia when the deer is in Denmark? I have not found the answer.

     Tomorrow we are off on another excursion so we have to get up early to rent a car.

More to follow in the next post.

A short diversion

While the issue of photo posting seems to have been solved and as I work on my next installment of "ROOTS - not the move", please enjoy this interesting paddling story.


http://www.theprovince.com/health/Victoria+brothers+Russell+Graham+Henry+paddle+kayaks+kilometres/9544603/story.html

ROOTS - not the movie - 11

2013 is history and 2014 is here.

I get frustrated when people, on the 1st of January, ask "How was your New Year?", it is a stupid question and I usually reply in the following fashion, "How the hxxx would I know, today is the first day of it.". The conversation usually goes downhill from here because they will reply, "What I mean how was yesterday evening?" and I answer "It was fine and it was last year."

Sorry, had to get that off my chest.
And I wish all of you a blessed New Year.

Note, when I began to write this post on January 5th, 2014 BlogSpot would not post photos, so a few X@8@88)*$ were said.
The same applies to January 9th, January 12th and we shall see what happens today January 15th -It is still a problem so I will try add photos as html though that can create a whole other set of headaches)
Here is another attempt to post photos and that attempt isn't working. X*_@)&* #hs &*&^$#@!;
Today is January 24th, and here is another attempt. %$#%^&*@#
Today is January 29th, here is an additional attempt.
It is now February 1st, 2014 ---
February 3, 2014 ---
Today it is February 4, 2014 ---
February 5, 2014 --- in other words, the problem has persisted for over one month at this point.
February 8, 2014 ---
February 10, 2014 --- there is still a problem with the downloading of the photos which Google claims it is working on very feverishly.
Please accept my apologies.

February 12, 2014 and it is be working, but not using Windows Explorer, only using Google Chrome, and having grown up with Windows Explorer I am much more comfortable with it. (Old people do not take to changes very well).

      Back to the 2007 trip to Denmark. We are on the Island of Funen which is correctly named Fyn.
Today we plan a short boat trip across the waters to the Island of Ærø (Aeroe) which is famous for its ship building and the great many seafarers it produced.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%86r%C3%B8
http://aeroeisland.com/
http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/destinations/scan/aero.htm
http://www.scantours.net/products/location.php5?id=56

    On the island are two principal towns and a number of villages; Ærøskøbing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%86r%C3%B8sk%C3%B8bing 
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g800487-Aeroskobing_Aero_Funen_and_Islands-Vacations.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59wsaozjFOI

and the town of Marstal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marstal
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=marstal+denmark&qpvt=marstal+denmark&FORM=IGRE
http://smilingglobe.com/Visit.aspx?Visit-Smiling=Marstal&Go=Southern_Denmark&Visit=Denmark

In the maritime world Marstal is the best known of the two towns and that is our destination across the waters by a 26 foot long boat powered by a small 3 cylinder Volvo diesel engine. The weather was pleasant, sunny and probably in the mid 60's F (about 18 C) for a temperature and a nice breeze blowing. So off we go or rather sail or rather power.

Here are a few photos of the trip - of which the focus was the Maritime Museum in the town and the boats, some very old, in the harbor.

The captain of the boat, my brother Rene, keeping a good lookout.

Norma enjoying the view from the deck after arrival in Marstal

     After arrival it was time for a good danish lunch which my sister in law Vivi had concocted in the small galley of the boat. We ate this lunch in the cockpit.

The cockpit table set, lunch served. It was very good.
The hatchway to the aft cabin is open.
Note the old sailing vessel in the background.

 

Close up of the famous Danish "open face sandwiches".
That is actually a misnomer. If it is without a piece of bread on top
it cannot by definition be a sandwich. Civilized people eat these
with a knife and a fork, not by picking them up in their hands.

      Then it was time to go ashore to visit the Maritime Museum.
http://www.marstal-maritime-museum.dk/ When you open the link it is in Danish, so just hit the "translate button" to go to whatever language you are comfortable with. The museum has a lot of interesting stuff, including a full scale wheelhouse (bridge) of a small freighter with the controls and the motion of the sea while sailing at night, including the sound of the engine and a typical crew member cabin on a ship of that type.

A playground for the young and one assumes that includes the young at heart.

     After the museum it was time to have a beer and then walk about town with its wonderful old homes which at one time or another were the homes of ship captains and mates and engineers and ...

Norma in front of a house; note the interesting position of the "drawers" under the windows.

Another old home with crooked walls.

Here we are in front of that house and the harbor is in the background.

The figures in the window give this house away. It belongs to a fisherman and his wife.

    Since Marstal is a seafaring town it must also be remembered it is a fishing town; being a fishing town it is no wonder the gulls look so well fed.

   It is time to head back to our "home port". This time "little brother" lets the former ship captain steer the "ship". Along the way we met another ferry and we saw a great deal of sailboats, mostly flying the German flag since Germany is only a few miles away and Denmark is a wonderful cruising destination.

He looks very relaxed while showing me how this is to be done.

"No sweat, this is the smallest thing I have steered in many years".

A ferry, vehicles, trucks and passengers.

"I see a bridge ahead and very shallow water outside the channel".  

     Another great day comes to an end, after tying  up, tidying  up, and headed to the house for dinner and a glass of wine.

More to follow in the next installment.