Store Bededag

Friday was Store Bededag in Denmark. Literally translated to 'Big Prayer Day' and celebrated on the 4th Friday after Easter, the holiday was created in 1686 by King Christian V. There used to be many Roman Catholic holidays in May and the king decided to consolidate them into one big holiday, hence the Big Prayer Day. Instead of praying, Bobby and I spent Friday riding our newest tandem bike! Yes, you heard me right, we have yet another tandem. Our newest addition, named The Incredible German Hulk, has 21 gears and rides like a dream. The previous owners bought him (yes, the bike is a he) in Berlin and rode him all the way back to Copenhagen! You can see The Incredible German Hulk pictured with Bobby, along with a pretty old traditional house.

We set out to ride to Humlebæk, home of the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 28 km from home. As we meandered north, we happened upon the above old home, which was next to a gate leading to a park. You can see the beautiful stretch of green in front of Bobby. We were surprised to find such a large park and decided to explore.


As we biked along, we noticed hundreds of deer in the fields. We couldn't believe how many there were!
Some of them had pretty big racks.

We continued along the path and were yet again surprised by a large old palace in the distance.

Unbeknownst to us, we had happened upon the Eremitage Palace and the surrounding Dyrehaven. The Eremitage Palace was built in 1734 for King Christian VI as a hunting palace. The surrounding grounds were used for hunting by the royal family, and the palace hosted the hunting parties and royal banquets.

As seen from the back of the Eremitage Place, the grounds stretch all the way to the ocean. We parked our bike and had a picnic of vegetables, hummus, and bruschetta and enjoyed the view and warm sun.

We also got to see many horse-drawn carriages. We even had to bike around a few as we made our way out of the Dyrehaven!

As we made our way home, we happened upon yet another surprise: Bakken! The self-proclaimed oldest amusement park in the world (founded in 1583), Bakken is located in Dyrehaven. Unlike Tivoli, you can freely enter Bakken and wander around (you have to pay just to go inside Tivoli, yet the entrance fee does not include the rides). We were surprised at how large Bakken is; there are many roller coasters and ride, carnival games, and a lot of restaurants.

Bobby and I may not have prayed much on the Big Prayer Day, but we definitely came across many surprises on The Incredible German Hulk's maiden voyage. We look forward to discovering more hidden treasures in Denmark on our trusty tandem bike!