Jutland Trip - Holstebro

Day 1

Last week, we took a vacation with our good friends Thomas and Thomas. Thomas and Thomas are both from Jutland, the part of Denmark that is connected to Germany (Copenhagen, which is east of Jutland, is on a large island). Thomas the younger (as we refer to him) is from the town of Holstebro, where we spent the first 4 nights of our trip.

While in Holstebro, we stayed with Thomas' parents. Here we are pictured with Thomas' mother, who is the sweetest lady in the world. She speaks quite good English, though the majority of our conversations were in Danish. She was very understanding of our Danish, for which she deserves a medal!

On our drive from Copenhagen to Holstebro (about 340 km, or 210 miles), we stopped at this castle to have a picnic lunch. Nyborg Castle dates back to around 1200 and used to host the old version of Parliament until Copenhagen was made the capitol in 1413.

After finishing our lunch, we headed to Jelling, home of the Jelling Stones and burial mound of King Gorm the Old. In this photo you can see the burial mound, topped with the Danish flag.

Carved in the 900s, the Jelling Stones (a UNESCO world heritage site) were placed by King Gorm the Old and his son, Harald Bluetooth (great names, I know, but Bluetooth technology was named after Harald Bluetooth!). Harald was the first Christian king in Denmark and he Christianized the country. However, these stones, and the burial mounds that surround them, are from the older pagan beliefs and burial rituals.

This part of Denmark is covered with old burial mounds. While taking a walk after dinner, we saw many mounds in the surrounding farm land. There are strict preservation rules about the mounds and farmers are not allowed to take down, dig, or plant on the mounds.
Day 2

Our second day of the trip was Thomas the younger's birthday! We started the day with a walk in downtown Holstebro. For a town with only 30,000 residents, Holstebro feels bigger than it is. The town is a large supporter of the fine arts, and you can find sculptures all around town. In front of the Holstebro town hall is a sculpture by Alberto Giacometti, purchased by the town in 1966. Below are even more sculptures around town.

After walking around town, we all went wine tasting at a local vineyard. Started in 2000, Brage Wine produced its first bottle of wine in 2006. We took a tour of the small vineyard (there are currently 1200 grape stalks) and then had a wine tasting.

We first tried the white wine, which was ok. Not great, but not terrible. Then we moved on to the reds. The first red we tried was the first year Brage bottled, 2006. It was awful, to be honest. We then tried two different bottles from 2009. They were less awful by comparison, but far from being a good bottle of wine. Nevertheless, we purchased a bottle of the white and (for reasons I still can't quite understand) a bottle of the 2006 red. Bobby thought it would be fun to serve to guests. Poor guests. All said and done, Denmark has a ways to go before it produces wine that can compete on the international market.

After our romp around town and the exciting visit to the vineyard, we headed back to Thomas' parents home, where we had a lovely birthday dinner for Thomas. Thomas' mother has collected Royal Copenhagen China for many years, and she has a beautiful collection. I rather like the dainty pattern.
Day 3

On the third day of our trip, we visited Spøttrup Castle. Built around 1500, this is Denmark's best preserved medieval castle.

It was build by the Catholic bishop Jørgen Friis. When the Protestant Reformation occurred in 1530s, Bishop Friis hid in the castle and attempted to fight off the Protestant villagers. Despite his efforts, Denmark became a Protestant country in 1536.

Spøttrup Castle had never been taken in battle. This is in part due to its ramparts and the full moat surrounding the castle.

Inside the inner courtyard are activities for people to see what life was like in the 1500s. There is a large fire where you could carve wood. There are also fun things like these stilts.

Another thing inside the courtyard is a pillory. Thiefs and other petty criminals were put in these as a form of public humiliation. I think Bobby looks pretty uncomfortable.

Just outside of the castle is an area where you can try using a bow. Bobby and Thomas the elder tried their luck. Thomas twice shot over the green protective cloth. The worker manning the bow and arrow station was a bit concerned for the cows in the adjacent field.

The castle hosts its own medicinal garden, where different herbs were grown to treat a variety of ailments. Some of the ailments listed are headaches, warts, stomach worms, and nausea.

There is also a beautiful rose garden next to the castle. Our timing was perfect; the roses were all in bloom.

After visiting the Spøttrup Castle, we headed to Hjerl Hede. Hjerl Hede is an open air museum which recreates life on the farm in the 1700s and 1800s. All of the buildings were moved from different parts of Denmark, and most of them are between 200-250 years old. However, there are a few older buildings, with one dating back to the 1500s. During the summer, people volunteer to stay at Hjerl Hede and re-enact village/farm life from the 1700/1800s. They dress in traditional clothing and only use things that would have been available 200 years ago. The volunteer occupants of this lovely thatched-roof home are responsible for the land and the cow.

This older gentleman works as an 18th century carpenter. There is also a smith, weaver, tailor, cobbler, and potter.

Just like in the olden days, transportation is via horse.

Fields are plowed with the power of oxen, if you are wealthy enough. Otherwise, the work is done by hand.

Can you imagine plowing this wheat field by hand?

This working steam engine powers the local dairy and sawmill.

Just like in Spøttrup Castle, there is an area in Hjerl Hede where you can try period entertainment. Thomas the elder quickly mastered the 'penny-farthing'. It was a little more difficult for Bobby. He spent 10 minutes trying before he finally got going on one of the bikes.








 After a fun day out visiting castles and homesteads, we went back to Thomas' parents home, where we enjoyed a very competitive game of Risk. All four of us can be pretty competitive, which makes for a lively game!

Day 4

On our 4th day, we headed west towards the coast. On our way to the ocean, we stopped at the manor house Nørre Vosborg. Built in the 1550s, this manor house is now a hotel. You can stay here, sleep on and use antique furniture, eat meals cooked on an 19th century wood-burning stove, and enjoy the beautiful grounds.

Next to the manor house is the old stables and the head grounds keeper's home.

After vising Nørre Vosborg, we continued toward the beach town of Søndervig. For the past 10 years, Søndervig has held an international sand sculpture festival. This year's festival has the theme 'The Seven Wonders of the World'. The sculptures are all huge. This one includes a portrait of the founder of the festival, Erik Frederiksen.

This sculpture is Bobby's and my favorite. The coliseum is shown from the outside and inside. The use of perspective is very interesting.

It was also fun to see Angkor Wat depicted.

After visiting the sand sculptures, we headed towards the beach. Similar to Manhattan Beach, the beach in Søndervig is accessed via sand dunes. These rolling dunes are quite beautiful, covered in grass and protecting private homes from the wind.

Once we got down to the beach, we discovered German bunkers from World War Two. Germany built these bunker all over the Danish west coast (and as far north as Norway) to protect the Germany-occupied countries from an allied invasion. Bobby was quite fascinated with the bunkers.

Many of the beach homes in the area are built in the traditional way, with thatched roofs. It makes  quite an idyllic scene.

Summer! Well, kind of...

Summer has finally arrived in Copenhagen! Well, kind of, sort of... Though June was the coldest June in the last 20 or 30 years, July started out promising. The sun was shining, the temperature was a perfect 25 C/75 F, and it seemed as though the entire city was outdoors, enjoying the tardy summer days. Copenhagen is a lovely place in the summer; everything is so green, like our courtyard.

We enjoyed the warm days eating outside, playing ping pong and backgammon in the courtyard, and attending some of the local jazz concerts. It's hard to beat sitting with a glass of cold chardonnay, enjoying a free jazz concert just feet away from our home.

Summer weather, of course, calls for summer food! Grilled meats, grilled vegetables, and cool dips and the things summers are made of. We enjoyed this Middle Eastern feast: pita was dipped into baba ganoush, tzatziki, hummus, and feta and artichoke dip, while the grilled mititei (spicy, garlicky home-made sausages) were accompanied by fresh salad and red wine.

But, Denmark will do as Denmark does, and the lovely summer days didn't last before the skies darkened and the rain fell. Now we have cooler temperatures and random rain showers, but we at least get some sunshine every now and then. In the meantime, Bobby and I continue to make improvements to the apartment. We recently painted the entrance/hallway. It used to be the yellow color that the entire apartment was originally painted.

And now it's this nice, crisp white. The white has a lot of green and blue in it, so it seems to change color with the time of day/weather conditions. I rather like it. It's nice and clean.

And here is my newest baby, a beautiful oval Le Creuset cast-iron Dutch oven. I am trying to collect all the colors! I can add this light green beauty to my dark green circular Dutch oven, the dark blue bouillabaisse pot, deep red grill pan, blue stock pot, brown mugs, yellow butter dish, and numerous serving dishes in yellow, red, and cream. Now you know what to get me for Christmas!

Last week in London

After nearly 3 months, Bobby time in England is finally at a close. He flies home tonight, I can't wait to have him home! I'm sure our tandem bikes have also missed us. I am going to miss spending time in London, though. We've had a wonderful time exploring the city and eating all the lovely ethnic food that we can't get in Copenhagen. We did get to venture outside of the city. We visited our friends Nick and Clare in their home in the lovely southern town of Lewes.


 

Just north of University of Sussex, Lewes was only 1 1/2 hours from London via the train. Nick was kind enough to introduce us to his town. Lewes is in the middle of the South Downs, and there were many chalk cliffs in the area, like the one in this photo.









There is even a castle in Lewes! Built in 1069 by the First Earl of Surrey, the castle saw action during the 1264 Battle of Lewes. The battle was between the English barons and the royalists. The result of the battle eventually led to the confirmation of the magna carta!

Lewes also had some other lovely sights, including the 1839 Church of St. John sub Castro (quite a name, I know!).

Here, Bobby and Nick walk along one of the beautiful alleys near the castle.

Lewes is not a large town and is quite rural. We took a walk along one of the downs and were accompanied by many grazing sheep. These sheep had some crazy fleece, and many of the sheep were rubbing against trees and fences to rid themselves of the excess fleece. Luckily, none of them attacked us, even though Bobby was provoking them. You know Bobby, he just can't help himself.


It was an incredibly windy day, and the wind was all the more powerful going over the downs. Here, Nick and I attempt to fly away! We all had a lot of fun running and jumping into the wind. It felt like walking on the moon.

After our fun weekend with Nick and Clare, Bobby and I headed back to London. We arrived back on campus to find ourselves surrounded by hundreds (possibly even thousands) of Vespas! The Vespa World Days 2012 was taking place in London during that weekend, and all of the riders were staying at Queen Mary University with us. We saw riders who had ridden all the way from Austria, Germany, and Italy.

We did a few touristy things during our last weekend. We spent several hours in Harrod's, goggling over the caviar (some small bottles cost over 1000 pounds!), chocolate, cookware, and china. Somehow, we managed to leave the store without having spend a single pence. Now that is what I call self control.

I also went to the original Twinings tea store. I was expecting something more similar to a museum, but it was in fact just a store, selling the same tea you can find in the grocery store. The location was pretty fantastic, though. The store, opened in 1706, is right across the street from the Royal Courts of Justice.


Now that Bobby's time in London is over, we can start enjoying the Danish summer. That is, if the summer ever comes to Denmark...

Blog post by Bob

Blog Post by Bob

I saw this the other day and laughed out loud.

London with friends and Carla's trip to the States

Before you begin reading this post, I should warn you that it's not very good! During the entire three weeks in which the below events took place, our camera battery was on low. We were thus quite stingy with taking photos, and it's just no fun writing a long post without accompanying photos! Ok, you've been warned :)

Several weekends ago our good Danish friends Thomas and Thomas spent a long weekend with Bobby me in London. Our weekend was filled with lots of laughs, lots of walking, and lots of great food. Thomas and Thomas are quite the foodies (they have been to a number of Michelin-starred restaurants around Europe, including Copenhagen's two star restaurant Noma, which for the third year in a row has been voted the best restaurant in the world) and we always enjoy trying new restaurants with them. While in London, we enjoyed a 9-course dinner at The Ledbury, recently voted number 14 in the world and recipient of two Michelin stars. While the restaurant was pretty good, it wasn't the best meal any of us has had, which was a bit disappointing.

Another restaurant we tried was NOPI, which was pretty good. But, believe it or not, we also managed to do some sightseeing in between our meals! We went to London Towers, where the Beefeaters work and the royal jewels are housed.

And, of course, Tower Bridge.

We saw a lot more of London with Thomas and Thomas (or, as we like to call them, T&T), but in the interest of time/not boring you to death, I'll move on to the next trip. After our long weekend with T&T, I flew to Los Angeles, where I got to spend a few days with my Dad and the lovely Gloria (we ate lots of seafood and had a fun BBQ) before heading over to my Mom's. The reason I went to LA was for my Mom's graduation. She received her Master's in Public Administration and I am very, very proud of her! Here is the graduation girl with my brother and me.

After Mom's graduation ceremony, we enjoyed breakfast with my grandparents, Aunt Gwen (pictured here with Mom and me), Joseph, and Jordan. After breakfast, Mom and I were off to the airport!

In order to properly celebrate Mom's graduation, she and I took a girls' trip to the Hawai'ian island of Kaua'i. We had a great time there: we enjoyed plenty of Mai Tais,

beautiful sunsets,

stunning views

gorgeous tropical flowers and plants,

awesome natural wonders like this blowhole,

and wild chickens. Yep, chickens. They were everywhere.

After getting sun, fun, and family time in the States, I flew back to London, where Bobby and I, along with millions of others in the city, celebrated the Queen's Diamond (60th) Jubilee. If you squint really hard, you can see the Queen's blue hat in this photo!

At least the flyover was easier to see.

What trip to London would be complete without tea and scones?