Days 62-65: Welcome Home Viking Brother

Hi Friends.

We arrived in Denmark on Friday and stayed at a hotel near the airport for one night.  As we were checking in, we mentioned we were visiting because Craig had relatives originally from Denmark.  That's what led to the title of our post as the guy checking us in exclaimed "Welcome Home Viking Brother!" He then upgraded our room including giving us club level access which was awesome.  Such a nice, warm welcome.  Craig has said a couple of times it feels so comfortable here - very cool.

We will have more to share on Craig's family history in a future post - we actually get to meet one of his cousins later this week - very excited!  For now though, here is the quick background.  Craig's great grandfather Senius Christensen (his mom's grandfather) was born in 1888 in Denmark.  He immigrated to the US in 1910 settling in Northern Iowa.  We had thought he was from the Odense area but have since learned he was from an area further north.  Craig's cousin has done a lot of research - more to share after our get together.  One of the fun things to realize is the similarities between Denmark and that part of the US in terms of the landscape - here's some pictures.

We took the train from Copenhagen to Odense on Saturday - we head back to Copenhagen tomorrow afternoon.  Odense is the third largest city in Denmark with a lot to offer - but the feel of a midsize town that is very comfortable and easy to get around.  It is the birthplace of Hans Christian Andersen.  We have really enjoyed it.

One thing we have struggled with is the Danish language.  Back in Warsaw, Rasmus (the 19 year old from Aalborg Denmark we met and chatted with at dinner) tried to give us a lesson but it was difficult for us to make some of the sounds.  We have laughed a few times that many of their words are so long - tons of words with more than three syllables.   But beyond that, some of the sounds are just different than what we make.  Tonight at dinner our waiter was from Romania and we chatted for a bit about the language.  He moved here almost 7 years ago - and initially took a language class to help.  In one of the first classes they told him there were 44 vowels - yep - 44 vowels - more than the number of letters in the alphabet!  It's all of the different sounds they create with different combinations of the core vowels - and we thought English was confusing.

Speaking of language challenges - how about this for an example of lost in translation - let's just say we didn't want to be on that bus :)

But then you have this example where the translation is clear - and clever!

And another that made us chuckle (yes - it is an old vinyl album store).

The first day we arrived we walked around town a bit to see the sights.

We stumbled upon a beautiful garden set next to a river.

And, then, we stumbled upon this in the middle of the beautiful garden.

Yep - that's a torture device.  We're thinking the poor soul in the first picture may have spent some time there.

At this point we were a bit disturbed - it's not yet close enough to Halloween - we honestly didn't know what to think.  Thankfully we soon learned that the town had a "Viking Horror Walk" earlier that day.  As we made our way to the town center they were just tearing everything down - and by the next day when we walked by the garden the "horror" was all gone.  Still a bit disturbing :)

Yesterday we visited Den Fynske Landsby (Funen Village).  They have painstakingly relocated historical buildings from all over the country to recreate a village from the 18th - 19th century.  We spent the afternoon walking around - it really takes you back in time.  It also makes you realize how hard our ancestors had to work for just the bare necessities - no surprise where the strong work ethic was established.  Here's some pictures.

A villager's house.

Welcome home Giant brother :)

A shared bed for the kids.

Barn.

They have people still working in the village just like they did so many years ago.  Just imagine how long to plant and harvest when this was the available machinery.

Making clothes - I struggled on a sewing machine...

Clogs were the footwear of choice - the shoemaker would use a single log for each shoe - top picture shows a work in progress.  Really made us appreciate the advances in comfortable shoes through the years!  Even the boots - check out the bottom - wooden clog platform.

Old style windmill - looks so much cooler than the new metal modern ones.

Really big ducks - seriously they were huge.

Today we took a short day trip to visit Egeskov Castle - the largest moat castle still standing in Europe - it was beautiful.

Very windy!

Pictures from the walking around the grounds.

Yea - we have no idea - well we have some idea but... it was a random statue on the grounds.

A view from the top floor of the castle.

They had a display of vintage cars, motorcycles and bikes.  It was interesting - now we learn to ride a bike as children.  At the time, people didn't know how to ride bikes so when they were first introduced there were "riding classes" that taught adults how to ride.

We thought this tandem was interesting - side by side - had to make it very interesting to ride!

Not sure my Uncle Jim is following - but if so - this one is for him.  A 1906 Indian Motorcycle.

We also have had a chance to sample some delicious Danish food with some great meals.

Some pheasant salad, cod tartare, sweetbread and different vegetables.

Some more pheasant, duck and lamb.

And a fur lined chair - fit for a Viking brother :)

Craig also felt very in touch with his roots when we stopped at the Irish Pub in Denmark :).

As we were walking back from dinner tonight - we saw this sign - made us think of a bit of an inside joke - "Dance Monkey Dance" :). Welcome home Viking brother!

Indtil næste gang kan du, nyde turen! (until next time, enjoy the ride!).