Inside, the Roskilde Cathedral vaguely reminded me of Canterbury Cathedral in England, probably because both cathedrals were converted from Catholicism to Protestantism at the time of the Reformation in 1536: Canterbury to Anglican; Roskilde to Lutheran. At any rate, in 1536, Danish King Christian III adopted Protestantism as the official religion of the land and … Continue reading
After visiting the Viking Ship Museum, we headed to Roskilde’s city center, primarily to see the Roskilde Domkirke, the cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I previously mentioned that King Harald Bluetooth had constructed the first Christian church in Zeeland here in Roskilde in 980 A.D. That church had been built of wood and was … Continue reading
The boats I’ve shown you so far were all trading vessels, but when I’ve thought of Vikings, I’ve always had a picture in my mind of the longboat that was used by the warriors for marauding. Before we walked outside, we spent some time indoors, examining Skuldelev #2-4, a Viking Longboat: The Viking Longboat was … Continue reading
Skuldeleve #1 was an ocean-going cargo ship, measuring 54 feet with a beam of 15 feet. Loaded with 24 tons of cargo, it had a draft of 4.2 feet. With a crew of 5 to 8 men, this ship could range all over the North Sea, the Baltic and the North Atlantic, achieving an average … Continue reading
A short distance south from Frederikssund, the Roskilde Fjord narrows considerably at a location known as Skuldelev. At this point in the fjord, there are 3 channels capable of north-south navigation, the western channel being the most direct access from the North Sea to the town of Roskilde that sits at the southern end of … Continue reading
Yesterday, Friday, we got an early start; we had big plans for the day. We started by driving south along the eastern shoreline of Roskilde Fjord, stopping at the town of Frederikssund to visit the recreated Viking village there. In the USA, we think of Vikings as seaborne raiders that raped and pillaged along the … Continue reading
Today was exercise day. After calisthenics, we went on a 4-hour, 20-mile bike ride along the Nordkyststien, the North Coast National Cycle Route 47, to Tisvildeleje and back to Hald. After passing the village of Liseleje about 2 miles from home, the route turned off the paved roads and carried us through the forest on … Continue reading
The Danes are known for their efficient and functional designs. We have always loved Danish furniture, with its clean look; especially the teak furniture. In fact, our first bedroom set was Danish (it now belongs to Kyle) and we still have a Danish teak bookcase covering an entire wall in our living room. But this … Continue reading
After taking care of essentials today, like grocery shopping and reconnoitering the area, we drove to the nearby town of Hundested where we discovered that all the shops were closed due to the fact that today, June 5, is Grundlovsdag, “Constitution Day.” But at Hundested Havn – the harbor – people were out in droves, … Continue reading
Denmark is a low-lying, flat country. The highest point is around 350 feet above sea level and there is no place in the country that is more than 50 miles from the ocean. Outside of Copenhagen, Denmark is very rural with farmland and small hamlets covering the landscape. The farms extend to the coast, which … Continue reading
Comfort on long flights is a function of where you’re seated. We were relatively lucky on our Trans-Atlantic flight this time: decent seats and generally considerate seat-mates. Two days ago, on Monday evening, we boarded a British Airways flight that delivered us Tuesday morning to London. After a layover in Heathrow, we departed Heathrow on … Continue reading
After our walk with Jim in the morning, we returned to the hotel to change for Ben and Michelle’s Sunday afternoon wedding. Although the morning had been delightful, as we walked up toward the State Capitol building near where the wedding was going to be, it started to drizzle. The wedding was at the Monona … Continue reading
We arrived in Madison, WI, Saturday afternoon and met up with the other out-of-town guests and the wedding party that evening after the rehearsal dinner. Sunday, the day of Ben and Michelle’s wedding, Jim Gern, the father of the groom and my long-time dear friend, took the morning to take us on a walk along … Continue reading
Leaving Chicago, we drove south and east around the bottom of Lake Michigan, then north to Lansing, MI, to visit Dale’s brother, Tim. He lives in a nice suburban neighborhood of East Lansing and has recently retired from teaching at Michigan State University – MSU – which also happens to be my initials. Here’s Tim’s … Continue reading
Since it was raining when we went out today, we decided to visit the Field Museum of Natural History. We could have spent days in the Field Museum and we only scratched the surface in the four hours we were there. We wandered through the permanent Ancient Egypt exhibit and the Ancient Americas exhibit, as … Continue reading
After Navy Pier, we walked south along the lakeshore through Grant Park, turning east before reaching the Field Museum, then returning north to visit Millennium Park. We were intrigued by the Frank Ghery designed Pritzker Pavilion, named for its main donor, Jay Pritzker, owner of the Hyatt hotel chain; that’s it on the left, below. … Continue reading
We’ve been in Chicago for the last two days, on our way to visit Dale’s brother, Tim, in Michigan and then to my godson’s wedding in Wisconsin. During our time here, we took in a view of the downtown from the top of the John Hancock Building, 95 floors up. Here’s a panorama view of … Continue reading
We’re on a week-long RV trip in Florida while we have a home exchange guest, Germán, staying in our house in the Keys. We stayed in Germán’s house in Bariloche, Argentina, during our recent trip to Patagonia. Our ultimate destination is Gainesville to visit the kids, but we’ve also decided to make a vacation out … Continue reading
This morning, as we were sitting on our balcony enjoying a cup of coffee as the sun rose, there was a splash across the canal and Dale yelped, “Shark!” But it wasn’t a shark. It was a dolphin, feeding on fish in the canal. And he wasn’t alone. We counted three dolphin – an unusual … Continue reading
Here’s a map of our travels around Tierra del Fuego with the rental car: And here’s another map of our flights and bus rides (which added more mileage that didn’t compute on my mapping program); Miami is off the map. We went 20,000 miles! P.S. We’re in Buenos Aires overnight, flying out tomorrow to Miami. … Continue reading
We have often been reminded here in Ushuaia that we are living at the southernmost city on earth – the “Fin del Mundo” – the “End of the World.” As in: Cafe del Fin del Mundo; or Resto-Bar del Fin del Mundo. It’s a lot like Key West in that regard (Southernmost Motel, Southernmost Bar, … Continue reading
On the way into Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego, we saw a fox trotting down the road. By the time we stopped the car and got my iPhone out to take a picture, he had scampered off into the brush, yet still close enough to see. There are two kinds of foxes in Tierra del … Continue reading
Today, Tuesday, found us back on the trail at a national park; this time, Argentina’s Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego. We drove into the park on N.R. 3, the national highway, all the way to its end – the southernmost point in the world that you can travel on a public road. The road ends … Continue reading
We have a rental car here in Ushuaia, which enables us to get out of the city. Argentina has much to offer in its natural landscape, but the cities – outside of the tourist areas – tend to lack most of the public infrastructure that we take for granted in the USA, like decent roads, … Continue reading
The better part of Saturday was spent in the Mount Pleasant airport, 35 miles from Stanley, waiting for our flight back to Punta Arenas, Chile. The plane was full of returning journalists, Russian fishermen and scientists from the Antarctic Survey teams. The flight was uneventful and we got to our hotel around 7:00, took a … Continue reading
The Road Less Traveled 