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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →

I was mystified when I first started reading the guidebooks before we left for Denmark. It seemed that half the sights that were recommended were “Slots.” At first, it left me thinking that there were casinos all over Denmark: Kronborg Slot, Fredensborg Slot, Frederiksborg Slot, this list goes on. It turns out that a Slot” … Continue reading →

Sunday was a lounging around and beach day for us so that we would be ready for a full day in Copenhagen on Monday. Although we already knew that Monday is not the best day to visit Copenhagen because most of the museums are closed on that day, we were undeterred because this was to … Continue reading →

After our canal boat tour, we stopped at a hot dog vendor in one of the popular public squares, then went in search of the Rundetårn, the Round Tower, built by – you guessed it – King Christian IV in 1642 as an astronomical observatory. Inside, access to the top of the Round Tower is … Continue reading →

Like Amsterdam, Copenhagen, is a city for cycling. I’m pretty sure that there are more bicycles on the roads in Copenhagen than there are cars. Though we’re used to having separate cycling lanes on our streets, only in the big cities of Europe do you see separate traffic lights, too. Back in the main part … Continue reading →

There’s a yellow farm building that I use as a marker to make the turn off of the local road, Nødebovejen, to return to the house in Hald. It’s a poultry farm, something I have an affinity for, having worked at one for a year to earn money to put myself through college years ago. … Continue reading →

We returned “home” last night, Saturday, from a whirlwind tour of Jutland, logging 633 miles in 3 days. Our trip started Thursday afternoon with a short ferry ride from Hundested to Rørvig, followed by a high-speed ferry to Århus on the Jutland peninsula. About 1/3 of our first day of travel was by ferryboat. Here’s … Continue reading →

The rain stopped just as we pulled into Skagen (pronounced, “skane”). We had no plans or reservations, but June is apparently still the shoulder season, so we had no trouble finding a hotel room right in the heart of town. In Skagen, you immediately notice that the person with the yellow paint franchise is making … Continue reading →

In the 1870s, several Scandinavian artists “discovered” Skagen and drawn by the soft light of the north, moved there to paint, especially the so-called “Blue Hour” near twilight when the sky melts into the sea. Their subjects were the local fisherman, fishing in skiffs from the beach, the seaside scenery and themselves. These northern painters … Continue reading →

If you drive all the way north to the end of the road on Jutland, you arrive at a spit of sand, probing like a finger out into the sea, stirring up the waves where the North Sea and the Baltic collide. Actually, it’s where the Skagerrak and the Kattegat meet, two divisions of a … Continue reading →

There are four Viking ring forts in Denmark, all thought to have been built around 980 A.D. by King Harald Bluetooth, son of the King Gorm, the first recognized king of Denmark. The Viking ring forts shared a common design, all built as perfect circles with wooden gates at the four points, allowing for the … Continue reading →

Being in a Viking mood, we headed toward Jelling after leaving the Fyrkat ring fort, arriving in Jelling in the late afternoon. Jelling is a small town today in the heart of Jylland, Danish Jutland, and there’s really only one reason to stop there: Jelling is the birthplace of Denmark, the place that Gorm the … Continue reading →

Saturday morning found us in the oldest city in Denmark, the medieval town of Ribe. Supposedly, the cobblestone streets we walked along date from 869 A.D. I felt guilty driving and parking on such ancient artifacts. We started by walking through the Torvet, the market square, down the pedestrian shopping street, stopping for coffee, then … Continue reading →

Late this afternoon, around 6:00 p.m., we went to the beach at Liseleje to enjoy the fresh air and sun now that the rain has subsided. We like this beach; so far it’s been uncrowded and there’s that great ice cream shop around the corner with the licorice ice cream. Anyway, as we were sitting … Continue reading →