22 March - Old Sites with New Eyes

From Denmark III

As many of you know, Jamie was able to visit Denmark for a long weekend. On Thursday night I picked him up from the Billund airport after his long flight w/ a connection in London.

Friday after a half-day of work, we met up at my fave lunch shop (Smag) for their Vegetar Sandwich. It’s different each time you order it, however it has been known to include some combination of the following hummus, pesto, beet hummus, sundried tomatoes, cheese, marinated veggies, cabbage, pears, or even potato. Somehow it’s always delish & bursting w/ flavors.
We took an afternoon walk just north of town at the lighthouse on the North Sea trail (along the Kattegat body of water, not the North Sea). It was a sunny, beautiful and quiet walk on the grassy slope between the farms and pebble beach. The only people we passed were three old men sitting on a bench behind some small old boat ramp buildings. When we walked up one of them struggled to contain his rambuncous chocolate lab on the leash, but once we showed some welcoming, he let the furry torpedo go. Good fun. Did some laundry, and hit up my fave restaurant which was good, but not fantastic. The spa night was fantastic & Jamie was pleasantly surprised by all the anemities (pool, hot tub, sauna, steam room) and the danish design in the pool area.

Saturday was a full agenda. Afterall, you must plan the Saturday mornings very precisely if one cares to see a town that doesn’t resemble a ghost town. The people are only in town when the shops are open, which are only 10-5pm weekdays and 9:30-1pm on Saturdays. So, we did Ebeltoft and Silkeborg towns during their happen’in morning/noon. We bought some bread, cheese from the cheese truck, some fig from a natural foods store and had a picnic (w/ wine) next to a waterway in Silkeborg. Quite lovely, despite the cold temperature. Next stop was AQUA, a well-designed fresh water aquarium where the ponds are surrounding the circuluar building. The walls are of glass so you can walk the perimeter of the building and look out at the different ponds. Some of the fish (Sturgeon) were as large as the reef sharks in australia. The Carpe were sizable too. Beyond fish, they had waterbugs, ducks, rats, raccoon, minx, beaver, and nurtia rat (more beaver-like than rat-like). The aquariums and tourist attractions in Denmark are very hands-on for kids. Not only that, but many exhibits are dedicated to how we (humans) are affecting the eco-system… albeit fish & farm fertizlier, or trash and rivers. It’s no wonder the Danes are more eco-conscience here, the learning starts at incredibly young ages at these “fun” exhibits. We ended the evening w/ appetizers and tea in a Silkeborg corner bar. Nothing fancy.

Sunday we started off in Ebeltoft exploring the Fregatten Jylland (a Danish navy war ship from the late 1800s, also known as the worlds longest wooden ship). It used more than 400 men during battles to operate the 2 stories of cannons, double anchors, and propellor pull. The ship has 4 stories total and was jaw-dropping how long and big it really was. It was used later (after some refurbishment) to transport the royal family to celebrations in Iceland). It is now out of the water, on supports, strictly for the museum.

While visiting the ship, a televised event was being filmed next to the ship. The main Danish TV station choose Ebeltoft as the town to use in a “fat losing” event. The citizens of Ebeltoft have signed up to lose X amount of tons in the next 12 weeks. During Sunday’s filmed event, we saw the hordes in running clothes getting weighed in groups on a large platform, and eating snacks. Of the 2 hours we spent there, we never saw them do the running part.
They did motivate us to start the forest walk. We did the Mols Bjerge trails which have the landscape of deciduous forest, pine forest, and cow grazing pastures. It’s very hilly too, with dirt roads to get to the trailheads. Many of the pine forests are pine farms, so every once in a while, you arrive at a couple acres that have been clear cut, with large logs piled in a corner. Much of the logs are then aged and used for firewood. I’m sure some of it is used for the furniture as well.
The chilly wind was starting to blow now, but we braved the walk out to Kalo Slot and had it to ourselves. I’ve written about it in a previous blog. Jamie was pretty stoked that there were walls still left standing. We huddled next to one and had a cup of wine while watching a flock of blackbirds hone their flying skills. They were squawking, flapping, and gliding in circles around the castle yard hill with periodic rests on the castle. Eerie.

Monday started my “back to reality” work day while Jamie took a self-guided tour walk around Grenaa. On the way to the airport (through the rain, hail and snow) in the evening, we stopped by a house of a newly-hired VP at Terma (he is American, his wife is Danish). They moved from the US > England > Denmark. His wife is very involved and interested in helping people relocate & settle into Denmark. We stopped by to talk to her over crackers and cheese. They had a beautiful house decorated in a Danish style, 3 kids & a fluffy golden retriever. It was great to chat with her and get a different perspective.

Jamie is home safely now, and I’m tying up the loose ends at work, and starting to pack-up the hotel room. There are no plans to return to DK anytime soon. The earliest could be October. My cumulative days available to work in Denmark have run out w/ my company, so there is a bit of legal work involved before I return to Denmark. However, there is a slight chance I will be visiting Norway sometime this summer, so I will have my fingers crossed for that trip!

Thanks everyone for “following”!

18 March – Oldest Town in Denmark

Weekend Pictures from Denmark III

It was a weekend of solo-exploring Denmark’s west coast. It all began with an 8:30am departure from the Helnan Marina Hotel. My first weekend here, you may remember I went to Silkeborg (remember the petrified Tollund Man?) and was drooling at the store windows. Since Silkeborg was on my way this weekend, I decided to stop there to check out their Saturday market. Wow, it was great. They had a variety of vegetables (mostly roots… potato, carrots, beets, etc), even more flowers (bulbs… daffodills, tulips, etc.), and a plethora of cheeses on the cheese trucks. Yum! The stores were fantastic too, though I had a long schedule that day so I didn’t hang out for too long.

Next stop, Ringkøbing at noon. There was only an hour left before the stores closed up shop. I was able to see most of the downtown quaint buildings and cobblestone streets. There were even some decent deals to be had so I bought a stylish shirt that is outside my typical closet purchase. Lunch was tomato soup & greek salad at a back alley café. The soup was great, the salads here are all the same. They don’t seem to be into fancy dressings, nor well-themed salads. They are all plainly done, like out of the plastic bins at a Subway joint.

It began to sprinkle and the shops were closed; it was now officially dreary. I headed back to my car, flipped through the Denmark tourist book on the off-chance that there was something Frommer’s thought was worth seeing in the area. Remarkably, this small town was in the book. They admitted the town was not previously recommended until a rainy night with car trouble they were stranded here for the night. They confirmed the quaint town, old historic buildings, and importance of the old trading harbor. I motivated myself to get re-wet and cold to see this harbor. The harbor wasn’t anything spectacular, however what caught my interest was a campus of “danish design” buildings that bordered part of the harbor. It turned out to be a Vestas campus, the largest wind power company in Denmark. They had office buildings as well as a production facility. Their production parts were scattered about the warehouse parkering area. I was surprised at how big the parts are when you’re next to them, and how small they look when they are operating at the top of the pole. See the pictures for what I’m talking about. This facility would look neat from google earth, I look forward to looking it up.

After wearing out Ringkøbing, I drove as far west as possible, then headed south on a long strip of dunes with the fjord on one side, and the North Sea on the other (though the dunes are so tall, you can’t see the ocean when driving). The beaches along the coast of Denmark have cement Nazi bunkers from WWII. I found a couple when I stopped and took a beach walk. They are in various conditions, however one of them was accessible and it was sure spooky to be inside!

At this point it was 4pm-ish, raining, cold, barren, and lodging prospects looked bleak. Half of my conscience was trying to talk me into going back to the known warmth, comfort, and familiarity (my hotel in Grenaa), while the adventurous half was encouraging me to forge ahead and go into the dismal unknown. The map deemed a good data point for decision making. Once I re-looked at where I was, and turned beyond 1 page of the surrounding area, … wow! I’m only 1 ½ pages from Ribe! Done.

Ribe is the oldest town in Denmark. In fact, big plans are underway for 2010 as that will be their 1300th year anniversary!. The US finds it a big deal to celebrate 100 or 200 years…. try 1,300! Being a medievel town, it has castle remains inside a mote, a striking cathedral that has been renovated over the years, the oldest & 2nd best hotel in all of DK (Hotel Dagmar), waterways going around and through town, and gorgeous old buildings. The shopping looked to be the most unique & absolute best I’ve seen in all of Denmark (the stores were closed so I was limited to peeking in the windows). It looked to beat out much of the US shopping as well.

Upon arrival, first step was getting a roof for the night. After requesting the price at Hotel Dagmar and being slightly dismayed at the price (apparently you pay to stay in the antique four-poster beds and originally painted ceilings from 200 years ago), I went across the street to Weis Stue Restaurant where they have rooms available upstairs. It’s a (crooked) half-timber home from 1600 that is right on the main town square (torvet) next to the cathedral. It has 6 rooms on the 2nd story, with one hallway bathroom. There was one other room occupied that night, a couple from London that were also there just for the night, so there were no bathroom waiting troubles. I could only imagine it in the summer though! To get an idea for the size, my hair touched the room’s wooden ceiling beam’s when standing. The rest of the ceiling was maybe 6 ½ - 7’. The doors (right down to the key hole) were right out of Alice-In-Wonderland. So quaint… what an experience.

I had a warming dinner & did a evening walk around the cobblestoned blocks. It seemed some bars were just getting started on their evenings, so I anticipated some of the late night noise by choosing a room on the main square. It was not too bad though. Unfortunately my camera ran out of battery juice (even the back-ups were dead) so I had to drastically limit my picture taking… probably for the benefit of you!

Sunday morning was started at the local bakery (almond marzipan crossiant) and continued with a very long walk up and down all the streets, quaint bridges, and through the beautiful cemetary. The cemetaries are incredible; they resemble English gardens. In my opinion, the florists here are much more talented then American florists. They do amazingly simple, tight, small yet striking arrangements using more than just flowers. They use twigs, mosses, leaves, baskets and sometimes small classy statues. Impressive.

Ribe occupied my Sunday for about 4 hours. Around noon I headed out for my last true adventure to Mandø Island before making the returning trek. Now, when I say “adventure to Mandø Island” it shall be taken literally. Mandø is an island 6 miles off shore for 6-18 hours a day depending on the time of the year. Yes, I’ll give you a minute to re-read that last sentence. Okay, ready? At low-tide there is a gravel road that goes out to the island, at high tide, 4 miles of that gravel road is covered by sea water. You are understanding where I’m going with this “adventure to Mandø” in the rice box rental car. Let’s just say, a 4 mile road that is within 6” of calm sea water is not visible more than a mile away. The only reason I could tell the road was open was I could see little humps (think a ladybug) moving along the horizon. That confirmed there were cars ahead of me driving on the road. So, I went for it. The rice box grunted & swished in the puddles down the gravel road. Wait, did I say puddles? Those are not puddles, they are the sea water below the gravel, rising up to say HI. Anyways, totally weird driving experience and was worth it.

Then it was an afternoon drive home while eating a huge cookie from the Ribe bakery… that’s my personal fuel for these weekend return drives. American bakers could learn something from these Danish bakers! The American danishes & pastries never taste as good as they look. Danish danishes & pastries always taste better than they look.

I think that is plenty by now. Im sure I’ve put you all to sleep!

13 March 2009 - Whew!

From Denmark III

Happy Friday. Whew, what a week. Last week was tough, this week was tiring. Today was the best work-day yet, as I've been able to contribute to a positive turning point/paradigm shift. I'm confident my trip is now paid for, if in any sense it could be.

This short entry is to provide an idea as to how the daily woes are worked out and soaked away. The gym is clean and has just what you'd expect for any other hotel gym. The pool, kiddie pool, jacuzzi, sauna, and steam room are GREAT. They are very clean, well-designed, and perfect temperatures. The showers in the locker room are even worth mentioning. They have the direct overhead choice of rain, moving sprinkles, or a flat pour. It is ideal for any shower. Beautiful.

Tonight is just a night of relaxing, with mental preparations for a solo west coast weekend trip. I've been told the weather should be tolerable, which apparently is somewhat critical for visiting the west coast. It is normally extrememly windy and stormy from the jet stream. This weekend is supposed to be sunny and calm. Looking forward to escaping and re-charging.

Enjoy!

08 March 09 - Weekend jaunt to Ærø

From Denmark III

Weekend: An over-nighter on a Danish & German tourist island. Ærø (pronounced ehrroo and roll the r) island, located in South Denmark, was founded 100s of years ago & survived on fishing and farming. When the rest of Denmark was being upgraded and remodeled over the decades/hundreds of years, this island was too poor to make any changes. Today it has a thriving summer tourist market that comes to enjoy the perfectly preserved historic towns, ambiance, beaches, and farm scapes. Winter is the sleepy season, so we went without reservations.

Saturday morning my coworker & I left our Grenaa hotel around 8am and drove the rice box of a car over the fjord bridge (east of Kolding), past Middelfart, and headed south to Faaborg. Soon after arrival, we parked on the Søby car ferry. Søby is the village on the west side of Ærø. Upon docking, we mosied the car to the popular historic town of the island, Ærøskøbing. The town really does live up to its reputation of being quaint, colorful, and old! In Frommer's travel book, it was described as a place Disney must have been to in his lifetime. I can see where that comes from.... cobblestone streets, half-timbered homes, and you're lucky to find a block of homes/buildings with all vertical-standing walls. Over the centuries, they seem to have settled crooked.

Saturday afternoon lunch was ingested at the only restaurant open in the town. The choice consisted of a fish plate, homemade tartar sauce (best I've probably ever had), salad, brown bread and tea. There's a great nature walk on a beach and swampy spit just outside of town. There we came up on colorful beach pantrys built in the 1920s. They resemble darling beach huts, however are only large enough for a picnic table, chairs, and some shelves for food. We only saw a handful of people on their afternoon strolls, though this place has 1,000s in the summer.

Next, the Store Rise Kirke (church) seemed a worthy destination. A beatiful church, with well-floristed cemetary stones, a red monk's door, and a 5,000 year old suspected fertility cult worship space. This last feature is in the middle of a farm located a few hundred yards from the church. It consists of a long rectangular grassy hill, outlined with embedded rocks, a tree, and a rock entrance to an underground tomb. Also, think fertility cult as in soil... not women. After the news of the octuplets, my mind was going the wrong direction. Anyways, that was pretty neat.

Our feet were wearing out though, so final stop was Marstal. Hotel Marstal's appeal and price surpassed expectations and so I provided the receptionist w/ my name and CA phone number in exchange for a key. No credit card, nothing. The room was large, with a kitchenette and small dining table. It's super reasonable in the off season. It was an evening of dinner in the hotel restaurant followed by knitting and reading. Quite lovely.

Sunday morning walked Marstal village in the snotty-marine-layer-borderline-sprinkling-chilly weather. Marstal was nothing special so we quickly moved on in the rice box of a car. After a brief roadside stop to check out the site of an old castle mound (castle is long gone), the weather enhanced our desire to just get outta there. So, we headed to the ferry terminal and drove right on the awaiting boat.

Uneventful drive home. Stopped in Arhus for a bite to eat next to the Strøget (walking street) and by the time I parked it in Grenaa, it was sunny.

Lovely weekend, it was one of my very last "top 5s" on my Denmark to-do list. Thinking of the west coast for next weekend. We shall see.

06 March 2009

Ahhh, the week is over. It was a long week with some overtime involved. There's quite a bit interpersonal communication, interpretation, and translation involved in this job. Don't get me wrong, the work is 95% English language. It's a matter of being friendly, involved, and clear discussions. The week started out a bit stressful and ended in the steam room/sauna/pool/jacuzzi (pretty much in that order). They have great facilities at the hotel here. I'll nab a picture of it later.

This week I was self-introduced to the best communication system yet. It's clearer sounding than any cell phone, zero delay in conversations, and a great way to give your 2 cents per minute (or even free). Let me introduce you to Skype. I've seen Skype used on numerous television shows, however never quite had any need for it. After being here for 3 days w/out a phone (no SIM card in the new work phone & late arriving coworkers couldn't get one), I was desparate to talk to my Hubby. After a failed instant messenger/voice program I went to Skype. Within 5 minutes we were chatting. My computer called his cell phone. The first 10-15 minutes were free. Then I had to pay $10, which will last me 500 minutes. Next day he downloaded Skype and that's where the real savings came in... free. Computer to computer is also when you get the clearest line ever. As my parents exclaimed, "wow, it's like you're in a sound room". Not sold yet? It's hands free, so for all you multi-taskers... well, just don't type. The other party can hear the keyboard movement. Yes, it's that good.

So, if you'd like a free chat, just look for my email address. If you don't already have it, I probably wouldn't want to talk to ya anyways.

Off for new town adventures on Funen tomorrow morning. God weekend!

01 March 2009

From Denmark III

Well, I'm settled in Grenaa for Dour de DK #3. The trip here was good. It was a different route/connections than I've previously done. The first leg (LAX-Chicago) I sat next to a VP from NG Corporate. Directly in front of me was a VP from NG Ships and next to him a VP from Tech Services. All counted, there were 8 NG VPs sitting in First Class on this flight. They were unfamiliar w/ the term "mucky muck", and before the flight was over I made it clear that it was not derogatory. It just means they are high up in the company, unlike myself -a pion, and they get to travel first class. Each one was very nice, family-oriented folks and it made the time fly by. NG has a total of 300 VPs. My seat neighbor & I flipped through the VP "yearbook" and counted the women. There was a total of 47 I think, out of the 300. That is more than my chips would've been placed on, and there's still work to be done. The guys stated & agreed that the female VPs are quite intimidating. I would suppose they'd have to be to break the glass ceiling.

After a restless night's sleep (was awake reading or attempting sleep from 1:30-4:30am), I charged out of the hotel around 10am, bound for Silkeborg. It's the one larger nearby town that I've been wanting to site-see. It was a Sunday so the shops were all closed, yet the window shopping was great. Would be a good town to re-visit. After the building tour, I followed an empty nature walk trail over a bridge and around a penninsula (or was it an island?). It was mostly pine firs and mangrove-type brush. Before leaving, one of the primary sites of the town is a 2,000 year old human remains sacrificed for the fertile goddess. The Silkeborg museum holds the Tollund Man, which upon entering the room, my breath was taken away. It was much more touching than I had anticipated. See the story . The museum also had a knitting exhibit which was most impressive, especially since I'm just starting my first 3D knitting pattern (cables). These were extravigant in colors, 3D knitting patterns, and the 2D shapes. I took a couple pictures, those they do not do it justice.

Upon arriving back at the hotel, I hit up the exercise room for some weights & yoga. They have great facilities... weight room, pool, jacuzzi, sauna, steam room, ping pong, & pool table. I'll be taking full advantage of those!

Went out to dinner at a local steak house tonight w/ my coworkers (most of whom flew in today for a short supplier review). I'll enjoy the company while it lasts. Then it was time for Sas to walk-the-Sas around the neighborhood for her after dinner walk since Jamie wasn't around to do it.

Work starts tomorrow and it will be tough. I probably wouldn't be hear if it wasn't going to be tough. I suppose it will sure keep it interesting!

I'll try to write every couple days. Thanks for "following"!