Post Nord 2018
4/24-25
We are on our way to Copenhagen DK. Denmark is perennially named the happiest country
in the world (except this year when Finland was named happiest, but by the time that happened
we already had our tickets, so we'll gamble that the Danes are still pretty up). We plan to split
our time between Copenhagen and the Danish country side. While in Copenhagen, we'll
live here. More soon.
Post Nord 2018
4/26
We're settled, and out cruisin' town. Two blocks down, our street becomes the charming Nyhavn Canal.
Being a dead end, it's mostly a place to park boats. Two such are
the Book Boat, a floating library, and
Lightship XVII, a floating lighthouse.
LS XVII, one of 20, was built in 1895 without propulsion. Anchored at Gedser Reef, a place badly needing a
light, it beamed til 1954, when it was rammed, sinking in minutes. Raised, repaired, recommis- sioned, it
retired (1972) to Nyhavn.
Post Nord 2018
4/27
Lovers, signifying commitment, sign a padlock, lock it to a bridge and toss the key over.
We first saw this over the
Tiber in Rome
(but no, Julius ♡ _?_ ).
Now it's worldwide, including Nyhavn
Canal & Brooklyn Bridge.
In Copen- hagen a bridge is also in love! A ped- estrian 'kissing' bridge has retractable
spans that pull apart, but 'kiss' when closed. (See line near green light above yellow boat.)
Spans declaring their commitment without a lock!
Post Nord 2018
4/28
Today was a glorious day to visit the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art 35 km N of
town. Built by Alexander Brun in his house
and named for his 3 wives, all Louise, it is now a sprawling
circular chain of galleries in a
sculpture garden.
On the circuit look beyond the Giacomettis to the outdoor
beauty, or see Sweden out beyond the Calder, or just go out in the sun to enjoy the
grounds
and find the Serra. If nature's not for you, there's always
Kusama.
Post Nord 2018
4/29
With sun promised we chose to wander old town to see what's happenin'. We passed
a punctuation error, and 3
great
Danes, kept tabs on the
sea gull, city hall's
pigeons and Tivoli's
peacock, smelled the
flowers and picked our fave
gargoyle. Lunch came on
Royal Copenhagen . At beautiful
Helligands- kirke we scored a new
Annunciation. At Vor Frue
Kirke,
Danish Lutheranisms 'Vatican', the new 'industrial'
organ literally shook
the pews in concert. All so unimportant, all so captivating!
Post Nord 2018
4/30
We've loved Larsen's Danish Bakery in Seattle for 35 years. To keep it real, owner Poul Larsen
checks out bakeries on trips home. We asked him, which?
Bodenhoff Bakery. We went for 11:00s. The alpha shop
(of 5) is frenetic, filled with customers. Servers dart around like humming birds;
dough is prepped; cakes
wait like royalty. Bakery moves fast; no time for tidy displays.
Choices,
choices, choices!
We've sampled twice. Which
is best, B or L? Hmmm. Can't decide. Need more data.
Post Nord 2018
4/31
Thank you for checking our Danish postcards. We hope you enjoy them. But what if Verizon
blocks snydersr.us or AT&T slows down loading those beautiful images? (We don’t
know why, either, but they can.) That is, unless the US Senate tells the FCC (after May 9th)
to restore Net Neutrality. Your Senator will probably want your input. Thank You.
(Here’s an easy
explanation of Net Neutrality.)
Post Nord 2018
5/1
Roskilde is the last stop for most DK kings and queens.
Harold Bluetooth - yes, it's named for him - was buried here in 985. The 'new' [1170]
Roskilde
Cathedral is
filled with
other
encrypted
royals.
Queen Margarethe II will have a glass tomb.
Christian IV, who sank his warship Vasa by demanding 2x canons, is immodest in
death, too.
Royals are measured against 7' 2"
Christian I.
To avoid the church being too somber, the glockenspiel
shrieks a blood-curdling cry each hour.
Post Nord 2018
5/2
'Futhark' = rune 'alphabet'. The stone (L) reads: "Thorger Toke's
son raised this stone in memory of Mule, his brother and a very good friend." The stone (R)
"Ragnhild, Lilf's sister, placed this stone and made this mound, and this ship in memory of her
husband Gunulf, a clamorous man, Naever's son. Finn will now be born better than him." Ominously, on the back
it reads: "A warlock(?) be he who damages this stone or drags it away from here." Just sayin' ...
Post Nord 2018
5/3
We're on the road! Today, we stopped at Mon Klint, a
6 km chalk cliff on the E coast of Mon Island. As we drove up, the road
abruptly changed to dirt - a surprise!
We checked the fossils at the Geo Center, then hiked down
to the ocean to see the cliffs. [Geo: The chalk was made from tiny coccolithophore shells in the Cretaceous, crunched
by glaciers.] Thin layers of flint show how the rock twisted during
formation. It is 491 steps down. Note to self: That's also 491 steps up.
Post Nord 2018
5/4
Lunch at Lego House, Billund DK: You are seated
with a menu and bag of Legos. If you're gonna eat, you build
your lunch. We did. We scanned it in an actual "Lego reader" (lower
right). The video came on "showing our order going into"
the Mini Chef's kitchen. What did we order? The vid shows a chef analyzing
L's lunch, and later shows it being put on the conveyor. Robots
push it off, delivering it.
The food's packed in bricks. The surprise:
It's delicious!
Post Nord 2018
5/5
Meet the amazing Tollund Man, a 40 year old Dane who was buried in a peat bog sometime between 405-384 BC. Tannin
in peat is a terrific preservative. Though looking peaceful,
he died by hanging. Found in 1950, 6.5' down in the peat, he was likely a human sacrifice, not a criminal. From
stomach contents his last meal, a thin gruel, included 40 kinds of seeds, but mostly barley, flax, false flax and knotweed.
Computer modelling suggests his look in life.
Post Nord 2018
5/6
For the second time in our travels we are the first guests at a hotel. Arriving in Løkken (pop. 2K on W coast of DK),
we struck out on 3-4 hotel tries; J recalled an old guest house review, and driving by, we saw people
about. We stopped to find the hostess had bought it a week earlier, planned on opening it next week, but wanted
to try it out. Ta-da!
Our
room
is
charming. And, her friend, a chef, offered to fix us
breakfast in the AM.
We brought her flowers.
Post Nord 2018
5/7
The Lindholm Høje is a hilltop Viking cematary surrounded by beech forest.
Between AD 400 - 1050, 700 Vikings were buried in graves marked by a
ship-shape stone circle,
large stones marking bow and stern. As a museum mural shows, the stones were set, the
area filled with firewood, and the Viking positioned. After the fire died down, personal effects were
added, and soil tossed on top. It's a gorgeous resting place when your pillaging days are done.
Post Nord 2018
5/8
Jørn Utson of Aalborg DK won the internation competition in 1957 for a design for the Sydney Opera House.
The proposal was beautiful geometry with no idea how to build it. The 'eureka moment' came when Utson
said the shells were sections of virtual spheres. The art of the explanation is
gorgeous. Huge cost overruns
and long delays caused Utson to resign and leave AU. The Utson Center displays many
appeals to him to change
his mind.
Post Nord 2018
5/9
In cute
little
Ribe we had an epiphany.
Though its AD 948 Cathedral's outside is a hodgepodge of
additions and post-fire rebuilds, the Romanesque interior is elegant,
interesting,
beautiful.
Somber.
But the scene is disturbed by 20th C "upgrades." This isn't Michelangelo's
ceiling, nor Chagall's
windows, nor Miro's
fresco's. Had they ruined their church? After
11:00s, we
decided, no! Like strong coffee and blueberry cake, change can revitalize, invigorate, and raise the heart rate.
Post Nord 2018
5/10
We will be back for more of your extraordinary hospitality, Denmark. Tak. Hej! Hej!
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