June 25,
2013
This
morning we depart for Denmark, via Frankfurt, on Lufthansa Airlines to attend a
birthday celebration for Lisa Marx. Lisa owns a cabin on the east coast of
Denmark, in the town of Hou. Miriam and I will land in Copenhagen about 1530
local time and then drive to Nyborg for the evening. We are staying at the Nyborg Strand Best
Western, also on the water. The next morning we will drive about four hours to
the cabin
July 11
Landing
in Frankfurt we had to clear customs and immigration rather than being treated
as transit passengers. It was a good
thing we had not purchased duty free liquids since we could not have brought
them back through security. We the had
to walk between terminals, a process that consumed about 45 minutes. Arriving at Terminal A we found the Lufthansa
lounge, which was so crowded with people that we had to sit at a table for
about 30 minutes before finding seats in separate areas.
The
connecting flight to Copenhagen was actually an SAS flight, and SAS had
eliminated business class two weeks before, so we had coach seating. At least we did not have to pay for beverages
like the passengers further back in the plane.
Landing
in Copenhagen we collected our luggage and found the car rental counter and
picked up a nearly new Hyundai i30 diesel. The exit for the motorway was easy
to find, but after getting down the road about ten kilometers we ran into a
miles long traffic jam. A trip that
should have taken less than two hours, even for us, took three hours.
Our
Google map directions were good and the Hotel Nyborg Strand was very good. By the time we got to the hotel we were both
tired and elected to eat at the hotel bistro, which had a buffet dinner of
roast beef, etc. After dinner Patrick
walked into town to look for a new Danish SIM card for the phone to make local
calls cheaper. It was took late, so that
task had to wait for the next morning.
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| Nyborg |
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| Birthday Celebrants |
Breakfast
was included in the room rate, so after a large breakfast we drove into the
town center, purchased the SIM card and walked around to look at Nyborg Castle
before heading further up the motorway.
The drive to Lisa and Ted Marx's cabin took about three hours plus a lunch
stop at a new McDonald's before we got to Aalborg. We had no problem finding
the cabin, again the directions were good. We arrived at the cabin to find Alan
and Tenille there with their two children. Ted and Lisa were in Aalborg picking
up other guests from the airport and train station. We settled into the
assigned cabin, three down the road from the party site and then explored the
area a little bit. The town of Hou has a
marina, several restaurants, a pub, grocery store, gas station, etc., but is
mostly vacation homes. The entire area is designated a vacation district and
year round residents are few, having to own the property for at least seven
years before they can apply to live in the residence year round.
Ted and
Lisa had purchased a large tent, bigger than their cabin, for the party festivities. Everyone who was already there gathered at
7PM for a smorbrod buffet and copious quantities of aquavit for each
"Skol". Needless to say, a good time was had by all.
June 28
Breakfast
was on our own from items we had purchased the day before at the store,
Chinese, fruit, sausage, bread. After breakfast we headed up to Skagen,
accompanied by John Steele, the son of David and Joanne Steele, neighbors of
Ted and Lisa in Kirkland. The drive was scenic, about 1 1/2 hours, out to
Geren, the tip of the Jutland peninsula. The walk out to the meeting point of
the Skageratt and Kattegat was about a mile, along sand beaches. The rain held off, but the wind was intense.
Patrick stood in the water at the junction of the two seas.
By the
time we got back to the car the sun had peeked out so we found a parking space
in Skagen, wandered the pedestrian streets and finally sat down to an al fresco
lunch of Danish style sandwiches.
I`
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| Windmill in Dronningen, Denmark |
By the
time we returned to Hou, the dinner menu had been decided, BBQ beef, so we all
gathered again in the tent and started the aquavit ritual again, after a round
of cocktails. The party went on past
midnight, still twilight, as people chatted and reconnected. By this time Randi and Stewart Mackay, fellow
cruisers from our 2008 transatlantic cruise, had arrived. Neighbors also showed up, and we had about 30
people, family, friends, and neighbors.
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| Voergard Castle |
June 29
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| Miriam and Svein Fammestad at Lavik |
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| Hjordis Fammestad |
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| Sail away drinks on ferry |
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| Little Mermaid |
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| Guards at Ameliaborg Castle |
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| Danish royal Crown |
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| Danish Sceptre |
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| Guard at Amielaborg Palace |
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| Gefieon Scuplture |
Today was
party day for Lisa, celebrating her 70th birthday, a big event in Denmark. The
festivities started at 3 PM and ended well after midnight, after a delicious
traditional Danish meal catered by a local firm. The food was delicious,
starting with the traditional pickled herring, smoked salmon, shrimp,
asparagus, and assorted condiments, all washed down with aquavit and "skills".
The
evening was quite exciting as the wind came up, very gusty, and the tent
started to come unglued from the ground. Several of us helped Ted drive bigger
stakes in and tie more lines to the trees.
A candle chandelier slang so violently that we could have been at a
performance of "Phantom of the Opera".
Perhaps
the entertainment highlight of the trip was the dance on the table tops to the
Abba music from "Mama Mia"
June 30
Everyone
was moving slowly the next day, but several of us headed into Aalborg to see
the sights and to see where Lisa grew up.
We capped the journey with a meal at the "Irish Pub" before
returning to Hou in the late afternoon.
We reheated the food left over from the night before and had a repeat
dinner, without the wind or dancing. Many of us called it quits early!
July 1
We met
Randi and Stewart in the morning and drove to Hals in search of breakfast,
finding a bakery with a small cafe attached.
After coffee and Danish we walked around the Hals harbor area scouting
for a place for dinner. On the way back
we stopped and photographed a windmill.
Later in the afternoon we headed to Dronninglund to a "Slot"
or castle and then a stop at a thatched roof pub in Hou. Dinner was at the
"Havkatten" restaurant in Hals, a kind of farewell to Lisa as most of
the guests were leaving the next day sometime, leaving just Ted and Lisa and
their kids and grand kids in Hou
July 2
We set
the alarm for 0530 to allow time for quick showers and coffee before starting
the drive to Frederickshavn and the day ferry to Oslo. We allowed enough time to stop at Voersgard
Slot, fuel the rental car and turn it in and still make the 1000 ferry
departure, on the Stena Saga. We had booked a stateroom for the day, so we
could take a nap. Meals were and issue since the charge card readers were not
working and we did not have enough local currency to buy food. The purser gave
us chits for sandwiches and coffee, so it worked out OK. The debarkation was a
zoo, with hundreds of kids and families as crowding for the gangway. The hotel
was about one kilometer from the port and we walked that slowly, wheeling our
luggage behind us. After checking into
the Raddison Blu hotel, near the train station we walked up Karl Johans Stras
and ended up at the Hard Rock Cafe in Oslo for a good dinner before walking
back and getting a decent night's sleep.
July 3
After a
great buffet breakfast at the hotel we walked the short distance to the central
train station and boarded the 0805 train to Bergen. The weather cooperated until we got to Geilo,
one of the ski areas near the crest of the route and then the rain started,
continuing all the way into Bergen. We had rain and sun as we met up with Svein
and Hjordis. The train was 30 minutes
late due to signal problems on the track between I Voss and Bergen.
We
arrived at Svein and Bibi's house without incident and settled in. Bibi is
still at their summer house in Alicante, Spain, so Svein cooked salmon for
dinner and we spent the evening catching up on the seven years since our last
visit.
July 4
We spent
Independnce Day exploring Miriam's roots in the Eksingindalen Valley, visiting
the town of Lavik, the continuing over the mountains to Voss and back into
Bergen.
Stopping
in Bergen we shopped and toured the market at the harbor and the shops in
Bryggen before heading up the hill to Liv and Knut Midtun's house high above
the city. We had dinner looking
out over Bergen and the harbor as the rain increased and the wind howled.
Dinner was peel and eat shrimp, to make open faced sandwiches with lettuce,
etc. White wine was served and later we
moved to the living room for coffe, cookies and chocolates. Conversation continued to past 9:30 and then
we headed back to Svein's house for the night.
Liv and Knut presented us with a copy of the "Bergen Cookbook"
authored by their son, Sjur, this time in English.
After we
got back to Svein's house we tried to call Bibi in Alicante, Spain, but by then
it was too late. We finally called it
quits about midnight.
July 5
After breakfast
we were able to call Bibi on Skype and had a good video conference before
heading to "Konnyborg" with Hjordis.
After Bloody Mary's Patrick walked in the
local area while Miriam and
Hjordis caught up on their lives. Later
in the evening Svein came by from his cabin a few hundred yards away and we had
a delicious cod dinner cooked by Hjordis.
Conversation continued until nearly 1 AM, and it was still light enough
to read outside. Without blinds on the windows, the bedroom was light all night
long.
July 6
The sun
finally appeared, with nearly clear skies and mild temperatures as we relaxed
at the house. There is a good view of
hills, trees and Fammestad Pond through 270 degrees. After a brunch of mushroom omelets and toast
we drove north to the ferry landing at Fedje, but decided to just drive around
the group of islands rather than take the ferry in windy conditions. We arrived back at Svein's house about 6 PM
and had a delicious dinner of elk, potatoes, creamed peas and mixed vegetables
before looking at Svein's pictures from his races in Ethiopia and their cruise
in Arabia, including Dubai and Oman. Svein is involved in charity work helping
children in Ethiopia after seeing the need and poverty on his trips there.
July 7
The sunny
weather disappeared overnight and it was raining when we awoke. After breakfast we headed to the Bergen train
station to catch the return train to Oslo.
with the rain, we expected the photo opportunities to be few, although
the weather in Oslo is supposed To be nice. The train we are on is not nearly
as nice as the one we took to get to Bergen.
Checking
in to the Radisson, into a room on the 19th floor, we stowed our luggage and
headed into town to Aker Brygge, where we looked for the restaurant that we had
the delicious soup seven years ago.. We
ended up having a glass of wine at Olivia Restaurant, the same place we had
stopped seven years ago. We could not
find the delicious parsnip soup we had sampled on that same trip. The quay was crowded with people enjoying the
sun, certainly an alive place on a sunny day.
Walking
back into town in the sun we ended up back at the Hard Rock Cafe, this time
outside, where we had another good meal before heading back to the hotel in
the, by now, warm day.
July 8
Arising later
than normal, we headed downstairs to another great breakfast buffet and then
walked to the new Oslo opera house, where you can walk on the roof, up sloping
ramps. The building looks like it is
coming up out of the sea. There was
massive construction going on all around, as the entire area is being
upgraded. We walked through the shops
when they opened, but found nothing we needed to take home. Checking out of the hotel at 1300, we walked
to the DFDS ferry, about one kilometer away, only to find out that check-in
started at 1500, contrary to what the hotel front desk had indicated. Patrick walked back and found sandwiches for
lunch, which we ate while waiting for then ship to be available for boarding.
The ship
was a pleasant surprise, well maintained, and like a cruise ship. Our stateroom was adequate, and we we quickly
made reservations for both dinner and breakfast. Reservations were required, but the good news
was that we could stay in the staterooms until we docked at Copenhagen.
After
boarding, we headed up to Deck 10 for a sail-away drink in the sun, along with
hundreds of other passengers. We had a
great time until the wind got cool as we headed down Oslo Fjord. We stopped at duty free and shopped for
something to share in Copenhagen with Ted and Lisa the next day, and also
Emmett and Laurie Sullivan, who would arrive the day after that.
At 1900
we headed to the Explorer Steakhouse and had a very good meal, with ribeye
steaks, cooked perfectly, along with a bottle of Australian CSM wine. Following dinner, we headed back to the
stateroom and folded out the bunks for a good night's sleep.
July 9
After
showers we headed to the Blue Riband Restaurant on board for a extensive buffet
breakfast before landing in Copenhagen.
The disembarkation process was much less frenetic than on Stena Lines in
Oslo, and we began the walk to the Admiral Hotel. It was a lot dirtier than we expected, but we
saw the Little Mermaid along the way, and th day was pleasant. When we finally arrived at the hotel, the
room was not ready, so we stored the bags, had something to drink and still
managed to make the changing of the guard at Ameliaborg Palace, just a few
minutes from the hotel. We then headed
to the Marble Church and Rosenborg Palace before heading back to the hotel to
see if our room was ready. It was not,
so we waited another 45 minutes and the checked into a delightful room on then
fifth floor, with expose beams from the hotel's former life as a warehouse
along the water. Ted and Lisa arrived
shortly after and we all headed, via subway, to Klampenborg for dinner at a
restaurant in the local amusement park.
We all piled into a horse drawn carriage for the drive to the
restaurant. After dinner we heade by
taxi back to the hotel for drinks and conversation to finish the evening.
July 10
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| Dinner at Tivoli |
After
another good buffet breakfast, we all headed to the cruise ship terminal, via
taxi. The taxi driver did not know where to go, and it was a frustrating
journey. Arriving at the Holland America
ship, "Eurodam", we were given visitor passes and escorted on board,
where we met Emmett and Laurie, who had just completed a ten day cruise in the
Baltic. After touring the ship we had a
good lunch on the Lido Deck before disembarking and heading out on a city tour
arranged for all of us. The tour
included many of the places we had already seen, but with a guide and entrance
to the museums and palaces. By late
afternoon we were finished, and after cocktails in Ted and Lisa's room we took
taxis to Tivoli Gardens for dinner at "Groften" restaurant followed
by a walk through the park. Everyone was
pretty tired, so after a final nightcap we headed to bed for a 0430 waked and
trip to the airport.
July 11
Check-in
was easy, and we used the express lanes through security and had a bite to eat
in the SAS lounge before boarding the flight to Frankfurt. The flight was early, but not " business
class", it was crowded. Transfer
was lengthy, with long walks and lines at
immigration, so we arrived at the Seattle flight just minutes before
boarding began. The Lufthansa plane was
old and not what we expected, but the crew was pleasant and we managed to catch
a few hours of sleep before finally arriving back home in Seattle.
