Wednesday, August 30, 2017
Prague
We spent several days in the "city of a hundred spires", and despite the high summer temperatures and throngs of tourists, we think we did it justice! Highlights for us included St. Vitus Cathedral (in the Castle complex) and a one hour cruise on the river, but since we were getting around mostly on foot, we were constantly in awe of the architecture we were seeing everywhere! The buildings are so ornate - I was amazed that whenever I looked up, there were usually statues and/or gargoyles looking down at me!
We thoroughly enjoyed our meals, and the prices were reasonable (especially after Denmark). Beer was plentiful and really tasty. Since every establishment serves a particular brand of beer, the only decision you have to make is light or dark, small or large! I had an app on my phone that indicated if we were in a tourist zone or if we were "local" - I think that helped steer us to some good restaurants. I think our favorite meal was duck, but we also had an obscenely big pig knee one night that was good, and rabbit on our last night. Oh, and I can't forget to mention the lovely strudel which we sampled twice.
We are now back in Denmark for one last night with our friends, then tomorrow we fly to Iceland.
Here are some photos of Prague.....
We thoroughly enjoyed our meals, and the prices were reasonable (especially after Denmark). Beer was plentiful and really tasty. Since every establishment serves a particular brand of beer, the only decision you have to make is light or dark, small or large! I had an app on my phone that indicated if we were in a tourist zone or if we were "local" - I think that helped steer us to some good restaurants. I think our favorite meal was duck, but we also had an obscenely big pig knee one night that was good, and rabbit on our last night. Oh, and I can't forget to mention the lovely strudel which we sampled twice.
We are now back in Denmark for one last night with our friends, then tomorrow we fly to Iceland.
Here are some photos of Prague.....
Saturday, August 26, 2017
Jutland
We have seen some amazing sights in the last week, so this post may be lengthy!
Last Monday we drove to Jutland from the island of Funen, arriving at Billund (home of Legoland) around 11am. Our friends dropped us off there, as admission is $80 CA and they have been many times. We arranged to be picked up in a few hours, and off we went to see as much as we could! Miniland was a highlight, with miniature Lego displays of familiar buildings, cities and landmarks. They all had moving parts and sound effects as well. Each display had information on who constructed it and how many blocks it took!
We managed to see quite a bit during our time, and it was great fun. They encourage people to take their own food into the park, and provide picnic areas, which makes sense for the families with little ones.
After getting picked up by our friends, we drove to the west coast to see some of the scenery before checking into our bed and breakfast which was in the middle of nowhere! Although the Danish children are back at school now, there are many Germans who come to Jutland for a beach holiday, so it is still quite booked up in the popular towns. This B&B was ok for one night, and at least we had access to the kitchen so could eat our own food for supper. Breakfast turned out to be decent too.
The next morning we headed north, stopping several times along the way to have breaks and see the villages. We had coffee in a place called Klitmoller, nicknamed "Cold Hawaii"!!! Pretty little seaside village full of surf shops and kids walking around in wetsuits. I think I prefer the "Warm Hawaii"....In Northern Jutland it is common to see the old houses with thatched roofs, and some of them were lovely. After stopping briefly at Denmark's largest moving sand dune, the Rabjerg Mile, we headed to our destination of Skagen (pronounced Skane), where we would stay for two nights in a very small two bedroom apartment. Skagen is famous for its picture perfect yellow houses with white trim, complete with white picket fences! It also has great shops and restaurants, galleries etc, so it was full of tourists. The cruise ships stop there as well. One of the must do's is to go to the beach at Grenen, just norh of Skagen, where you can walk to the northermost tip of Jutland. There are two seas that come together at that location, and you can wade out into the water and have one foot in each sea. According to our friends, it is always very windy there, but we were incredibly lucky, and it was a warm day with absolutely no wind. It was fun looking for amber on the beach, but we were not successful.
Skagen also has a wonderful art gallery, with famous works from 1870-1930 produced by local artists. One of them, P.S. Kroyer, was particularly good at capturing the light during the "blue hour", the transition from day to night.
Our last destination in Jutland was Aarhus, Denmark's second largest city. We spent several hours at the Old Town, which is an open air museum of 75 half-timbered houses which were brought there from all corners of Denmark and reconstructed as a market town from the era of Hans Christian Andersen. It was fun to come across little shops amongst the houses on display, such as a bakeries, soap shop, bookstore, kitchen supplies etc. The proprietors were dressed in authentic costumes and were selling the merchandise. We sampled some cookies from the bakery.
Downtown Aarhus is a vibrant place, and we spent some time just enjoying the people watching while we had coffee. Again, there was a cruise ship in town, so there were lots of tourists.
Friday was the day we had a long drive back to our friends' home in Hillroed, but first we wanted to see the Moesgard Museum, 10 km south of the city. This prehistory and anthropological museum reopened in 2014 in a spectacularly designed modern space, and the main attraction is the Graubelle Man, the 2000 year old man whose well preserved body was found in 1952 in the village of Graubelle, 25 km west of Aarhus. His body is remarkably preserved due to the chemical and biological properties of the peat bog in which he was found.
Aside from the Graubelle Man, the museum does a wonderful job of bringing various eras to life, from the Stone Age to the Viking, and we were wishing we had a whole day to spend there! The interactive displays contain so much information, and it is presented in a way that appeals to all ages.
Tomorrow we head to Prague for a few days, so we're looking forward to that.
Photos to follow....
Last Monday we drove to Jutland from the island of Funen, arriving at Billund (home of Legoland) around 11am. Our friends dropped us off there, as admission is $80 CA and they have been many times. We arranged to be picked up in a few hours, and off we went to see as much as we could! Miniland was a highlight, with miniature Lego displays of familiar buildings, cities and landmarks. They all had moving parts and sound effects as well. Each display had information on who constructed it and how many blocks it took!
We managed to see quite a bit during our time, and it was great fun. They encourage people to take their own food into the park, and provide picnic areas, which makes sense for the families with little ones.
After getting picked up by our friends, we drove to the west coast to see some of the scenery before checking into our bed and breakfast which was in the middle of nowhere! Although the Danish children are back at school now, there are many Germans who come to Jutland for a beach holiday, so it is still quite booked up in the popular towns. This B&B was ok for one night, and at least we had access to the kitchen so could eat our own food for supper. Breakfast turned out to be decent too.
The next morning we headed north, stopping several times along the way to have breaks and see the villages. We had coffee in a place called Klitmoller, nicknamed "Cold Hawaii"!!! Pretty little seaside village full of surf shops and kids walking around in wetsuits. I think I prefer the "Warm Hawaii"....In Northern Jutland it is common to see the old houses with thatched roofs, and some of them were lovely. After stopping briefly at Denmark's largest moving sand dune, the Rabjerg Mile, we headed to our destination of Skagen (pronounced Skane), where we would stay for two nights in a very small two bedroom apartment. Skagen is famous for its picture perfect yellow houses with white trim, complete with white picket fences! It also has great shops and restaurants, galleries etc, so it was full of tourists. The cruise ships stop there as well. One of the must do's is to go to the beach at Grenen, just norh of Skagen, where you can walk to the northermost tip of Jutland. There are two seas that come together at that location, and you can wade out into the water and have one foot in each sea. According to our friends, it is always very windy there, but we were incredibly lucky, and it was a warm day with absolutely no wind. It was fun looking for amber on the beach, but we were not successful.
Skagen also has a wonderful art gallery, with famous works from 1870-1930 produced by local artists. One of them, P.S. Kroyer, was particularly good at capturing the light during the "blue hour", the transition from day to night.
Our last destination in Jutland was Aarhus, Denmark's second largest city. We spent several hours at the Old Town, which is an open air museum of 75 half-timbered houses which were brought there from all corners of Denmark and reconstructed as a market town from the era of Hans Christian Andersen. It was fun to come across little shops amongst the houses on display, such as a bakeries, soap shop, bookstore, kitchen supplies etc. The proprietors were dressed in authentic costumes and were selling the merchandise. We sampled some cookies from the bakery.
Downtown Aarhus is a vibrant place, and we spent some time just enjoying the people watching while we had coffee. Again, there was a cruise ship in town, so there were lots of tourists.
Friday was the day we had a long drive back to our friends' home in Hillroed, but first we wanted to see the Moesgard Museum, 10 km south of the city. This prehistory and anthropological museum reopened in 2014 in a spectacularly designed modern space, and the main attraction is the Graubelle Man, the 2000 year old man whose well preserved body was found in 1952 in the village of Graubelle, 25 km west of Aarhus. His body is remarkably preserved due to the chemical and biological properties of the peat bog in which he was found.
Aside from the Graubelle Man, the museum does a wonderful job of bringing various eras to life, from the Stone Age to the Viking, and we were wishing we had a whole day to spend there! The interactive displays contain so much information, and it is presented in a way that appeals to all ages.
Tomorrow we head to Prague for a few days, so we're looking forward to that.
Photos to follow....
Sunday, August 20, 2017
Northern Zealand, Roskilde & Funen
We have been so busy lately that I haven't had time to blog, but it's been amazing! We visited more castles in Northern Zealand (one being the summer residence of the Queen, however she wasn't home to receive us), as well as zipping across the Oeresund Sea from Helsingor, Denmark to Helsingborg, Sweden (a mere 20 minute ferry trip). Had a great view of Kronborg Slot in Denmark from the ferry - the formidable castle built in the 1420's for defensive purposes, and now a Unesco World Heritage site. The Swedes make the short trip to Helsingor to buy cheap(er) alcohol, so the streets were full of liquor shops to cater to the tourists. We loved exploring the smaller streets though, with many old half timbered houses and brick buildings that were impressive. In Sweden we just stayed long enough to explore the harbour area and stop for coffee.
We also spent a day in Roskilde, visiting the cathedral and the Viking museum. The cathedral, another Unesco World Heritage site, is not only the most beautiful of Danish cathedrals, but is also the royal mausoleum, containing the crypts of 37 Danish kings and queens. The highlight of the Viking museum was the remains of five ships (made between 1030 & 1042) that were unearthed from the bottom of the narrow channel 20 km north of Roskilde in 1962 and meticulously reassembled. The Vikings sank the boats presumably to block an invading army, piling stones on top of the ships to create an underwater barrier. Russ was impressed with the fact that they were able to get an exact date and season that the trees used for building the boats were cut down (more than a thousand years ago).
We have been on the island of Funen for the past few days, staying in our friends' summer house on the beach. This is a beautiful place, and our days have started with a very bracing early morning swim in the ocean, followed by a hot shower and lovely breakfast of muesli, fruit, yogurt, fresh breads with local cheeses and jams. I could get used to this! We have had some fascinating day trips. The first day we visited the island of Aebelo, which is accessed by walking through the water at low tide. It was tough getting there, as the water was knee deep, and it's about 1.5 km (seems much longer!). Coming back was much easier wading, only about 6 in deep, but we had a strong wind against us! Being a nature sanctuary, the island has an amazing array of wildlife, including fallow deer, mouflon, and some birds and insects that are rare in other parts of Denmark. Unfortunately we did not see the famous 20 cm long beetle, but there are about 1,000 species of beetles on the island. The deer are everywhere, and a herd of about 200 ran across our path at one point!
Tomorrow we leave this island and head to Jutland, the only part of Denmark connected to mainland Europe (68 km long border with Germany). Our plan is to spend some time at Legoland tomorrow, then head to the west coast.
Photos to follow.....
We also spent a day in Roskilde, visiting the cathedral and the Viking museum. The cathedral, another Unesco World Heritage site, is not only the most beautiful of Danish cathedrals, but is also the royal mausoleum, containing the crypts of 37 Danish kings and queens. The highlight of the Viking museum was the remains of five ships (made between 1030 & 1042) that were unearthed from the bottom of the narrow channel 20 km north of Roskilde in 1962 and meticulously reassembled. The Vikings sank the boats presumably to block an invading army, piling stones on top of the ships to create an underwater barrier. Russ was impressed with the fact that they were able to get an exact date and season that the trees used for building the boats were cut down (more than a thousand years ago).
We have been on the island of Funen for the past few days, staying in our friends' summer house on the beach. This is a beautiful place, and our days have started with a very bracing early morning swim in the ocean, followed by a hot shower and lovely breakfast of muesli, fruit, yogurt, fresh breads with local cheeses and jams. I could get used to this! We have had some fascinating day trips. The first day we visited the island of Aebelo, which is accessed by walking through the water at low tide. It was tough getting there, as the water was knee deep, and it's about 1.5 km (seems much longer!). Coming back was much easier wading, only about 6 in deep, but we had a strong wind against us! Being a nature sanctuary, the island has an amazing array of wildlife, including fallow deer, mouflon, and some birds and insects that are rare in other parts of Denmark. Unfortunately we did not see the famous 20 cm long beetle, but there are about 1,000 species of beetles on the island. The deer are everywhere, and a herd of about 200 ran across our path at one point!
Tomorrow we leave this island and head to Jutland, the only part of Denmark connected to mainland Europe (68 km long border with Germany). Our plan is to spend some time at Legoland tomorrow, then head to the west coast.
Photos to follow.....
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