Getting it all in

One of the best parts of visiting Maggie in Esbjerg is that we haven't just been visiting Esbjerg. As Sean  eluded to in his last post, the town where Maggie attends school isn't exactly overflowing with things to do. Fortunately for us though, her boyfriend, Alex, who is from nearby Belgium, has his car with him here and has been graciously allowing the three of us to borrow it for day trips.

One day Alex was able to join us and the four of us went to a town called Jelling ("Yelling") where there are two Viking burial mounds and the most well known ruin stones in Denmark. The mounds and stones are accompanied by a small reconstructed church dating back to the 10th century and a great free museum that tells about them. We learned all about Harald Bluetooth, son of Gorm the Old, and king of Denmark from c. 958 AD until his death in either 985 or 986. He is credited with unifying previously warring tribes of Denmark, and yes, the technology we use to unite machines like computers, printers, cameras and mobile phones was named after him for this reason. The Bluetooth logo consists of the Nordic runes (letters) for his initials, 'H' and 'B'. He was also responsible, according to some sources, for converting the Danes to Christianity. The linage of the current ruler, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark (and all those before her) can be traced all the way back to this ancient viking king and his father, Gorm. It never ceases to amaze me that the history in this part of the world goes back so far.

On another day, we ventured to the town of Aarhus (also written Ârhus). Maggie and her friends Dimitra (who is from Greece) and Stephanie (who is from Malta) accompanied us and the 5 of us set of to explore Denmark's second largest city. "Greater Aarhus" claims a population of around 1.2 million, but the city proper is home to only about 300,000. Despite it's small (by US standards) size, this little Danish city was bustling with people and had tons to offer us.

When we arrived, we met up with a friend of Dimitra's from Greece who has been studying in Aarhus for the past year and half or so. He gave us a quick overview of some of the best things to see in the city and offered us some student discount passes that would get us in free to some of them. We made plans to meet him later that afternoon for a drink and he left us to explore.

First we visited the church, which happens to be the longest in Scandinavia. Inside it was the biggest votive ship in any church in Denmark. The practice of displaying model ships in port towns in one that dates back to pre-Christian times but has continued to this day. Churches throughout Denmark hang beautiful miniature chips from their ceilings. Traditionally the boats were given as gifts, perhaps from a sailor or his family when feeling grateful for a safe journey, or as a display of plenty from a person of wealth. Some say this practice is a way of assuring a safe voyage for a ship and it's crew, while others (myself included) prefer to view the boats as a symbol of man's navigation from cradle to grave.

Upon leaving the church, we found our way into another viking museum, this time located underneath a modern day bank at the level where the street would have been at the time. We browsed through the information there for a bit, and listened to some fascinating elaborations from Maggie and her friends, who are all pursuing master's degrees in archeology and know a great deal about the subject.
After that, we made our way across town to Den Gamle By ("The Old Town") which is an open-air museum where 75 historical houses form a working reconstructed Danish town which looks as it might have in Hans Christen Andersen's days, complete with streets, shops, yards, homes and workshops.

Den Gamle By is staffed with people dressed in authentic period-wear and performing tasks just as they were performed during different periods in history. Each "neighborhood" is modeled after a different era--a stroll through the streets gives you a comprehensive picture of what Danish life was like in yesteryear. The approaching holiday meant that the streets were lined with Christmas Market carts selling everything from hats and gloves to sweets and children's toys, all handmade by local craftsmen with incredible attention to detail, just as they would have been back in the day.

One of the buildings we popped inside was a fully functioning authentic early 20th century bakery where we were able to purchase freshly made cookies and pastries. Although the prices for these treats were reasonable by current Danish standards, they most assuredly have increased over the years.

 

 

We wandered around the town there for several hours, walking in and out of buildings, meeting the "residents" there, and simply enjoying the experience of it all. When we left, we walked up the hill behind the little town to where there was an old windmill standing and got a great view of the sun beginning to set over the rooftops of the city.

On another day, we visited Odense- Denmark's third largest city. Having had such a great day in Aarhus, we expected a similar experience from this day trip, and were largely disappointed by the general lack of activity in town on the day that we visited. In addition to this, we discovered that many of the museums were quite out of our price range, and there wasn't a whole lot to do on a student/traveler's budget. On top of all that, we had some terribly cold weather, which made it difficult to simply wander the streets. In spite of these drawbacks, we did enjoy our day there, and found a few things to occupy our time.

My favorite adventure was when we went to feed the deer. On this day, we got up and had a leisurely morning. Mid afternoon rolled around and Maggie took us and a couple friends to a "deer park" nearby where we could visit with and feed wild deer. This special park in Esbjerg is freely accessible to the public and contains three different species of deer which run wild throughout the park. Apparently, these deer LOVE uncooked pasta, because when we approached them with packages of it, they practically mauled us. The older ones came right up to us, nuzzling our hands and snatching the noodles when we weren't looking, while the younger deer stayed a bit back, nervous about our human presence and timid about approaching us. It was a chilly Danish day and after feeding the deer, we returned to Maggie's and carried out the remainder of our lazy Sunday.

We've so enjoyed the company of Maggie and her many wonderful friends here, and are feeling sad to be leaving them tomorrow. Another thing I'll never quite get used to traveling: how quickly we acclimate and begin to feel at home in a place, and coincidentally, how quickly we move on to somewhere new. But alas, such is travel, and such is life. Tomorrow- Copenhagen!