Denmark Day 7, Roskilde Ship Museum and Copenhagen!

It’s our last day in Denmark. Sigh. I will be sad to finish our amazing Scandinavian vacation, and I’m trying hard not to think about the work pile that’ll greet me upon opening my email for the first time in twenty days. But, I am determined to get the most out of today.

Once again, it’s a brilliant day. We check out and drive to the ferry terminal where we’ll boat to a tiny town on the north-west tip of the island of Zealand. As you can imagine, ferries play a huge part in Denmark’s transportation system, and this trip runs like clockwork. Here are a few pics of the ferry terminal and the scenery around Odden.

CP D7 AR FERRY LOT U CP D7 ODDEN1 USE CP D7 ODDEN4 CP D7  ODDEN

We drive to Viking Ship Museum located in Rosklide, a city about an hour out of Copenhagen. The museum’s located on the water and this is the place where you can actually sail in a Viking longship!!! Unfortunately, they’re all booked up, and there’s no room for me L. But, it’s a fascinating experience, and we are able to board a docked longship—yay!

CP D7 RSK BTJTY CLOSE USE BEST CP D7 RSK IBOAT CLOSE MODERN U CP D7 RSK JETTY BOATS U CP D7 RSK JETTY MUSEUM CP D7 RSK MUSEUM LONGV U CP D7 RSK MUSEUM CP D7 RST BT4 CP D7 RSK LONG VIEW U CP D7 RSK ROPES MAN U CP D7 RSK SEA SHIP U CP D7 RSK SEA U CP D7 RSK SEA WITH BOATS U CP D7 RSK TENT CP D7 RSK BOAT U

From Rosklide we head back to Copenhagen and the Radisson Blu hotel, and collect our luggage. A quick shower and then it’s time for our last dinner. We find this quaint French restaurant, and have a wonderful meal. Not only is the food scrumptious, but there’s a folk singer with a guitar playing French ballads.

CP D7 FRENCH REST CP D7 FRENCH SIGH WITH SPEC U CP D7 FRENCH SIGN BISTRO CP D7 FRENCHR U

 

Great way to end our vacation!

Denmark Day 6, Fyrak Viking Castle Ring Circle and Aarhus!

Yet another Viking settlement to visit today, the Fyrkat Viking Center, which is located near to the city of Hobro on the north-east top of Jutland. Fyrkat is a former Viking Ring Castle dating back to around 980 AD. This is an aerial view of what the ring would’ve looked like.

FYRKAT AERIAL VIEW

Fyrkat is organized like the Ribe center in that there are actual people who work there demonstrating ancient Norse crafts and explaining traditions. In the first longhouse, we found a woman who was actually mixing the dough for baking bread. This bread was cooked over the open fire pits in the middle of the structure. Here are some shots:

CP D6 FY CLAY HUT U CP D6 FY CLAYOVEN U  CP D6 FY IN TABLE BENCH U CP D6 FY IN TOOLS TABLE U CP D6 FY LH FIRE PIT CLOSE U CP D6 FY LH HIGH TABLE U CP D6 FY VIEW HUTS WELL U CP D6 FY VIEW WITH HUTS SHEEP U  CP D6 FY DOUBLE DOORS U CP D6 FY WOMAN BAKER CP D6 FY WAGON WHEEL U CP D6 FY LH INSIDE WOMAN U

The unique characteristic of Fyrkat is, of course the ring circle. The site on which the castle was located was excavated and stones were placed to indicate what would have been there and where. But, the stones are lame compared to the actual reconstruction picture above.

From Fyrkat we headed south to Denmark’s second largest urban center, the port city of Aarhus. We checked into the hotel (neat exterior) and went straight to the museum of the ‘Old Town’ of Aarhus. Hans Christian Anderson, the famous Danish fairy-tale author, (think The Ugly Duckling, The Princess and the Pea, just to name two) lived in Aarhus’s Old Town for a while.

CP D6 AR OT CT YD1 U CP D6 AR OT CTYD3 USE CP D6 AR OT CTYD CP D6 AR OT CARRIAGE U  CP D6 AR OLD TOWN CAROUSEL WITH KIDS U CP D6 AR OT EXT

After wandering around the Old Town, we decided to explore the ‘New Town’, and ended up having dinner at our second ‘Danish’ restaurant called Frederiksgade 42. The hostess sat next to us and began by saying, “So the concept is sharing food.” The meal turned out to be a very different, but interesting and tasty experience. Everything’s absolutely fresh and the menu consists of 7 courses, which we share. We ate ingredients we’d never heard of before, like moss and wild herbs, and enjoyed every morsel. Nice way to end our day. Here are some pics of the ‘New Town’:

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