Denmark Trip - Day 3 - Tved, DK

Summer House, Tved - Slept well and woke up at about 4 AM to the sound of Common Cuckoo, Eurasian Blackbird and Common Wood Pidgeon which were all new birds for me! Went back to sleep and got up at around 9 AM, showered, had coffee, bread, cheese, and a left-over cookie from the plane. Lotte was scheduled to teach a class to some Vestas employees and said she would be gone until about 1 PM. We were both feeling a bit jet lagged so it felt nice to just hang out enjoying the beautiful weather (partly cloudy 52-66 deg F) and listening to the sounds of birds. 

We went over to Lotte’s house around 1 PM. Since we didn't speak Danish, Lotte agreed to call KLM airlines about our lost luggage. They told her to call a different number which didn’t work. Eventually, Lotte called the Delta number for "lost luggage" and they said they would deliver the luggage later today or tomorrow but would call first. We then talked about plans for next few days. Lotte was planning on going to a graduation ceremony at her school the next morning. After that, we planned to visit a friend named Mohamed at his house in Odder but would need to pick up Marie’s car first. Marie said she had plans Friday night and asked if she could leave her dog, Gismo with Lotte. Marie was also hoping to have a pizza party at her place with us, possibly Saturday or Sunday. On Saturday, we (Lotte, Marie, Carol, and me) planned to go to see Erik compete in the Taekwondo championship in Aalborg.

Later in the day, Lotte was planning to have a “midsummer celebration” at her house. Midsummer is a huge deal in Denmark and Lotte invited neighbors and friends over for food and a bonfire. The celebration was a nice opportunity for Carol and me to meet some of Lotte’s friends and neighbors including Andrii, Natalia, Sevastian, Solomia, Anders, Ann-Dorthe, Susan and Morton, Jakop and Nina Buchanan, Trina, and her son Asbjorn. Food included barbequed hamburgers, chicken, squash, and pineapple. Also, a fresh vegetable salad from Lotte’s garden, beer and vino.

After eating, people gathered around a small bonfire and talked. Later, Carol and I went with Marie to watch the neighbor’s humongous bonfire. Lotte told us her neighbor saves up scrap wood over the year and puts it in a pile that he burns on midsummer.

The size of the fire would have caused a few heart attacks in the U.S. However, it looked like precautions had been taken and a ten-foot-tall bonfire in Denmark didn’t appear to be as big of a deal as it would be in the U.S.

The night was beautiful, and it was quite strange to see the sky still light at midnight! A little later, Lotte drove us back to her summer house where we crashed for the night.

Things I Learned On This Day (#TILOTD) –

• Common Cuckoo birds sound like a cuckoo clock
• Tved, Denmark doesn’t have an entry in Wikipedia
• Tved, Denmark is 10.5 degrees north of Vancouver, Washington
• Hej means Hi and Hej Hej means Bye Bye in Danish