Denmark Trip - Summary

Summary of  Some Things I Learned in Denmark -

• Denmark has the oldest flag in the world
• Denmark is one of the happiest countries on earth
• People in Denmark are a lot happier than people in the U.S.
• Denmark is among the least corrupt countries in the world
• Danes don’t own big pickup trucks and instead use small utility trailers 
• Denmark has awesome and affordable Healthcare System
• Danes are very trusting
• Most Danes speak English as well as Danish and other languages
• Wind energy supplies 41% of Denmark’s energy
• Bicycles are very popular in Denmark
• The highest point in Denmark is 561 feet (171 meters) above sea level
• Denmark was the first nation to allow same-sex partnerships
• Fiske – Mols Rogeri fish store has great fiskefrikadeller (Danish Fishcakes) 
• Remoulade is a condiment Danes like to put on food 
• Not all Danish cheese is stinky
• Tved, Denmark is 10.5 degrees north of Vancouver, Washington
• Hej means Hi and Hej Hej means Bye Bye in Danish
• Danes like to eat French hotdogs
• The Kingdom of Denmark has six National Parks, five in Denmark proper and one in Greenland
• King Carrot is someone who thinks they’re bigger than everyone else
• Danish graveyards re-use gravesites every 20 years for caskets or every 10 years for urns unless the family reserves for longer
• Thatched roofs are climate friendly
• Guf is a gooey marshmallow fluff that Danes like to put on ice cream 
• Gas costs about twice as much in Denmark compared to the U.S.
• Fregatten Jylland was both a screw-propelled steam frigate and sailship
• A queen-size IKEA bed frame fits in a compact Peugeot car
• Ben Chiller is pretty chill for a troll
• Hospital of the Holy Ghost is one of Denmark’s best preserved medieval establishments
• Danes prefer to air dry their laundry rather than using clothes dryers.
• Tractor-trailer rides can be very entertaining
• J.R. Tolkien got some inspiration for LOTR from areas in Denmark near where Lotte lives
• The computer term, Bluetooth comes from Viking King Harald “Bluetooth” Gormsson who had a dead tooth that was dark blue/grey and earned him the nickname Bluetooth
• King Harald “Bluetooth” Gormsson united Denmark and Norway in 958 and was the son of Gorm the Old
• Danglish is an entertaining mix of Danish and English
• Loppemarked is Danish for Garage Sale or Flea Market
• A causeway is a raised road across low or wet ground
• Never try to pay for coffee in Germany using Danish Kroner.
• There is a custom in Denmark of placing a "gate of honour" around the door to the bride's home on her wedding day.
• The Bottle-Peter Museum has the oldest bottle ship and ship model collection in the world.
• Walnut beer and Danish Tarteletter are delicious
• Danish commonly use comforters with a duvet cover
• Denmark has huge snails
• Common Cuckoo birds sound like a cuckoo clock
• European hare are the size of Jackrabbits
• New birds: Common Cuckoo, Common Linnet, Common Wood Pidgeon, Eurasian Blackbird, Eurasian Blackcap, European Goldfinch, European Green Finch, European Skylark, Greater Whitethroat and Yellowhammer
• New plants: Lady’s Bedstraw, Bloody Crane’s Bill and Sea Buckthorn
• The northern tip of Denmark, Grenen is the best place to observe birds and sea mammals in Denmark
• According to Wikipedia, there are no native hedgehogs in the Americas or Australia
• My favorite dessert is Danish Strawberry Cake
• Danes usually wait for the green light when crossing streets

Denmark Trip - Day 23 - Tved, DK to Vancouver, WA

Summer House, Tved – Woke at 1 AM, finished cleaning up the summer house, packed the car, and left to pick up Lotte for the drive to Billund airport. Lotte graciously agreed to drive us to the airport and was waiting for us at her house with coffee. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 6 AM which meant we needed to arrive at the airport by 4 AM.

When we arrived at the airport, we found out our flight had been canceled. I checked my email to see if there were any messages and sure enough, they sent a message around 2 AM saying our flight was canceled. Thankfully, they also sent another message saying they rebooked us on the 10:15 AM flight which would hopefully get us to the Amsterdam airport on time for our next flight to Portland, Oregon. We checked in and checked two bags. To console us for canceling our flight, KLM Airline gave us two vouchers for 150 DKK each that we could use for purchases in the airport.

So, I splurged, and bought rolls, cheese, and coffee for everyone. We hung out in the downstairs lounge talking about the wonderful time we had and not wanting to say goodbye. But unfortunately, the time came, and we had to say goodbye to Lotte 😞. Carol and I went through security and went upstairs where there were a bunch of duty-free stores.

Carol bought some more LEGO gifts, and I tried to spend the rest of our voucher on soft drinks and candy. We waited at the boarding gate and, surprise! They announced the plane would be ½ hour late. We finally boarded the plane and were detoured to a different door where we had to walk down a flight of stairs, across the runway and up a flight of stairs to the back entrance of the plane.

Having to carry our luggage up and down stairs was a bummer. But, when I discovered our seats were at the very back of the plane, I was glad because we didn’t have to crab walk down a narrow aisle to get to our seats. As I was putting our luggage in the overhead compartment, someone started yelling at me.

I couldn’t figure out what he was upset about until I realized my backpack was hitting him in the head. I apologized profusely but, the look on his face was not one of forgiveness 😡. The flight to Amsterdam was short but the walk to our next boarding gate was long.

We arrived at the gate after boarding had begun and thankfully, were able to board without problems. The plane left Amsterdam around 3 PM and took 10 hours 22 minutes to fly 5,100 miles to Portland, Oregon. The first meal was a choice of Tortellini or Chicken Curry (I got the chicken and Carol got the Tortellini).

Later during the flight, they served a breakfast sandwich, beverage, and pudding. The sandwich was terrible, but the pudding was surprisingly good. We arrived at PDX around 2:40 PM Pacific Time and went through passport check and customs. 

• Click to watch > 
• Video of flight path home 
• Denmark Trip Slide Show

Apparently international flights unload further away from the main terminal. We had no idea where we were in the airport and just followed the crowd to an exit where the sign said we needed to take a shuttle bus to baggage claim. There was a long line waiting for the shuttle bus and when we finally got on, we had to stand crammed together like sardines. We made it to baggage claim and I was quite happy to see our two checked bags sitting there waiting for us. We walked outside to where the Lyft and Uber drivers pick up people. Carol used the Lyft app to request a Lyft ride. The Lyft driver took around ½ hour to show up and apologized saying the traffic was terrible. The driver was from Ethiopia and very talkative. She said she came to the U.S. with her husband who came for work. We finally got home around 5 PM and were happy to see Petrina and Larry had left some Bleu Door bakery items for us. We later found out that Petrina and Larry both got COVID-19 while we were gone. Petrina was better but Larry was still testing positive. So, we decided to wait until Larry was better before talking with them in person. We texted them to let them know we got home and thanked them profusely for taking care of our house and plants while we were gone.

Things I Learned On This Day (#TILOTD) –

• Billund, Denmark is the birthplace of LEGO
• LEGOLAND is an amusement park in Billund, Denmark
• Billund Airport has a huge green COVID-19 made out of LEGOs hanging in the main lobby

Denmark Trip - Day 22 - Tved, DK

Summer House, Tved – Woke at 7 AM and finished cleaning up the summer house and packing stuff for our return trip home. Lotte arrived around 7:30 AM and we all had bread, cheese, and coffee. Lotte knew we were out of milk for coffee and brought some oatmeal milk that was a perfect substitute.

Lotte and I put the IKEA bed frame together in the spare room. We didn’t have any instructions but thankfully it was straight forward. A little later, the Internet guy arrived and was finally able to fix Lotte’s Internet by replacing the modem/router. We all drove to the Ole Carlsen’s store and Carol bought some local Danish honey to give as gifts.

The shop owner, Ole, suggested Lotte take us out towards the bay where his mom has property. So, we drove down the road to a gravel road where we turned and drove towards the bay through some beautiful pastures and marsh land.

Lotte told a funny story about how her mom could see when people visited Ole’s mom and how she would tell Lotte and her siblings how Ole’s mom gets more visitors than she does. Carol and I left to go to Bill and Bente’s house around 1 PM. We stopped for gas in Ronde (548 DKK = $74.27, 32.6 L = 8.61 Gal, $8.82/Gal) and arrived at Bill and Bente’s around 2 PM. It was nice seeing Bill and Bente again. We chatted on their patio and enjoyed some Danish Strawberry Cake and coffee. Bente said she had family coming to visit and left to pick them up at the train station around 4:30 PM. Carol and I stayed and chatted with Bill a little longer and left around 5 PM. We got back to Lotte’s house around 6 PM and Lotte treated us to a delicious veggie omelet.

Things I Learned On This Day (#TILOTD) –

• My favorite dessert is Danish Strawberry Cake

Denmark Trip - Day 21 - Tved, DK

Summer House, Tved – Woke around 6:30 AM, showered. Lotte came by the summer house around 7:30 AM and we all had bread, cheese, and coffee for breakfast.

Lotte took us to see the standing stone barrow near the house where she and Bill used to live. According to Wikipedia, the Poskaer Stenhus, as it’s called in Danish, is the largest round barrow in Denmark and dates back to 3,300 B.C.

Carol and I originally saw the stones when we visited Lotte and Bill 30 years ago. I was in awe then and I think even more so this time.

The central burial chamber has a granite capstone weighing 12 metric tons. The bottom of the capstone is flat and thought to be half of another stone weighing 21 tons 1.2 miles away.

The center ring was originally surrounded by a circle of 24 standing stones but in 1859, the landowner, Ole Hansen started to dynamite slabs off the stones and destroyed one before he was stopped. As a result, the area was given official protection in 1859. Since then, the area was given additional protection in 1994 and in 2009, became part of the Mols Bjerge National Park.

After visiting Poskaer Stenhus, Lotte took us on a scenic drive where we saw other stones that marked burial mounds.

Lotte then surprised us by taking us to a little ice cream / bike rental shop (Is Pa Toppen) where we all got ice cream and sat outside on a patio overlooking a lake surrounded by beautiful rolling hills.

It was hard to imagine how things could have been more idyllic. On our next to last day in Denmark, Lotte invited family, friends and neighbors (Marie, Andres, Ann-Doerthe, Noah, Andrii, Natalia, Sevastian, Andrii’s sister and her boyfriend) over for an old-fashioned American style dinner.

In the spirit of cultural exchange, Carol and I made one of our favorite meals, chili con carne and quesadillas using ingredients we brought from the U.S. I used an old family recipe (McCormicks Chili Seasoning) to make a big pot of chili con carne and Carol used her secret family recipe to make quesadillas. Lotte also provided a salad using fresh vegetables from her garden. To cap things off, beer was provided from our road trip to the Ærø Brewery on Ærø Island. As far as I could tell, people enjoyed the chili and quesadillas. Hopefully, there were no problems the next day 🙄 Today was the last day we would see Marie and Gismo so before Marie left, I felt a little obligated to take a few photos 😎

At around 10 PM, Carol and I returned to the summer house and were surprised by a hedgehog scampering across Lotte’s driveway. We walked down to where we saw it run into the field and were surprised to see it was still there and let me take a quick photo. The walk back to the summer house was beautiful with the moon rising over golden wheat and barley fields. A perfect end to a wonderful day.

Things I Learned On This Day (#TILOTD) –

• According to Wikipedia, there are no native hedgehogs in the Americas or Australia

Denmark Trip - Day 20 - Svendborg, DK to Tved, DK

Lise’s Bread and Breakfast, Svendborg, Denmark – Weather: Partly cloudy, 50-68 deg F. Woke at 6:30 AM, showered and started to get ready to leave.

At around 8:30 AM, Lise prepared breakfast for Lotte, Carol, and me outside in her front garden. It was a beautiful day and perfect for eating outside. Breakfast was like the previous day (sausage, cheese, bread, crepes, spinach omelet, orange juice, and coffee).

However, today Lise surprised us with cake tapas. I had heard of tapas before but didn’t really know what cake tapas were. Lise explained tapas are a variety of small appetizers or samples. While many tapas are savory, cake tapas are sweet. Two other guests arrived for breakfast (Alex and his wife). Alex said he works for a company that designs radar installations for airports and wind farms, etc. His wife teaches Danish at a university. At around 10:15 AM, Lotte took Lise shopping for supplies for her B&B. 

Around 11:15 AM, Lotte, Carol and I left to drive back to Lotte’s house. On the way, we took a small detour to check out Ene Ojesten, who is another of Thomas Dambo’s wooden trolls. After taking photos and a few group selfies, we continued our road trip.

Lotte said there was a building named Fjordenhus we should see that was along the way.

Fjordenhus is a building in Vejle that was commissioned by the LEGO family. Lotte said the artist who designed it, Olafur Eliasson, is a world-famous Danish-Icelandic artist and was given full control of the project with an unlimited budget. 

Lotte originally made reservations for us to take a tour but, unfortunately the tour was only in Danish and only covered a portion of the building. So, we decided to skip the tour. However, the main floor was open to the public and we spent some time there. We also walked out on a pier that ran from the building parallel to the waterfront. The pier was designed to be an optical illusion and, when standing at the beginning, looked like it was the same width all the way to the end. However, as we walked towards the end, the pier became narrower to the point where it was only a few feet across at the end.

We then walked around the Vejle waterfront and found a swanky restaurant (Remouladen) where we got coffee and talked while watching some people try to dock their huge yacht in the marina. We left Vejle and stopped at our favorite fish store (Fiske – Mols Rogeri) and got some smoked salmon and smoked herring. We made it back to Lotte’s house, unpacked the car, took a few deep breaths, and treated ourselves to some smoked salmon, smoked herring, cheese, bread, and beverage (beer for me). Carol texted Bill earlier and asked if it would be OK if we visit him again before we leave. Bill texted back and said Tuesday afternoon would be best for him and Bente.Carol and I returned to the summer house and cleaned-up.

Lotte’s neighbors, Andres and Ann-Dorthe invited us over to their place later in the day for a bonfire and get together. So, around 8 PM, Carol and I arrived at their house. Andres, Ann-Dorthe, Noah, Andrii, Sevastian, Andrii’s sister, and her boyfriend were there. Ann-Dorthe offered us drinks and showed us how to make hot dogs Danish style. The process was fairly simple. First, you make the bun by rolling fresh dough into a long snake and then wrap it around the end of a pointy stick. Next, hold it over a hot fire until cooked (hopefully without burning). Finally, slide the cooked bun off the stick, squirt ketchup into the hole left by the stick and insert a cooked hotdog into the hole. Later, I did a Google search and learned they're called French hotdogs, but they're mostly eaten in Denmark. After eating our hotdogs, Ann-Dorthe gave us a tour of her house and showed us her amazing 100-year-old coffee grinder. The grinder actually ran on electricity which seemed surprising considering how old it was.

Carol also had fun introducing everyone to the game called "Taco, Cat, Goat, Cheese, Pizza" which was a huge hit. 

Finally, I had the pleasure of introducing everyone to 3D photography using a Fujifilm FinePix Real 3D camera. People who know me, know I love taking pictures. But, not everyone knows how much I enjoy taking pictures of people in 3D. It's amazing how people respond to getting their picture in 3D! There are several ways to view 3D photos.A popular way to view 3D photos on a computer or phone is the "Wiggle 3D" photo like the following.

Click >> Compilation of Wiggle3D photos 

Another way to view 3D photos is by viewing a stereo photo pair using your phone with a 3D viewer such as the OWL Stereoscopic Viewer (available at London Stereoscopic Co. or My Science Shop) Check out Brian May's short tutorial on how to take Stereo Photos with a Smartphone. 

For more tips on how to make or view 3D photos, check out the following video >> 3D Stereoscopic Photography

It was a wonderful evening with perfect weather although I still wasn’t used to seeing the sky so bright at 11 PM.

Things I Learned On This Day (#TILOTD) –

• French hotdogs are mostly eaten in Denmark
• Danish Bread & Breakfasts 
• Use square pillows 
• Don’t use a top sheet on their beds 
• Use comforters with a duvet cover that can be easily removed for washing

Denmark Trip - Day 19 - Svendborg, DK to Aero Island, DK

Lise’s Bread and Breakfast, Svendborg, Denmark – 

Weather: Partly cloudy, 53—65 deg. F. Lise prepared an amazing breakfast of chicken sausage, spinach omelet, crepes, bread, cheese, fruit (cherries, watermelon, grapefruit), orange juice and coffee. One of Lise’s other guests was at breakfast and talked about the Bridge Festival she was attending. She said she was playing bridge on a team but didn’t really say how they were doing.

Lise’s house was full of art, and she talked about some of her favorite pieces including the dog painting in the room we were staying in. She also had several nicely painted rocks

with inspirational messages she said were done by a young girl down the street who paints and sells rocks for money. Today’s plan was to take the ferry to the Ærø Island at 10 AM. Lise walked with us to the ferry which left right on time.

We boarded the ferry and found some nice seats upstairs in the cafeteria. Carol was feeling a little queasy, so I only bought coffee for Lotte and me (25 DKK each). We arrived Ærø Island around 11:30 AM and walked around the town of Aeroskobing. 

The town was very quaint with classic old Danish houses and cobblestone streets. I enjoy quirky things and when we saw a museum of ships-in-bottles, I couldn’t resist.

The Bottle-Peter Museum (Flaske-Peters Samling) has the oldest collection of bottled ships in the world. The museum houses over 700 model ships in bottles built by Peter Jacobson, AKA Flaske-Peter, or Bottle-Peter.

Bottle-Peter built his first bottled ship at the age of 16 and managed to build more than 1700 in his lifetime (1873-1960).

We continued walking around Aeroskobing and stopped at a gift shop (with a beer garden in back) where Carol bought some handmade soap for folks back home.

The beer garden looked inviting, but I decided it was a bit early in the day, LOL. We continued walking through town and I bought some painted rocks for Lise, Lotte, and Carol.

Something that continued to surprise me was how people in Denmark would put things for sale in front of their house with a cash box where people would pay for whatever they take on the honor system. For example, the rocks I bought were just sitting on someone’s front steps with a jar where you would put money. Needless to say, this system would never work in the U.S., 😂 Lotte mentioned there was a brewery on the island (Ærø Brewery) that might be fun to visit but we’d have to take a bus to get there.

The bus route covered most of the island and appeared to have a stop near the brewery. So, we walked to the bus stop and waited for the next bus which didn’t take long. The bus was crowded but we were able to find seats.

Thankfully, Lotte seemed to know where to get off the bus because it wasn’t obvious. Once we got off the bus, we found a small sign that pointed to the brewery 400 meters away.

The brewery was located on an old farm where they converted buildings into a brewery, restaurant, and outdoor garden. We sat out in the garden, and I had a “flight sampler” of three beers (Walnut, IPA, and Pilsner).

Carol and Lotte had the Walnut beer. We all agreed, the Walnut beer was the best. So, I bought several bottles of Walnut and several bottles of the IPA to share when we got back to Lotte’s house.

We then decided we also needed to sample their ice cream. So, we ordered ice cream and sat outside until it was time to catch the next bus back to town. 

The bus was packed to the point where I wasn’t sure we could get on. Luckily, a few people got off and there was barely enough room to get on. I ended up standing on the bottom step by the back door and almost had my legs crushed by the bar that pulled the door closed. I admit I was curious about how good the Danish health care system is but not that curious, 😂  We got back to town and waited for about 40 minutes for the next ferry back to Svendborg.

Lise met us at the dock and said she made reservations for dinner at the Hotel Aero restaurant. Lotte and Lise recommended we try the Tarteletter (Danish Chicken Asparagus Tartlets). So, Carol and shared an order of Tarteletter and each had a Caesar salad. The Tarteletter was delicious and if you’re ever in Denmark, I highly recommend it. The Caesar salad was also delicious and would have been plenty just by itself. 

After dinner, Lise took us on the scenic route back to her house. We walked under the Svendborgsund Bridge that connects Funen to the island of Tasinge and past where Lise swims in the bay every morning.

We climbed a hill to a nice vista point where we took some group selfies and continued on past the Sorup Church where Lise showed us graves where members of the Maersk family are buried.

Things I Learned On This Day (#TILOTD) –

• The Bottle-Peter Museum has the oldest bottle ship and ship model collection in the world.
• Ærø Brewery Walnut beer and Tarteletter are delicious