Denmark

Farewell to Denmark

One of the many charms of Denmark are the signs found at the entrance and exit of every village and hamlet.  I got such a kick out of them!  Upon entering, one is greeted by a small sign with a silhouette and a name identifying the place.  Upon leaving, often just a few yards down the road, a similar sign is posted with one small difference.  Even after dozens of signs, it still made me smile.

I love so many things about Denmark.  

The people are friendly and helpful.  The countryside is beautiful.  The area holds a special feeling for me that I know is kindled by the love of family and heritage.  

This trip for our family is about more than world history.  It seems so appropriate that any study of history begin close to home.  Denmark is part of our history and that intertwines with the history of the world in a way that imbues it all with a deeper and richer meaning.  

Soon we will travel to Switzerland - where the other half of our family story has origin and where more memories will be made - but for now we say goodbye to our time in beautiful Denmark.

As said Claudius in Hamlet, "heartily farewell".

Open Air Museum - Aarhus

On our way out of Denmark, we stopped in Aarhus.  We heard so much about the Open Air Museum there.  It was fun to see the craftsmanship and design of another era - though we seemed to take all our pictures outside!  The museum also had fascinating indoor displays.  :)

NoFear and The Optimist rock the boat!

There are still many thatched roofs in Denmark.  

We were told the thatching lasts 50 years before it needs to replaced.

Where Seas Collide

There is a remarkable place just beyond Skagen, Denmark.  On the very northern tip of this beautiful country is a long beach called Grenen.  We trekked out for a mile or more along the ocean and were rewarded with an amazing view where two seas collide.

 Can you sea the grey sea out on the horizon?  Just a hint of what was to come....

Here the green-blue waters of the Baltic Sea collide with the grey waters of the North Sea.  Rather than combine peacefully, the two crash into each other and swirl violently.  No swimming allowed in this undecided sea, but carefully wading out and standing with one foot in each....very cool.



Old McDenmark Had a Farm

As we prepared for our trip, a number of people told us to be sure and visit a local dairy
in Denmark so that we could sample some delicious Danish cheese.
We take food suggestions like this seriously so, at the first opportunity, we asked at a tourist info office where we might find a local dairy.  The guide headed to his phone and quickly returned with an address and appointment time for us the following day.

The next morning, we arrived and were surprised to find not a single cow in sight?
Surprise quickly became delight when we realized that this particular "dairy" was the kind that bought milk from other dairies and turned it into cheese, butter and ICE CREAM!  Oh yes - there were samples!!  Blueberry, buttermilk, strawberry, licorice...oh my!

One thing I want to remember from this man?  It was clear this dairy did not give tours and that we were being allowed in places that were usually not open to the public.
When we asked the owner why he agreed to do so he simply said, "So often when I go places I am curious and wish I could see behind the scenes.   Some very kind people have often allowed it.  When I got the call I thought how nice it would feel to be the one who allowed it."
Goodness received with gratitude.  :)

Our day of touring behind the scenes was not yet over.
Remember the farmer that lived near the Horby church that we met the first day?
Well - he was a pig farmer and invited us back for a tour!
His barns hold more than 1000 sows and each has about 16 piglets.  That's a lot of bacon!
Is a clean pig barn an oxymoron?  We even had to do a surgical scrub and suit up!

The Optimist, NoFear, Dr. Voice, MamaG, AuntieL

But there were rewards....  :)

Even a CLEAN pig barn leaves some fragrant reminders.  With 6 of us in the car the Stinky Cheeseman jokes were rampant and appropriate.  Windows down please!!

...and the day wasn't over yet!

Back to our family history quest.
Grandma wanted to find the family farm of her great grandparents.
Thanks to the family history "cousin" found the day before - stay with me friends - we now had this farm circled on a map.  With windows still down, we hit the backroads....and paydirt.

The original house is gone, but the current owner said he used to play in the well where the old house stood.  He walked us out in his field to show us where it was.  There's just something special about walking on the same ground as your ancestors....even when it's in a corn field.

...and guess what?  We were at a DAIRY farm...the kind WITH cows.  

The owners gave us an amazing tour.  We're country folk and we still had never 

seen anything like these robotic self-milkers.

These cows are trained to line themselves up when their udders feel full.  The machine scans their tags, recognizes them and their udders, and then sterilizes them, milks them, cleans them again, gives them a treat and opens the front gate to release them.  If they come for their treat too soon after a recent milking, the computer catches their sly trick and opens the gate without milking them.  

We saw with our own eyes the line-up for the milking robot and the cow next in line nudging Bessie in front of her to keep moving!!  Amazing!  

What is also amazing is that our day, unplanned, still ended at a dairy farm.  

Another wonderful day.  Time for a shower!

The Optimist, "If a guy who rides a horse is called a cowboy, what's a guy that rides a cow called?"

NoFear almost lost his fingers to this hungry calf.  :)

Family History Blessings

The purpose in beginning our trip in Denmark was so that we could spend some time with Grandma learning more of our family history.  

Her grandfather was born in Denmark, so we were all excited to visit the farms and villages of our heritage.  We were so blessed by so many wonderful, helpful people.

On our first day in North Jutland, we went to the Horby church (kirke) where much of our family attended services and where many ancestors were buried.  Grandma wrote out lists

of people whose gravestones we hoped to find and we all jumped out of the car 

like we were on a treasure hunt!

Grandma even gets to play the organ in the Horby kirke!

We were immediately struck by the care given to the cemeteries in Denmark.

They were immaculate and beautiful - unlike anything we have ever seen.  We also discovered that due to a shortage of land, a grave is only held for 25 years.  After that, a lease payment must be made every 5 years by the family or else when space is needed, markers are removed and destroyed and new markers/graves put in their place.  Unfortunately, this is the case with the people we were looking for....

but then we had an idea.....

What if we could find a nearby farm that had been passed down through generations?  

Perhaps they could give us more information on our family?

One line of our family remained in Denmark.  Maybe a neighbor could connect us?  

It was worth a try....so we rang the doorbell of a nearby farmhouse and explained our purpose to the kind, but somewhat reticent, woman who answered the door.  She quickly warmed to Grandma and before long was on the phone trying to find someone to help us with the information we needed.  She had no direct knowledge of our family, but she knew there was someone in the village who did a lot of family history.  She offered to drive there and have us follow her so we could find the man she spoke of.  He turned out to be an absolute treasure trove of information and after about 20 minutes of looking through Grandma's family line declared...

"WE ARE COUSINS!"

It turns out both he and his wife - through different lines - are cousins of ours.  This man has written one book on the families in the area and is working on another on the old farms nearby.  He was able to circle on our map every farm - many now non-existent - that we were looking for.

We drove home that night with grateful hearts, feeling truly blessed in our efforts of the day, and recognizing the Lord's hand in so many ways.  

Hans Christian Andersen

Denmark has a remarkable geography comprising more than 400 islands.  Copenhagen is on the island of Zealand.  Our path to North Jutland, on the Jutland Peninsula, took us across the Great Belt Bridge (one of the longest suspension bridges in the world) to the island of Funen.  

It was a stormy day that sent huge gusts of wind and ocean water spraying across our car as we drove.  Thanks to AuntieL's double fisted vice-grip on the wheel, we arrived safely at our next stop.

Someone very famous was born in Odense, Funen, Denmark...

Hans Christian Andersen.

The people of Odense celebrate their most famous citizen with an annual festival and we arrived in time to join in some of the fun.

Remember some of these great stories?

The Little Mermaid

The Princess and The Pea

The Emperor's New Clothes

The Ugly Duckling

H. C. Andersen - the most translated author in the world.

Rain delays interrupted the schedule a bit, but couldn't ruin the charm of this week-long festival.

Denmark Copenhagen Temple

As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 

temples are a very important part of our worship.  

We have 143 throughout the world with some 30 more under construction or announced.  

As often as we are able during our travels, we hope to visit and give service in these special places.

We had the wonderful opportunity to attend the temple on Saturday in Copenhagen and then church meetings in the chapel just behind it on Sunday.

When we arrived on Sunday, all of the electronic translators were in use so we prepared ourselves to simply sit and enjoy the service in Danish.  Just as the meeting started, however, some Danish members of the congregation quietly rearranged themselves and volunteered to sit behind us, softly translating the entire meeting for us into English.  We were so grateful for their kindness and enjoyed the meeting even more because of their sweet service.

Copenhagen

Copenhagen is a beautiful city!  Our apartment was right in the center of town so we were able to walk to every site we wanted to see...unless, of course we were in a boat.  On our way to the famous canal, we passed the "Happy Wall".  What a great idea!

  The Optimist could not pass up writing a note.

I wonder what he wrote?

We reached the area of Nyhavn.  The homes along this colorful side date back to the 17th century.

The boys couldn't resist the enormous Memorial Anchor.  This genuine anchor from a frigate navy ship commemorates the Danish men who gave their lives in WWII.  

Our turn to ride on this famous canal.  

The boys stretched high for every bridge we passed under to see if they could touch.  

One of the places we were most excited to visit was the Church of Our Lady.

This famous church houses the original sculpture that has become so familiar to those of our faith.

At Temple Square in SLC and in numerous temples and other buildings throughout the world, 

the "Christus" stands as a remembrance of our Savior and His sacrifice for each of us.

The sculptor, Thorvaldsen, has a museum dedicated in his honor in Copenhagen, but the original of the statue is not in the museum, it is housed in the church is was commissioned for in 1838.

Along with our visit, we read a wonderful talk by Elder Boyd K. Packer.  The last few paragraphs recount a visit he made to the church with President Spencer W. Kimball.

See the full talk here.

• www.lds.org/general-conference/2008/04/the-twelve?lang=eng

An excerpt

In 1976 an area general conference was held in Copenhagen, Denmark. Following the closing session, President Spencer W. Kimball desired to visit the Vor Frue Church, where the Thorvaldsen statues of the Christus and of the Twelve Apostles stand. He had visited there some years earlier and wanted all of us to see it, to go there.
To the front of the church, behind the altar, stands the familiar statue of the Christus with His arms turned forward and somewhat outstretched, the hands showing the imprint of the nails, and the wound in His side very clearly visible. Along each side stand the statues of the Apostles, Peter at the front to the right and the other Apostles in order.
Most of our group was near the rear of the chapel with the custodian. I stood up front with President Kimball before the statue of Peter with Elder Rex D. Pinegar and Johan Helge Benthin, president of the Copenhagen stake.
In Peter’s hand, depicted in marble, is a set of heavy keys. President Kimball pointed to those keys and explained what they symbolized. Then, in an act I shall never forget, he turned to President Benthin and with unaccustomed firmness pointed his finger at him and said, “I want you to tell everyone in Denmark that I hold the keys! We hold the real keys, and we use them every day.”
I will never forget that declaration, that testimony from the prophet. The influence was spiritually powerful; the impression was physical in its impact.
We walked to the back of the chapel where the rest of the group was standing. Pointing to the statues, President Kimball said to the kind custodian, “These are the dead Apostles.” Pointing to me, he said, “Here we have the living Apostles. Elder Packer is an Apostle. Elder Thomas S. Monson and Elder L. Tom Perry are Apostles, and I am an Apostle. We are the living Apostles.
“You read about the Seventies in the New Testament, and here are two of the living Seventies, Elder Rex D. Pinegar and Elder Robert D. Hales.”
The custodian, who up to that time had shown no emotion, suddenly was in tears.
I felt I had had an experience of a lifetime.

Good People and Friends In Copenhagen

Last summer a Danish family happened to come to Canada for their summer holidays.

They happened to hear of the local celebrations in my mom's small town.

They happened to decide to run the little 5k race in said small town.

My amazing mother happened to notice the unfamiliar faces in town.

She went to introduce herself and welcome them.

She happened to invite them to our family BBQ that day.

They happened to love my family!

Today - we landed in Copenhagen
 and were greeted at the airport by these wonderful Danish friends.

They drove us to our hotel, invited us to their home for dinner,
and helped us in all our planning.

We happened to have had an amazing time thanks to really good people.

I happen to be so thankful.