Announcement
We will be off line until further notice. You will not see any further posts until we have our internet service set up in Norwich. The blog will still be here, of course, but as far as new posts are concerned, there will be "radio silence".
We are driving out of Brussels today and taking a 4pm ferry from the Hook of Holland. The ferry goes to Harwich, UK. From there, we will drive the rest of the way to Norwich (2-3 hours drive time). Unfortunately, it will be too late in the day to meet our new landlord, so we will have to stay in a hotel tonight. Then we will meet him tomorrow morning to accept the keys to our new apartment. After that, we'll spend a lot of time getting situated, but establishing internet service is a top priority.
Additional note: At some point, all of the photo links will expire. This depends on when Belgacom purges our web-space. Our service with them is good through the 31st, so it will be sometime after then. However, not to worry, we will upload the photos to our new ISP and fix the links when we have time.
Sunday, August 29
Friday, August 27
Belgium, We're Gonna Miss You!
Well, we'll have been here for almost exactly a year since we arrived on September 5th, 2003. It's been a great year and a great expatriation experience, despite the red tape involved. We learned that anything is possible when you set your mind to it. Moving to a foreign non-English-speaking country was a scary thing to do, but we did it and it worked out swimmingly. I did not get a job in a brewery as I had intended to do and Kristen withdrew from the International Relations program. Thusly, vaporizing the reasons why we moved here (or at least the excuses for doing so), but ended up finding another job and Kristen had lots of things to keep her busy, not least of which was the housewifery. And by doing so, we were able to stay in Belgium. Then some other ideas popped in our heads which lead to this next step: me getting accepted to a school in the UK and us deciding to move over there. My, how the tables have turned! Now, Kristen will be supporting me through school instead!
Sadly, though, what comes with that is the reality that we have to leave Belgium. A country that we have come to love, despite all of its idiosyncracies. A place we have come to regard as our home. We have questioned ourselves many times, asking "Why is it we're leaving again?" But the answer has always been one of stark reality, we don't have any prospects for making a living, doing something we love here. Continuing for years at a call-center is NOT an option. Where would that lead? I can't see myself in an office for the rest of my life. The bottom line is that we need to think of the future. That's why I'm heading back to school to get a Masters and a PhD. So that I can be qualified for something! And who knows, maybe with a doctorate degree, we can move back here. We have no inkling of what the future will look like in four years, so we're going to take it in stride.
But we're still going to miss this place a whole hell of a lot. Especially the following things:
-The real Belgian Waffles... We've described them before, but no description does them justice. Only the people who have tried them can possibly know what we're talking about. They're just heaven between two pieces of wax paper!
-Our Neighborhood... This really struck us last week, when we rolled at 11:00 at night from our long return trip from Denmark. There we were in our quiet little section of Brussels with the hodge-podge melange of building styles and the intersecting curvey streets. It really felt like home!
-Parc Cinquantenaire...Full of towering chestnut trees, assorted oaks and tons of flowering shrubs, it is a green oasis in the middle of our bustling city. Our neighborhood smells fresh and clean because of it. The Parc has been my favorite place to be almost every day, either walking, running or sitting on a bench and people-watching. The top of the monumental arches is where Rich proposed, so it has become even more special. It has been a treat to spend an entire year watching the seasons change.
-Brussels Architecture... This city is so overlooked in the world tourism circuit. No one really seems to know what this city is about. There aren't really any "world famous" monuments aside from the Grand Place and Mannekin Pis. Some even refer to it as a "Euro-ghetto," but this couldn't be further from the truth. As a whole, the architecture is an eclectic mix of old french, seventies brick and modern glass-fronted buildings. Like Paris on a smaller, friendlier and cleaner scale.
-Belgian Beer... Anyone who knows me isn't surprised that this is something that I'll miss. Sure, you can get Belgian beer in other countries, but what I'm going to miss is walking into a supermarket and having a enviable amount of world-class beers to choose from at bargain-basement prices. Plus, the fact that Belgium is the only place where you can get ALL of the beers brewed in Belgium. In other countries, you are stuck with what the importers have deemed sellable. This cuts out an extraordinary amount of great beers. Then there's the Belgian beer "scene": countless quaint cafes and bars serving these luscious brews, an unending stream of beer festivals and open-brewery days, easy access to lambic and geuze, and that feeling that you are so privileged to be on the inside of this scene (at the envy of all beer-tourists passing through for only a couple of days).
-Our Apartment... It's a cozy little pad, though with the high ceilings, it doesn't feel small. The wood floors give off a warm glow and they creak a bit when you walk on them. We have a total of five radiators in the place and they provided instantaneous heat in the winter, making it a toasty little nest to come home to. Then we have our little sealed off courtyard in the back, which we didn't spend much time in, but it was nice to have a little outdoor space to get a feeling for the seasons. I always enjoyed going out there on a late afternoon to listen to the sounds of our neighborhood: some cars passing in the distance, somebody's TV on somewhere, someone practing the flute, birds chirping, noises from some event in the park, different languages drifting down in muted fragments.
-Multi-culturalism ("speaking" French/Dutch)... Even though we have had a lot of trouble with the fact that we aren't fluent in French and Dutch, when it comes down to it, we really enjoy being immersed in this environment. Just hearing other languages spoken all around you is a wonderful thing in the end.
-Our bakery & the Sunday Ritual. My favorite time of the week. After my Sunday morning run in the Parc, Rich and I go to the bakery down the street for an assortment of pastries and then to the newsstand for the Sunday London Times. Back home we assemble breakfast on the coffee table and spend hours reading the paper, discussing the news and listening to music.
-Being in Belgium (the feeling... our home)... Not many people just get up one day and move to Belgium. The major influx of people really comes from the EU parliament. And not many people know much about Belgium or would even think of putting it on a dream-list of places to move to. So there is some amount of cache in saying, "We live in Brussels". But apart from that, as mentioned earlier, it has come to feel like our home and half of both of us really feels a yearning to settle down here somehow.
-Beersel & Drie Fonteinen... This has become one of our favorite day-trips. Taking a drive into Payottenland and ascending the hill that Beersel is perched upon. Beersel is a tiny Flemmish town that is the home of a medieval castle and one of the better lambic breweries in the country, Drie Fonteinen. They also run a cozy restaurant that specializes in many regional dishes and all of the standard Belgian fare. Of particular note is the potte kaas, the vlaamse carbonnade and the draft lambics.
-Brussels Int'l Fantasty Film Festival... Though Kristen was very tired after working there, the amount of great films that we were able to see made it all worthwhile. Plus, the festival is one of the more interesting ones around what with all the surrounding antics that occur before and after the films.
-Quality of the food... We really got the sense that everything was of really high quality, particularly the meat and dairy products. The cheese here is perfection and much more flavorful than what you normally get in the US because they don't pasteurize all of the taste out of the products here (this is generally the case in all of Europe). The meat is also of great quality. I don't think I would eat "filet americain" (raw meat) anywhere else in the world because I don't trust the meat anywhere else. Then there's the food in restaurants. It is much easier to find high quality, super-delicious food in the restaurants. And the prices are reasonable at the same time.
-Friends... We made a few friends while living here, some from my job and some from other "sources". It's always hard to leave people behind, especially ones that you get along with and like to be around. Our hope is that they will all come visit us and that we can visit them too!
-Grande Place and the other touristy spots (like rue de Bouchers)... Though you get caught in a throng of tourists during the peak season, it's still fun to just amble around the narrow, curvy streets, tripping over the cobblestones, etc. Great people-watching opportunities abound. You sort of think to yourself, "Hah! We live here and you guys are just visiting! Now who's the cool guy?"
-Mornings... After Rich left for work each day I would get up and decide what sort of workout I wanted to do - running, walking or yoga. Then it was a shower and sitting down in front of the computer for a leisurely iced coffee and yogurt. I looked forward to these mornings for their simplicity and the pure luxuriousness of doing exactly what I wanted to, without feeling I had other stuff I should be doing. Although by late afternoon I was always ready for Rich to come home!
-Snack Friterie Merode... A "pita place" that was recommended to us by a friend. Quickly became one of our favorite places to go for a quick bite to eat. Their pitas and durums have fries inside them instead of on the side! This, I'm told, is not exclusive to this place however. The best sauce to get is Samourai & Tartar. Yum! We will go there tomorrow for our last dinner in Brussels.
-RP- & ~K
Well, we'll have been here for almost exactly a year since we arrived on September 5th, 2003. It's been a great year and a great expatriation experience, despite the red tape involved. We learned that anything is possible when you set your mind to it. Moving to a foreign non-English-speaking country was a scary thing to do, but we did it and it worked out swimmingly. I did not get a job in a brewery as I had intended to do and Kristen withdrew from the International Relations program. Thusly, vaporizing the reasons why we moved here (or at least the excuses for doing so), but ended up finding another job and Kristen had lots of things to keep her busy, not least of which was the housewifery. And by doing so, we were able to stay in Belgium. Then some other ideas popped in our heads which lead to this next step: me getting accepted to a school in the UK and us deciding to move over there. My, how the tables have turned! Now, Kristen will be supporting me through school instead!
Sadly, though, what comes with that is the reality that we have to leave Belgium. A country that we have come to love, despite all of its idiosyncracies. A place we have come to regard as our home. We have questioned ourselves many times, asking "Why is it we're leaving again?" But the answer has always been one of stark reality, we don't have any prospects for making a living, doing something we love here. Continuing for years at a call-center is NOT an option. Where would that lead? I can't see myself in an office for the rest of my life. The bottom line is that we need to think of the future. That's why I'm heading back to school to get a Masters and a PhD. So that I can be qualified for something! And who knows, maybe with a doctorate degree, we can move back here. We have no inkling of what the future will look like in four years, so we're going to take it in stride.
But we're still going to miss this place a whole hell of a lot. Especially the following things:
-The real Belgian Waffles... We've described them before, but no description does them justice. Only the people who have tried them can possibly know what we're talking about. They're just heaven between two pieces of wax paper!
-Our Neighborhood... This really struck us last week, when we rolled at 11:00 at night from our long return trip from Denmark. There we were in our quiet little section of Brussels with the hodge-podge melange of building styles and the intersecting curvey streets. It really felt like home!
-Parc Cinquantenaire...Full of towering chestnut trees, assorted oaks and tons of flowering shrubs, it is a green oasis in the middle of our bustling city. Our neighborhood smells fresh and clean because of it. The Parc has been my favorite place to be almost every day, either walking, running or sitting on a bench and people-watching. The top of the monumental arches is where Rich proposed, so it has become even more special. It has been a treat to spend an entire year watching the seasons change.
-Brussels Architecture... This city is so overlooked in the world tourism circuit. No one really seems to know what this city is about. There aren't really any "world famous" monuments aside from the Grand Place and Mannekin Pis. Some even refer to it as a "Euro-ghetto," but this couldn't be further from the truth. As a whole, the architecture is an eclectic mix of old french, seventies brick and modern glass-fronted buildings. Like Paris on a smaller, friendlier and cleaner scale.
-Belgian Beer... Anyone who knows me isn't surprised that this is something that I'll miss. Sure, you can get Belgian beer in other countries, but what I'm going to miss is walking into a supermarket and having a enviable amount of world-class beers to choose from at bargain-basement prices. Plus, the fact that Belgium is the only place where you can get ALL of the beers brewed in Belgium. In other countries, you are stuck with what the importers have deemed sellable. This cuts out an extraordinary amount of great beers. Then there's the Belgian beer "scene": countless quaint cafes and bars serving these luscious brews, an unending stream of beer festivals and open-brewery days, easy access to lambic and geuze, and that feeling that you are so privileged to be on the inside of this scene (at the envy of all beer-tourists passing through for only a couple of days).
-Our Apartment... It's a cozy little pad, though with the high ceilings, it doesn't feel small. The wood floors give off a warm glow and they creak a bit when you walk on them. We have a total of five radiators in the place and they provided instantaneous heat in the winter, making it a toasty little nest to come home to. Then we have our little sealed off courtyard in the back, which we didn't spend much time in, but it was nice to have a little outdoor space to get a feeling for the seasons. I always enjoyed going out there on a late afternoon to listen to the sounds of our neighborhood: some cars passing in the distance, somebody's TV on somewhere, someone practing the flute, birds chirping, noises from some event in the park, different languages drifting down in muted fragments.
-Multi-culturalism ("speaking" French/Dutch)... Even though we have had a lot of trouble with the fact that we aren't fluent in French and Dutch, when it comes down to it, we really enjoy being immersed in this environment. Just hearing other languages spoken all around you is a wonderful thing in the end.
-Our bakery & the Sunday Ritual. My favorite time of the week. After my Sunday morning run in the Parc, Rich and I go to the bakery down the street for an assortment of pastries and then to the newsstand for the Sunday London Times. Back home we assemble breakfast on the coffee table and spend hours reading the paper, discussing the news and listening to music.
-Being in Belgium (the feeling... our home)... Not many people just get up one day and move to Belgium. The major influx of people really comes from the EU parliament. And not many people know much about Belgium or would even think of putting it on a dream-list of places to move to. So there is some amount of cache in saying, "We live in Brussels". But apart from that, as mentioned earlier, it has come to feel like our home and half of both of us really feels a yearning to settle down here somehow.
-Beersel & Drie Fonteinen... This has become one of our favorite day-trips. Taking a drive into Payottenland and ascending the hill that Beersel is perched upon. Beersel is a tiny Flemmish town that is the home of a medieval castle and one of the better lambic breweries in the country, Drie Fonteinen. They also run a cozy restaurant that specializes in many regional dishes and all of the standard Belgian fare. Of particular note is the potte kaas, the vlaamse carbonnade and the draft lambics.
-Brussels Int'l Fantasty Film Festival... Though Kristen was very tired after working there, the amount of great films that we were able to see made it all worthwhile. Plus, the festival is one of the more interesting ones around what with all the surrounding antics that occur before and after the films.
-Quality of the food... We really got the sense that everything was of really high quality, particularly the meat and dairy products. The cheese here is perfection and much more flavorful than what you normally get in the US because they don't pasteurize all of the taste out of the products here (this is generally the case in all of Europe). The meat is also of great quality. I don't think I would eat "filet americain" (raw meat) anywhere else in the world because I don't trust the meat anywhere else. Then there's the food in restaurants. It is much easier to find high quality, super-delicious food in the restaurants. And the prices are reasonable at the same time.
-Friends... We made a few friends while living here, some from my job and some from other "sources". It's always hard to leave people behind, especially ones that you get along with and like to be around. Our hope is that they will all come visit us and that we can visit them too!
-Grande Place and the other touristy spots (like rue de Bouchers)... Though you get caught in a throng of tourists during the peak season, it's still fun to just amble around the narrow, curvy streets, tripping over the cobblestones, etc. Great people-watching opportunities abound. You sort of think to yourself, "Hah! We live here and you guys are just visiting! Now who's the cool guy?"
-Mornings... After Rich left for work each day I would get up and decide what sort of workout I wanted to do - running, walking or yoga. Then it was a shower and sitting down in front of the computer for a leisurely iced coffee and yogurt. I looked forward to these mornings for their simplicity and the pure luxuriousness of doing exactly what I wanted to, without feeling I had other stuff I should be doing. Although by late afternoon I was always ready for Rich to come home!
-Snack Friterie Merode... A "pita place" that was recommended to us by a friend. Quickly became one of our favorite places to go for a quick bite to eat. Their pitas and durums have fries inside them instead of on the side! This, I'm told, is not exclusive to this place however. The best sauce to get is Samourai & Tartar. Yum! We will go there tomorrow for our last dinner in Brussels.
-RP- & ~K
Monday, August 23
Legalities
We went to the British Embassy this morning at 10:30 with a folder full of applications and documentation. At 3:30 I had my visa! When we arrived at the visa section there were a lot of people already waiting to file their applications and there was only one (!) person working at the counter so we knew it was going to be a long wait. By the time our number was called, it was 12:15. After going through all my paperwork and asking just two questions, my visa application was accepted and we were told to return to the embassy between 3:30 and 4:30 to pick up my passport. It was much simpler than I anticipated and I totally over-prepared by bringing bank statements, my tax return, our travel arrangements and everything else I could think of. Better to be prepared I guess. It is so nice to have this bit of red tape taken care of!
Tomorrow we are both going to the dentist.
~K
(New Denmark trip entries below.)
We went to the British Embassy this morning at 10:30 with a folder full of applications and documentation. At 3:30 I had my visa! When we arrived at the visa section there were a lot of people already waiting to file their applications and there was only one (!) person working at the counter so we knew it was going to be a long wait. By the time our number was called, it was 12:15. After going through all my paperwork and asking just two questions, my visa application was accepted and we were told to return to the embassy between 3:30 and 4:30 to pick up my passport. It was much simpler than I anticipated and I totally over-prepared by bringing bank statements, my tax return, our travel arrangements and everything else I could think of. Better to be prepared I guess. It is so nice to have this bit of red tape taken care of!
Tomorrow we are both going to the dentist.
~K
(New Denmark trip entries below.)
Saturday, August 21
Brouwerij Kerkom
Our Belgian friends, Jeroen & Valerie, invited us to go with them to a brewery "open day" today at Brouwerij Kerkom, about 45 minutes from Brussels. The brewery is nestled in the fruit-growing region of Belgium. Orchards as far as the eye can see.
Before we went into the brewery, we took a little walk in the countryside because their infant son, Arthur, had fallen asleep just as we arrived. Since he was overdue for his nap, we wanted to let him sleep for a while, as he would surely be woken up by the band playing in the brewery courtyard. Nice walk. I tasted one of the un-ripe apples from a roadside orchard. Fresh tasting, but very tart!
The brewery is very quaint, several buildings arranged in a rough square with a courtyard in the middle. We grabbed a table under one of the tents. Since Jeroen and I are the only beer-lovers between the five of us, it is easy to order. Our special ladies had diet cokes, Arthur was content with his pacifier, and Jeroen and I had a glass each of the beer that was brewed for this festival in particular: Reuss.
Over the next three hours or so, we tried three other beers, enjoyed some pannenkoeken (Belgian pancakes) and worst (sausages in a bun with caramelized onions), and partook in a tour of the brewery (conducted in Flemmish Dutch). I was surprised at how much of it I understood, though I missed a lot of the minute details. It was just nice to have a look at the brewing equipment. Made me long for the day when I can brew again!
More details about the day
Brewery's web-site
-RP-
Our Belgian friends, Jeroen & Valerie, invited us to go with them to a brewery "open day" today at Brouwerij Kerkom, about 45 minutes from Brussels. The brewery is nestled in the fruit-growing region of Belgium. Orchards as far as the eye can see.
Before we went into the brewery, we took a little walk in the countryside because their infant son, Arthur, had fallen asleep just as we arrived. Since he was overdue for his nap, we wanted to let him sleep for a while, as he would surely be woken up by the band playing in the brewery courtyard. Nice walk. I tasted one of the un-ripe apples from a roadside orchard. Fresh tasting, but very tart!
The brewery is very quaint, several buildings arranged in a rough square with a courtyard in the middle. We grabbed a table under one of the tents. Since Jeroen and I are the only beer-lovers between the five of us, it is easy to order. Our special ladies had diet cokes, Arthur was content with his pacifier, and Jeroen and I had a glass each of the beer that was brewed for this festival in particular: Reuss.
Over the next three hours or so, we tried three other beers, enjoyed some pannenkoeken (Belgian pancakes) and worst (sausages in a bun with caramelized onions), and partook in a tour of the brewery (conducted in Flemmish Dutch). I was surprised at how much of it I understood, though I missed a lot of the minute details. It was just nice to have a look at the brewing equipment. Made me long for the day when I can brew again!
More details about the day
Brewery's web-site
-RP-
Friday, August 20
An Abode in Norwich + Tidbits
Good news from the estate agent yesterday - we got the apartment. Yay! Now that we know we've got a home to move to, we can make all our other plans. Details and photos to follow soon...
...
Watching the Olympics in countries that aren't the U.S. has been interesting. The U.S. media focuses completely on U.S. athletes, which is natural, but we sort of forget that their are a lot of other countries competing. The Danish and English (via the BBC) people have such different expectations than what we're used to in the U.S. Our American belief that we can win (and should win) is so ingrained in me that I am continually surprised by the attitude of these other countries. The BBC announcers are thrilled when one of the U.K. athletes even gets close to winning a medal. It is clear by their comments that they automatically assume they won't win and if they do manage to come in with a bronze medal it is all due to luck. This morning we saw on the news that the U.K. won its first gold medal and the U.S. has something like 16 so far. We haven't seen a Belgian in competition yet.
...
The cleaning and sorting has begun. For two people who only had 4 suitcases worth of stuff less than a year ago, we have managed to accumulate a lot more. The huge box of Danish wedding presents has really added some weight to our household goods. I have a feeling that this will be the last move we make without the assistance of professionals.
...
I want to learn Swedish and cultivate orchids.
~K
(More entries from the Denmark trip have been added below.)
Good news from the estate agent yesterday - we got the apartment. Yay! Now that we know we've got a home to move to, we can make all our other plans. Details and photos to follow soon...
...
Watching the Olympics in countries that aren't the U.S. has been interesting. The U.S. media focuses completely on U.S. athletes, which is natural, but we sort of forget that their are a lot of other countries competing. The Danish and English (via the BBC) people have such different expectations than what we're used to in the U.S. Our American belief that we can win (and should win) is so ingrained in me that I am continually surprised by the attitude of these other countries. The BBC announcers are thrilled when one of the U.K. athletes even gets close to winning a medal. It is clear by their comments that they automatically assume they won't win and if they do manage to come in with a bronze medal it is all due to luck. This morning we saw on the news that the U.K. won its first gold medal and the U.S. has something like 16 so far. We haven't seen a Belgian in competition yet.
...
The cleaning and sorting has begun. For two people who only had 4 suitcases worth of stuff less than a year ago, we have managed to accumulate a lot more. The huge box of Danish wedding presents has really added some weight to our household goods. I have a feeling that this will be the last move we make without the assistance of professionals.
...
I want to learn Swedish and cultivate orchids.
~K
(More entries from the Denmark trip have been added below.)
Wednesday, August 18
Side Note
For a couple of weeks before we left for Denmark, as well as all during the 10 days in Denmark, we have been looking online for an apartment in Norwich. It is the policy of almost all estate agents in the U.K. to require an in-person visit to the property before they will rent it out. This has created a big problem for us because we can't really afford to take a trip to Norwich before we move there at the end of the month. (I don't want to tell the realtors that though, because they might assume that we don't have enough money to pay rent.) We finally found one agent who agreed to help us and he happens to own an old house that has been divided into two apartments, both of which were vacant. Since I first spoke with him, the 2nd floor apartment has been rented but the ground floor is still available. He emailed me some photos which arrived on the first Friday of our Denmark trip. The place looks fine for us to start our life in Norwich. It is very small but is in the old city center and within close walking distance of the castle, tons of shops and a whole slew of restaurants. I immediately emailed him back and said we would like to rent it...and then never heard back from him. Until yesterday. There was an email from him on Tuesday morning with apologies, explaining that he had gone on holiday and had no email access. He had attached the application form for us to fill out and fax back to him if we were still interested, which we did. There was a hefty application fee (about 220 euros) for the credit check and referencing, but this is common in the U.K. Now we are waiting to hear back from him. The decision could really go either way. There are several factors working against us: Rich will be a student with no income, I am self-employed, and we have no U.K. bank account or credit references. But the agent knew all this before he sent us the application plus he is the landlord and will be the one making the final decision. So - fingers crossed!
~K
For a couple of weeks before we left for Denmark, as well as all during the 10 days in Denmark, we have been looking online for an apartment in Norwich. It is the policy of almost all estate agents in the U.K. to require an in-person visit to the property before they will rent it out. This has created a big problem for us because we can't really afford to take a trip to Norwich before we move there at the end of the month. (I don't want to tell the realtors that though, because they might assume that we don't have enough money to pay rent.) We finally found one agent who agreed to help us and he happens to own an old house that has been divided into two apartments, both of which were vacant. Since I first spoke with him, the 2nd floor apartment has been rented but the ground floor is still available. He emailed me some photos which arrived on the first Friday of our Denmark trip. The place looks fine for us to start our life in Norwich. It is very small but is in the old city center and within close walking distance of the castle, tons of shops and a whole slew of restaurants. I immediately emailed him back and said we would like to rent it...and then never heard back from him. Until yesterday. There was an email from him on Tuesday morning with apologies, explaining that he had gone on holiday and had no email access. He had attached the application form for us to fill out and fax back to him if we were still interested, which we did. There was a hefty application fee (about 220 euros) for the credit check and referencing, but this is common in the U.K. Now we are waiting to hear back from him. The decision could really go either way. There are several factors working against us: Rich will be a student with no income, I am self-employed, and we have no U.K. bank account or credit references. But the agent knew all this before he sent us the application plus he is the landlord and will be the one making the final decision. So - fingers crossed!
~K
Monday, August 16
We're back from our trip to Denmark. It was a long drive. One in which I ended up eating "head cheese" for dinner. That's what happens when you order something in a language that you don't speak (German). Those pig-brains were churning around in my stomach for the last 4 hours of the drive.
A full report on our vacation will be added over the coming days, little by little. Stay tuned to the entries preceding this one...
-RP-
A full report on our vacation will be added over the coming days, little by little. Stay tuned to the entries preceding this one...
-RP-
Sunday, August 15
Last day for us
Today was pretty much reserved for packing. Kristen got all of our stuff together and sifted through all of the gifts. My parents had planned for us to go with them out to some family friends in Hanstholm (where we got the beer and fish for the party). We needed to return all of the beer crates and empty bottles, so built into that was a plan to have coffee at the family friends' house. Kristen opted out of this because she wanted to go through our stuff and finish packing so we could leave on time tomorrow (what a gal!). So, it was just Stephie, Henrry and I. Another long drive, but I asked my dad to take the wheel this time as I'd like to save my driving juices for our 11 hour ordeal tomorrow.
In Hanstholm, we had a typical Danish "coffee": a table of several types of cakes, dessert and pastry, along with coffee, hot chocolate and soft drinks. Good thing I ate a light lunch! First a plate of buttered rolls were passed around, then a pastry ring, then a thin cake with a crunchy coconut topping, then a strawberry trifle with whipped cream. I know, it sounds insanely excessive, but when you just take a little bit of each thing, you're fine.
After coffee, we went out to see their horses. Very friendly fellas. One of them was in for a surprise. When Stephie was petting it, her leg accidentally touched the electric fence. This completed the circuit and sent a shock out through her hand and onto the horses nose which she was petting. He whinnied and trotted off, never to come near the blonde girl with the pink shirt again!
Then we headed into "town" to see the harbor area (big fishing industry) and we also stopped to see the WWII bunkers here as well. There had been one of the largest cannons in the war installed up here to guard against Allied invasion from north of Denmark. An invasion that never came. The gun was test-fired once. The barrel split down the middle and the windows in the houses within a couple of miles shattered. This gun could supposedly fire shells all the way to Norway!
And then we headed home for dinner and more Olympics.
Today was pretty much reserved for packing. Kristen got all of our stuff together and sifted through all of the gifts. My parents had planned for us to go with them out to some family friends in Hanstholm (where we got the beer and fish for the party). We needed to return all of the beer crates and empty bottles, so built into that was a plan to have coffee at the family friends' house. Kristen opted out of this because she wanted to go through our stuff and finish packing so we could leave on time tomorrow (what a gal!). So, it was just Stephie, Henrry and I. Another long drive, but I asked my dad to take the wheel this time as I'd like to save my driving juices for our 11 hour ordeal tomorrow.
In Hanstholm, we had a typical Danish "coffee": a table of several types of cakes, dessert and pastry, along with coffee, hot chocolate and soft drinks. Good thing I ate a light lunch! First a plate of buttered rolls were passed around, then a pastry ring, then a thin cake with a crunchy coconut topping, then a strawberry trifle with whipped cream. I know, it sounds insanely excessive, but when you just take a little bit of each thing, you're fine.
After coffee, we went out to see their horses. Very friendly fellas. One of them was in for a surprise. When Stephie was petting it, her leg accidentally touched the electric fence. This completed the circuit and sent a shock out through her hand and onto the horses nose which she was petting. He whinnied and trotted off, never to come near the blonde girl with the pink shirt again!
Then we headed into "town" to see the harbor area (big fishing industry) and we also stopped to see the WWII bunkers here as well. There had been one of the largest cannons in the war installed up here to guard against Allied invasion from north of Denmark. An invasion that never came. The gun was test-fired once. The barrel split down the middle and the windows in the houses within a couple of miles shattered. This gun could supposedly fire shells all the way to Norway!
And then we headed home for dinner and more Olympics.
Saturday, August 14
Another Low-key Day
More laundry this morning and watching a bit of the first Olympics events. As the day wore on I started getting antsy about "doing something". Mostly because H and K weren't as familiar with Denmark as the Pedersen-pod is, I wanted to make sure they saw a little more of it while they were here. Took us a long time to settle on something to do. Finally we decided to drive up to Skagen, the tip of Jylland where the North Sea and the Baltic meet. When the current is just right, you can see the seas meeting each other as the waves collide and form peaks. This action has a strong affect on the sand-bar (spidsen or "the point") at the tip of Denmark. It will shorten or elongate with the seasons. Another profound thing about these two seas meeting is that you can stand with one foot in each see and usually feel the temperature difference. The North sea is normally warmer than the Baltic.
So... K, S, H and I piled in the BMW and took the one hour drive up there. Nice day, nice drive. Got there in the early afternoon. Quite a few tourists out there this time of year, but we didn't have any trouble finding a parking space. We bought a ticket for the Sand Worm, a bus-like trailer pulled by an enormous tractor. This makes it easy to get out to The Point. It had been many years since I was up there, so I had forgotten how close it was to the parking lot. We could have walked there within 10 minutes! Oh well, the tickets weren't very expensive.
Not optimal "viewing conditions" for The Point today. Made me look like a liar actually. The waves weren't making the usual peaks and there was not much difference in temperature. In fact, the North Sea seemed cooler than the Baltic. The amount of tourists out there made it hard to get a good photo. Bit of a bummer, but it was still really nice weather. I was wishing I had worn my swim trunks as the water was very inviting.
After 20 minutes or so up there, we decided to gradually walk back to where we had parked. I tried to give our Sand Worm tickets to people who we passed, but no one wanted them. Lots of German bunkers from WWII in Jylland. Many of them are still here, as unused as they were back then. After the occupation, there wasn't any real fighting in Denmark. Just a lot of guys sitting in bunkers playing cards, I guess. We stood on top of one of the big bunkers for a while, then went to get ice cream from the tourist trap near the parking lot.
And then, back home for dinner and more Olympics on television.
So... K, S, H and I piled in the BMW and took the one hour drive up there. Nice day, nice drive. Got there in the early afternoon. Quite a few tourists out there this time of year, but we didn't have any trouble finding a parking space. We bought a ticket for the Sand Worm, a bus-like trailer pulled by an enormous tractor. This makes it easy to get out to The Point. It had been many years since I was up there, so I had forgotten how close it was to the parking lot. We could have walked there within 10 minutes! Oh well, the tickets weren't very expensive.
Not optimal "viewing conditions" for The Point today. Made me look like a liar actually. The waves weren't making the usual peaks and there was not much difference in temperature. In fact, the North Sea seemed cooler than the Baltic. The amount of tourists out there made it hard to get a good photo. Bit of a bummer, but it was still really nice weather. I was wishing I had worn my swim trunks as the water was very inviting.
After 20 minutes or so up there, we decided to gradually walk back to where we had parked. I tried to give our Sand Worm tickets to people who we passed, but no one wanted them. Lots of German bunkers from WWII in Jylland. Many of them are still here, as unused as they were back then. After the occupation, there wasn't any real fighting in Denmark. Just a lot of guys sitting in bunkers playing cards, I guess. We stood on top of one of the big bunkers for a while, then went to get ice cream from the tourist trap near the parking lot.
And then, back home for dinner and more Olympics on television.
Friday, August 13
Vikings and the Olympics
Kristen, Stephanie, Henrry and I decided to put on a Olympics Opening Ceremony party tonight. We would put dinner together and afterwards, everyone would watch the opening ceremony. This wouldn’t be until about 19:00, so we had some time to kill.
The pod decided to go to the Lindholm Høje Viking Museum in the early afternoon. First we walked around the burial site, near where the wedding ceremony was held. Then we went to the museum. It was very hot inside (no air conditioning), so we were all sweating a bit. But it’s a nice little museum displaying some of the stuff they excavated at Lindolm Høje. After walking through the exhibit, we watched a video about the viking settlement at Ribe (in the southern portion of Jylland) and then tried some mead. An afternoon well spent.
View from back of museum
Then it was time to put together dinner for the “party”. Our idea was simple: five pizzas decorated with the colors of the Olympic rings. These would be placed on the table in the same arrangement as the Olympic logo. We went to Kwickly (a supermarket/department store) to buy what we needed and a few things to bring home (salty licorice for me, mainly). After we got back, I ordered the pizzas. Guests were due to arrive at 18:30. Henrry and I went to pick up the pizzas while Stephie and Kristen prepared the colored garnish and made a salad.
There was a bit of a snafu with the pizza order because they were all small. The guy on the phone had misunderstood me. So we ordered two more just to make sure there was enough food for everyone. Then we rushed back with the pizzas so they could be decorated:
Red = tomatoes
Green = green peppers
Black = black olives
Gold = pineapple
Blue = blue cheese
In addition to this bit of “festivity”, I printed out some “tickets” for the party. On the front was the Olympic logo and on the back was an Olympic sport. Everyone had to pick a ticket out of a hat and that sport was the one that they should follow in particular. This little game seems to have fizzled, though. Only a few of us were truly interested in the Olympics. Oh well, it was just for fun anyway.
Everyone enjoyed the dinner and the presentation. We were all quite stuffed by the time the Opening Ceremony started. It was particularly spectacular this year, though a bit long-winded. We all cheered at the arrival of each country that the family collectively represents: Denmark, Sweden, USA, and Cuba (plus Belgium and the UK for good measure).
After the ceremony, some of us were pumped up to watch the Olympics, others just went on with their lives. To each his/her own! Personally, I'm looking forward to it. Has been a long time since I was able to watch it and it will be fun to see it from the European perspective (i.e.- not only events with US involvement).
Kristen, Stephanie, Henrry and I decided to put on a Olympics Opening Ceremony party tonight. We would put dinner together and afterwards, everyone would watch the opening ceremony. This wouldn’t be until about 19:00, so we had some time to kill.
The pod decided to go to the Lindholm Høje Viking Museum in the early afternoon. First we walked around the burial site, near where the wedding ceremony was held. Then we went to the museum. It was very hot inside (no air conditioning), so we were all sweating a bit. But it’s a nice little museum displaying some of the stuff they excavated at Lindolm Høje. After walking through the exhibit, we watched a video about the viking settlement at Ribe (in the southern portion of Jylland) and then tried some mead. An afternoon well spent.
View from back of museum
Then it was time to put together dinner for the “party”. Our idea was simple: five pizzas decorated with the colors of the Olympic rings. These would be placed on the table in the same arrangement as the Olympic logo. We went to Kwickly (a supermarket/department store) to buy what we needed and a few things to bring home (salty licorice for me, mainly). After we got back, I ordered the pizzas. Guests were due to arrive at 18:30. Henrry and I went to pick up the pizzas while Stephie and Kristen prepared the colored garnish and made a salad.
There was a bit of a snafu with the pizza order because they were all small. The guy on the phone had misunderstood me. So we ordered two more just to make sure there was enough food for everyone. Then we rushed back with the pizzas so they could be decorated:
Red = tomatoes
Green = green peppers
Black = black olives
Gold = pineapple
Blue = blue cheese
In addition to this bit of “festivity”, I printed out some “tickets” for the party. On the front was the Olympic logo and on the back was an Olympic sport. Everyone had to pick a ticket out of a hat and that sport was the one that they should follow in particular. This little game seems to have fizzled, though. Only a few of us were truly interested in the Olympics. Oh well, it was just for fun anyway.
Everyone enjoyed the dinner and the presentation. We were all quite stuffed by the time the Opening Ceremony started. It was particularly spectacular this year, though a bit long-winded. We all cheered at the arrival of each country that the family collectively represents: Denmark, Sweden, USA, and Cuba (plus Belgium and the UK for good measure).
After the ceremony, some of us were pumped up to watch the Olympics, others just went on with their lives. To each his/her own! Personally, I'm looking forward to it. Has been a long time since I was able to watch it and it will be fun to see it from the European perspective (i.e.- not only events with US involvement).
Thursday, August 12
Aalborg
Our only plans for today were to head downtown (Aalborg) to exchange one of our gifts (the only duplicate we got), have dinner at Ann-Britt & Morten's, then head out to Jomfru-Anne Gade (the big "party street" in Aalborg) for a few drinks.
We walked around Aalborg a bit. Cozy little city. Exchanged our carafe for a set of silverware. Tried to go to a souvenier shop so Henrry could buy some gifts for his family, but it closed early. No dice. So, we went to Duus Wine Cellar for a cold drink.
Side note: Duus is situated in a building constructed in 1624. It was the tallest building in the city at that time. Built by Jens Bang, a wine merchant with close ties to King Christian IV. During WWII, the Christian IV Guild was formed and the building became "a sanctuary for Danes of good spirit while the enemy is in our country".
After this, we headed to AB & Morten's apartment. While they prepared dinner, we sat in their living room and listened to Shu-Bi-Dua (a Danish comedic-"rock"-group that has been around for longer than I can remember). Morten kept a steady stream of Royal lager coming to Henrry and I. Across the street from their apartment is a strip-club. We spent some time watching the strippers arrive for their evening shift. Dinner was tasty: barbecue spare ribs, waffle-fries, tzatziki sauce, and salad. After dinner, Morten finished off a box of wine.
Then it was time to head out. I called Michelle to let her know where we would be going first. She is a friend of ours who worked at the Ft. Lauderdale Film Festival the same year Kristen and I met. She now works for TV2 in Denmark doing reportages from time to time. Some people even recognize her on the street. She met up with us at our first stop, The Wharf, which specializes in good beer. Lots of English cask ale and quite a few Belgian beers both on tap and in bottles. By this point, Morten and Henrry were already quite "loose from drink".
When we installed ourselves in a corner of a bar on Jomfru-Anne Gade, Morten was in rare form, being loud and boisterous. He taught Henrry a cheeky Danish phrase and Henrry tried to teach it to him in Spanish. This was ample entertainment for the rest of us all on its own. Meanwhile, it was nice to catch up with what Michelle had been up to. Though the usual partiers on the street had other ideas, we decided not to have a long night. I guess some of us are to old for getting plastered on a Thursday night! Me included!
Our only plans for today were to head downtown (Aalborg) to exchange one of our gifts (the only duplicate we got), have dinner at Ann-Britt & Morten's, then head out to Jomfru-Anne Gade (the big "party street" in Aalborg) for a few drinks.
We walked around Aalborg a bit. Cozy little city. Exchanged our carafe for a set of silverware. Tried to go to a souvenier shop so Henrry could buy some gifts for his family, but it closed early. No dice. So, we went to Duus Wine Cellar for a cold drink.
Side note: Duus is situated in a building constructed in 1624. It was the tallest building in the city at that time. Built by Jens Bang, a wine merchant with close ties to King Christian IV. During WWII, the Christian IV Guild was formed and the building became "a sanctuary for Danes of good spirit while the enemy is in our country".
After this, we headed to AB & Morten's apartment. While they prepared dinner, we sat in their living room and listened to Shu-Bi-Dua (a Danish comedic-"rock"-group that has been around for longer than I can remember). Morten kept a steady stream of Royal lager coming to Henrry and I. Across the street from their apartment is a strip-club. We spent some time watching the strippers arrive for their evening shift. Dinner was tasty: barbecue spare ribs, waffle-fries, tzatziki sauce, and salad. After dinner, Morten finished off a box of wine.
Then it was time to head out. I called Michelle to let her know where we would be going first. She is a friend of ours who worked at the Ft. Lauderdale Film Festival the same year Kristen and I met. She now works for TV2 in Denmark doing reportages from time to time. Some people even recognize her on the street. She met up with us at our first stop, The Wharf, which specializes in good beer. Lots of English cask ale and quite a few Belgian beers both on tap and in bottles. By this point, Morten and Henrry were already quite "loose from drink".
When we installed ourselves in a corner of a bar on Jomfru-Anne Gade, Morten was in rare form, being loud and boisterous. He taught Henrry a cheeky Danish phrase and Henrry tried to teach it to him in Spanish. This was ample entertainment for the rest of us all on its own. Meanwhile, it was nice to catch up with what Michelle had been up to. Though the usual partiers on the street had other ideas, we decided not to have a long night. I guess some of us are to old for getting plastered on a Thursday night! Me included!
Wednesday, August 11
Day off
Got up early this morning to drive my dad to the train station. He had to go to Copenhagen for a meeting. Then I went back to Farmor's house to have a bit of breakfast and then say goodbye to Hans, Niklas, Annika, Christopher and Natalie. It was sad to see them go because it was so great to see them again.
We decided today would be a good day to take a day off. Instead of "going somewhere" to "do something", we did a bit of laundry and watched a bit of TV. Just took it easy. Regroup. Rest up. Relax. That kind of thing.
Got up early this morning to drive my dad to the train station. He had to go to Copenhagen for a meeting. Then I went back to Farmor's house to have a bit of breakfast and then say goodbye to Hans, Niklas, Annika, Christopher and Natalie. It was sad to see them go because it was so great to see them again.
We decided today would be a good day to take a day off. Instead of "going somewhere" to "do something", we did a bit of laundry and watched a bit of TV. Just took it easy. Regroup. Rest up. Relax. That kind of thing.
Tuesday, August 10
Beach Day
When summer weather appears in Scandinavia, most natives head to the beaches to tan their pale-from-the-winter skin. That's what we decided to do today. There was some concern at first because we had been told that their where sweat-bees plagueing the entire coastal area so that the restaurants out there even had to close. The word was that you would be covered with these insects if you stood still for more than 30 seconds. Since this news was a day old, we decided to chance it anyway. So we piled into three cars and drove out to Blokhus (Block House) on the NW coast of Jylland (Jylland is the main landmass of Denmark, the peninsula).
Typical day at the beach: lots of Europeans sun-tanning (quite a few of them topless), kids playing in the water, people flying kites. The things you do on most beaches, I guess. I was suddenly gripped by a bout of childhood regression, so I built a sand castle and cooled off with a popsicle from the ice cream truck that drove by. Later I jumped in the frigid water and floated around for a while. Quite refreshing.
While there definitely were a noticeable amount of these sweat-bees, they weren't too bad on the beach because the wind was blowing steadily. These little guys are harmless anyway. And quite trusting. They somehow think that you will not swat them. Later on in the day, a swarm of lady-bugs invaded. We spent a great deal of time placing them into my sandcastle one by one. Many of them stayed there.
Good day at the beach. Then it was time to head home and have a gargantuan dinner again. The Swedes will be leaving tomorrow, so we had to see them off properly! Pork leftovers tonight.
When summer weather appears in Scandinavia, most natives head to the beaches to tan their pale-from-the-winter skin. That's what we decided to do today. There was some concern at first because we had been told that their where sweat-bees plagueing the entire coastal area so that the restaurants out there even had to close. The word was that you would be covered with these insects if you stood still for more than 30 seconds. Since this news was a day old, we decided to chance it anyway. So we piled into three cars and drove out to Blokhus (Block House) on the NW coast of Jylland (Jylland is the main landmass of Denmark, the peninsula).
Typical day at the beach: lots of Europeans sun-tanning (quite a few of them topless), kids playing in the water, people flying kites. The things you do on most beaches, I guess. I was suddenly gripped by a bout of childhood regression, so I built a sand castle and cooled off with a popsicle from the ice cream truck that drove by. Later I jumped in the frigid water and floated around for a while. Quite refreshing.
While there definitely were a noticeable amount of these sweat-bees, they weren't too bad on the beach because the wind was blowing steadily. These little guys are harmless anyway. And quite trusting. They somehow think that you will not swat them. Later on in the day, a swarm of lady-bugs invaded. We spent a great deal of time placing them into my sandcastle one by one. Many of them stayed there.
Good day at the beach. Then it was time to head home and have a gargantuan dinner again. The Swedes will be leaving tomorrow, so we had to see them off properly! Pork leftovers tonight.
Monday, August 9
The Aftermath
Many of us slept in a little bit today. Not because we had overdone it yesterday, but more because of all the work that went into putting the party together. K and I were obviously not fatigued from this because we did minimal work. Such is the price of being guests of honor and a certain amount of the things that had to be done were to be kept in secret from us so we obviously couldn't help with those things.
The plan for today was to have a late lunch and then drive down to the Randers area to return the grill that was used to cook the pig. The whole Pedersen/Tønnesen/Johnsson pod would come along on this adventure because after returning the grill we would head to Randers Rainforest.
So, after a late lunch, we all piled into Hans's Volvo, Niklas's Seat and our BMW. The grill was stowed in the trailer hitched to Hans's Volvo. The entire caravan slowly drove to our first destination a little bit north of Randers. This took more than an hour from what I can remember.
We dropped off the grill and then headed over to the Randers Rainforest (Info). This is a "bio-dome" type zoo that emulates the rainforest climates of South America, Asia and Africa. Each continent is in it's own section of this complex. It is made to be as close to a natural habitat as you can get in a zoo situation. Many of the animals are able to roam free. Kristen made friends with a Golden Lion Tamarin who got very amorous towards her hand. She seemed to have this affect on many of the animals, including a lonely bachelor tapir.
It was hot and humid in each of the rainforest environments. We were all quite sweaty by the time we had seen everything, so we replenished ourselves with water and ice cream. A quick group photo and we headed back home. However, we had to stop at Ella's house to drop off the trailer. She tried very hard to have us all come in for a cup of coffee, but we were very tired and ready to go home and have dinner.
Tonight's dinner was the leftover flounder filets with assorted side dishes and a salad. We all sat at the picnic table again. That flounder was just amazing, even the day after it had been cooked.
The plan for today was to have a late lunch and then drive down to the Randers area to return the grill that was used to cook the pig. The whole Pedersen/Tønnesen/Johnsson pod would come along on this adventure because after returning the grill we would head to Randers Rainforest.
So, after a late lunch, we all piled into Hans's Volvo, Niklas's Seat and our BMW. The grill was stowed in the trailer hitched to Hans's Volvo. The entire caravan slowly drove to our first destination a little bit north of Randers. This took more than an hour from what I can remember.
We dropped off the grill and then headed over to the Randers Rainforest (Info). This is a "bio-dome" type zoo that emulates the rainforest climates of South America, Asia and Africa. Each continent is in it's own section of this complex. It is made to be as close to a natural habitat as you can get in a zoo situation. Many of the animals are able to roam free. Kristen made friends with a Golden Lion Tamarin who got very amorous towards her hand. She seemed to have this affect on many of the animals, including a lonely bachelor tapir.
It was hot and humid in each of the rainforest environments. We were all quite sweaty by the time we had seen everything, so we replenished ourselves with water and ice cream. A quick group photo and we headed back home. However, we had to stop at Ella's house to drop off the trailer. She tried very hard to have us all come in for a cup of coffee, but we were very tired and ready to go home and have dinner.
Tonight's dinner was the leftover flounder filets with assorted side dishes and a salad. We all sat at the picnic table again. That flounder was just amazing, even the day after it had been cooked.
Sunday, August 8
VW Day
(Viking Wedding Day)
Before the Ceremony...
Kristen, Stephanie, Henrry and I headed over to the festival hall around 9:00. By the way, the hall is right next to Farmor's house. It is called "Kulturhuset" (The Culture House) and is comprised of a long room, a smaller reception room and a pretty big professional kitchen.
Bad news, the fridge did not get cold. So, we started putting the beer and soft drinks in the freezer. When they were cold, we moved them back over to the "refrigerator". We did the same thing with anything else that needed to be cold. I also drove to a nearby McDonald's to purchase two huge pales of ice (which they gave me for free and just asked that I put 20 DKK in the charity box... I put in 30).
Everyone was busy preparing food. Lots of side dishes and several main courses. Everything you could possibly want was included in the feast. The pig was coming along nicely on the spit, but had gotten a little burned on the bottom from the grease dripping down and flaming up too much.
Around 11:00, everyone but the guy cooking the pig (Christian) had to head back home to get ready for the ceremony. We all had to put on our Viking garb and go over our lines. Yeah, we actually had lines. Fortunately, Kristen and I only had to say a couple of things. I was a bit concerned about how much I would be sweating since it was around 32 deg Celsius today and our Viking costumes weren't exactly summer wear. I took a cold shower before putting it on.
(Viking Wedding Day)
Before the Ceremony...
Kristen, Stephanie, Henrry and I headed over to the festival hall around 9:00. By the way, the hall is right next to Farmor's house. It is called "Kulturhuset" (The Culture House) and is comprised of a long room, a smaller reception room and a pretty big professional kitchen.
Bad news, the fridge did not get cold. So, we started putting the beer and soft drinks in the freezer. When they were cold, we moved them back over to the "refrigerator". We did the same thing with anything else that needed to be cold. I also drove to a nearby McDonald's to purchase two huge pales of ice (which they gave me for free and just asked that I put 20 DKK in the charity box... I put in 30).
Everyone was busy preparing food. Lots of side dishes and several main courses. Everything you could possibly want was included in the feast. The pig was coming along nicely on the spit, but had gotten a little burned on the bottom from the grease dripping down and flaming up too much.
Around 11:00, everyone but the guy cooking the pig (Christian) had to head back home to get ready for the ceremony. We all had to put on our Viking garb and go over our lines. Yeah, we actually had lines. Fortunately, Kristen and I only had to say a couple of things. I was a bit concerned about how much I would be sweating since it was around 32 deg Celsius today and our Viking costumes weren't exactly summer wear. I took a cold shower before putting it on.
VW Day (cont'd)
The Ceremony...
Up until this point, we had been lead to believe that the ceremony would take place in the parking lot outside the hall. When our "guide", Helle, told us to drive in another direction, we were a bit surprised. However, as we got closer, I realized where we were heading: Lindholm Høje (a Viking burial site near Vadum). When we got there, we saw a large gathering of people up on the hill. All dressed as Vikings, but not the war garb that you see in the movies, but in the Viking "everyday wear". We met our witnesses, Torsten and Ann-Britt, and waited for the signal to approach. First, I was signalled to walk up to the ceremonial gathering with Torsten. As I approached the group, they parted and formed a "human hallway" cheering and waving birch branches in the air over my head. I took my place in front of Christian of Grambye. Then Kristen approached with Ann-Britt and was received the same way as me. She took her spot, facing me. At this point, it pretty much proceeds as the following (adapted by my father from a viking wedding ceremony script) with each speaker delivering lines in Danish and English.
Christian of Grambye
Let the witnesses step forth and give their names.
Torsten Lunildsøn
I am Torsten Lunildsøn
AnnBritt Børgesdatter
I am AnnBritt Børgesdatter
Christian of Grambye
It is hereby agreed that the bride price is available to compensate for her labor value and therefore you, Richard of Denmark, must pay the price to the family immediately after this union or you shall forever live in shame. In return you shall receive the dowry, which you must keep and never use without her consent. Tradition dictates that Richard of Denmark shall give to his bride his sword that he and his forefathers have carried in battle which she must keep, maintain, and pass on to her son and he to his bride on the occasion of his marriage. Richard of Denmark, if you have such a sword, you must now give it into Kristen Oregonsdatter’s keeping.
Richard gives Kristen his sword, handle first (as you do not point a sword at another person unless you want to fight).
Christian of Grambye
Kristen Oregonsdatter, now Richard of Denmark has no sword to defend you and your kin. So if you have a new sword, never tried in battle, you must give it into Richard of Denmark’s keeping.
AnnBritt gives Kristen a new sword, which she gives to Richard, and he places it into his belt.
Christian of Grambye
The bridal gifts and swords have been exchanged according to tradition.
The crowd cheers, raising their branches.
Christian of Grambye
I now ask all those who are assembled here today, are there any persons, who are not in agreement with the bonding in marriage of this man and this woman? If so, they must step forward now and state their objections before the gathered guests and witnesses or forever hold their peace and never gainsay the marriage.
Christian of Grambye looks over the crowd they cheer in approval of the marriage. Suddenly, one Viking in the back raises his sword, loudly objecting to the marriage:
Flemming Pederssøn
I am Flemming Pederssøn and I object to this bond. I want Kristen Oregonsdatter and I want her to have me. I raise my sword against you Richard of Denmark.
Christian of Grambye gets worried and looks to Torsten for support. Torsten Lunildsøn steps in front of Richard:
Torsten Lunildsøn
I am Torsten Lunildsøn and I speak AND defend my true friend, Richard of Denmark. He is the true soul mate for Kristen Oregonsdatter and she for him. She has no interest in you. I therefore take you on to defend the honor of my friend.
As he speaks he jumps into the crowd which lets him pass forming a circle around the two Vikings. Richard and Kristen watch as a wild fight develops between the Vikings. As the fighting gets wild, a Viking woman screams her objections from the crowd:
Trine Lunsdatter
I am Trine Lunsdatter and I object to this bond in marriage. I want Richard of Denmark. He is mine and I challenge you Kristen Oregonsdatter.
Christian of Grambye now gets really worried as he sees his ceremony going totally off track. He looks around to see how he can solve this new problem. Suddenly AnnBritt jumps forward and shouts:
AnnBritt Børgesdatter
I am Kristen’s true friend and I know she deserves Richard of Denmark and you don’t, you wench!
As AnnBritt is shouting her lines, she jumps into the circle of the two fighting Vikings and leaps for Trine. They engage in a wild fight much to the entertainment of the crowd. The crowd cheers the fighting couples and waves their branches. At the climax of the fight, Bruno the Giant jumps in and separates the combatants. Flemming is thrown to the ground and Bruno holds him in place with his foot.
Bruno the Giant
I am Bruno the Giant and I want order. Anyone objecting to this union between my friends must deal with me first.
Bruno over the crowd. Flemming under his foot is getting uncomfortable and wants out. Trine is jumping from the pain she is feeling by Bruno’s grasp of her arm. The fighting Vikings are afraid of Bruno and respect him, so they don’t attempt to do anything. Bruno now lets go of Trine and AnnBritt chases her off the arena to the cheers of the crowd, and she returns to stand by Kristen. Bruno also lets go of Flemming who jumps up and runs away from the arena to the cheers of the crowd.
Bruno The Giant
Anyone else who is against this union of my friends?
Crowd
NO!!!
Bruno The Giant
Now that everyone is in agreement we will fill our drinking horns with mead and drink. Then we can proceed.
Bottles are passed around in the crowd; they fill their drinking horns, and drink with each other. Hereafter the ceremony continues.
Christian of Grambye
Richard of Denmark, will you take this woman Kristen Oregonsdatter into your life, support her and her family in good times and in bad times, protect her against the enemies and of the natural elements, give her the keys to your house and valuable, and accept her as the mistress of your households?
Richard of Denmark
Richard and Kristen kiss and the crowd cheers. They again form a gate holding their branches high. Kristen and Richard walk through the gate to their family and wait until the guests have departed.
---
A few posed random photos:
Kristen and Rich with the new sword, untested in battle
Rich's cousin Ann-Britt and her boyfriend, Morten
Kristen, Rich, and the Swedish niece and nephew, Nathalie and Christopher
Stephanie (Rich's sis) and her Cuban boyfriend, Henrry
Up until this point, we had been lead to believe that the ceremony would take place in the parking lot outside the hall. When our "guide", Helle, told us to drive in another direction, we were a bit surprised. However, as we got closer, I realized where we were heading: Lindholm Høje (a Viking burial site near Vadum). When we got there, we saw a large gathering of people up on the hill. All dressed as Vikings, but not the war garb that you see in the movies, but in the Viking "everyday wear". We met our witnesses, Torsten and Ann-Britt, and waited for the signal to approach. First, I was signalled to walk up to the ceremonial gathering with Torsten. As I approached the group, they parted and formed a "human hallway" cheering and waving birch branches in the air over my head. I took my place in front of Christian of Grambye. Then Kristen approached with Ann-Britt and was received the same way as me. She took her spot, facing me. At this point, it pretty much proceeds as the following (adapted by my father from a viking wedding ceremony script) with each speaker delivering lines in Danish and English.
Cast of Characters:
Kristen as Kristen Oregonsdatter
Kristen as Kristen Oregonsdatter
Richard as Richard of Denmark
Christian Grambye as Christian of Grambye (Ceremony conductor)
Torsten Lunild as Torsten Lunildsøn (Richard's witness)
Ann-Britt Tønnesen as AnnBrittBørgesdatter (Kristen's witness)
Trine Lunild as Trine Lunsdatter (viking woman who objects)
Flemming Pedersen as Flemming Pederssøn (viking man who objects)
Bruno Madsen as Bruno The Giant
Christian of Grambye
We are gathered here today to witness the pairing of Kristen Oregonsdatter and Richard of Denmark. Who speaks for this woman?
Ann BrittBørgesdatter
I speak for this woman.
Christian of Grambye
And who speaks for this man?
Torsten Lunildsøn
I speak for this man.
Christian of Grambye
Let it be known that there are at least two witnesses to this betrothal. Has the bride’s price been agreed with the family?
Richard
Yes it has.
We are gathered here today to witness the pairing of Kristen Oregonsdatter and Richard of Denmark. Who speaks for this woman?
Ann BrittBørgesdatter
I speak for this woman.
Christian of Grambye
And who speaks for this man?
Torsten Lunildsøn
I speak for this man.
Christian of Grambye
Let it be known that there are at least two witnesses to this betrothal. Has the bride’s price been agreed with the family?
Richard
Yes it has.
Christian of Grambye
Let the witnesses step forth and give their names.
Torsten Lunildsøn
I am Torsten Lunildsøn
AnnBritt Børgesdatter
I am AnnBritt Børgesdatter
Christian of Grambye
It is hereby agreed that the bride price is available to compensate for her labor value and therefore you, Richard of Denmark, must pay the price to the family immediately after this union or you shall forever live in shame. In return you shall receive the dowry, which you must keep and never use without her consent. Tradition dictates that Richard of Denmark shall give to his bride his sword that he and his forefathers have carried in battle which she must keep, maintain, and pass on to her son and he to his bride on the occasion of his marriage. Richard of Denmark, if you have such a sword, you must now give it into Kristen Oregonsdatter’s keeping.
Richard gives Kristen his sword, handle first (as you do not point a sword at another person unless you want to fight).
Christian of Grambye
Kristen Oregonsdatter, now Richard of Denmark has no sword to defend you and your kin. So if you have a new sword, never tried in battle, you must give it into Richard of Denmark’s keeping.
AnnBritt gives Kristen a new sword, which she gives to Richard, and he places it into his belt.
Christian of Grambye
The bridal gifts and swords have been exchanged according to tradition.
The crowd cheers, raising their branches.
Christian of Grambye
I now ask all those who are assembled here today, are there any persons, who are not in agreement with the bonding in marriage of this man and this woman? If so, they must step forward now and state their objections before the gathered guests and witnesses or forever hold their peace and never gainsay the marriage.
Christian of Grambye looks over the crowd they cheer in approval of the marriage. Suddenly, one Viking in the back raises his sword, loudly objecting to the marriage:
Flemming Pederssøn
I am Flemming Pederssøn and I object to this bond. I want Kristen Oregonsdatter and I want her to have me. I raise my sword against you Richard of Denmark.
Christian of Grambye gets worried and looks to Torsten for support. Torsten Lunildsøn steps in front of Richard:
Torsten Lunildsøn
I am Torsten Lunildsøn and I speak AND defend my true friend, Richard of Denmark. He is the true soul mate for Kristen Oregonsdatter and she for him. She has no interest in you. I therefore take you on to defend the honor of my friend.
As he speaks he jumps into the crowd which lets him pass forming a circle around the two Vikings. Richard and Kristen watch as a wild fight develops between the Vikings. As the fighting gets wild, a Viking woman screams her objections from the crowd:
Trine Lunsdatter
I am Trine Lunsdatter and I object to this bond in marriage. I want Richard of Denmark. He is mine and I challenge you Kristen Oregonsdatter.
Christian of Grambye now gets really worried as he sees his ceremony going totally off track. He looks around to see how he can solve this new problem. Suddenly AnnBritt jumps forward and shouts:
AnnBritt Børgesdatter
I am Kristen’s true friend and I know she deserves Richard of Denmark and you don’t, you wench!
As AnnBritt is shouting her lines, she jumps into the circle of the two fighting Vikings and leaps for Trine. They engage in a wild fight much to the entertainment of the crowd. The crowd cheers the fighting couples and waves their branches. At the climax of the fight, Bruno the Giant jumps in and separates the combatants. Flemming is thrown to the ground and Bruno holds him in place with his foot.
Bruno the Giant
I am Bruno the Giant and I want order. Anyone objecting to this union between my friends must deal with me first.
Bruno over the crowd. Flemming under his foot is getting uncomfortable and wants out. Trine is jumping from the pain she is feeling by Bruno’s grasp of her arm. The fighting Vikings are afraid of Bruno and respect him, so they don’t attempt to do anything. Bruno now lets go of Trine and AnnBritt chases her off the arena to the cheers of the crowd, and she returns to stand by Kristen. Bruno also lets go of Flemming who jumps up and runs away from the arena to the cheers of the crowd.
Bruno The Giant
Anyone else who is against this union of my friends?
Crowd
NO!!!
Bruno The Giant
Now that everyone is in agreement we will fill our drinking horns with mead and drink. Then we can proceed.
Bottles are passed around in the crowd; they fill their drinking horns, and drink with each other. Hereafter the ceremony continues.
Christian of Grambye
Richard of Denmark, will you take this woman Kristen Oregonsdatter into your life, support her and her family in good times and in bad times, protect her against the enemies and of the natural elements, give her the keys to your house and valuable, and accept her as the mistress of your households?
Richard of Denmark
I will.
Christian of Grambye
Kristen Oregonsdatter, will you take this man Richard of Denmark into your life, to be your husband, to be faithful to him, to support him and his family in good times and in bad, fight with him against enemies and the natural elements, and do you accept the keys to his house, to be responsible for managing his household and property, to preserve and protect it for your life together?
Kristen Oregonsdatter
I will.
Richard takes his keys from his belt, puts them on the handle of his sword and gives them to Kristen. Bruno steps forward with a bottle of Viking Mead. Richard and Kristen take their drinking horns from their belts and Bruno pours a little Mead into them.
Christian of Grambye
Now I ask you to offer your respect to Odin and Freja, the protectors of prosperity and fertility and ask that you may always have what you need and produce many strong children who will make your family proud and bring new blood to your families.
Richard and Kristen pour mead on the ground as a token of their respect. Then Bruno pours more mead in their horns. They link arms as they drink. Now AnnBritt walks up to Kristen with a flower wreath and puts it on her head.
Christian of Grambye
Kristen Oregonsdatter has received her flower wreath as a symbol of her vows and to show all men that she is no longer an available woman, and she now belongs to Richard of Denmark and Richard to her. The ring you are wearing shall forever show all men that you are a married couple. You may now offer your affection to each other.
Christian of Grambye
Kristen Oregonsdatter, will you take this man Richard of Denmark into your life, to be your husband, to be faithful to him, to support him and his family in good times and in bad, fight with him against enemies and the natural elements, and do you accept the keys to his house, to be responsible for managing his household and property, to preserve and protect it for your life together?
Kristen Oregonsdatter
I will.
Richard takes his keys from his belt, puts them on the handle of his sword and gives them to Kristen. Bruno steps forward with a bottle of Viking Mead. Richard and Kristen take their drinking horns from their belts and Bruno pours a little Mead into them.
Christian of Grambye
Now I ask you to offer your respect to Odin and Freja, the protectors of prosperity and fertility and ask that you may always have what you need and produce many strong children who will make your family proud and bring new blood to your families.
Richard and Kristen pour mead on the ground as a token of their respect. Then Bruno pours more mead in their horns. They link arms as they drink. Now AnnBritt walks up to Kristen with a flower wreath and puts it on her head.
Christian of Grambye
Kristen Oregonsdatter has received her flower wreath as a symbol of her vows and to show all men that she is no longer an available woman, and she now belongs to Richard of Denmark and Richard to her. The ring you are wearing shall forever show all men that you are a married couple. You may now offer your affection to each other.
Richard and Kristen kiss and the crowd cheers. They again form a gate holding their branches high. Kristen and Richard walk through the gate to their family and wait until the guests have departed.
---
A few posed random photos:
Kristen and Rich with the new sword, untested in battle
Rich's cousin Ann-Britt and her boyfriend, Morten
Kristen, Rich, and the Swedish niece and nephew, Nathalie and Christopher
Stephanie (Rich's sis) and her Cuban boyfriend, Henrry
VW Day (cont'd again):
The Party...
After everyone had left Lindholm Høje, we went down to our car. Next to the parking lot, there was a fenced in area for goats that live there. I tried my goat-vocalization skills to communicate with them and was somewhat successful. Got a few responses from the crowd. Ann-Britt went into the pen to feed them some carrots.
Off to the party! We drove back to Vadum and parked at Farmor's house, then we headed over to Kulturhuset where we were met by all of the viking partiers with their branches. They made another gateway to the door of the festival hall and I had to carry Kristen across the threshhold. Good thing she's light and I'm a strapping young lad! Then all the guests came through the door, congratulating us one by one as they came in. It was a bit overwhelming at first because the ones I knew I hadn't seen in many years, others I was meeting for the first time and poor Kristen was meeting ALL of these people for the first time ever!
When everyone was inside, the slaves (Hans and Niklas) walked around the room with trays of roasted pork rib chops that everyone could eat by hand (like chicken drumsticks) as hors d'oeuvres. My father made a quick speech to welcome everyone and invited them to dig into the cornucopia set out before them. The Pig was not ready yet, so everyone was asked to enjoy the first courses in the meantime.
On the buffet table: Danish herring, pan-fried flounder filets, fresh veggies, assorted types of bread, cold cuts, fruit, sauces, smoked beef and sausage. To drink was the beer from Thisted Bryghus, soft drinks, wine, mead, and beer that I had brought from Belgium (Hoegaarden and a few Duvels).
The large room at Kulturhuset was set up with long row of tables (reminiscent of what you might have seen in a viking feast). At the head of this long-table was another table set up perpendicular to it. This was our table, the guests of honor. Not wanting to be snobbish, we invited Stephie, Henrry, and Hans to sit there as well becuase many of the places at the long-table had already been taken. Everyone was thoroughly digging into the preliminary feast, but since it was one of the hottest days of the summer, many people ate and drank more lightly than we had hoped they would. To get people's spirits up, Niklas poured up a tray full of shots of mead to pass around. We had to get these people loose and spirited.
By this time, the pig was ready and everyone was invited outside to get as much fire-roasted pork as they could handle. It was phenomenally delicious and succulently tender. Served with flat bread and a tzatziki-like sauce made with Greek yoghurt. Unfortunately (or fortunately, if you love leftovers), everyone was so full from the "smorgasbord" that they couldn't eat much of the pork. I'm guilty of that myself.
When everyone was back inside, I stood up to make a little speech of my own. A little trick I had up my sleeve because it is Pappa's birthday tomorrow. First I thanked everyone for coming to party and so on. Then I brought their attention to an old man who would be officially one year older the next day. At first, he didn't realize I was talking about him, but as it dawned on him I had everyone belt out a rendition of the Danish "Happy Birthday" song.
After we had all eaten more than "all we can eat", people started trickling into the reception room and outside. There was a table filled with wedding gifts that people had brought and they were requesting that we sit down to open them while everyone was still around. But before that, it was time for cake. Since my favorite Danish "cake" is one called Brunsviger (a slightly sweet bread that is dripping with a brown sugar and butter mixture), they of course had to present us with this kind of cake instead of a traditional wedding cake. These are usually made in the shape of a gingerbread man (or woman), decorated with candy and whipped cream, and given to someone on their birthday. The lucky recipient then makes the first cut in the cake by slicing the head of the cake-man off while all the guests scream. We upheld this tradition today as well. Then we passed out cake to everyone.
Then it was time to open the gifts which was a bit unnerving because everyone was gathered around, watching us. I was dreading the scenario where we got some odd-ball gift and we had to pretend like we really loved it. Fortunately, that only happened once (when someone gave us a purple copy of the New Testament). We're not religious people. Other than that, we got a lot of really special and useful gifts. Pretty much all things that we will need when we move to the UK. We were completely touched that people even brought gifts. Many of them were people that I haven't seen in who knows how long.
When we were done with this "chore", Christian and Niklas came over to the table and grabbed me by my arms to make me come out to the middle of the floor. Suddenly, I was up in the air and my shoes were being pulled off. Christian brandished a scissor, pulled the tips of each of my socks away from my toes and cut them off. Then they put me back down and I was left standing with ruined socks and bare toes. This is a Danish wedding tradition that I was not aware of. I'm glad I wore clean socks that day! What they normally do to the bride is that all the women at the wedding tear off pieces of her veil. Since Kristen wasn't wearing anything remotely close to a veil, they left her alone.
While my toes aired out, I took the opportunity to thank everyone for coming and told them that it was not the idea that they should have brought gifts. I thanked them for doing so anyway and said that they were all gifts that we really needed and they will help us set up our little home in Norwich.
At this point, the party was pretty much over and most people said their goodbyes and left. A few stayed behind to help clean up (a big job... especially the dishes). With all the hands we had, we finished within two hours. Pappa even had some time to give a few people chiropractic adjustments! I took the massive amount of pig leftovers to Farmor's house and carved all the meat off the bones so we could disperse it to several people's refrigerators and freezers. Then I headed back over to Faster Alice's house and chilled out for the rest of the evening.
Post-script...
It was great to have Kristen meet the overwhelming amount of extended family and friends. She was well received. They all really adored her and several even said she reminded them of the Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, both in looks and in the positive energy that she exudes.
Princess Info
A long, but fantastic day. It was a memorable ceremony (our second marriage of the year!) and a great feast. Thanks to everyone who put it together, especially my father who masterminded the whole thing!
-RP-
The Party...
After everyone had left Lindholm Høje, we went down to our car. Next to the parking lot, there was a fenced in area for goats that live there. I tried my goat-vocalization skills to communicate with them and was somewhat successful. Got a few responses from the crowd. Ann-Britt went into the pen to feed them some carrots.
Off to the party! We drove back to Vadum and parked at Farmor's house, then we headed over to Kulturhuset where we were met by all of the viking partiers with their branches. They made another gateway to the door of the festival hall and I had to carry Kristen across the threshhold. Good thing she's light and I'm a strapping young lad! Then all the guests came through the door, congratulating us one by one as they came in. It was a bit overwhelming at first because the ones I knew I hadn't seen in many years, others I was meeting for the first time and poor Kristen was meeting ALL of these people for the first time ever!
When everyone was inside, the slaves (Hans and Niklas) walked around the room with trays of roasted pork rib chops that everyone could eat by hand (like chicken drumsticks) as hors d'oeuvres. My father made a quick speech to welcome everyone and invited them to dig into the cornucopia set out before them. The Pig was not ready yet, so everyone was asked to enjoy the first courses in the meantime.
On the buffet table: Danish herring, pan-fried flounder filets, fresh veggies, assorted types of bread, cold cuts, fruit, sauces, smoked beef and sausage. To drink was the beer from Thisted Bryghus, soft drinks, wine, mead, and beer that I had brought from Belgium (Hoegaarden and a few Duvels).
The large room at Kulturhuset was set up with long row of tables (reminiscent of what you might have seen in a viking feast). At the head of this long-table was another table set up perpendicular to it. This was our table, the guests of honor. Not wanting to be snobbish, we invited Stephie, Henrry, and Hans to sit there as well becuase many of the places at the long-table had already been taken. Everyone was thoroughly digging into the preliminary feast, but since it was one of the hottest days of the summer, many people ate and drank more lightly than we had hoped they would. To get people's spirits up, Niklas poured up a tray full of shots of mead to pass around. We had to get these people loose and spirited.
By this time, the pig was ready and everyone was invited outside to get as much fire-roasted pork as they could handle. It was phenomenally delicious and succulently tender. Served with flat bread and a tzatziki-like sauce made with Greek yoghurt. Unfortunately (or fortunately, if you love leftovers), everyone was so full from the "smorgasbord" that they couldn't eat much of the pork. I'm guilty of that myself.
When everyone was back inside, I stood up to make a little speech of my own. A little trick I had up my sleeve because it is Pappa's birthday tomorrow. First I thanked everyone for coming to party and so on. Then I brought their attention to an old man who would be officially one year older the next day. At first, he didn't realize I was talking about him, but as it dawned on him I had everyone belt out a rendition of the Danish "Happy Birthday" song.
After we had all eaten more than "all we can eat", people started trickling into the reception room and outside. There was a table filled with wedding gifts that people had brought and they were requesting that we sit down to open them while everyone was still around. But before that, it was time for cake. Since my favorite Danish "cake" is one called Brunsviger (a slightly sweet bread that is dripping with a brown sugar and butter mixture), they of course had to present us with this kind of cake instead of a traditional wedding cake. These are usually made in the shape of a gingerbread man (or woman), decorated with candy and whipped cream, and given to someone on their birthday. The lucky recipient then makes the first cut in the cake by slicing the head of the cake-man off while all the guests scream. We upheld this tradition today as well. Then we passed out cake to everyone.
Then it was time to open the gifts which was a bit unnerving because everyone was gathered around, watching us. I was dreading the scenario where we got some odd-ball gift and we had to pretend like we really loved it. Fortunately, that only happened once (when someone gave us a purple copy of the New Testament). We're not religious people. Other than that, we got a lot of really special and useful gifts. Pretty much all things that we will need when we move to the UK. We were completely touched that people even brought gifts. Many of them were people that I haven't seen in who knows how long.
When we were done with this "chore", Christian and Niklas came over to the table and grabbed me by my arms to make me come out to the middle of the floor. Suddenly, I was up in the air and my shoes were being pulled off. Christian brandished a scissor, pulled the tips of each of my socks away from my toes and cut them off. Then they put me back down and I was left standing with ruined socks and bare toes. This is a Danish wedding tradition that I was not aware of. I'm glad I wore clean socks that day! What they normally do to the bride is that all the women at the wedding tear off pieces of her veil. Since Kristen wasn't wearing anything remotely close to a veil, they left her alone.
While my toes aired out, I took the opportunity to thank everyone for coming and told them that it was not the idea that they should have brought gifts. I thanked them for doing so anyway and said that they were all gifts that we really needed and they will help us set up our little home in Norwich.
At this point, the party was pretty much over and most people said their goodbyes and left. A few stayed behind to help clean up (a big job... especially the dishes). With all the hands we had, we finished within two hours. Pappa even had some time to give a few people chiropractic adjustments! I took the massive amount of pig leftovers to Farmor's house and carved all the meat off the bones so we could disperse it to several people's refrigerators and freezers. Then I headed back over to Faster Alice's house and chilled out for the rest of the evening.
Post-script...
It was great to have Kristen meet the overwhelming amount of extended family and friends. She was well received. They all really adored her and several even said she reminded them of the Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, both in looks and in the positive energy that she exudes.
Princess Info
A long, but fantastic day. It was a memorable ceremony (our second marriage of the year!) and a great feast. Thanks to everyone who put it together, especially my father who masterminded the whole thing!
-RP-
Saturday, August 7
We all assembled at Farmor's house today for lunch around noon. A typical Danish feast of herring, warm liver pate, cold cuts, bread, and various garnishes like beets, crispy onions, and asier (a type of pickled squash). We refrained from having the usual beer and schnapps accompaniment because everyone with a car would be put to use for the rest of the afternoon to gather food and supplies for the party.
Hans, Henrry, and I hitched an open trailer to Hans's Volvo and drove out to Hanstholm to pick up the crate of flounder filets, 4 cases of beer from the Thisted Brewery and 2 cases of soft drinks. It took us over two hours of drive-time (round-trip). On the way back, the goods were covered by a big tarp which came undone once so we had to pull over and re-fasten it.
A side note: The beer we picked up was Porse Guld and Thisted Classic. The Porse Guld beer is a special release that they only make once per year. When it runs out, you have to wait until the next year to get some more. It is brewed with a Danish herb called porse (also known as bog myrtle or sweet gale) which is traditionally used in Danish schnapps. They close the brewery for about a week when they all head out to the marshlands to pick the herb to be used in the beer.
When we got back, Pappa was in high gear making frickadeller (a typical Danish type of meatball) for dinner. We adjourned to the picnic tables again for a scrumptious dinner. Then Hans, Henrry, Faster Alice, and I drove out to the marshland to cut down some branches that were to be used for decorating the festival hall where we would be having the party. I reaquainted myself with Stinging Nettles at the very first step I took into the woods when a few leaves grazed my right ankle. Not a severe burn though.
Then we drove back to Farmor's house and we were allowed to enter the festival hall to begin setting up. We piled all the branches inside and then started hauling all of the food into the kitchen. I loaded the fridge with the beverages, but I'm a bit concerned because it didn't seem to be getting cold at all. Hopefully, it's just because it was open for a long time. I'm crossing my fingers that it'll cool down over night.
At around 23:30, we closed up the hall again. Everyone has to get up early tomorrow. Further preparation needs to be done before the viking ceremony will start at noon. The guy who will be roasting the pig will arrive at 7:00 in the morning to get it started.
-RP-
Hans, Henrry, and I hitched an open trailer to Hans's Volvo and drove out to Hanstholm to pick up the crate of flounder filets, 4 cases of beer from the Thisted Brewery and 2 cases of soft drinks. It took us over two hours of drive-time (round-trip). On the way back, the goods were covered by a big tarp which came undone once so we had to pull over and re-fasten it.
A side note: The beer we picked up was Porse Guld and Thisted Classic. The Porse Guld beer is a special release that they only make once per year. When it runs out, you have to wait until the next year to get some more. It is brewed with a Danish herb called porse (also known as bog myrtle or sweet gale) which is traditionally used in Danish schnapps. They close the brewery for about a week when they all head out to the marshlands to pick the herb to be used in the beer.
When we got back, Pappa was in high gear making frickadeller (a typical Danish type of meatball) for dinner. We adjourned to the picnic tables again for a scrumptious dinner. Then Hans, Henrry, Faster Alice, and I drove out to the marshland to cut down some branches that were to be used for decorating the festival hall where we would be having the party. I reaquainted myself with Stinging Nettles at the very first step I took into the woods when a few leaves grazed my right ankle. Not a severe burn though.
Then we drove back to Farmor's house and we were allowed to enter the festival hall to begin setting up. We piled all the branches inside and then started hauling all of the food into the kitchen. I loaded the fridge with the beverages, but I'm a bit concerned because it didn't seem to be getting cold at all. Hopefully, it's just because it was open for a long time. I'm crossing my fingers that it'll cool down over night.
At around 23:30, we closed up the hall again. Everyone has to get up early tomorrow. Further preparation needs to be done before the viking ceremony will start at noon. The guy who will be roasting the pig will arrive at 7:00 in the morning to get it started.
-RP-
Friday, August 6
European Road-Trip
We loaded up the car and left for Denmark this morning at about 7:30 in the morning. Got on the E40, right from our door-step practically, and headed west for a bit before connecting with the E34 which took us briefly through the Netherlands and into Germany. Got the adrenaline flowing first thing when a freight-truck backfired a thick burst of black smoke at us just as we were passing it. Sounded like a cannon and scared the crap out of us. Thank goodness for my non-reactive demeanor or we may have swerved into on-coming traffic.
Other than that, the drive was uneventful. It was fun to test out the BMW on the autobahn, though I drew stern looks from Kristen when I got a bit too lead-footed. We stopped for lunch (McDonalds) and fuel in Bottrop, Germany. Crossed the Danish border at 16:00 exactly. Much prettier driving in Denmark than in Germany. Sloping farmland as opposed to industry and conrete barriers.
We arrived at my Aunt's house in Vadum at about 19:00 and were welcomed by her (Faster Alice) and my eldest cousin on my father's side (Helle). By the way, "Faster" means "Aunt" in Danish. After bringing in our suitcase, we were presented with a wedding present (a Rosendahl set of drinking glasses and cereal bowls) and an early birthday present for me (a few beers and a giant box of Piratos licorice). Then we got a tour of Helle's orchid greenhouse, before heading off to my grandmother's townhome, 5 minutes away. [ I call her Farmor, which is Danish for "Grandmother on my father's side" or directly translated to FatherMother. This makes more sense than the English version which doesn't indicate which grandparent you mean. ]
When we got there we were met by a barrage of other family members: my mother (Mamma) and father (Pappa), my sister (Stephanie) and her boyfriend (Henrry), Farmor, my uncle on my mother's side (Hans), my cousins on my mother's side (Annika and Niklas), and Annika's two children (Christopher and Natalie). Niklas's girlfriend (Karola) was supposed to be there, but she had to go home early because she was sick from a tick bite. Also, Annika's husband (Jorge) couldn't make it because he had a prior engagement for that weekend which had been in the planning for almost a year.
There was a massive dinner preparation going on when we got there, so there was a lot of time to chat with everybody and for Kristen to finally meet the Swedish side of my family (from now on to be referred to collectively as "the Swedes"). We passed around our "wedding album" and caught up on each other's lives. Then we all sat around the communal picnic table and had dinner (pasta and homemade chicken fingers).
At this point, Pappa announced what our surprise wedding party was going to be: a viking wedding ceremony in full costume followed by a gargantuan feast featuring a fire-roasted 70 lb. pig which had been slaughtered yesterday! Certainly not something we were expecting. There would be about 48 adults and 12 children at the event. This was all put together in less than three weeks.
It was getting late, so we all turned in for the night. Kristen, Stephanie, Henrry, and I will all be staying at Faster Alice's house. Everyone else is staying at Farmor's house, with Niklas sleeping in a tent outside near the picnic tables. Tomorrow will be spent getting things ready for the party on Sunday.
-RP-
We loaded up the car and left for Denmark this morning at about 7:30 in the morning. Got on the E40, right from our door-step practically, and headed west for a bit before connecting with the E34 which took us briefly through the Netherlands and into Germany. Got the adrenaline flowing first thing when a freight-truck backfired a thick burst of black smoke at us just as we were passing it. Sounded like a cannon and scared the crap out of us. Thank goodness for my non-reactive demeanor or we may have swerved into on-coming traffic.
Other than that, the drive was uneventful. It was fun to test out the BMW on the autobahn, though I drew stern looks from Kristen when I got a bit too lead-footed. We stopped for lunch (McDonalds) and fuel in Bottrop, Germany. Crossed the Danish border at 16:00 exactly. Much prettier driving in Denmark than in Germany. Sloping farmland as opposed to industry and conrete barriers.
We arrived at my Aunt's house in Vadum at about 19:00 and were welcomed by her (Faster Alice) and my eldest cousin on my father's side (Helle). By the way, "Faster" means "Aunt" in Danish. After bringing in our suitcase, we were presented with a wedding present (a Rosendahl set of drinking glasses and cereal bowls) and an early birthday present for me (a few beers and a giant box of Piratos licorice). Then we got a tour of Helle's orchid greenhouse, before heading off to my grandmother's townhome, 5 minutes away. [ I call her Farmor, which is Danish for "Grandmother on my father's side" or directly translated to FatherMother. This makes more sense than the English version which doesn't indicate which grandparent you mean. ]
When we got there we were met by a barrage of other family members: my mother (Mamma) and father (Pappa), my sister (Stephanie) and her boyfriend (Henrry), Farmor, my uncle on my mother's side (Hans), my cousins on my mother's side (Annika and Niklas), and Annika's two children (Christopher and Natalie). Niklas's girlfriend (Karola) was supposed to be there, but she had to go home early because she was sick from a tick bite. Also, Annika's husband (Jorge) couldn't make it because he had a prior engagement for that weekend which had been in the planning for almost a year.
There was a massive dinner preparation going on when we got there, so there was a lot of time to chat with everybody and for Kristen to finally meet the Swedish side of my family (from now on to be referred to collectively as "the Swedes"). We passed around our "wedding album" and caught up on each other's lives. Then we all sat around the communal picnic table and had dinner (pasta and homemade chicken fingers).
At this point, Pappa announced what our surprise wedding party was going to be: a viking wedding ceremony in full costume followed by a gargantuan feast featuring a fire-roasted 70 lb. pig which had been slaughtered yesterday! Certainly not something we were expecting. There would be about 48 adults and 12 children at the event. This was all put together in less than three weeks.
It was getting late, so we all turned in for the night. Kristen, Stephanie, Henrry, and I will all be staying at Faster Alice's house. Everyone else is staying at Farmor's house, with Niklas sleeping in a tent outside near the picnic tables. Tomorrow will be spent getting things ready for the party on Sunday.
-RP-
Thursday, August 5
Last Day... Done!
I hate goodbyes. But they're inevitable. Finished my last day at Bo-ny. Sort of sad really (sort of!). I tried to take as many calls as possible during the day, but instead of doing written support in between, I cleaned out my desk, turned in my notebook computer, created an "Out Of Office" auto-reply and so on.
Just before I went to lunch, a few of my "comrades-at-arms" presented me with a going away present: a bottle of Duvel, a bottle of Saison Dupont, and an Orval gift-pack (complete with a large glass). I was truly and deeply touched, especially since they went way out of their way to get the sometimes hard to find beers. I don't think I thanked them enough for it. It was a great gesture and it almost made me want to change my mind and stay there! Almost!
It feels kind of strange to finally be past that "last day" that I've been anticipating for so long. I partially dreaded it because of the fact that I had to say goodbye to so many people. People that I know I will miss. But now I feel kind of cut loose and floating. Not quite sure what to do with myself. Good thing we have a lot of stuff to do. We'll be busy with all matter of things for at least a month. First, a little family holiday in Scandinavia, then back here to tie up loose ends, then move to England, then start school. Who knows what that will be like? It's been 5 years since I've been "in academics"!
-RP-
I hate goodbyes. But they're inevitable. Finished my last day at Bo-ny. Sort of sad really (sort of!). I tried to take as many calls as possible during the day, but instead of doing written support in between, I cleaned out my desk, turned in my notebook computer, created an "Out Of Office" auto-reply and so on.
Just before I went to lunch, a few of my "comrades-at-arms" presented me with a going away present: a bottle of Duvel, a bottle of Saison Dupont, and an Orval gift-pack (complete with a large glass). I was truly and deeply touched, especially since they went way out of their way to get the sometimes hard to find beers. I don't think I thanked them enough for it. It was a great gesture and it almost made me want to change my mind and stay there! Almost!
It feels kind of strange to finally be past that "last day" that I've been anticipating for so long. I partially dreaded it because of the fact that I had to say goodbye to so many people. People that I know I will miss. But now I feel kind of cut loose and floating. Not quite sure what to do with myself. Good thing we have a lot of stuff to do. We'll be busy with all matter of things for at least a month. First, a little family holiday in Scandinavia, then back here to tie up loose ends, then move to England, then start school. Who knows what that will be like? It's been 5 years since I've been "in academics"!
-RP-
Monday, August 2
Boy is it nice to drive your own car to work. Don't have to stand in a crowded, sweltering bus. Don't have to rely on a timetable. Don't have to wait for a shuttle at the airport. Don't have to stress about making sure I don't get a call at 17:55 which would make me late for the shuttle and consequently missing my bus. The only downside, if I was forced to mention one, is finding a parking spot in the morning!
Gave three co-workers a lift today on the way home. That's another positive... helping some other poor souls get home without having to take a bus!
Only 3 more days left!
-RP-
Gave three co-workers a lift today on the way home. That's another positive... helping some other poor souls get home without having to take a bus!
Only 3 more days left!
-RP-
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