Embedded Files
(Back to Baltic Cruise)
Saturday 16 June (Copenhagen)
The ship requested we have our bags at our doors by 5:30am.
We had a pleasant breakfast. Then out on the deck to watch them dock. Back to our rooms to await the disembark call.
We claimed our bags on the dock and climbed into our bus. Laurs was the driver and Jens was the guide.
We stopped at the Little Mermaid for a photo. It was very close to our ship. Jens pointed out a building across the bay shaped like a ski sloop. Inside, the building was a power plant that burns the recycled bio waste from the city. There were no fumes or smoke, so they must capture and process that, too.
Next stop, the Queens Winter Palace. It is Flag day in Denmark. Flags hung everywhere. The Royal flag is enhanced with two triangle banners, whereas the normal flags are rectangle. The other three buildings are used by the family at large, including the two sons. There is a big bronze-cast equestrian statue of King Frederik V completed in 1771.
Directly in line with the statue is Amailien Fountain. It was built in 1976. The bushes were all very well manicured. Directly in line across the harbor is the Copenhagen Opera House. It was built in 2005 by some Denmark millionaire who wanted to give something back to Copenhagen. So he had the opera house built. But he had it constructed a little to conservatively for the Copenhagen people, so they don’t quite like it. Plus, the ongoing maintenance is costing Copenhagen a lot of money; he didn’t leave any endowment.
To the right was a pier; it is used for community activities. Today, there were a bunch of kayaks along with some young men playing games. Beneath the pier is an underwater parking lot. Access to the parking lot is thru some old rusty building on the pier.
To the left we saw a very fancy sailing ship (Bristolial).
We walked into Nyhavn, the new harbor, which was built 350 years ago. It’s a man-made canal that took three years to build. Wealthy merchants lived in that area and wanted access to the harbor. The Swedish prisoners of war were tasked with digging it.
At the end of the canal there is an anchor to commemorate the sailors who died during the Nazi occupations.
We had lunch at a town square.
It rained almost all day, but not torrentially.
We visited some parliament type building, the stock market building.
We stopped by the Rosenborg castle, where the crown jewels are stored. We were in time for a changing of the guard.
Our last stop was at Church of Our Lady - Copenhagen Cathedral where Bertel Thorvaldsen's original statue of the Christus statue lives. The design of the building is remarkable plain, compared to other cathedrals we’ve seen. But the inside is reverent and sacred-feeling.
The 11 Apostles + Paul line the hall leading to the alter with the Christus behind it. Pictures were allowed, but most people were reverential. Jens was impressed and touched by the groups interest and knowledge of the statues and the sculptor. He had said he was not very churchy, but would study more about the statues because of our attentiveness.
We were dropped at Hotel Kong Arthur. Many of us then walked to CoFoCo restaurant, which Michael Harward had arranged for us. We enjoyed a 6-course meal that was quite amazing.
Sunday 17 June (Copenhagen)
We had breakfast with the Harwards and Strikes. Those of us that had not yet left the country attended church. It was a half-hour walk. The building was quite attractive. The people were receptive. We participated with translation devices and Danish hymnals. Sunday School was available in English. The building is located just behind the temple.
The temple was really small. It has a nice reflecting pond and garden.
We walked back thru Assistens Cemetery, graveyard & park established in 1760, burial place of Soren Kierkegaard & Hans Christian Anderson. Sunbathing is allowed as long as it is not near a grave. We saw some sun worshippers. We also walked by the graves of Kierkegaard and Anderson.
On the other side of the Cemetery we stopped at an Arabic restaurant for lunch. They only take Danish Krone, so while they cooked, we found a local ATM and obtained 200 DK, which is about $30. We met a very nice Canadian lady and talked about citizenship (she had dual Canadian and Denmark).
We finally crossed the bridge where we saw people out of the river in swan paddle boats.
Time for another nap.
In the evening, we went back to Our Lady’s cathedral to hear Cantores Minores, one of the world's best boys and men's choirs which is currently affiliated with the Cathedral in Helsinki, Finland and under the direction of chief conductor Hannu Norjanen.
The choir travels all over the world with a repertoire consisting primarily of European and, in particular, Finnish church music.
Mark didn’t have the right address, so we wandered around downtown for an extra half-hour, walking by the North-Port Metro/Train station, the Rosenburg castle, the Kings Gardens until we finally found the church.
After the Choir, we joined the Strikes for dinner; They had Butter Chicken and we had Chicken Tika Masalla. Theirs is the same as our, just not as spicy. We also had a fresh lemonade. But they added mint leaves and limes, so it was not quite what we expected. For dessert, we had a big glass bowl of chocolate chip ice cream, which was very good.
Monday 18 June (Falkenberg Sweden)
We got up early and took the Metro to the airport where we caught a train to Sweden. Just outside the first stop, a policeman came thru and checked our passports (because we had just crossed the water from Denmark to Sweden).
After 2.5 hours, at 10:11am we arrived in Falkenberg, where we were warmly greeted by Inge, Mona (his wife), and Leif (her brother), distant cousins of Lynn. We got in Leif’s car and they took us to a local coffee shop where we could get acquainted and have some refreshments.
Then we went to Skrea which means: End of the Land. This is where Mona and Leif grew up. They used to swim out to a little island, which is in the Atlantic Ocean. We visited a couple homes they believe might be her Grandparents’ home.
We drove by the home that Mona’s father had built. He was a mason, working in stone. The current owner is also a builder and has extended it significantly.
Next we stopped at the Parish church and walked the graveyard surrounding it. Most of the tombstones are relatively new. There are a few old ones that are protected by the government. But most of the old ones are gone, including Mona’s Grandmother tombstone. Graves are originally purchased, but need to be renewed every 25 year. The renewal fee is only $40, but if you neglect it, the tombstone is removed and the site is re-sold.
If the church does not know how to contact the current descendents, a notice is placed by the tombstone for a year. If no one comes forward, the site is cleared and resold. They do not exhume the body.
The surrounding buildings include a church community facility and a church school, which Mona and Leif attended as children. Mona rode her bike 6 kilometers to school.
We went to lunch at Laxrestaurangen i Falkenberg. This is a Salmon restaurant. Last year, it was voted the Best Restaurant by a freeway in Sweden. They had salmon in many forms. Mark had salmon Fish and Chips. Lynn had grilled salmon; Cajun style. The food was amazing.
Inge received permission for us to walk about the property of our common ancestor Olof Olsson in Godastorp. He is Lynn’s 3rd Great Grandfather.
We noticed that the countryside is dotted with red or yellow houses and red barns. Everywhere it was green.
We went to Aastad and saw a typical house from the 16th century. The house was from Balastugan Torpet. This house is the sole survivor of the croft houses established in Snnarp. It has straw on the roof about 1 foot thick. The middle part of the roof is flatter and has grass growing on it. The cottage was moved from its original location in town about 1880. It was inhabited until 1952 when it passed into the hands of the Aastad local historical society.
We stopped by an Ice Cream factory and had some delicious Chocolate Brownie and Triple Chocolate ice cream. It was the best we’ve had on this trip.
On the way back to the train station, we also stopped at Bobug, where Mona and Inge’s wedding reception was held. There was an old milestone in front. Just below the building is a stream and more millstones, so this building was very likely the local mill from which our ancestors got their flour.
Our timing was perfect at the train station. We got our ticket and said goodbyes just as the train pulled up. We found some forward-facing non-potentially-reservable seats and in 2.5 hours were back in Copenhagen. A quick Metro ride took us back to Norreport station. We were tired and only a little hungry, so we stopped at the food court and purchased some Vietnamese street food, which we took back to the hotel.
It was a long, tiring, wonderful day.
Tuesday 19 June (Journey to America)
The journey is so much easier for us than for our ancestors. They had to spend 14 to 21 days at sea, plus more to cross the continent of America. We will be home in less than 24 hours!
McCuistion homepage
Google Sites
Report abuse