Danish Doings

Thursday 17th May - Oslo

Up bright and early after a very short time between the covers. We could have booked a direct flight to Copenhagen but after the advice of one of our friends “Budgie” have decided to take the ferry from Oslo to Copenhagen. On landing at Oslo we went straight through customs without having to go through any immigration. The only disappointment with this process is that there is no stamp for the passport. We took the high speed train from the airport to Oslo Central. A very efficient and fast trip of about 14 minutes costing us 170 NOK per person.

On arrival at Central everyone was in a festive mood as it is Norway’s national day. They obviously take a lot of pride in their day as there were plenty of people in national dress. Deciding it was too far to walk to the ferry terminal with our luggage and the threat of rain a we opted for a taxi. I knew it wasn’t far and it appeared that the driver took the shortest route. The fare of about $40 however was disproportionate to the distance traveled.

The ferry is operated by DFDS Seaways and is due to depart at 5:00pm and arrive in Copenhagen at 9:45am. There was a crush of people waiting to board so we held back until the last minutes. The Kindle does come in handy when you are playing the waiting game. Our inside cabin on deck 5 is small and comfortable with ensuite facilities. Overall there are 11 decks with a pool which had mad Europeans taking a dip in the heavily chlorinated water. The pool was complemented by a casino, dining rooms and a large duty free area. Jens had told me that many of the Norwegians travel on the boat for access to the cheap duty free alcohol.

Alice and I took up a prime window position at the red wine bar on deck 8 whilst Ann and Barry braved the elements on top. Whilst they were taking photographs Alice and I were having a beer tasting of Skant beer which is a small Danish microbrewery. “Blackie” would have been proud of us.

I could not think of a better way to pass the time as we sipped beer watching the shoreline of Oslo’s fjord. Lots of beautiful houses, small islands and sailing boats as we slipped by on our 2.5 hour journey to open water. Our open buffet dinner in the Seven Seas restaurant was booked for 8:15pm. By the time we arrived for dinner the ship which is more like a mini cruise liner was pitching up and down in the ocean swell. This did not prevent me from trying most of the delicious food that was on offer.

Off to bed at a reasonable hour in an effort to catch up on some sleep. At least we picked up 2 hours as a result of the change in time zones.

Friday 18th May – Copenhagen Again

Showered and dressed by 7:00 am as we would like to be in a position to enjoy our entry into Copenhagen’s harbour. We have foregone the buffet breakfast and settled on a coffee and Danish pastry.

Alice and I were on the top deck when the ship arrived. As we approached the pool area we were traumatized by a horrific sight. A young woman in a G-string who was afflicted with severe hail damage was endeavouring to have some last minute fun in the pool.

Putting the fright aside we attempted to make our way down to deck 5 to collect our bags and exit the ship. We were like rats trapped in a maze full of scurrying passengers loaded down with goodies all heading for the one exit. Eventually we emerged from the entangled bodies and found Ann and Barry outside.

Alice found her cousin Jytte waiting patiently for us. We tried waiting for a large taxi that could accommodate us all but in the end we gave up and caught a train to the airport. The airport? But we only just arrived! This was where we had to pick up the hire car from as Ann and Barry will be returning it on Monday when they fly to Norway.

Jytte gave me directions as I once again tried to come to grips with driving on the right hand side. In Denmark there is one rule that you have to obey and that is to give way to the cyclists no matter where they are. As I found out that is especially difficult when you are on a roundabout. I only just avoided collecting an unwary female rider. We followed Jytte from Roskilde to the summer house in Ordrup without further incidents.

The summer house is in a wonderful country setting down by the Kattegat Sea. Alice and I took a little walk to look at the sea but I refrained from taking a dip as it is a little chilly at present. Jytte has prepared the house for our arrival and cooked us some nice pork schnitzel for dinner. Complementing the meal was a bottle of red, white and a Leffe Brune which is a dark Belgian beer that Jytee had bought especially for me.

Saturday 19th May – Danish Lunch

Alice is once again the last person to arise from the comfort of her bed. A little cloudy this morning and Jytte was caught in the rain as she made her way back from the bakery with a special breakfast treat of tybirkes which is a Danish pastry.

Ann and Barry have taken off for a drive and are looking for a lake where they will take a small hike. We have decided to stay at the house and catch up on phone calls with the family. Jytte has prepared a traditional Danish lunch for us to try.

Lunch consists of a number of courses where the guests graze on food and engage in conversation over the course of the afternoon. The first course is usually herring on a piece of rye bread which is followed by a nip of Akvavit and the salutation “Skol”. I was chastised by Jytte for not following etiquette by eating the herring without the aid of those universal utensils the knife and fork.

As a penance I’ll try and list all the different foods:

• Smoked eel with scrambled egg
• Frikedeller (a kind of fried meatball)
• Marinated herring and plain herring
• Asparagus wrapped with prosciutto
• Tarteletter (white asparagus, chicken , sauce in a tart)
• Roast pork with crackling and red cabbage
• Fried crumbed fish with remoulade
• Salmon infused with cream cheese and dill
• Liver paste prepared by the local butcher
• Beer and schnapps

Later in the afternoon Alice’s mothers cousin Lissa arrived for a short visit. We hope to catch up with her on Tuesday. We finished the day off with a range of cheeses with crackers and a small quantity of wine.

Sunday 20th May – A Drive in the Country

Barry and Ann have taken off to Roskilde for a visit to the Viking museum and church. Meanwhile we are taking it easy before heading off for a drive through the rolling hills surrounding Ordrup.

Our route took us out of Ordrup and through to Asnaes where we filled up with fuel. The first stop was a beach called Ellinge Lyng.

The beach is separated by a nature reserve which has a number of small lagoons with lots of birdlife. The tide was out so I dipped my feet in the water. The sun was also out and as there is hardly any wind and it would have been a good day for a bracing swim. There are many blue mussels in the water and I saw a local with rakes harvesting a few for dinner.

Next we visited a very old church in Hojby which had an immaculately kept cemetery. I saw one gravestone which was from the mid 1700’s. A number of the plots had beautiful tulips growing in them.

Gudmindrup beach was next on the agenda. There is lots of white sand and Jytte says that it has a beautiful sunset. In summer it is apparently very hard to get a parking space. We finished off with an 18 hole game of mini golf. The combatants were very competitive on this challenging course and I have been sworn to secrecy not to reveal the final scores.

For dinner we walked up to the local pub which is located in the centre of the village. We sat outside as it was still quite warm. The atmosphere was like being on an English green. There was a wonderful fragrance from the apple trees that were in bloom and our conversation was punctuated by the chirping of a variety of birds. A nice meal of steaks and fish which was washed down with a bottle of white by the A.A. members Ann and Alice. The Tuborg Classic which is a slightly dark beer also went down well.

Monday 21st May – Farewell Barry and Ann

Barry and Ann are leaving us this morning and traveling north to Kirkennes, Norway where they will take a cruise down the coastline.

Alice has an appointment at the dentist this morning at 10:30am as she has broken a piece of her back tooth. We will soon see if Danish dentists charge as much as their Australian counterparts. The good news was that the dentist was able to file her tooth and that there was no decay. The only charge was a donation towards the surgery coffee machine.

Meanwhile I decided that I needed some exercise and some sunshine. Rather than go for a long walk II got stuck into mowing the lawn and trimming a tree.

After all that exciting activity we took a stroll down to the beach. The water did look inviting so we plunged in. Oh my goodness, the water temperature was so cold. After a few strokes my arms felt like lead and my head was frozen. We did not last long and were concerned that we would be colder when we hit the shore. It was the opposite as the sun immediately warmed us up.

So much energy was expended today that we decided to eat out at the local pub once again. Tonight the menu is an all you can eat roast pork which includes potato, beetroot and a parsley sauce. Two small plates were all we could manage.

Tuesday 22nd May – Roskilde Viking Museum

At the Viking Ship museum you can view the remnants of 5 original ships that were scuttled in the fjord to protect Roskilde which was the capital of Denmark in olden times.

The ships were discovered in the 1960’s and painstakingly removed by a team of archaeologists. The museum has since built replicas of the 5 ships which are fully functional. There is also a Viking workshop where they constructed the replicas using traditional tools. You can try your hand at making rope, carving wood or casting Thor’s hammer. We declined the opportunity to dress up as Vikings as I would not have looked good in a dress.

Our next stop was the Roskilde Cathedral which is included on UNESCO's list of world heritage sites. The Cathedral is the burial place of the Danish kings and queens which has been continuous from 1534. My favourite chapel was for Christian the 4th who was king from 1588 – 1648. The two large paintings depicting scenes from his life added a great touch to the chapel. The other chapels were also impressive and there is an empty one waiting for the current queen Margrethe 2, crown prince Frederik and of course our Mary.

We then made a bee line for the town of Tune where Alice’s mother’s cousin resides. It was a hot afternoon and Lissa plied me with a few beers to keep me from dehydrating. Well it is a good excuse to have a beer. It was an enjoyable afternoon as we reminisced about family whilst enjoying a late Danish style lunch.

Lissa who I had met the other day remembered that I did not particularly like chicken but really enjoyed kartofler (potato) so you can guess that I had a very good lunch. We left her place a little after 19:00 and drove home to Yette’s on the tail end of what we would call a summer storm.

Wednesday 23rd May – Tree Loping at 3, Klinteborgvej, Ordrup

The morning was off to a good start as Yette was dressed in her Maroon State of Origin shirt and was ready to barrack for our team. As I am still not exercising enough I decided to lop a few trees while Yette and Alice were doing secret women’s business at the shops.

After lunch we drove north to a small fishing village called Havnebyen. The scenery along this narrow peninsula was breathtaking against the bright blue sky. This town was chosen as Jens had advised his sister Yette to purchase some Hornfisk, a local delicacy, for dinner. From what I can gather it looks a little like Garfish which my Dad used to catch years ago. Whilst in the fish shop I noticed a number of different beers from a local brewery at Holbaek. I chose a Bourbon Stout with an alcohol content of 7.5%. With flavours of chocolate, coffee, vanilla and bourbon I think that I am on a winner.

A short rest and we were off along the southern coastline to visit Dragon the oldest castle in Denmark. There were lots of cobblestones, old farm buildings and a castle that was in good condition as it now houses a hotel and restaurant. The grounds are kept in immaculate condition and there is a 9.5 kilometre walking/bicycle trail to explore.

When I logged on to the internet this afternoon I was hoping for good news and sure enough there was. With a score line of 18-10 the mighty Queensland side had defeated NSW again. I must say that after looking at the statistics we will have to improve if we are to be victorious in game 2 at Sydney. Nevertheless Alice, Yette and I have big smiles on our dials.

The Hornfisk which Yette has fried for dinner with “Nye Dansk kartofler” was delicious. The accompanying stout was also great and would have definitely received the Beer Tragic seal of approval from John Black.