Monday was a rest day, and that's what we did. We blogged, watched movies, had a little walk around town, and did some shopping for dinner. I cooked dinner for Thomas and Camilla, and we just chilled out around the flat. Oh and did some washing too.
Tuesday Will had organised to catch up with Bent again, so we had a quiet morning before walking to the square and meeting Bent. We sat in the sunshine, in the square, and had a beer with Bent, then he took us on a mini tour of Helsingor, giving us a bit more history, and some stories of his life in Denmark.
Delicious Smørrebrød, Danish beers and schnapps. Cheers Bent, thank you.
Bent took us for Smørrebrød, a traditional Danish lunch, which was very nice. A light selection of open sandwiches, made with dark bread and meats, salads and sauces. We all had a couple more beers, and tried the Danish schnapps. It was strong, not sweet, but nice. Then we tried the Swedish schnapps, which was a bit less bitey. There were heaps of people sitting in the sun, eating and drinking, and I'd noticed this on all our walks too. I was thinking that these Danish people just eat and drink all day, everyday, but Bent informed us that they are mostly Swedish. They come over by ferry, which takes about 20 minutes, to buy alcohol. It is easier and cheaper in Denmark than Sweden. Huh, how funny, now I noticed that a lot of them had carts and trollies to carry their stash home.
Bent telling me about the pillar that was given to Denmark by Sweden.
After lunch, we carried on the mini tour, where Bent also took us to the famous Helsingor ice cream shop, Brostræde, which has been run by the same family since 1922. They make the ice cream themselves and the waffle cones are freshly made daily. It was very light and tasty. While we enjoyed our ice cream, he showed us the two churches, and we wandered down to the Naver Gaarten to have a couple more "cheap" beers. We sat out in their courtyard area, and met Sorren, another member, who takes care of the maintenance in the garden, and a bit more. We chatted and enjoyed the afternoon, arranged to borrow Bent's car for a venture out on Wednesday, then headed back home for a nap, that we didn't end up having.
An original street, narrow, cobbled and uneven. The gutter in the middle was for sewerage.
The Church of Olai and it's spire, named "The Virgin of Helsingør.
Inside the Naver Gaarten, it is a real honor to be invited in.
Camilla came and collected us around 6pm, for dinner at Bettina and Jespers. We were treated to the traditional Danish roast Pork, with new potatoes, pickled red cabbage (Rødkål), sliced cucumber (Agurkesalat), and a very delicious brown sauce. The boys did the cooking, and they did an excellent job. Then it was time for a re-match of 10,000. There was plenty of dice whispering, magic hand waving and cursing, until Will emerged the victor over Camilla, just. The rest of us remained in awe of their skill. A short break for another tradition, Danish Strawberry Cake! No, we didn't need it, but we ate it and it was delicious. Then round three! This time us losers started well, and were determined to beat the winners. All was going well, until midway, then the wheels started falling off, and only Jesper managed to stay in contention with Will and Camilla. On the last roll each, Jesper got to 10,050, but Will had his final roll. He rolled 400, to be equal winner and had a chance to roll again to win.....what to do? Risk it all and possibly lose, or go for it? Us losers were shouting..."Do It! Do It!". He did it. Rolled again, and ..... Bloody well scored 600. Winner again! Ugh, oh well. Fun night, now we will roll our bellies home and sleep off our food babies.
Rødkål, delicious with the pork and new potatoes.
This was so yummy, but totally not good for you.
Wednesday we had planned a unguided outing, in Bents' car. There is a Viking Museum at Roskilde, about 65kms away, that we thought could be interesting. Bent and Will organised the car, while I got into Jenny GPS mode, and sorted out a route to follow. We didn't bring Davo, or Destiny's Child, so me and Maps.me were it.
At 10:30am, Will and I headed out the big white door to the street, where the car was waiting. We were feeling a bit nervous, as being on "the wrong" side of the road is a strange feeling on a bike or as a passenger, but driving, well, glad I'm not doing it. In we go, and while Will familiarised himself with the little VW Lupo, automatic, indicators and wipers (it was raining a little), I gave him his initial directions to exit the narrow streets and take us onto the main road out of town. "At the T junction, turn left!" I repeated it a few seconds later.
Looking a little nervous, but keen for a go. Let's do it Will!
So far so good, and we were heading towards the main road. "At the intersection, turn left (onto the right side of the road)!" You don't get that extra advice from a machine. At the intersection, I added "Look left!". Out of habit, we look right first, but the traffic closest to us, is coming from the left. Done, and we are safely out on the road heading in the right direction. Well done Willsie! So we continued in this way, with me giving directions, always adding the "look left" or "onto the right side of the road", and it was going well.
Will did an awesome job driving, while I took a detour from the route suggested, and found that we couldn't get onto the number 6 route we needed. Never mind, I " recalculated" and got us there via a scenic drive through a couple of smaller villages. He he he, bloody Jenny GPS! The Viking museum was easy to find, and we parked and breathed a sigh of relief. We did it!
Once in the museum, there were a zillion kids, but there was plenty of hands on activities to keep them occupied. Making/painting your own Viking shield or war axe, making rope, chopping wood for your Viking ship and learning how to fight with your newly made weapons. I want to be a kid again. But the museum was really interesting, with some real Viking boats they recovered out of the Roskilde Fjord. They restored what they had recovered, and it took them 25yrs. Wow. The history was interesting, and seeing how far the Vikings reached in their relatively small ships. They even got as far as the USA.
Recovered and rebuilt with the bits they found. Amazing.
They found five boats of various sizes, shuttled to form a barrier across the fjord.
Will doing the all important reading to tell me in easy language, I'll remember.
Life size replica of one of the recovered ships. We are allowed on board.
Watch for the tar Willsie, they use it to waterproof things...it's everywhere.
One of the replicas' you could book a sail on. It was fully hand made and operational.
Once closer to the marina, the tourists have to row. So cool!
After spending so much time in the museum, we were hungry, so decided to have lunch at the cafe, after which we thought a toilet stop would be a good idea before the drive back. Yes, another toilet story.... Well, in I go, with my back to the toilet, I proceed to casually undo my pants, and take them down, when I hear a very definite "ker-plonk"! Uh oh... I know exactly what has happened, and gingerly turn hoping the last person had flushed properly, as my mobile phone had done a very graceful single tuck, pike into the bowl, and was resting nicely on the bottom. Shit! Well thankfully, actually no shit, all was clear, so before my brain could process the level of icky-ness involved, I threw my hand in and recovered the phone, only to thrust it immediately under the tap for a thorough cleaning. Please, please, please Samsung, let this phone live up to it's reputation of being water resistant.
Take us home Willsie.
As I came out giggling to myself, I explained to Will the happenings, and we left giggling together. The drive home was uneventful, and Will was starting to feel less tense, and even thinking he'd be able to handle a manual car on the wrong side of the road. After making it home safely, Will was pretty tired, but pleased with himself. I was pretty pleased too, as he did a great job. We stayed in and had a movie night with pizza, and all the crew. It was another ripper day even though it was a bit colder and rained a little.
Movies and Pizza with the crew after an awesome self drive adventure.
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