When Ole told me about a family get together that his family was holding in Bording, Denmark (a town in Jutland), I was excited to go see Jutland and meet some families living outside of Copenhagen. On Saturday (the 25th) we kicked off our adventure to Jutland. Instead of going directly to Bording we stopped at Odense, the birthplace of Hans Christien Andersen. The house or hus where he was born is still there, and now part of the H.C. Andersen Musuem. For those of you that don't recognize the name H.C. Andersen, it is the author of tales such as Tin Soldier, Thumbelina, Emperor's New Clothes, The Ugly Duckling, The Little Mermaid, and many more. Between his fairy tales and novels it is suffice to say that he is an extraordinary figure in Danish literature. The picture to the right is the plaque that Odense put on the house that H.C. Andersen's family lived in and where he was born.
Here I am in front of the H.C. Andersen's House!
Next to the life size model of H.C. Andersen, the teller of tales. He used tp entertain the children of his friends with stories, and paper cut outs. How lucky those kids were who got to hear the tales from the teller himself.
After spending time at the Museum, we went to lunch in Odense and I got to try Flødebolle. This is a very Danish chocolate. It is a dome of chocolate that is filled with almost a marshmellow substance made of egg whites. The bottom of the dome is a wafer cookie. They are really delicious, but something I have to learn how to eat. If you look them up you will be able to see why it is hard to eat them neatly.
From there we continued on to Bording where I got to meet a lot of Ole's family. They really are such nice people. People often say in the U.S. that the Italian families are all about showing that they care through food, but those people must have just been to Italy and the U.S.. During the whole trip to Jutland there was always so much food. I have gotten some emails inquiring about the food so I will elaborate during this post.
As soon as we entered into the door at Ole's cousin's house we were served a dessert. It is a kind of rice pudding, though it has more cream than in the US. It was served with hot cherries in a syrup on top. This is something that they typically eat at Christmastime. So if you want a new twist to your rice pudding try adding hot cherries, I can vouch for it being a great combination.
During our visit with Ole's family a lot of the time I was not completely sure what was going on, but it was wonderful none the less. (Oh how I wish I knew Danish) Ole's Aunt had just come back from living in Canada, thus the get together, so there were family members that I was able to talk to. However, I loved just listening and trying to figure out what is going on. Later in the afternoon tea and cake was served. Though they had a layered cake, and cookies I preferred the dessert which was the mix of a sweet bread and a pastry complete with raisins. It was absolutely delicious. It was shortly after this that we left Ole's cousin's house, and heading to Ans (another town in Jutland) where we were to stay the night with Ole and Birgitte's friends' family.
This was a great experience, we were at the table from about 7 to 12, talking, eating and enjoying each others company. I had a terrific time, and I learned a lot about Danes (everything I learned was good). Over the time span we were at the table we had homemade pizza with sausage, ham, and vegetables, fruit, a brownie and ice cream dessert, chips (much later in the evening), tea, beer, and wine. Needless to say I was not starving as I went to sleep saturday night.
The next morning we had breakfast at nine before leaving. The breakfast buffet was complete with breads, cheeses, fruits, sausage, bacon, eggs, liver pate, tea, orange juice, and apple juice. It seems like it would be impossible for someone to leave Jutland hungry, or at least I didn't!
After leaving this amazing family, we stopped by Moesgård Museum, which my Aunt Laura would have adored. It is jam packed with historical archeological finds from Denmark, including Grauballe Man which is a body that has been preserved in a peat pit from the Iron Age in Denmark. Thought to have been a sacrifice to the gods, he was found almost perfectly preserved.
Continuing on from the museum we had one more stop to make before heading back to Copenhagen, and this was another great part of Danish history, the Jelling Stones. These are two stones erected in the 900s. The first was erected by King Gorm the old in memory of his wife Thyra, and the second was erected by his son Harald Bluetooth in honor of his parents The large stone in the following pictures is the one erected by Harald, while this smaller was done by his father. This is significant since it is one of the earliest writings about Denmark. UNESCO has made this a world heritage site, and the stones are soon to be sealed in a glass container to prevent further deterioration. So it is very special that I was able to get up close and personal with these pieces of history.
Here I am with the Jelling stones.
Thus concludes my trip to Jutland. My thanks go to Ole and Birgitte for including me in this adventure, among other adventures. I also must give credit to Ole for the amazing photography.
