A Weekend With Family Part II

On Sunday,  the four of us (Birgitte, Gwen, Natasha, Ole) started our adventure in jægerspris, at the castle of King Frederik VII. Having chosen to marry a commoner, Frederik and his wife (Countess Danner) moved to Jægerspris in the 1850s. After Frederik's death the Countess turned the castle into a house for children, and still today a section of the estate is used for this purpose.

(Frederik VII's Study)

After seeing this great piece of history we headed up to Roskilde to see history of an older sort. The first stop in Roskilde was the Cathedral, which due to it being Easter Sunday, was closed for tours. Despite not being able to take a tour one can still tell from its looming presense the importance of this church. Having been studying Danish history for a year I know of its importance in many facets. From an architecture standpoint, Roskilde Cathedral was the first of gothic style to be built of brick. From a historical view of the monarchy, Roskilde Cathedral has served as a royal burial place since the 15th century, though it has only hosted one coronation that of Kind Canute VI. Queen Margrethe I was the first to find her place of rest here, when in 1414 her body was moved from its former resting place to set a precedent of Roskilde being the Royal resting place.

From the great piece of Danish history that is Roskilde Cathedral, we went to yet an older piece of history - the world of the Vikings.

One can not be in Denmark without hearing or seeing remnants of the nation's Viking past. In order to learn about this past, the best place to go is the Roskilde Viking Museum - complete with Viking tales, facts of Viking life, replicas of viking ships, and the remains of viking ships.

Besides just seeing the ships, due to Ole's encouragement, I doned Viking garments and boarded a replica vessel. Despite my initial reluctance, I actually think this was kind of nice. Now I have evident that I am a Modern Danish Viking at heart!!

And with the grande finale of becoming a Viking, our Sunday adventure came to a close. I can not thank Ole and Birgitte enough for this weekend of experiences!

Vi Ses!