Eleventh Post From Türkiye: Denmark

Famous musician from Denmark that I listened to to get in the spirit to write this post: Lars Ulrich (Metallica). That's right, I listened to a drum solo on youtube. I didn't need to listen to more, I was immersed in Metallica back when I worked in a restaurant and the cooks would crank it while we prepped to open. Did I ever tell you I had a dream that I was engaged to Lars Ulrich? I remember that I was super happy in the dream because he was rich and I could spend as much as I wanted on the wedding. Does this mean I'm shallow/materialist at heart? Probably. Anyway, we took the overnight ferry from Norway to Denmark. It was fun and we went to a super fancy buffet dinner. It was crazy because the boat was totally rocking because of the stormy seas and we were stumbling around but the Scandinavians acted like nothing was happening and continued on with their dinning experience. Fun times with a cheese platter!

We woke up and drove off the boat and straight to ...

LEGOLAND!!!

There was much joy and rejoicing by the Rowes while experiencing the delights of Legoland. It was a beautiful day, nice and cool and the park was not too busy. We had a great time.

We headed from there through the lovely countryside to Jelling to see the rune-stones & burial mounds.

The Jelling stones are massive carved rune-tones from the 10th century.

It was so gorgeous there and peaceful! The stones are really cool.

We stayed the night in Odense (birth place of :Hans Christian Andersen) in a beautiful bed and breakfast.

In the morning we discovered this crazy play area in the square by our B&B.

We drove from Odense to the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde. They have several ships that have been restored and a lot of interactive stuff as well as workshops where they build replica boats and make sails using the Viking methods.

 We headed out from there to Copenhagen.

We started right off with a boat tour of the canals.

 On the tour we went by the Little Mermaid,

 and the Royal Palace, among other things.

After the tour we walked around a bit to see a few things.

Town Hall

The Lur Blowers.

Hans Christian Andersen sculpture

 

Spent some time, taking goofy photos.

The next day we did a walking tour and started off on the pedestrian street 

Strøget with some chocolaty churros.

 Saw some of the beautiful half-timbered buildings in the back streets.

 Found that you can see jellyfish as well as bikes in the canals.

Stopped in St. Peter's church and the youth choir was singing. There were just a few of them but the acoustics in that old church amplified them beautifully. It was wonderful.

Then we went to the Church of Our Lady to see the original Christus. We were there during their services and sat in the back. We couldn't understand the words but some of the hymns were familiar and the music and surroundings were beautiful. It is a beautiful church and beside the Christus the sides are lined with statues of the 12 apostles. It was a special experience being there.

We also spent an evening at Tivoli Gardens. Tivoli is a famous amusement park, it opened on 15 August 1843 and is the second oldest amusement park in the world. It was so fun and the old rides are so well maintained and the whole park is just beautiful! We loved it!

  The next day was our last (sad) but we got in a few sights before our flight. 

 Frederiksborg Castle

Everybody should have a throne made of Ivory & a throne made of Silver.

This is probably my favorite picture from the trip. This guy looked like a crazy 70's Muppet. The extreme bluriness also brings me joy. He was the coolest.

So glad we went to Scandinavia!

  

Tenth Post From Türkiye: Norway

So to continue my new tradition of listening to music from the country I visited to prepare to write about it I spent some time with a-ha. Basically I watched the video for Take On Me on youtube. And may I just say, that is a most excellent video! You should watch it immediately after you finish reading this blog.

 Anyway, we went to Norway.

Oslo!

I really liked Oslo! It just seemed to be fun and kind of laid back. There were lots of street performers and art and people out and about enjoying their city.

We stayed in this Pension in a great neighborhood.
 Really close to the Royal Palace.

We started out at City Hall. They hold the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony there & it is a really interesting building with a lot of great art.

We continued our walking tour at the harbor.

 Down Karl Johansgate (pedestrian street). Where we kept seeing youngsters dressed up 50's style. Not sure why but I liked it!  

 Passed through a flower market.

 Tried to visit the Oslo Cathedral, but it was closed every time we went by, so we contented ourselves by visiting the Bazaar behind the cathedral.

 Took in the Opera House. So gorgeous.

There is Jack and Truman's hand at the very top!

Then we walked up to the fortress to explore...

 and enjoy the veiw!

 We took the tram from there out to Frogner Park

It is an amazing park filled with the sculpture of Gustav Vigeland. It was so cool!

Here is Truman with his favorite sculpture, a man being attacked by babies.

And Jack with the famous "Angry Baby" statue.

At this point it was getting seriously dark and not to be too wimpy but we decided to call it a day.

The next day we got up early to catch a ferry.

It was a gorgeous morning!

We took the ferry out to visit the Viking Museum

Loving it! Feeling their Viking Roots!

 

and the Norsk Folk Museum. The folk museum is a large park with preserved buildings and cultural exhibits (You could sign up to pick potatoes the day we were there. Yikes! I have done that enough in my life and I didn't sign up for the privilege!) as well as some excellent museums.

We took the ferry back over to downtown, it was another beautiful trip!

Then we toured The National Gallery.

 Mostly so Trum could see The Scream in person.

 Then we kind of wandered around and stopped in at this flea market. Full of fun junk!

The next day we headed out to see more of Norway.

The countryside,

 the fjordes,

 Stave Churches,

 rivers & towns!

We had booked a night in a traditional sod roofed cabin and we just couldn't find the place. Finally we called and we were told we would be met by a guy who would take us to the cabin. We found him and started following him up the mountain. We kept going up and up and I started to get a little creeped, I told Jack the guy was probably leading us to his murdering spot. But instead he led us to an awesome cabin. We want one for our very own some day (without the the creeped out, murdering spot bit before hand)!

Our cabin, nestled in amongst the rocks and trees of Norway!

 

The next day we continued on our road trip through such beautiful country.

We went up in the Jotunheimen Mountains and it was COLD!

We stopped to hike to the Nigardsbreen arm of the large Jostedalsbreen glacier. The hike was long, but beautiful and totally worth it. The glacier was amazing.

The parking lot were we started the hike.

 

 The next day we headed to Bergen. It is a beautiful town with a great historic harbor.

Burgers in the rain!

Old German section with restored wooden buildings and narrow walkways.

Perhaps the most charming McDonald's of all time.

 From Bergen we left Norway via an overnight ferry to...Denmark!

Random Stuff from around Norway:

Guy with homemade cotton candy machine, selling enormous balls of candy floss.

Not to be a creep always taking pictures of other people's houses, but I had to, this is an awesome Norwegian house!

Stuffed Reindeer at an exhibit about the Sami People.