Scandinavia

Round About Rungsted

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Aug 032010

Our final days and nights were in Rungsted on the Oresund coast, eighteen miles from Copenhagen. Positioned in a six to eight mile radius of the final highlights for our trip, Louisiana, Karen Blixen Museum, Frederiksborg Castle and Kronborg Castle. Rungsted is a tourist coast hamlet for Danes with lots of sailing and affluence. Menus are not in English so we ate with locals or Danish visitors and huddled under umbrellas or dining canopies when it predictably rained every night at dusk. It was a very relaxed atmosphere which was a perfect way to end our glorious trip.

Our bodies are tired and our grateful hearts are headed homeward. We have been deeply affected and inspired by what we have seen, experienced and learned.

: Welcome to Louisiana

: Interior Gallery

: The Ultimate Setting

: Moore in the Park

: Never too much Moore

: Even Moore

: The Formal Original Setting

: More Moore

: Karen Blixen Museum

: Mix of Africa Memorabilia and Traditional

: Old and Newer

: The Gardens Behind the House

: Another Front View of the House

: Planted to Maximize Flowers throughout the Seasons

: The Littlest Mermaid

Arhus

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Aug 032010

Arhus is Denmark’s second largest city and like Copenhagen, it too melds contemporary architecture with the rich historical heritage. An attraction for us to come to Arhus was Den Gamle By–“the old town”–a living history museum founded in 1909 to depict Danish urban history and cultural development. We have visited other open air museums but their focus has been on Danish agrarian life over the last one thousand years.

Here in Den Gamle By buildings and interiors have come from all over Denmark and are clustered together to recreate and demonstrate the development of a typical Danish market town. Most of the buildings are timber-framed Renaissance structures from a period of rapid economic growth when specialty “industries” were established in the downstairs with living quarters above. The joiner,tailor, apothecary, distillary, tobacco merchant and weaver are all here in wonderful and accessible detail enriched by “people of the period” delightfully interacting and sharing details of daily life of the period they represent.

Tomorrow we have the grand finale with a visit to Louisiana, Denmark’s lovely modern art museum and Isak Dinesen/Karen Blixen Museum. Both are very close to where we have been staying on the Oresund coast.

: The Mill Stream

: Tobacco Cutting Table

: The Tobacco M ill

: The Mayor’s Summerhouse

: The Well

: Mayor’s House on the Square

: Thatched Roof Cottage

: At the Mill

: A Scullery Maid

: Street Scene

: Thatched Half-timbered House

All About Bergen

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Jul 312010

Oslo to Bergen was a day of breathtaking fjord scenery. Famous as “Norway in a Nutshell,” we climbed between granite outcroppings on winding roads with white birch sentinels edging the pine forests. Suddenly we would dive into a long craggy tunnel and come out over sparkling water reflecting lush valleys and red farm buildings. On one such tunnel entrance we were crowded on either side of the tunnel opening by a herd of sheep who had apparently sought shade and nearly ended up as lamb chops. The road is swift and treacherous and there is NO PLACE ALLOCATED FOR KODAK MOMENTS!

We arrived in Bergen and with guidance from the Goddess (Usually Brillant Emily Garman) and NUMEROUS RECALCULATIONS, bumping over closed off cobblestone one way streets the wrong way and nearly hitting the trillions of tourists meandering just off the cruise boats, we finally found our new neighborhood.

: Sognefjord Views

: More Fjord Views

: Fjords and More Fjords

: Yet Another

: On the Drive from Oslo to Bergen

: Glacial Moraine

: Flam, A Tiny Toursist Launching Village

: Bryggen Waterfront Houses

: Bryggen Manhole Cover

: Around the Block from our Apartment

: Down Toward the Waterfront from our Apartment

: Another Veiw of the Signature Seven

: The Narrow Alleyways between the Hanseatic League’s Tenements

: Inside the Tenements

Oslo–Our Last Day

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Jul 262010

Rain and cold returned and so the former pictures of the sparkling fjords and boat basins look wintery and gray.

We began this morning with the resistance museum. It is still inspiring what these countries have endured and overcome. It was then more Munch, as in only Munch at his very own museum. We then tested their public transport system–rail trams as well as subway–and lots of walking. Topping off the day with a visit to the palace, home of the beloved King and Queen. No interior visit, just the beautiful grounds and gardens and the changing of the guard, note the brushy helmet piece. Enough palace interiors already!

We are off to Bergen right after breakfast driving up through what is referred to as “Norway in a Nutshell.”

: Just Me and FDR

: FDR’s View

: Bikes to Borrow and Return

: Vigeland Park

: The Bridge Lined with 58 Bronze Studies of the Human Body

More Oslo…

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Jul 252010

Yet another fascinating day!!

Early out to catch the boat to Bygdoy Peninsula and a visit to Frammuseet (Housing the wooden explorer ship that made three polar expeditions between 1893 and 1912), the Kon-Tiki Museum (I made a 10th grade report on this expedition) and finally the Norsk Folkemuseum showing 155 traditional houses from all over Norway and including the Gal Stave Church from 1200.

Pictures below have more details behind. So double click if you are interested. Also the Folke Museum pictures are on a separate page. Double click on categories in the upper left to see details and pictures about the Folke Museum. By now it must be clear that you are on the wrong blog if you don’t like social history. Battles and bullets just are not my thing.