March 9th (Day 2 in Denmark)

Ok…lots to say today. First off, last night we went to have dinner at a German style pub and they began to sing drinking songs in the bar. Would you believe they played Almost Heaven by John Denver? …”Country roads….take me home…to the place…where I belong…West Virginia…mountain mamma…take me home…country roads.” It was weird to think that I was sitting down for my first real meal since I had left my house in West Virginia and there we were 4 thousand miles away in a pub in Denmark and they are joyfully singing about West Virginia. Not to mention they played Achy Breaky Heart too. So weird in a Danish accent! Anyhow, we all pretty much came home and passed out after a very long day. (By the way…if you ever come to Denmark, get a pin number for your credit card. They really like pin numbers for every transaction, otherwise take cash.)

So, today we all slept well and brought our baggies to breakfast with us with a few comments from the Swedes. We started at the cathedral across the street this morning. “A” took communion and we all admired the architecture of the 13th-16th century. So much detail and grandeur…it was amazing. We walked around the town and bought some bus cards and made our way to Den Gamle By or “Old Town”. There were buildings from the 17th, 18th, and 19th century reconstructed to the time period. Each had exhibits of different merchants or townspeople in the area. I think we all enjoyed looking into the past and seeing what life was like then and how much it has changed. However, I wouldn’t want to be the scullery made who slept in the drawer/bed in the kitchen. Then we walked to the Fine Art museum. Before I go into our adventure there, I have to make a comment about the walking. No wonder this country has one of the lowest BMI’s (Body Mass Indexes), because everybody walks or bikes everywhere. (Check out the pictures of the bikes and baby buggies.) We passed a tour of Americans at Den Gamle By and it was obvious they were Americans because of their weight. I mean, going into health care I know that obesity is an issue, but only one day here and I can tell the difference in health. Danish skin texture, vivacity, and just overall appearance is so much more healthy. Just a revelation a few of us shared today as we earned our “Danish” legs. So, then we were off to the Fine Art museum. I really enjoyed the top floor which was the modern era, but really from the 17th-early 20th century. The other floors were predominantly contemporary art. There were some interesting expressions of “art” to say the least. If you ask anyone about the model plane attached to the string…I am sure they will tell you. But be prepared for a belly laugh and some creative explanations. Let’s just say the Danes are much more liberal than Americans in what they call art…or at least it seems so. We all decided to walk to dinner and enjoyed a wonderful meal and evening together. On our way home we ran into our first homeless person. This entire town is extraordinarily clean and I really get the feeling homelessness is rare. This man decided to take a nap in front of us on the rainy street. He didn’t understand us and we concluded he was drunk, but couldn’t be sure if he needed help or not. So we solicited some locals to interpret and Nick gave the guy a sandwich. Last we saw those folks were still trying to help him. Now, we are enjoying an evening in the common room of our hotel playing cards, writing home and just enjoying each other...oh yeah, and discussing "time". Enjoy our new pictures and we hope you see more tomorrow.