After a quick flight from Berlin to Copenhagen our friend Daniel met us at the arrivals gate. It was so nice to see an old friend. It had been almost 6 years since we had seen him last.
Seeing that we had been in Denmark in 2004 we had seen a lot of Copenhagen. Daniel did want to show us a bit of the city so we walked around the main tourist area. We passed the royal residence and watched the changing of the guard as well as walked down the pedestrian shopping area. The last stop was for a famous Copenhagen hot dog which was very yummy.
After exploring the city center and getting lost we finally found the car and were on our way to the Diesel House (museum). This is at a power plant where one of the largest diesel engines in the world is housed. This was a bit more exciting for Dave than me but still pretty cool. Our last stop in Copenhagen was a place called Christainia. This is an area of the city where people don't pay rent or taxes and I even think power is free. It is an alternative community inside the city. I am sure if I wanted I could have easily got any drug I wanted! We then headed west out of Copenhagen to Daniels house in the state of Jutland. It was raining so we didn't get to see the 19 km bridge that connects the country. We arrived to his house in the town of Sunds to meet his girlfriend Louise and 4 month baby Gustav. Louise had a wonderful home cooked meal ready when we arrived.
The next day we all went for a chilly walk around the lake in Sunds. They live in a quaint little town with a lot of elderly residents. Daniel works for a company in the town that manufactures heat exchangers that people put in their homes to utilize municipal hot water heating. That afternoon we headed over to his parents house in Vildbjerg and played a lawn game where you try to knock over wooden blocks by throwing a stick. It was still quite cold in Denmark so we didn't stay out too long. Daniel's entire family came for dinner as we had met his brother, sister and parents the last time we visited Denmark and also when they travelled as a family through the US and Canada. Lilian (Daniels mom) made us a wonderful traditional Danish meal of pork loin, candied potatoes and pickled cabbage. There was never a point in the evening that we were not eating or drinking something.
Our next excursion was up to the northern part of Denmark. In a 2 hour drive you can go from the middle of the country to the north! Here we went to a WW2 bunker museum. It is a bunker and and artillery battery the Germans installed after they took over Denmark. It was huge! The next day we went East to the city of Aahus. This is the city Daniel and Louise went to University. We checked out the city and then went to a Viking museum. Here there is a preserved man from 250BC. He was found in a bog not far from the city.
Our last evening we headed to the barn where Daniel's brother's girlfriend keeps her Icelandic horses. She let me go for a ride and try out the Icelandic gate of a toort This is where the horse does a very fast type of walk that is extremely smooth. Also that evening we stopped at Daniels friends place as they were putting together a joke for another friend. In the Danish tradition if you have a friend who turns 30 and isn't married they put something on their lawn to tell everyone. Daniels friends had 2 large straw bales and put a fake pig on top. Inside the pig they had put a siren on a timer that would go off at all times of the day.
We ended up flying out of the small town of Karup back to Copenhagen to catch our flight to Iceland. It was so nice to see Daniel and his family and to meet his wonderful girlfriend and adorable son. We left Denmark well fed and sad to be leaving.