Monday, June 30, 2014

We had a great morning in Copenhagen yesterday...we ate breakfast with the whole family and then my cousin and her boyfriend took us to the airport.

 I actually found the Gammel Dansk (it directly translates to"Old Danish") and it is an old traditional Danish beverage that most don't drink anymore. I saw a travel channel documentary about Denmark and they interviewed an old man that swore Gammel Dansk is the best thing to find in Denmark, so in honor of the old man I had to take a picture with it. 


And the picture below is our first view of the British countryside.


And then of course I got a bit touristy in Cambridge...so the rest are pictures of Cambridge. Most are of King's College where I'm living. 





The picture below is not King's College...it is of an Ostrich farmer at the town market cooking ostrich burgers. They smelled really good, and if I had cash on me I would have tried one. 


The next three pictures of flowers are Pembroke College.



And King's again...




And how of course could I be in a country for more than a day without spotting a post box? So here is a British post box. I think Denmark has them beat when it comes to looks.



The next five pictures are just from around the town of Cambridge.









This last one of the college campus is King's College as well. And as for the three pictures after that... I bought a Coke this evening and saw the new ad campaign for Coke. I do enjoy Coke's ad campaign, and decided that if I can't share the Coke with "Mum," I can at least share the view I enjoyed whilst drinking it. So here's to you "Mum"... enjoy the view. I couldn't decide whether the black and white was too much or not, so I decided to leave both pictures. And the selfie with the Coke was necessary as well (at least I thought). 








Saturday, June 28, 2014



Today we went to lunch with the family and then went shopping with two of my cousins. Of course, we passed the old tea store that has been in business since the mid-1800s and my fiancee had  to go buy some tea. It was really neat...they still use the old metal scales and the old register just like they did when it opened.  It is the picture below, by the way.


And I of course mailed a postcard to my parents and Pop Pop back home. :-) Since I love postal services so much, I think a picture of me dropping the postcards off was fitting. :-)


Before dinner we went to Nyhavn and enjoyed time there one last time, since we leave tomorrow.  











And I posted the picture below because I just love the split timber buildings over here.


Friday, June 27, 2014

This morning was very nice...we met up with my cousin and went to Kastellet... an old army base still in use today. It's really nice, and the Gefion Fountain is there, along with the little mermaid statue. We enjoyed the day there, then went to her place so she could show us where she lives. After that, we went to Søborg to see where my grandmother grew up... the house she grew up in and everything. We got out of the car, and there was an old lady walking down the street,so I asked my cousin if she would ask the lady to take a picture of us in front of the house.... the lady said yes, and also told us that she lived in the house. She bought it last year, and the lady she bought it from had lived there for over 50 years. It was probably the person that bought the house from my great grandfather when the family moved away. The lady also took us in the back to show us the garden and what the house looked like from the back. I must admit, the house has seen many better days, but the current owner said she was restoring it and was going to repaint it and  everything in the next year. Then we went to Husum, where my grandmother lived as a very little girl before they moved to the house in Søborg. It was not as nice.... you know, very small apartment. After we saw where my grandmother grew up, we went to my wonderful great Uncle Svend's apartment. He cooked a shrimp cocktail and leg of lamb. He knows I love history, especially world war II... so he gave me a very special object. His wife (my great aunt) had a brother named Jørgen. This is what Great Uncle Svend's translated from Svend: "Mu Uncle - brother of my mother Lisbet, couldn't get a job in Denmark during World War 2. He was working with steel and he moved to Kiel in Germany during the war, because that was the only place he could get a job. They were bombing Kiel, close to where he was working. They had to hide in a safe place. After the bombardment, he went back, and the only thing that was left from his working spot was this piece of metal shrapnel. He went back to Denmark - it was too dangerous to be in Kiel, Germany." I have to say, it is one of the coolest things I have ever seen. And according to Uncle Svend, my grandmother was good friends with Jorgen. 

This picture below is  of the english church in Copenhagen.




And below is of the Gefion Fountain.





These pictures are inside the English Church.





And the pictures below, going all the way down to the windmill are at Kastellet, the military base.

















 And the picture below is the last of the pictures of Kastellet.



The island shown in the picture below is where Uncle Svend was stationed while in the Danish army. It is several hundred years old, and is no longer used by the military. It is instead used as a rental place for corporate teambuilding.


And below begins the pictures of the journey to see where my grandmother grew up. 


The street sign below is the street she lived on.


The old lady living in the house took this picture.


And here are some nice pictures of the old backyard. As with the house, the garden could use a bit of work.








And the building below is the school where my grandmother went.


This below is the apartment where my grandmother and her family lived before moving to the house shown above.




And below is the piece of shrapnel Uncle Svend gave me.