A 5:09 sunrise awakened us to the charming port city of Aalborg, on the northern Danish coast. Founded by the Vikings in the late 900's, Aalborg is situated in a gorgeous setting nearly 12 miles from the open Norwegian Sea on the narrowest part of the beautiful Limfjord. Aalborg has a rich Viking history, recognized as early as the 11th century as a key harbor for longships sailing to Norway.
We docked across from Aalborg University, famous for its school of Design and Architecture. The city is full of architectural pearls both modern and old. From our ship we could gaze out at the Utzon Center and see the similarity to the Sydney Opera House. Both were designed by the architect, Jorn Utzon.
The Jens Bangs House is a prominent part of the cityscape. Situated on the town square, it is considered one of the finest examples of Renaissance mansions in Denmark.
Jens Bang was a prominent merchant in the 1600's, who loved splendor and
thus the heavy ornamentation on his house. During his time it was
whispered that the many grotesque masks and figure heads decorating his
building were actually caricatures of his many enemies and it was his
way of getting revenge. Even though he was the wealthiest man in the
city, he was never allowed to rule which is why some say he put a
caricature of himself sitting on the gable of his house sticking his
tongue out at City Hall!
The building was bought by a pharmacist in the mid 1700's and his apothecary has been handed down through generations of his family and is still there today.
There is a picturesque view of the Church of Our Lady on the old Hjelmerstald Street.
The Aalborg Kloster dates all the way back to 1434 and is the oldest and best preserved monastary in Denmark.
In the city square we heard the sounds of screaming, giggling children and it turns out there was a wind simulator in the square that children could stand in front of and be blown forcefully by the generated wind. They were having so much fun! Aalborg's University has a major international center for the development of wind power technology. These kids are learning firsthand the power of wind energy!
The shopping streets were lines with quaint restaurants getting ready to open. This one caught our eye with its simple Danish decor in blue and white. Wish I could take one of these woven chairs home with me!
You could also see the tops of their stone pillars that held up their longhouses. These were actually made from an early type of cement. Interesting, as we tend to think of cement as a modern day construction material.
Since the field is strewn with these rocks, it makes it difficult to mow with machine mowers. They use biological mowers- sheep! Of course we had to watch where we stepped and there was a shoe scraper at the door of the museum!
One of the sheep reminded us of our favorite black and grey curly horned sheep, Nutmeg, back in the days when we raised sheep in Maine for Page's wool spinning.
Inside the museum were excellent displays of Viking village life, on the site we visited and several Viking artifacts.
On our way back to the ship we visited an "allotment garden." Allotment gardens are on land owned by the city of Aalborg which then leases the land to an allotment association made up of members who pay a fee to belong to the association. Today there are 400 allotment associations in 75 municipalities in Denmark and the idea of allotment gardens has spread to other European countries. Members of the association get a piece of land they can garden on, since they live in the city where they have no land. Many of the allotment gardens are just that- a place where city residents can grow flowers and food. However, many members have erected pavilions on their plots or small seasonal cottages. Some even have greenhouses erected on them to grow plants year round. Many people grow so fond of their allotment gardens that they live there from spring to early fall, close it up for the winter, and return to their city home which is often less than 5 miles away! The couple we visited had beautiful flower beds, a greenhouse, a very cluttered cottage, a "man shed" where her husband hung out, lots of veggies growing, including corn, fruit trees and berry bushes. All of the allotment gardens in the association we visited (which had over 100 garden plots) are divided by a tall hedge and each is accessible by a narrow lane road. Most keep their bicycles there to travel to and from their city home.
Our hosts were very gracious and offered us an aquavit toast. Aquavit used to be distilled in Aalborg but was bought out by a Norwegian company which is now making it. It has a slight taste of caraway seed.
It was a good day to experience Danish culture both old and new. On our way back to the ship we were met by the "hot dog man" who parks his hot dog shed right across from the ship's dock to welcome visitors to Aalborg with a free hot dog! No wonder Aalborg has been ranked the happiest city in Europe, and it also happens to be in the happiest country in Europe, Denmark.
After dinner we were entertained by the ship's performers with an ABBA show (the Swedish band that was second to the Beatles in the number of albums sold worldwide), bringing back memories of the ABBA songs we used to hear on the radio in the 70's! It was fun to sing along with many of the songs we remembered.
The sun set at 9:42 as we cruised to Norway.
We docked across from Aalborg University, famous for its school of Design and Architecture. The city is full of architectural pearls both modern and old. From our ship we could gaze out at the Utzon Center and see the similarity to the Sydney Opera House. Both were designed by the architect, Jorn Utzon.
The Jens Bangs House is a prominent part of the cityscape. Situated on the town square, it is considered one of the finest examples of Renaissance mansions in Denmark.
There is a picturesque view of the Church of Our Lady on the old Hjelmerstald Street.
The Aalborg Kloster dates all the way back to 1434 and is the oldest and best preserved monastary in Denmark.
The shopping streets were lines with quaint restaurants getting ready to open. This one caught our eye with its simple Danish decor in blue and white. Wish I could take one of these woven chairs home with me!
David and Page went to the archeological site, Lindholm
Hoje, where archeologists found several Viking burial sites and settlements
going all the way back to the Iron Age. We walked through the woods, passed a flock of sheep on a hillside, and came to the top of a hill with
a large field strewn with stones. It reminded us of our field of granite rocks
in Maine, except these were laid out in circles for a purpose!
Due to the sand drift, the result of wind erosion after the
forests were cut down for wood, the site was completely covered by sand in the
year 1000 AD which preserved the stone markings for over a thousand years and eventually uncovered the secrets of
Viking life. Over 700 graves have been uncovered by removing the sand, and the
remains of the Viking longhouses and fences have also been discovered. The
stone circles are actually where they laid out the funeral pyre for the
cremation of Vikings. The larger the stone circle, the more important the
person. Sometimes a stone was
placed in the very center.
Since the field is strewn with these rocks, it makes it difficult to mow with machine mowers. They use biological mowers- sheep! Of course we had to watch where we stepped and there was a shoe scraper at the door of the museum!
One of the sheep reminded us of our favorite black and grey curly horned sheep, Nutmeg, back in the days when we raised sheep in Maine for Page's wool spinning.
Inside the museum were excellent displays of Viking village life, on the site we visited and several Viking artifacts.
On our way back to the ship we visited an "allotment garden." Allotment gardens are on land owned by the city of Aalborg which then leases the land to an allotment association made up of members who pay a fee to belong to the association. Today there are 400 allotment associations in 75 municipalities in Denmark and the idea of allotment gardens has spread to other European countries. Members of the association get a piece of land they can garden on, since they live in the city where they have no land. Many of the allotment gardens are just that- a place where city residents can grow flowers and food. However, many members have erected pavilions on their plots or small seasonal cottages. Some even have greenhouses erected on them to grow plants year round. Many people grow so fond of their allotment gardens that they live there from spring to early fall, close it up for the winter, and return to their city home which is often less than 5 miles away! The couple we visited had beautiful flower beds, a greenhouse, a very cluttered cottage, a "man shed" where her husband hung out, lots of veggies growing, including corn, fruit trees and berry bushes. All of the allotment gardens in the association we visited (which had over 100 garden plots) are divided by a tall hedge and each is accessible by a narrow lane road. Most keep their bicycles there to travel to and from their city home.
Our hosts were very gracious and offered us an aquavit toast. Aquavit used to be distilled in Aalborg but was bought out by a Norwegian company which is now making it. It has a slight taste of caraway seed.
It was a good day to experience Danish culture both old and new. On our way back to the ship we were met by the "hot dog man" who parks his hot dog shed right across from the ship's dock to welcome visitors to Aalborg with a free hot dog! No wonder Aalborg has been ranked the happiest city in Europe, and it also happens to be in the happiest country in Europe, Denmark.
After dinner we were entertained by the ship's performers with an ABBA show (the Swedish band that was second to the Beatles in the number of albums sold worldwide), bringing back memories of the ABBA songs we used to hear on the radio in the 70's! It was fun to sing along with many of the songs we remembered.
The sun set at 9:42 as we cruised to Norway.
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