Let's do it!

Well, our 4-1/2 month adventure is almost over. We've had wonderful experiences, visited lots of amazing places, and enjoyed the company of many interesting folk whom we have met along the way. The opportunity for this experience is due to the generosity of our four exchange families who have opened their homes to us, which we very much appreciate. They have all told us that they have had an equally fantastic time in our home on the Sunny Coast. A fantastic way to see the world!!

It has also been wonderful to share so many special times with Aaron and Rikke, and especially to have the opportunity to be with, and get to know Olivia .... special times we will treasure.

It has been a pleasure to be here again and enjoy the culture and the friendliness of the Danish people, but the time has come for us to head home.
And it has been great fun to share it all with you on our blog. No doubt we'll be talking about it for some time yet!!

I'll say no more, but will instead leave you with some lovely images of Aarhus.

Our inner-city apartment building - 30sec. to coffee shop!! Magasin department store is the building on the far right.

Our 2nd floor inner city apartment ... yes, that is me waving!!

Our first dinner together in our exchange apartment

Aarhus theatre

Looking towards Magasin department store. This is a trendy restaurant strip beside the canal.

Magasin department store

Lovely traditional houses in Møllestien (just across from our apartment building)

These small houses in Møllestien date from the 17th, 18th and 19thC.

One part of the pedestrian mall (early on a Sunday morning), stores already bedecked with Christmas decorations.

Danes have a special affinity with their national flag. It has pride of place whatever the celebration.

Looking towards the Domkirke

Looking to domkirke

Full moon over Aarhus - early morning

Rubbish collection .. the underground bin is picked up, opened from the bottom and emptied into the truck.

Bicycles are a favourite mode of transport

Entrance Hotel Royal - also Aarhus's Casino

The ducks found refuge on some debris in the canal

Råbar - great raw, vegan restaurant by the canal

My first snow ... well, probably more correct to call it sleet. It was fun to watch the flurries fall, but it only lasted a few minutes so I only had time to take this one pic.

Olivia's toys frozen in her bike carrier

Some of the local sculptures and street art that caught my eye ...

Sculpture carved from old tree - by the canal

Sculpture carved from old tree - by the canal

An exhibition of broken pianos. Couldn't work out what it was for, but people were having a play as a couple of the pianos still worked ok.

Street art (this one is on the side of our apartment building)

Street art

Street art

This is my favourite

Local sculpture

Sculpture - entrance Hotel Royal. Hmm .. I don't get it!!!

'Madam' - while this is the title, the sculpture also has confusing male characteristics. Very interesting.

An excellent metalwork sculpture. It has many different elements and perspectives. Even the frame around the door is exceptional.

Fun with the kids

Autumn leaves

A lovely day in Mariager

Playing 'peek-a-boo' with Grandma

The cobbled streets of Mariager. We had a lovely lunch in the traditional style cafe (building with the flags).

Sharing a joke

Preparing apple tart together

Play doh's a winner

Checking out the sights on Saturday morning

Coffee and cake on Saturday morning walk around town

Sharing 'early' Christmas glogg, a hot, mulled wine. Delicious.

Olivia at play

To finish the party here's Chas's party trick ...

On a cold, wet and very windy day Chas and I took a trip to Ebeltoft, a little town north of Aarhus in an area called Djursland, known as the nose of Denmark. This is a lovely part of Denmark with the Mols Bjerge national park close by.

One of the main attractions in Ebeltoft is The Frigate Jylland, a restored Danish Naval ship from the 1800s, and the world's longest wooden ship. Built in Copenhagen, she sailed as a warship from 1862-1874, becoming a national symbol when she won the battle of Heliogland in 1864, even after a direct hit from one of the Austrian-Prussian fleet. After service as a Royal Yacht, a training ship, and cruising the seas, she was decommissioned in 1907. She came to Ebeltoft in 1960 as a wreck. With much enthusiasm from many, and at considerable cost, extensive restoration has resulted in a unique and impressive ship which they hope to preserve into the future.

The majestic Frigate Jylland - the world's longest wooden ship

Top Deck with its amazing rigging and three masts. The ship was also powered by a steam engine .. the funnel was lowered into the ship, and the propeller pulled up, when the sails were set for long voyages on the ocean.

Commander's Day Room where he would receive distinguished guests at foreign ports

Commander's cabin

The Battery Deck with its 30 cannons (equivalent weight of 17 elephants). Each cannon has a crew of nine men.

The crew worked in teams of eight who ate, slept and worked together.

The Orlop Deck - where most of the crew ate and slept. Up to 350 people would be fed at once.

The ships hold - a reinforced structure was provided by the amazing cross pattern in the wooden frame, which was necessary for a ship this size.

The Figurehead -'Ran', the goddess of the sea and wife of the sea god Aegir in Nordic mythology. Ran would catch dead sailors in her net which is wrapped around her body. This provided a sense of safety for the crew as only a few of them could swim.

It is an excellent exhibition. The conditions for the crew on board were difficult - cold, cramped, smelly and at times dangerous . These aspects were very well depicted by the various models set up on the ship.

For example, any necessary surgery was conducted in the officers' room as this was the only room with an overhead light ... remember this was before medical breakthroughs such as the understanding of the importance of washing hands, and also before anesthetic or antibiotics. The only 'support' the patient was given was alcohol. During the battle of Heligoland 31 Danish soldiers had legs or arms amputated .... only 9 survived.

This exhibit is complete with sound effects of the doctor talking and coughing, implements clanging together, and the patient groaning. Sorry ... I just missed recording the part where the patient screams!!! Excellent.


(Best watched in full-screen on youtube.!!)

As well as the ship itself, an excellent museum has been established with exhibitions on the battle of Heliogland, a personal story on one of the sailors, the restoration of the ship, and Danish maritime history. One exhibit takes you on the (simulated) deck of the Jylland during the battle of Heligoland. With the mast broken above you, the deck moves with the waves while a video of the battle is projected on to the wall. Very well done.

An amazing replica depicting each of the decks on the ship

The detail of one of the several models displayed in the museum

Chas contemplating what a great day we'd had .. in the comfort of the warm cafe of course!!

There are a number of forests very close to Aarhus city which are very popular with the locals for walking, running and just enjoying nature.

They have their own special magic in autumn when the trees begin to lose their leaves. Chas and I decided to go for our last walk in one of our favourite areas, Moesgård Forest which is part of the Moesgård Museum grounds.

It is a lovely, peaceful area and a joy to visit. It had rained the day before we visited and the ground was very damp and mushy, and it was also quite cold. The trees had lost most of their leaves which made a beautiful carpet on the ground. In summer the trees are so thick with leaves can you cannot see through them, but in a couple of weeks they will be completely bare for the winter. Unfortunately the leaves were too wet for Chas and I to have fun throwing them on each other. Moesgård is primarily a beech forest, but we also saw birch, ash, sycamore, and oak trees.

The trees will soon lose all their leaves

Autumn leaves create a beautiful carpet beneath the trees

Chas enjoying the peace

Beside the Giber River

A beautiful Sycamore leaf

The museum staff have developed a walking trail with signs along the way explaining the history of several reconstructed ancient buildings/monuments, which adds interest. This pic also shows the beautiful autumn colours.

Reconstruction of a prehistoric temple, one of the many ancient buildings/monuments in the Moesgård Museum grounds.

The museum grounds cover approx 100 acres which stretch from the museum buildings right to the beach which is very popular with the locals in summer months. The pic of the beach shows how cold and grey the day was. At the mouth of the river is a lovely old house which was built in 1856 for the fisherman, his wife and 8 children. They supplied the locals with trout, eels, lobster and other fish which they caught in the river and on the beach.

Looking up Moesgård Beach towards Aarhus

The Fisherman's House, Moesgård Beach

The Giber River where it meets the sea

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The wind catcher was swinging strongly from the brisk wind, as you can see in the pic.

Interesting wind catcher made from plastic bottles

Also in the grounds is Skovmøllen Restaurant, one of our favourite restaurants where we had our last lunch. I really love this area of Aarhus so .... - 'goodbye' until next time!!

Delicious lunch

Lunch at our favourite table, Skovmølle Restaurant

Avenue of trees that have already lost their leaves, Moesgård Alle

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Chas and I enjoyed Den Gamle By so much when we first visited five years ago, we decided to go again to see what had changed.

Aarhus's Den Gamle By (the old town), established in 1909, is the world's first open-air museum of urban history and culture. It comprises 75 historical houses which have been brought from various locations all over Denmark, and reconstructed on the Den Gamle By site. The oldest section contains buildings dating from 1550 to 1900 and recreates a Danish town as it looked in Hans Christian Andersen's time.

Den Gamle By

Den Gamle By

Village street

The town square

Den Gamle By

Horse and carriage transportation

Young children

Den Gamle By

Locals going about their chores

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Several of the houses are especially interesting. For example, the Mintmaster's Mansion .. originally constructed in 1683 in what is now central Copenhagen, it is the only surviving building from the area. Its interior and exterior have been restored to how they would have been around the mid-1700s. Beside it is an excellent example of a wealthy family home, The Mayor's House, with furnishings from 1600-1850.

The grand Mintmaster's Mansion

An interesting water spout on the Mint Master's House

Looking out on the garden, the Mayor's House

The Avian ceiling room, the Mayor's House

The ceiling decorated as a sky, completed with birds and clouds

Wall decorations, the Mayor's House

There is also a half-timbered house from Zealand (1700) which is the only surviving building of its kind. The house was reconstructed in Den Gamle By in 1930 and now the home of the hatter.

Half-timbered house, circa 1700. The only surviving building of its kind.

Back of the house.

The Hatter's home.

Also another from Aalborg (north of Aarhus), (1571) with patterned brickwork and elaborate carvings. Reconstructed in Den Gamle by in 1942, it now the home of the chemist.

Corner house, Aalborg, 1571

As well as the 1800s era, there is also a section from the 1920s which continues to be updated with new buildings, shops and homes. A entire neighbourhood block from 1974 is also under way where you can stroll down the shopping street and visit the radio sales, embroidery and camera stores of 1974.

As you can see it was a wet and overcast day, but it was still very relaxing just wandering the cobbled streets, down the alleys, into the homes, shops and gardens, and watching the 'locals' going about their chores. Many of the stores have items for sales, e.g. traditional household items, books from the bookshop, or tasty pastries from the baker made from recipes from before 1900. A fun day.

The Danes do 'living museums' exceptionally well.

Frigate birds

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Castara

My grocery store

My snorkeling pool

Castara is a small fishing village on the Caribbean coast. My local grocery store was the size of a bathroom and catered to all my needs, from aloe-vera cream to hot goat roti bread. My unit looked down onto the beach and the reef, which starts about 10m out. So most days I snorkeled. The stingray gave me a fright, appearing out of the sand but then gracefully left me to my colourful wonderland.

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Work or play?

Tree houses

Tobago’s history (as with the other WI islands and the US) is a blight on humanity. The African slaves suffered horrors so that ‘civilized’ Europe could indulge its desire for sugar, coffee, tobacco and cotton, while the greedy, brutal invaders got rich on the proceeds; sounds a lot like Palestine, Iraq, Libya and Syria today. The current generation, mainly African descendants, value their heritage but hold no grudges. They welcome tourists, employment is relatively high and much development is happening from local housing to civil projects. Their car is a bigger status symbol than their house. The beaches and climate encourage a culture alternating from laid-back to carnival. I was invited to ‘Sunday School’, a communal live music and dance party held every Sunday night.

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My unit

My motmot

Rather than caressing me to sleep, the waves were so close that initially they kept waking me up. The night smells were of damp soil, rotting fruit and the bathroom drains. However the fireflies in my room were delightful and in the morning I’d share breakfast with my motmot.

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The Caribbean

I'm doing my best

We cruised down the island, calling in on the best snorkeling bays. The Buccoo Reef is 2km off shore. In its midst is the clear blue, 1metre-deep ‘Nylon Pool’, named for Princess Anne, who perceptively described the water as like looking through her nylons. Here, our skipper and first mate threw us overboard, produced a 5 litre bottle of rum punch and told us that we weren’t allowed back on board until we’d drunk it all. There were only five of us and mutiny was out of the question.

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Sharon's restaurant

Restaurant sunset

The ultimate main course

Sharon’s restaurant is my favourite in the whole world. It’s on the beach, 30 seconds from my unit. As the sunset comes and goes, small bats flitter between the palm trees aligning the balcony and the candles are lit. Sharon is not a chef, she is a terrific cook. In these days of fancy presentation and minimal food, where the main item of the dish is served raised high in the middle of the plate, with maybe a few gratuitous, oily vegetables, Sharon’s meals are a revelation. Each main course comprises 4 or 5 separately prepared items, presented on the plate before the signature item is even seen. I ordered ‘Squid’. It came, cooked in a chili cream sauce, served in its own side bowl because there was no room for it on the plate. The plate was filled with potato bake, cauliflower and corn in white sauce, tomato onion pumpkin mash, spinach in coconut cream, and salad.

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Tobago Golf Club

Tropical downpour

Tobago Golf Club is a well-designed course, in a beautiful setting, with atrocious greens that are mainly grass-roots and soil. I played well and, walking off the 18th just as the rain started, I was looking forward to my pre-ordered lunch. I showered, changed and sat at the table, where I was informed that my lunch could not be brought over from the adjoining hotel until the tropical downpour had ceased. Three beers later, my by then, slightly warm lunch arrived. Tobago is a beautiful place with lovely people but one mustn’t expect total sophistication just yet.

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My view