Enjablog

We made a trip to visit Sune’s parents in the rural mainland of Denmark. Along the way, we passed Middelfart, the town where Ian’s grandmother grew up. We didn’t stop, but I was able to get a picture of the sign on our way past.

We made it to Sune’s parents’ in time for lunch: a mix of traditional Danish sandwich makings, new potatoes dug up that morning, and scrambled eggs.

From there, we left for an afternoon in Ribe. This was another town dating back to the Viking Age. We visited the Cathedral, went up the tower to see the town, and also saw the totem pole marking the flood lines from the many times the city had flooded. Ribe also has a viking museum, but we ended up saving that for next time since we would have had to rush through to see everything before they closed.

We stopped in a cafe for some coffee (hot chocolate for me!) and people-watching. The cafe was in a really old building with doorways that have long since settled, so I took some pictures inside before picking a table outside to enjoy the weather.

When we got back, we had an Independence Day snack. Nanna got out the American flag from Cassia and Sune’s wedding (they merged 3 nationalities and many more languages at their wedding) and we had fresh bruschetta and champagne.

Nanna cooked up a wonderful meal for us for dinner: roast beef, ham, duck, 2 different kinds of potatoes, asparagus, cauliflower, and fresh breads. We discussed what we saw in Ribe (though, I’m sure she’s been there dozens of times) and our plans for the next day. For dessert, we had fruit and ymer, a Danish soured milk product that is a cross between yogurt and buttermilk. Nice, refeshing end to a filling meal.

After dinner, I took a walk around Skodborg. I brought some carrots with me to feed the neighbor’s horses, saving some for when I finished my walk as well. I wandered up the block trying to get a better view of the windmills. I ended up following the sunset until I got out to a main road and figured that was as much as there was to see in that direction.

I turned back and took pictures of the interesting flowers people had in their gardens. I also really enjoyed the variety in the houses. A lot of the houses had a year written on the side indicating when it was built. Most noteworthy: there were no cookie cutter, model homes here!

I walked up to the school, passing the grocery store, the building formerly serving as the train station, and the cellphone/internet place. The sports fields by the school had a gate closed and locked in front of them… but no fence. So if you wanted to use the field, you could just walk around.

I walked back to finish spoiling the horses and they ran right up expectantly. One of them even neighed loud enough when he saw me that Ian heard him from inside the house.

As I was heading inside, I heard some rustling in the gravel near me. I looked around… and waited… and finally saw these little frogs crossing the path. Cute, but the horse seemed uninterested. So, finally headed in for the night.