A Most Satisfying Weekend

Hello there, apologies for the lateness in this entry. Considering the pretty cool weekend I have just had I reckon I ought to fill you in on 'what went down'. Though it was tiring at times the end product turned out wonderfully, that is an enjoyable weekend.

It started out early on Saturday morning as I got up ready for a canoeing trip that day. The plan of attack was to canoe along the Kongeaaen River (which is more like a creek to be honest). It was the site of the former Danish-German border which was around from around the middle of the 19th century until after World War One. An interesting fact about the canoeing trip that had me slightly concerned was the fact that the only other Australian exchangee to do the same trip, Andrew from 2007/08, capsized at one of the bridges. At 7:30am Rene, Jakob and I headed off from home and popped around to the scout hall to wait for the others. Once everyone had arrived we set off again, this time across to Jutland to get to our starting location. In the canoe, I was with Morten who along with Jakob came to Adelaide in July this year, so it good to have someone who I knew well in the canoe with me. Thankfully, all bridge moments were successful for me and I didn't fall into the water, though there was a near miss when we manage to get tangled up in a tree. Along the way, we stopped a few times generally for food breaks which were always a welcome relief, especially with the lovely rolls that I believe were made by Inger. When it came to the end of the trip, it was incredibly bittersweet, though at that stage I was not aware of the evening that was to follow at the scout hall. After the canoeing group got back to the scout hall, we all had a lovely meal of pasta together which was very lovely even though too much was made for us. After this, the Scouts including me played a couple of games before it was time to go. Overall, the day turned out much, much better than I thought it would be, and below is a couple of photos from the day.

The next day was a great combination of a bit of relaxation and a bit of sightseeing, always a pleasant combination. After a "5 minute" sleep in and a lovely breakfast of fresh bread rolls, Rene, Jakob and I drove across to Odense, the biggest city on the island of Funen. With the freeway, it only took just over half an hour until we arrived in Odense. My impressions of Odense were rather mixed, because on one hand I could see some heritage and character about the town, yet on the other hand it just seemed to me that once upon a time it was a bit more lively and more significant than it is now, possibly due to the big bridge built just over 10 years ago. Firstly, we visited the Railway Museum which was a good opportunity to see a few trains. Two things that I will distinctly remember is the special train that took snow of the rail tracks (this doesn't happen in Denmark much now due to climate change, so I have been told), and the ferries that used to carry trains between Zealand and Funen before the big bridge was built, with the train actually being loaded onto a boat! It was a pretty cool museum for me especially due to my interest in trains, and I certainly learnt a couple of things. After a quick pit stop at a small cafe where I had a very nice pastry and a not so nice cafe latte, we headed for Hans Christian Andersen's childhood home where there was a museum dedicated to his life and work. It was really fascinating finding out about the man who I knew very little about, plus I also had the opportunity to listen to a fairytale, namely The Emperor's New Clothes, which was very enjoyable. After leaving the museum, we left Odense and on the way home we stopped at a service station to get a bite to eat. I got a hotdog which I must say was nothing compared to what Inger had prepared last week. We eventually got back home after deciding not to take the freeway, which was a good decision as we were able to see a lot more of the countryside. Finally, the weekend finishes with a bang with a very nice chicken dish made by Inger. So, as you can see I had a pleasurable weekend around the place. Just before I go though, I have decided to hold off doing the blog entry about Christmas until just after Christmas Day so that you can enjoy a large blog about the whole thing, after all its only the 8th of December today which means there's still 17 days until Christmas Day. I will however, do another entry before the weekend. Until then, stay safe, and enjoy the photos below from Hans Christian Andersen's house.