More of Denmark's Open Air Museum

There is a lot of German influence seen in the exteriors as well as the interiors. Some farmers left to go to sea and came back with many treasures from other parts of Europe. This can be seen in the furniture, wall paper and beautiful tiles on the walls.
Windmills were brought over from Holland.
A gardener was working nearby and stopped to point out some details. He seemed to really like the little white shutters above the door. I like that as well as the beautiful windows. Okay...I'm thinking Gingerbread House now...this is the beautiful Lace Makers Cottage and school of lace- making. Young girls would come and apprentice here.
They would sit in a circle and the glass orb hanging in the center of the room was to provide extra light through reflection of the light from the windows or from candle light by night.
Be still my heart.......this house has a set of BLUE WILLOW CHINA.....I have the same pattern in miniature.....this is definitely in my blood. There is a poem that goes along with the blue willow legend....

Two birds flying high,

A Chinese vessel sailing by.

A bridge with three men, sometimes four,

A willow tree, hanging o'er.

A Chinese Temple, there it stands,

Built upon the river sands.

An apple tree, with apples on,

A crooked fence to end my song.

The actual legend is of lovers running over the bridge to escape the young girl's father who disapproves of the match. His servants give chase over the bridge and shoot the lovers. Their spirits soar upward in the form of the two birds seen at the top of the pattern.

Open Air Museum Denmark

The open air museum contains homes, buildings and farms from all over Denmark. The buildings range from the 16th century right up to the 20th. This is the inside of a farmhouse with a large farmhouse table to seat the family and farm help. They use a lot of red and green. AAHHHHH CHRISTMAS COLORS!
Farm building.....what did I say about the RED and GREEN.....? Lots of lovely thatched roofs. It is similar to what we saw at the St. Fagan's museum in Wales. These museums all have free entrance to the public.
Darling little beds in the walls with doors to close for privacy. These were actually more like pocket doors......look at that.....more RED and GREEN!
Here is a bedroom with little shutter doors to close up the beds. I had to pose by the little cradle.
This is a farm building with storage below and sleeping quarters above for farm workers to sleep as a cooler spot in the hot summer time. Notice the grass and plants growing on the roof.

Denmark

We got a little city map at our hotel and starting our walking tour ...when we came upon what looked like a parade.....we followed and these guys led us right to Rosenborg Castle.
Rosenberg is in the heart of the city and houses the crown jewels and a whole lot of other priceless treasures. The Danes controlled Sweden and part of Germany at one point in time. They also controlled the Baltic Sea and therefore were able to import and export as well as charge all vessels a fee to pass through. The Kronborg Castle is the setting for Shakespeare's Hamlet. I didn't have my camera for our bus tour of Fredericksborg Castle or Kronborg. We got to see the fabulous chapel of Fredericksborg and all the original Carl Bloch paintings. Our tour guide didn't know who the artist was. We told her and she didn't believe us....when she got downstairs and asked at the front desk....she found out we knew our stuff. All because the church got permission to use his paintings and they are seen in all of our church magazines and manuals.
Copenhagen....the Parliament buildings.
So many people were on bicycles....it reminded me of Beijing.
We got to Thorvaldsen's Museum with only ten minutes to closing. The kind man at the door let us in so I could see the Christus, he didn't charge us and I literally ran down the long corridor to snap this shot as well as the 12 apostles. Bertel was quite well off and had many rooms full of art objects that he had collected throughout his life. I was surprised at how dirty these statues were. It brought tears to my eyes to see it in person.

Garden Wedding

We have worked on the back garden for three days. Cleaned the pool filter and pond filter. Drained the ponds and back washed ( my favorite part) and mowed the lawns.
Raked all the pine needles and cleaned out the bushes (also full of pine needles.)
Scrubbed the bench, bridge and all the flagstone steps (bird bung!!!)
Now to chlorinate the water.....NO MORE FISH TO CLEAN UP AFTER......WHOOT!
Now its all ready for the wedding in less than 48 hours from now. Too bad we will be on a plane to London as it happens. Hope the bride and groom don't roast...they are getting married at 11am. I would have chosen the evening myself and had twinkle lights in all the trees and bushes. Oh well......I can do it my way for Simona and Will!