Denmark Day 3

If yesterday was a people day, today was a tourist day, but not altogether since we started the day at the Danish Energy Department.  Apparently, this was a special privelge becauses they don't usually take groups.  I think they took ours because they know how desperately Americans need to hear about renewable energy!  They presented their goal to be using 30% sustainable energy by 2020 and 100% by 2050.  They have private companies doing a lot of research into renewable fuels like biomass, solar and especially wind.  They already have the technology and the experience with wind turbines (windmills:) but they only lack space.  The director was quite jealous of all the land in American and told us outright that we would be able to fuel our entire country with wind energy and no one would even notice the turbines.  But hey, we've got coal to burn, right?

After the energy department, we hopped on a chartered bus and traveled to Roskilde.  This is one of the most historic areas in Denmark dating back to the Viking days, 1050 ad.  We visited the Viking Museum and saw 5 Viking ships that had been discovered in the 1960's.  It was very interesting to hear about the Vikings as a people.  They sounded more like farmers than warriors.  Funny how history doesn't remember those parts.  The most memorable part of the tour for me was discovering the source of our Viking ship images.  Although they did not have photography then, there was something that lasted longer than a picture.  Tapestry!  There is a 1000 year old tapestry in a museum in Normandy, France that depicts the paintings on the outside of Viking ships.  That is one big old important cross-stitch.  Ah, the value of fiber arts!  (Don't worry, I am getting to the yarn store part:)  I was able to pick up some very reasonably priced souvenirs for my boys at the museum giftshop before eating lunch at Viking Pizza, good prices and good food.  They had soft ice rolled in powdered chocolate, which is much better than any softserve ice cream I have had before.

Roskilde was formerly the capital of Denmark and all the old kings and queens are buried in the cathedral there.  We toured the cathedral and were awed by the beauty of its ancient pillars and tombs.  Harold Bluetooth (yes, the Danes came up with the Bluetooth device!) is rumored to be buried here.  There is a certain excitement in exploring the depths of a cathedral full of sarcophagi.

From ancient history to shopping:  Roskilde does have a yarn shop and a bookstore.  I walked out with 6 balls of great yarn and only spent about $20!  I have fiber friends who are going to be very happy.  (Yes, Casey, that means you!)  At the bookstore I was able to pick up 3 little books in Danish for 25k.  I did get a Rasmus Klump story along with Curious George and Elmer (the elephant not the puppet). 

A people story:  on the train ride home, we sat across from a very sweet young Chinese lady who told us about her "unlucky" day.  She had a big exam at the International School in Roskilde but when she got on the fast train this morning she didn't realize it was to Jutland, which is about a 5 hour trip.  She missed her exam and had to spend the entire day on the train.  I felt so sorry for her!  She did recommend a very good Chinese restaurant by Tivoli near our hotel.

Back in Copenhagen, we decided to use the long daylight hours and head out to the end of the canals for a view of The Little Mermaid statue in honor of Hans Christian Andersen.  We had a lot of fun climbing around on the rocks to take a picture with her.  I kept reminding everyone how the real story ends...you know when you go to the beach and see all that foam on the ocean?  Yep, that's Ariel!