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Random Notes, Explorer, Copenhagen-Oslo, June 24-July 6, 2018--LIVE!


Mr Rumor
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Awwwww! Tivoli! We loved it and Copehagen as well. However I must admit I was destroyed when I went into the Georg Jensen shop in Tivoli and found that about half of their items were made in China......OMG! Yes, I guess for tourists, but I was ruined....

Enjoying all of your blog! Looking forward to more!

Linda and John

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I love when you travel Mr Rumor. I always want to pack up and follow you. My sister and I will be in Copenhagen for 3 nights before our aug 1 Copenhagen to Amsterdam on the Navigator so I will be taking notes!

Karen

 

 

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Linda, I found a George Jensen statement online referencing a manufacturing plant or plants in Thailand. Maybe there is a China connection, too, but the idea of Jensen products being manufactured anywhere but in Denmark was news to Jess and Steffen. In fact, Jess didn't believe it until I read the statement to him.

 

Karen, thanks so much for the kind words, Hope you and your sister will love your Copenhagen pre-cruise stay as much as Ginny and I are loving ours (just wish Jess could be your guide). Sheila, it's my pleasure to be a Copenhagen appetite-whetter.

 

Anchorbuoy, the plan is to keep the Notes flowing daily through Oslo. But Trivia is going to be a struggle on the Explorer because, darn it, once again I forgot to pack my Smart Pills!

 

Day three with Jess in Copenhagen is in the books, and it was another great time, with Jess mixing touristy "musts" with another foray into his personal story. Some shots I took along the route:

 

The Little Mermaid looks pretty good considering that over the years she has been decapitated twice, had her right arm sawed off, been bombed off her perch and spray-painted numerous times.

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Lest you think I had a personal audience with Little Mermaid. . .

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Jess at the front door of Grandfather Axel's now vacant farm house in Osted, about an hour west of Copenhagen. Jess spent a half dozen summers on the farm starting at age 7, and has some great stories. It was clearly a formative time in his life.

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Grandfather Axel's former land is still being farmed for wheat today.

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At the Vikingeskibs Museet (Viking Ship Museum) in Roskilde, the reconstruction of Skuldelev 3, a Danish trading ship circa 1030, is underway in The Boatyard. In 1962, remnants of five unique Viking Ships, including Skuldelev 3, were excavated from Roskilde Fjord and are on display inside the wonderful museum.

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From the Viking Ship Museum collection: king and queen chess pieces made in Norway of walrus ivory, circa 1150-1200.

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And that's a wrap until tomorrow!

 

Rich

 

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More great photos and I love the personal connections with Jess, family, etc. Makes for wonderful first person stories!

Still holding a grudge with Georg Jensen........(giggle!)

Carry on....!!

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It's a wet morning in Copenhagen so I have a rainy morning story for you involving my Royal Viking Line friend.

 

Jess was a legend on the high seas.

 

I'm not referring to the fact that Jess didn't take a vacation during the first 21 months of his employment with RVL, as amazing as that sounds. Rather I'm referencing Jess' legend as RVL's undefeated champion of the sponge squeeze.

 

By his count--very accurate knowing Jess--800 RVL crew and staff took Jess on, literally mano to mano, in Jess' darkroom in matches officiated by the then SKALD editor during the course of his six years with RVL. Eight hundred times Jess, with his mighty hand grip, extracted the last drop of water from the small hand sponge that he favored for competitions.

 

I was a miserable bust in my match with Jess, as were most of the others, from brawny 6'9" oilman "Tiny," to top officers. Jess only recalls three fellow crew giving him a real battle, including Chef de Cuisine, Frank Tuchel, a friend of Jess' to this day. When Jess retired from RVL in 1980 he retired undefeated. He has only squeezed occasionally since, and just for the fun of it.

 

Jess' nephew Steffen had no idea of his uncle's sponge-squeezing fame, and seemed absorbed as I related Jess' tale as the four of us sat in the quiet interior of the Nyhavns Fargekro restaurant, just steps away from the noise and clamor of Copenhagen's Nyhavns.

 

Suddenly I had an idea. What if Jess were to come out of retirement and squeeze the sponge with his strapping nephew, a ju jitsu-practicing Norwegian Army veteran who had served in Afghanistan? I didn't get a "no" from either, so I was emboldened to ask our cheerful server, Sara from Norway, if she could fetch us a bowl with a little water in it, plus a small sponge. Sara looked at me quizzically, but when I explained, she immediately got it. She returned to our table shortly with the bowl and sponge.

 

And then, with nary a single word of trash talk or bravado from either, the competition was on!

 

The match stretched for nearly three and a half minutes--Round One, Round Two, Round Three, Round Four, Round Five--as the drama mounted. By Round Seven, the drops were coming sparingly, the strain on the faces showing.

 

And then the climactic Round Ten. Steffen gave it his all but couldn't coax another drop. He handed the sponge back to his uncle.

 

Jess didn't hesitate, immediately going for the kill squeeze. Several drops trickled from his vice grip.

 

Steffen extended his hand, as Jess allowed himself a single pump of the arms. Thirty eight years after his last SKALD editor-refereed match, Jess was still undefeated!

 

In victory, Jess was generous, praising his nephew as one of the four best squeezers he has ever competed against.

 

The next day, Steffen announced that he is going into training. He didn't exactly demand a rematch, but I think he is expecting one. Knowing Jess, he will oblige.

 

Steffen and his uncle go mano a mano in their ten-round sponge-squeeze match:

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Peggy and Linda, it dawned on me that I find a way to mention Royal Viking Line at least once a blog! Glad you enjoyed the story.

 

Gerry, could it be that the cyclists are wearing their grim faces because it’s rush hour and most are headed to work?!

 

Hot dog plate, Danish style.

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Hot dog dining, Danish style: Alternate bites of the mustard/ketchup dipped dog and the heated unsplit bun.

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This mid-afternoon snack at a stand in Hillerod today cost Jess 50 Danish kroner, or about $8US.

 

 

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I had a laugh when looking at the photos of cyclists -- for a nation that is reputed to be the happiest in the world those people didn't look very happy at all!!

 

Can't wait for more photos - happy snapping!!

g

 

Also loving the photos (except that hot dogs and ketchup aren't meant to be together ....... just my opinion. Did not know that Denmark is reputed to have the happiest people in the world. We have definitely seen happier people than from there (and they reportedly have some problems - particularly in Copenhagen).

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You could almost make a day of it at the Fredericksborg Castle in Hillerod, about 45 minutes north of Copenhagen, if you take your time looking at the artwork and exhibits in the castle and walk the length of the expansive Baroque garden. "One of the best tour days ever, a fabulous castle," Ginny enthused. Here's a mini photo tour:

 

Outside the front entrance. . . Photo op!

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Something a little different on a wall on the castle’s first floor: a mixed-media bas relief.

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Danish royals were accompanied by dozens of their huge wall tapestries as they made their way from castle to castle. The tapestries were then hung, warming up the rooms.

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Ancestor to the elevator for a royal who didn’t do stairs?

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Ginny on the castle lake. A small boat to downtown Hillerod operates from the dock when the flag is raised.

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A view of the castle from the Baroque Garden.

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Rachel, I’m happy you’re up for a back-to-back— your Alaska cruise and now following along on mine!

 

We were hoping to see a number of houses with thatched roofs on the beautiful drive through farm country to the White Cliffs of Mon Klint. We weren’t expecting to be lucky enough to come across a roof under repair.

 

“I’m a thatcher—just like Margaret!” Troels confirmed as we approached him. He explained that the roof he was working on, on a private home that had been a tavern for 200 years, had sprung a leak.

 

Troels showed us a sample of the wheat-like material that he uses, pointing across the highway to the fields in which it is grown.

 

Thatchers are in steady demand in Denmark communities where there are clusters of thatched-roof homes. Troels noted that he has worked as a full-time self- employed thatcher for 31 years!

 

Troels, thatcher, and one genial Dane:

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Also loving the photos (except that hot dogs and ketchup aren't meant to be together ....... just my opinion. Did not know that Denmark is reputed to have the happiest people in the world. We have definitely seen happier people than from there (and they reportedly have some problems - particularly in Copenhagen).

 

There is an annual "Happiness" review of countries (I forget by whom but it is by a reputable organisation and the data are published. Sort of a "basket" of things contributing to a general feeling of happiness/contentment among the population like low levels of unemployment, good economic "safety nets" health insurance etc. Results came out a month or so ago for this year. Denmark was first. Switzerland (I am HAPPY! to say) second....

 

Probably Mr Rumor is right - they were in heavy traffic and on their way to work (though if they had been Swiss they would have been more than happy to go to work...it is what we do here!)

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There is an annual "Happiness" review of countries (I forget by whom but it is by a reputable organisation and the data are published. Sort of a "basket" of things contributing to a general feeling of happiness/contentment among the population like low levels of unemployment, good economic "safety nets" health insurance etc. Results came out a month or so ago for this year. Denmark was first. Switzerland (I am HAPPY! to say) second....

 

Probably Mr Rumor is right - they were in heavy traffic and on their way to work (though if they had been Swiss they would have been more than happy to go to work...it is what we do here!)

 

HA, I am 50% Swiss and 50% Danish. The Swiss side came for Mels, in the Canton of St. Gallen.

Usually I am a very happy person but what is going on in my country,I find it more difficult with each passing day.

That is why I read cruise reports on CC.:)

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Jess saved a great outing for our last full day together in Denmark, a two-hour trek south from Copenhagen to the chalky cliffs of Mons Klint.

 

From the GeoCenter at Mons Klint, it was 496 steps down to the Baltic Sea. . .

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. . . and, of course, 496 steps back up!

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With some additional up and down exploring included, my personal “flights climbed” total for the afternoon was 58 floors. Ginny, not the most dedicated walker, rose to the task and managed nearly as many. A lifelong beachcomber she was not about to be denied checking out the flint stones the beach there is known for. (No, not those Flintstones!)

 

Here are some of the favorite scenes we took in:

 

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Rich, know the exercise fiend that you are, you ran up and down the 496 steps knowing on the Explorer only the recumbent bike and elliptical await. Echo the posters above--teriff pix.

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Peggy, Jennifer, Linda, Wes and Rachel, I have to credit eschewing the elevator for the stairs on our Regent cruises for putting me in fine enough fettle to manage Mons Klint!

 

It's embarkation morning! Our thanks once again to Jess for showing us such a fantastic time in Norway and Denmark. We'd be a little sad at the moment if we were about to say ha det (goodbye) to our dear friend we'll get to see Jess for another couple of days after we disembark in Oslo. We’re happy for that!

 

My next post will be from onboard the Explorer. For now, our Copenhagen swan song:

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