Ribe; and on to Paris

Main street Ribe

Sagging Medieval wall

Inside an amber jewelry shop

Street scene

Ribe's mixed white and red brick cathedral; does not work, IMHO

On Monday the 27th we drove into Hamburg, to our old friend the Camping Salon, where we returned a couple defective items (gladly exchanged) and bought some more stuff for the camper. And then we drove on, on familiar roads through Hamburg to Bremen, then beyond, the Ruhr, camped for evening at a lay-by somewhat west of Cologne (saw the Cathedral spires in the distance). And then we drove on on the 28th, across the rest of Germany, a bit of Belgium and Luxembourg, and finally, into France, where we are parked now, at the Charles DeGaulle airport long-term lot, awaiting Rebecca's arrival on Wednesday.

Last Day in Scandinavia: Jelling and Ribe

The small Jelling stone, Gorm the Old honoring his wife The big Jelling stone, Harald Bluetooth, founder of the dynasty, honoring Gorm and Thyra, his parents Christ on the big stone Dragon Inside the 12th century church Church between the tumuli and grounds Poster of Danish royalty, from Harald to Margarethe Our last day in Scandinavia saw us visiting Jelling for the Jelling rune stones and Ribe, one of Denmark's oldest and best-preserved medieval towns. Jelling is important in that its rune stone, the big one, begins the Danes' monarchy, straight to the present Queen Margarethe, and identifies its founder as the conqueror and Christianizer Harald Bluetooth. It is a national site, and the two stones, one Harald's, one his father's (Gorm the Old, honoring his queen Thyra, “pride of Denmark”), rest beside the 12th century church, which itself sits between the two enormous 10th-century tumuli. Ribe once competed with Copenhagen, but declined when its port silted up. It is indeed well-preserved and picturesque. After skyping with Rebecca and Rachel near Ribe, we drove on and camped at a forlorn rest area in Schleswig-Holstein, 40 miles north of Hamburg.

Legoland

Main gate

Vicki

New Harbor, Copenhagen

Ribe, old Danish west coast town

Stave church

Brygge, Bergen

Holland

After the watery rides, you can dry yourself off in one of these for 20 kroner

The US was very well represented

Me misbehaving with the dance hall girl in western Legoland

Wat Po, really Thai'd things together (running gag)

Vikings of the Caribbean

In the enormous Legoland store

Legoland trash can

Last ones in the parking lot

Part of the Lego factory

Megalithic Jutland, and More

On July 25 we drove north, not to Arhus, but to Aalborg and a couple megalithic sites there. First was the Trollkirken, out in the countryside west of Aalborg, an impressive ship-shape tumulus with a big dolmen atop. Then the Viking cemetery, Lindstrom Hoje, near town. Near Aalborg. It too was impressive in its size and scope, pretty much bronze/Viking age. Then we drove south and near to Arhus (which we never visited) and another tumulus and stone circle, topped by a dolman, the Poskar Stenus. It was unusual in that the dolmen was not centered in the circle.

Later that afternoon, we crossed more of Jutland to visit another historic building site, Legoland, which turned out to be quite amusing and interesting. We camped—our last site in Scandinavia for a while—near Jelling.

Me on the Trollkirken, Troll Church, a ship-shape stone tumulus with big
dolmen

Trollkirken in perspective; pretty large

Vicki at the bow

Map of Viking cemetery, Lindholm Hoje

Smidgeon of the cemetery

Female sites are circular or oval in shape

Male sites are triangular or ship-shaped

1,000 years of Danish history (Vicki hates these shots)

The tumulus/dolmen at Poskaer Stenus

View of Poskaer Stenus

Why there are so few sites left...

Helsingor (Elsinore) and the Kronborg

It finally stopped raining, and we had a chance, Saturday afternoon, to go and look at Ales Stenar, the largest of the Swedish ship-shaped standing stone circles. There are dozens of them, mostly in southern Sweden. Ales Stenar is in the 4,000-6,000 year-old range. Some argue it is merely a ship-cult site; some argue for a solar orientation/observatory. It is impressive in any case. Only one stone is missing, possibly, and its absence may simply have marked an entrance.

Ales Stenar stands on a beautiful grassy bluff above the tiny fishing hamlet of Kaseberga, overlooking the Baltic. It is late spring, and already the place is crowded. Walking around, I quickly figured out that as many are here for the fish market as for the megalithic site. I am savoring both!

Strengthening of Kronborg's fortifications continues

The tower, from the courtyard

More castle

The Hamlet plaque

The Shakespeare section of the gift shop;
Unemployed Philosophers Guild very well
represented

Battlement cannons; it was the Prince Consort's
 71st birthday, so there was a 21 gun salute at mid-day

Being disgorged from the Hamlet

Denmark's National Museum

In an afternoon we managed only the pre-history and up through the Viking era sections of this immense and wonderful national museum. The prehistory collection is exceptional, especially the paleolithic, and the bronze age items are of great interest, containing many things we'd think of as “Norse” from periods a millennia or two before the Vikings. Denmark has the same kind of bog topography as Ireland, and much of what has been found are bog troves and sacrifices. Although there was no known written language, there certainly were congruences and communications among the peoples of Europe, and beyond, well before the Greeks and Romans, even in the neolithic.

Next to the paddle, the oldest known bow, c. 7,000 BC Skeleton of an auroch, extinct in Denmark by the Bronze age; last known European auroch died in Poland, 1627 The Bronze Age Scandinavians were sun-worshippers, the museum suggests The Chariot of the Sun, Bronze Age (horse not pictured) Horned helmet, early Bronze Norse horns (musical) Rune stone, Bronze The Gundestrup Cauldron (one interior panel only; silver), c. 150 BC, Thracian, probably from Bulgaria, but found in a bog trove dated Bronze age in Denmark