22 September! Happy birthday Jeanette!
We started far too early and caught the first shuttle bus that dropped us near the city centre. Being a Sunday, we hardly saw a soul for the first hour at least.
This was a little later with a few more tourists.
Wandering in what we were told is the longest pedestrian shopping area in Europe, we came across the Lutheran St Nicholas cathedral and enjoyed just sitting inside it and prayed and meditated while parishioners prepared for the morning service.
St Nicholas Church
Beautiful interior
Close to starting time we were advised by the verger that the church was closed for tourists and would we kindly leave. By now we had struck a conversation with a person who told us she had been a priest in the church and we were most welcome to join them. The verger was advised accordingly. Glad we stayed.
Promptly at 10 am, and with only about twenty folk in the church, the organ played a prelude. A beautiful sound that we both loved. Wonderful use of the flutes and delicious reed stops. It quieted our hearts and were thankful to God for being near us.
A large church for only twenty folk
A visit to the national museum was informative. Some incredible items going back many centuries, indeed some twelve hundred years and more, had us in a virtual time warp! Most of the items exhibited were from the Viking era and once again, it is notable that religion played such a prominent part in the lives of both the nobility and the peasants.
Fascinating to see ancient pottery and jewelery. Great craftsmanship!
And Amazing Collection that enthralled us!
The above and below gives some idea of how the aristocracy and wealthy merchants lived.
I have seen many old Bibles and Korans, but this Bible is amazing!
We concluded our very short walk through the museum by looking at the remains of a Viking ship - dating back to about 1000AD. The museum curator had cleverly imposed a kind of metal overlay over the remains that were recovered. It gave an excellent impression how big this ship was in its day.
A caption about this treasure reads:
'Roskilde 6 is the longest ship from the Viking Age - 37 meters long and 4 meters wide. The keel and a large section of the hull were still preserved when the ship was excavated from the Roskilde Fjord in 1996/97. Growth rings in the timber show that the ship was made from oak from the Oslo Fjord region, felled around 1025, and that it was repaired sometime after 1039 in the Baltic. Roskilde 6 had 39 pairs of oars. There were up to 100 men on board.'
A truly fascinating relic of from almost a millennia ago! Wow!
The above is only a small sample of the many treasures we saw in the National Museum. We felt very privileged and were mentally stimulated as well as physically whacked. It was great and we were quite content to return to Marina to prepare for an evening with the Dirksens and Shirers and celebrate both Jan and Bruce's birthdays.
Once back in our room, we opened a bottle of French Champagne to privately celebrate Jan's big day. Then to the Polo Grill, a fantastic restaurant. It was a delightful and relaxing evening. I chose the steak for my main course while the others chose the lobster - always a good choice. In fact, I have enjoyed more lobster on this ship than at any other time! For desert, the crew presented the celebrities with a small birthday cake and gave a rendition of 'Happy Birthday' that I am sure was sincere and energetic, but perhaps not quite musical. It was a nice touch.
With Larry, Mary-Beth, Bruce & Linda
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