Roots

Oh my.  Busy day. Where to start, and not make this a list of we did this, and we did that.

We got up.

Yep, we got up and the sky was overcast, and we went out to survey the area we are staying in.  By the way, this Airbnb is very comfortable, too.  Nothing fancy, but reasonable and private.  It gets a bit hot in the afternoon with sun shining directly in the main area, but I imagine that in the winter this is prime living.

The apartment is littered with piles of our stuff.  We aren’t here long enough to put it away, and it has to come out of the panniers or we can’t get at it.  Lynette has been thrilled because the place has a washing machine-familiarity and clean clothes, although we both have far too much stuff for this trip.  We have thought about shipping some of this stuff down to the Czech, but we need some more ride time to figure it out.

So, we got up.  And we walked around a very, very long block to see where we are.  This is pretty standard.  It’s a team effort, even though Lynette is not nimble with direction; she understands that we need to know where we are when we get to these new places.  We saw all kinds of interesting shops.  Schwarma is big here.  Artisan shops and a bakery.  Security cameras and smorgasbord. We found a Tourist Information shop that opened at 10 am.  We found more grocery stores than the one close by.  Ultimately, we went to the local bakery and got coffee and cinnamon rolls, stuff we would NEVER do at home.

The local street, blocked and pedestrian by design, was full of kids on bikes rushing to school. I think that is such an irony, kids rushing to a place they disparage.  But, maybe it is different here.  We have seen schools with fascinating play areas, zip lines, climbing walls, hilly forts with poles and hiding places.  It is so different.  We followed the stream of children up and passed the school.  We could see climbing structures that begged lawsuit in the US, a jungle gym of flexible fabric and dangerous altitude.  We walked past the school, to the top of a hill (a Danish hill, mind you), turned and headed back to the apartment.  Our construction friends from the first day and the finding of the key under the mat were at work early, and friendly.

Today was heritage day.  We were going to bike five miles to a significant parish in Lynette’s family history, and to Jaegerspris, “Hunters Pride,” King Frederic VII’s hunting mansion and hideaway from class gossip about his third, “morganatic” marriage to Landgravine Danner.  Lynette’s Great-Great Grandfather, Christen Madsen was a forester for the king; her Great Grandmother, Bodile Christensen born in April of 1848, was raised on castle grounds.

Path to Jaegerspris

Entering the Town

Jaegerspris Windmill

 

We rode first to the town of Jaegerspris. The bike paths are just awesome.  We crossed over a bridge, noting the clear water, and headed up the coast through a wooded area.  In Jaegerspris, we headed toward the parish, Dråby Parish, by proximity to the Castle, a source of many of the birth, baptism and marriage records that I have used to construct our family tree.  We rode up, parked the bicycles, and found entrance through an unlocked gate.  The church was closed-we learned later that they have had incidences of vandalism which led to closure.  The grounds were well manicured, and we wandered about taking photos and looking over headstones, most of which were fairly recent.  Three people were working in the garden, and we asked them about records.  One young man was particularly willing to help, bringing out a “Churchbook,” which turned out to be very recent.  I suspect the older ones have been properly archived. We chatted, and just before we left I asked him about the church building, and whether it had been rebuilt.  The rear of the church evidenced red-brick joined on stone, heading up three-quarters of the way to the current roof.  He said, “Oh, yes, a moment.”  He returned with a book about the history of the church building.  “You can have it,” he said. Even though it was in Danish, we were touched by the gesture.

Dråby Parish

Dråby

Blending of the Old Parish with New Brick

We saddled up the bikes and headed back to town, to the Castle, Jaegerspris Slot.  We entered the back way, down a gladed path, to a wonderful view of the mansion.  We walked around it and found the entrance, setting our bikes by the fence and paying the toll to tour the open areas.  The woman at the entrance was pleasant, but not really impressed with my description of Lynette’s ancestor’s foresting.  Or, maybe she didn’t understand-it was hard to tell.  Needless to say, the walkabout within was impressive for us. Detail was lost.  A lot of the artifacts were identified in Danish text.  But still, it was an impressive, historical visit.

Back Entrance to the Castle

Jaegerspris Slot (Castle)

Frederick VII (White Horse Described in Family History

Castle Tower

It might be of interest here to read a transcription of the oral history of Lynette’s Great Grandmother told by Lynette’s Great Aunt:

She was born on April 18, 1848, and named (as above) Bodil Marie Christensen. Her birthplace was in a Forest Reserve named Jaeger’s Priis, which translated means Hunter’s Pride or Place, or something commendable. This Forest Reserve belonged to the King of Denmark, who at that time was King Frederick VII. It was located on the Island of Sealand, and was about eight miles from Copenhagen. Her father was a forester for King Frederick VII. At times when the King came to confer with Bodil Marie’s father, he would always have a retinue of servants with him, and he always rode on a large white horse. When Bodil Marie and her sisters saw him riding up, they would run to meet him, for when he dismount, he would throw the rent to whichever on of the girls arrived first, and then upon remounting again, he would throw that girl a coin. Naturally, all three girls vied for his favors. 

Bodil Marie attended a country school, and when her education was finished, she became a seamstress, for in those days everything was sewn by hand. She would be engaged to sew for a week or more, depending upon how much sewing was to be done. She “lived in” while she sewed for these people because transportation was no in “style,” shall I say, in those days. This was very confining work, sewing all day, merely stopping to come to the table when the meals were served. Eventually, this lack of exercise affected her health. Shad a sister working Copenhagen, and this sister persuaded her to come to Copenhagen to work. The fact that she was accustomed to seeing flowers, trees and the blue sky, and seeing non of this while working inn a flat or apartment in the big city, made her feel as if she were a prisoner.

Bodil later married Dirk Nielsen.  They met while working together on a farm, a “GAARD.” They came to the United States in 1882 with five children on a ship named the “Bohemia,” third class steerage, settling in Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin.

We left the mansion, grabbed the bikes and walked toward the Danner Cafe, on the other side of the open grounds.  We had a crazy exchange with the woman at the cash register-no sandwiches, just bread?  Tea?  I grabbed a beer and Lynette got a fruit drink, and the cashier knew the word “raspberry,” which she merrily chanted, all cheerful and fun.  You gotta love this stuff.

We finished our drinks and headed out.

Now, when we were in Copenhagen, in one of the bike shops, we mentioned that we were going to Jaegerspris.  The proprietor said, “Ice Cream!”  He said it was the best.  Here is what I posted about this event, at the ice cream shop, on our way out of town:

We were told in a bike shop (where truth is sometimes hidden in the phrase, “Oh, no, it is a flat ride…”) to make sure and get ice cream in Jaegerspris.  There are at least three ice cream shops.  We stopped at the one by a big tree with the school crossing guard sitting by a shady elm enjoying a treat.  We asked a bright young woman in the window if this was the place.  She said, “Oh yes, of course.”   I said, “Well, how does this work?”  She said, “You pick a flavor.”

Duh.  My bad.

I found the flavors on a board and Lynette and I made our choices: “One with nougat, one caramel.”  She said, “You can have more than one scoop,” and looked surprised that we were only ordering one scoopers.

The delightful young woman brought out the first and said, “Whipped cream and jam?”  

I hesitated. She looked at me hard and said, “It is normal.”  I said, “Okay, I want to be normal.” Lynette jumped in with more nonsense, “Does it go with caramel?”

By this time our pleasant host knew to ignore the question.  Of course.  Whipped cream, thick and pudding like, topped with jam, goes with everything!

And so.  I say here and now.  That was the BEST dang ice cream cone I have ever, ever had in my life.  The best!  Trust the locals.

Goodstuff.

Thick Cream, Ice Cream, Jam

The Ice Cream Place

We finished off the afternoon by riding back the three miles to Frederikssund on the bike path on the shore of the bay.  It was brilliantly clear and warm, and a bit breezy.  We stopped at the Tourist Information (TI) on the way into town and sparred with the two women working there.  They were enjoyable, easy to laugh, and tried to be helpful with our questions about genealogical resources, “Forest” kindergartens in town, the restaurant on the harbor, and bike maps. Neither of them had ever done their own family trees, which is kind of interesting because it would seem to be a fairly uncomplicated project given that they are living on the “mother ship.”

We returned to the apartment and unloaded the bikes, the 19 steps up now a trivial challenge. We showered and then popped off to the market for a couple of salads and some Skyr for breakfast.  A neighbor was out with her infant on the veranda, and I cheerfully said, “Beautiful baby.”  So far, so good.  As we walked away, under the veranda I remarked, “Boys are cheaper than girls,” an innocent comment I thought until Lynette pointed out that the baby could have been a girl. But then, I’m just an ignorant tourist.

Later in the evening I started to think ahead to our Thursday night lodging.  Ultimately, we settled for a guest house on a farm about 40 miles south.  This is farther than Lynette wanted to go, but I think it will work out.  Twenty-five miles to some food, somewhere, after an early start, and then another ten or so to the finish.  That is the way we did it on the Dresden trip, and it works out.  I think I will try to stay one day ahead.  So tonight I will start looking for the ferry across to Germany and accommodations for that jump.

In the meantime, we are going to take a leisurely ride around here today, and find some time to thoughtfully repack for the next loaded ride.

All good.

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