Christmas in Tivoli

Every year Tivoli dresses up for Christmas. It's an orgy of light in the darkest time of the year. It's a Christmas market where people are selling hot chocolate, mulled wine, æbleskiver, and candy. Others sell ornaments and other Christmassy things. It's a magical place, and there's no way that you can leave there without being in the Christmas spirit.

 

 

The entrance

 

Nimb

 

Swans in front of Nimb

 

 

 

 

The Japanese Tower

 

The Russian Christmas tree

 

 

Tivoli in the summer is amazing. I've heard it's fantastic at Halloween. But Tivoli at Christmas is just spectacular. I can't recommend it enough if you ever visit Copenhagen or Denmark in December.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tange Lake

Tange Lake.

Anchors

Anchors at a museum in Thorsminde for stranded ships. The west coast has claimed the lives of many sailors whose ships stranded there, not least the British ship, St. George, which stranded near Thorsminde Christmas night 1811. Another British ship, the Defence, suffered the same fate the same night at the same place. Between 1300 and 1400 lives were lost. Only 17 survived. 

The museum is named after St. George.

Vissing Church

Interior of Vissing Church.

Vejrum Church

Vejrum Church.

The interior.

Trans

Trans Church. It's another of the west coast churches that the ocean (due to erosion) will claim sooner or later.

Efforts to stop the erosion. Pretty, too.

The beach at Trans.

The Jelling Runic Stones

The Jelling Runic Stones are on Unesco's World Heritage List. The smallest one was erected by King Gorm the Old in memory of his wife, Thyra. This one, the biggest, is called Denmark's Certificate of Babtism and was erected by King Harald Bluetooth. 

The inscription says "King Harald ordered this monument to be made in memory of Gorm, his father, and Thyra, his mother. The Harald who won all Denmark and Norway and christened the Danes." The last sentence is placed below the oldest picture of Christ in the Northern countries, hence the certificate of babtism.

Jelling Church

Jelling Church seen from one of the mounds (the one on the other side of the church held the grave of Danish king Gorm the Old until he was reburied inside the church). The church, the mounds, and the runic stones (see post above) are on Unesco's World Heritage List.  

The frescoes, clearly inspired by Byzantine art, are copies of the first frescoes in Denmark.

Bække Church

Bække Church from approximately 1150.

Tørring Church

Tørring Church.

Knud's Lake

Knud's Lake at Ry. The clouds dominate, though. Windy, rainy days can be pretty, too.

Børglum Abbey

Børglum Abbey is from 1060. For a brief period, Augustine monks lived here, but pretty soon the Premonstratensian order took over and stayed there until the Reformation in 1536. The abbey played a central role in national and European politics for centuries. Today it's privately owned.

Brother Eskild greets visitors at the entrance to the old herb garden.

The church is from 1100-1200.

The altarpiece.

The organ.

The fifteenth century crucifix.

Børglum Mill

The Old Mill at Børglum Abbey.

Nr. Lyngby Sunset

Kettrup Mountains

View from Kettrup Mountains.

Danish mountain = hill with a big ego.

Nr. Lyngby

Erosion.

World War 2 bunkers are littered all over the west coast,

The Buried Church

It's not a joke or an illusion. Save for the tower, St Laurentii (Laurence) Church is buried in sand. The church dates back to 1387, but in 1795 it had to be closed due to drifting sand. Burials were still held there occasionally until 1810, where the sand made that impossible, too. Below there is a sketch of how the church used to look before the sand came. It was whited when it was decided to use it as a landmark for ships at sea.

Evening at Nr. Lyngby Beach

Beautiful evening at Nr. Lyngby Beach.

Stormy day at Nr. Lyngby Beach

Stormy day at Nr. Lyngby Beach.

Skagen Lighthouse

Skagen Lighthouse

Grenen

Grenen - The Branch - is the most northern tip of Denmark. If you look closely, you can see the waves coming from two sides. The two oceans, Kattegat and Skagerak, meet here. This part of Denmark grows 10 meters every year.

For the ideal picture, there would be only sand and water. Grenen is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Denmark, though, so there are almost always people around. The people show the most nothern part of Denmark very well, though.

Skagen House

Most houses in Skagen look like this - a very distinct yellow color and a red roof. It's an extremey pretty town.

Anchor from The Crescent

The English frigate, The Crescent, shipwreched at Mårup in 1808. Denmark and England were at war at that time after the English had bombed Copenhagen in 1807, and the survivors from the ship were exchanged for Danish prisoners of war. More than 200 from The Crescent died. 69 survived. 

The anchor was salvaged and displayed at the cemetery in 1939.