Hiking and Wine

With the previous night being such a late one, I woke up a little tired on the day of our first vineyard hike. After dragging myself downstairs for yet another epic European breakfast (that woke me up and set me to right), we took the sesselbahn (cable car) to the top of the "mountain" where we were to meet the winemaker from Weingut Rademacher.

Hermann Rademacher"s family has been in the wine business since the 1880's and Hermann is a lot of fun to talk with! As we hiked up to a large cross that towers over the town, Hermann told us the story of how the cross

was placed where it was. There was a sheperd named Wendelinus Pinn, whom the cross is named for, who lost his sheep on this hill overlooking Cochem and the river. The story itself isn't terribly exciting, he found and saved the sheep and Hermann said someone died up here, maybe Wendelinus, not sure... (i couldn't hear everything he was saying) but from where I stood, it was all about the views! You could see the little town, Reichsburg Castle and of course the river. After snapping a few pictures and hearing another quick story, we made our way down and on to the rest of the hike. As the hike progressed, Hermann shared his opinion on vine training methods, on Russian innkeepers in town and on the importance of slate in the soil. He was a lot of fun!

The course down the other side of the mountain is steep and terribly narrow in some spots. When I wasn't staring at the ground, trying not to trip, I did look around at the scenery. The mountains are covered with very lush forests where the sun doesn't even reach the ground through the leaves. I wasn't nearly as appreciative of this fact, until it was too late. As the ground started to even out, the sunlight came back with full force, as did the high temperature. It wasn't even that hot out, but hiking through it in long pants and generally more clothing than I like to wear on a hike made it sort of miserable. I was really looking forward to going inside for the tasting. As we made it down the last steep path, I immediately saw that the relief of an air conditioned room was going to have to wait. A number of rickety old chairs were lined up along a straight path that was shielded along one side by a stone wall while the other side sloped down into rows and rows of vines. This is where we were having lunch! Even though it was hot and the sun was beating on us a bit, it was wonderful. The winemaker and his son set out plates of cheese, bread and fruit and of course a small glass for tasting! As Hermann spoke about his wine, his vineyard, and his family, we enjoyed the views, the food and a nice, not too sweet riesling. One thing I kept running into in both Denmark and Germany was the use ofpork fat as a spread for bread. It was on one of the slices of bread we were given and it didn't taste bad but I don't think I'll be bringing that food tradition home with me.

After a little while we did make it inside for the tasting where I learned some german other than "Guten Morgen", "Bitte" and "Danke". Germany rieslings are classified by how late in the harvest they were picked and by how dry or sweet they are. "Spätlese" or late harvest, "Auslese" or select harvest, "Kabinett" or fully ripe refer to when the grapes were picked. Trocken is dry, halbtrocken is half dry and lieblich is semi-sweet.

We tasted 3 different rieslings, each very different from the last. It goes to show that one type of grape can have drastically different flavors when it is picked at different times or is grown in different locations. We also had a glass of Sekt which is german sparkling wine that was lovely. I had so much fun tasting the different wines and trying to pick out the different scents and flavors. I wanted to bring back a bottle of each of the wines we tried but I limited myself to just one from this vineyard (darn customs regulations). I brought back a bottle of Rademacher Solitär Riesling trocken Cochemer Herrenberg. I can't wait to try it at home!

All of us tourists in Cochem,

I love rainy weather! Anyone who has known me for more than 45 minutes knows this. I really enjoyed all of the cloudy, rainy weather in Denmark, it was right up my alley. I was thankful, however, when we woke up on our first day in Cochem and the sun was shining. The rays shone in through the thin gauzy curtains giving everything in the hotel room a glow. The birds were chirpingand the little brook behind the Hotel Holl was babbling away. It was basically the perfect circumstances to wake up to!

After breakfast in the hotel, some of us decided to walk around town before heading up to Cochem Castle for a tour. The town is very cute and just what you would expect, half-timbered buildings and the clock tower that stands tall above the little square. The square

itself is full of people, mostly tourists, looking for something to buy. There are little wine bars, lots of restaurants, clothing shops, places to buy embroidered tablecloths, gelato stands and of course the touristy shops where you can buy all sorts of not-authentic German souvenirs. It's a bit hectic wandering around the streets of Cochem but still a good time. At least we don't stick out terribly as tourists, because they're everywhere you look. There were families, tour groups, bunches of little blue haired ladies and even young people like us. The one group of tourists that I really enjoyed observing were the bikers and there were a lot of them. Their bikes are parked out in front of every hotel and there's even a Harley Davidson shop on the way up to the Castle. Some of these European bikers remind me of the bikers I know back home. It's a little comforting to know that the people here live just like we do, they just speak different languages.

The castle tour was fun but not terribly interesting on paper. It's one of those things you wouldn't appreciate if I told you about it. You have to go see it for yourself.

After the castle, and a few more hours wandering around town, Natalie, Katie, Kristen and I went off in search of libations!

We found them in the form of Spatburgunder and Riesling at a wine bar, a wine tasting where we bought a couple of bottles, and a couple of pints in a restaurant on the walk back to the hotel!

We hung out in the hotel for a bit and played some cards before deciding to walk to the disco at the end of the street. We had some beers and tried to dance to German club music (which is quite the workout by the way). It turned out that nearly everyone there was from somewhere else. Cochem is a hub for tourists visiting the Mosel valley and lots of them like to go out dancing!

Day Seven: All day on a train...

Leaving Møn was a little bittersweet. I was still very excited for the second half of the trip but I knew that I would really miss Denmark. I enjoyed it more than I could have imagined.

After loading all of our gear and surprisingly still having room for ourselves, we headed off to the bus station. We knew the day was going to be rather dull and involve a lot of standing around and waiting until out correct bus/train/ferry arrived, but dull doesn't begin to describe it. Don't get me wrong, I loved the fact that we could just hop on a train and be in another country in just a few hours, it was just all the sitting/standing around that got to me.

The train ride itself didn't start out bad. The train goes on a ferry that takes you from a port in Denmark to the Port of Hamburg in Germany. It was fun to get out and walk around the ferry. It made for fun people watching! The ferry has a duty free shop, several places to get a sit-down meal and a drink or two and one "hot dog" stand. It seemed quite a bit smaller than the ones I'm familiar with from Washington which was strange because the train was able to go on it.

Back on dry land and on our way to Cochem, we set in for the day long journey on the train and from here on out the day gets less and less exciting so I won't bore everyone with my commentary but just know these things.

The German train system is very efficient but if you're able, you absolutely want to travel on either IC or ICE trains. Those are the fast ones and the others will have you wondering how a trip of only 20 kilometers can take close to an hour (i'm exaggerating, but it's slooooow).

The major German rail stations are completely covered with huge advertisements. They really are getting the bang for their buck. Who knew you be tempted into having fast food, coffee, beer, chocolate and a Volkswagen all at the same time.

The German countryside looks just like what I would expect and the German trucker stops look just like to ones in Wyoming complete with giant Mc Donalds signs that can be seen from all around...

Germany gets more beautiful the closer you get to the wine making areas!

Living in an Epic Literary Tale

Møn (pronounced Mhern) island is breathtaking. From the expansive fields of mustard plants, to the quaint little villages that dot the landscape, everything about this place is perfect. The bed and breakfast we're staying at is an old farm house that was built in the 16th century. It's simply furnished but cozy and has everything we could want. Jacques and Siff Hansen, who keep the B&B, are wonderful! They have bent over backwards to ensure that we have what we need. They even did some of our laundry! The farm is surrounded by fields and forests and while there are other houses in the area, they are spread out enough that you have pleanty of privacy. It's the picturesque European countryside you've seen in the movies and read about in books. I kept hoping to come up over a hill and see Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley on their way to the Bennet's home (wrong country, but a girl can dream). No wonder I love most of the European classics. Right now I feel like I'm living in one! When looking at the itinerary several months ago I was very excited for the walk through the forest and the afternoon on the beach. But I had no idea how much I would enjoy it! When we took off after breakfast, there was still a fog sitting over the island. We took a chartered bus to Cliff National Park and started our trek along the ridgeline. Walking through the forest steeped in fog was magical! At any moment I could imagine that a princess from a fairy tale might come walking along. The more than 500 stairs that would take us down to the water were daunting but the Baltic kept revealing itselfto us as we descended and the views made the workout worth it! When you reach the bottom of the stairs, depending on the tide, you step down on 15-30 feet of "beach" that isn't like any beach I've ever seen before. Instead of sand there are large stones (the sizes of baseballs and golf balls) covering the ground. The stones get smaller as the beach meets the water but there's no sand to be seen. Its definitely not a beach to walk barefoot on. Large amounts of seaweed wash up over the rocks during high tide and form soft carpets that stretch over the rocks and make them easier to walk on. We had a nice time enjoying the sound of the waves and the views. Cody was skipping stones over the water, Tulli was wading out and the rest of us found spots on the beach to search for treasures. We spent an hour or so down on the beach looking for amber and rattle rocks. A rattle rock has a semi hollow center and there's a smaller rock on the inside that rattles around when you shake it. They take hours to find and none of us had any luck. After a traditional Danish open face sandwich for our lunch picnic, we walked to a second set of stairs to take us back up to the ridgeline. There were fewer steps on the way up than on the way down but I sure got my work out for the day! When you get to the top the water isn't visible through the forest or over the cliffs. You really don't get a sense of how high up you are until you've done the climb.

Games Vikings Play

I said before that I wouldn't be able to hack it as a Viking and I take that back. I just couldn't be a sailing Viking.
Today we went to a Viking Village complete with real Vikings It's meant to be kind of a day camp for school children. We got there, dressed up (that's right, Viking costumes!), and got right to work, making rope, preparing a meal for the village and even doing some iron work. When we began this process I felt a little bit silly and unsure of the time I would have to spend there. I was worried that because it's generally a place for children, I wouldn't find it interesting. Thankfully, the opposite was true and thus far on the trip it has been my favorite activity.
My first task was to use the heat from an open fire to evaporate saltwater and extract salt crystals for seasoning the meal. Holy cow was it hot!! It took quite a while so I found a second task in hand spinning wool into yarn (I want to do it at home now). I was also able to help with baking flatbread on the open fire. The meal was delicious and it was all made over the fire or in a stone oven packed with mud to keep the heat in. We had chicken soup with carrots and turnips, baked apples, flat bread with butter and cheese and much much more. It was delicious!
After the food coma wore off slightly we played some Viking games. One of them seemed like a cross between American Football and Rugby. I'm sure it was entertaining to watch us run around in full length dresses trying to tackle each other. The second game was kind of like tug of war and the third, which is kind of hard to describe, had us trying to balance our weight on two short wooden blocks while trying to reach for a third block of wood. It was really difficult and I wasn't able to do it but some if the guys from the village got a little competitive and made watching the game more fun than playing it.

A quick Danish history Lesson!

Not too far out of Copenhagen is a town called Roskilde (Ross-kill-deh). The capital of Denmark was Roskilde until 1443 and there's still evidence of this powerful past in the cathedral. Almost the entire royal bloodline of Kings & Queens is buried in the cathedral. The second king of Denmark, Harald Bluetooth who lived around the time 950, is entombed in a wall right by the altar. The most recent deceased King, Frederik IX is buried just outside the cathedral with a view of the sea.

When the catholic missionaries came in the 8th century, a foundation for Christianity was laid and Harald Bluetooth erected a wooden church in the spot where the cathedral now sits. Catholicism wasn't what the Vikings expected and during the time of the reformation Denmark became a protestant country. Now the cathedral is used for Lutheran church services.

After exploring the cathedral we went to a Viking ship museum and oar'd a replica of a Viking fishing ship out through Roskilde Fjord. Thank goodness the weather had improved from the first couple of days, it would have been miserable if the weather had been poor. We learned how to work the sail and what life onboard ship would have been like. I can safely say that I couldn't hack it as a Viking. It was fun being out on the water in a little wooden boat but I can't imagine having to spent months on a cargo sized ship crossing long stretchs of sea.

Our guide for the ship sailing (lovingly nicknamed Hot Viking #2 by Katelin) was a lot of fun and he was very gracious, putting up with all of our giggling. He showed us replicas of several different ships and explained what each was used for. He taught us how to row efficiently and he did a nice job of explaining everything we needed. He even helped me, without laughing too much, when I fell into the boat at the begining of our trip. Yep that's right folks, my clumsyness is alive and well here in Denmark!

Christiania

I apologize to the gentlemen out there but I need a girl moment. There are an awful lot of very good looking men in Denmark. From the 'i just walked off the cover of a fashion magazine' guy to the 'I just finished rowing my Viking ship into the fjord' guy, they all just have something about them. Part of it might be that most of the Danes I've seen and talked to are in very good shape. I feel so lazy being exhausted after a few days of walking around town. Anyway, georgous men here!! Brings whole new meaning to saying "I want a danish! Hahaha...
Today the task at hand was to examine certain areas of Copenhagen from an english speaking tourist point of view. Offering feedback to the author of a Copenhagen travel guide was the main objective. We got up early for our meeting with Gunhild (the editor) and Tom (the author) from Politiken Publishing. Myself and five others choose to examine Christiania in a section of town across the canal from the main areas of the city. We piled onto one of the city buses and headed out.
Christiania is a very beautiful and interesting area. It used to be military barracks in the 60's and in 1971 a group of hippies took over the space after the military left town and they've been there ever since. People have been living their lives and raising their families in what some might consider an alternative lifestyle. But its been working for almost 40 years and i like it.
We were in Christiania kind of early on a Monday morning so it may not always be as laidback as we saw it but everyone seems to just have a go with the flow attitude. There are some less than legal aspects to life in Christiania but they aren't forced on you. My biggest impressions of the place was how friendly the shopkeepers were and how beautiful and colorful the art is. There are large murals painted on the sides of buildings and graffiti in some areas but it all fits the space (all over Copenhagen it's illegal to get caught graffiting something but if you don't get caught, it's considered art). Most of the graffiti I saw in Christiania and in Copenhagen isn't like the stuff we see at home, where the purpose behind it seems to just deface, here it's a colorful improvement to a less than attractive alley way. Professor Sorensen told us that if the graffiti gets cleaned off or painted over that it is done by private citizens, the danish government doesn't consider it enough of an eyesore to have a budget for graffiti removal.

Royal Scandals and Chocolate Cake

Our hotel room is designed like cruise ship accomidations and consists of three, cot sized beds in one 6x10 foot room. One small table and a shelf that runs the 6ft across the far wall serve as our spots to place personal items. The bathroom is itty bitty and the entire room gets wet when you shower. Its interesting...Cloudy skies greeted us on Sunday morning but thankfully not with quite as much rain as the first day. We were soaked to the bone after all of our walking the first day and we had even more treking around planned for day two.
After breakfast on Sunday we left to see the changing of the guard at Amalienborg Palace where the Queen lives. The description of the event would probably be just about as interesting as watching it in person (not very) so I won't go into it here. I'll just say that the guys who guard the palace work 24 hour shifts and they spend that whole time on their feet.
A little later was a "royal site" scavenger hunt. We walked all over Copenhagen looking for churchs, palaces, and even a shop where the royal family has been purchasing hand painted dishes for several hundred years. The most challenging part of the task was trying to decipher signs/plaques in Danish and Latin. I'm going to stick with Spanish for now but being here among Danish speakers, who are more than happy to speak my language and help me out when i need it, makes me realize that I should make a better effort to learn some of the languages and about the cultures of the places I visit.
With a view of the Christiansborg palace in the background, we finished up our hunt with Professor Sorensen sharing stories about all of the royal scandals. My favorite was the Danish princess Dagmar who married the czar of Russia. Her son Nicolas was the last Czar of Russia, he and his family were killed by a military coup, and Dagmar was the only family member to survive. I kept flashing on the cartoon version of Anastasia.
I spent the evening walking around the pedestrian street and some of the central neighborhoods of Copenhagen with the other girls on the trip. All of the streets have a lane for bike riding and they are well utilized. Lining the sidwalks in racks and leaned up against buildings, there are bikes everywhere you turn. I expect every Dane has one, each with a basket afixed to the front (no wonder they're all so fit).
Before we walked back to the hotel for the night, at a cute little cafe called Hoppes, we had hot chocolate and chocolate cake with creme frache! I decided at this point of the trip that I'm not going to limit myself to only one dessert a day. There are so many different ones to choose from, why restrict oneself!?

Day One: Copenhagen

After the longest and most exhausting flight experience of my life we were here and we hit the ground running. Stopping by the hotel to try to check in was the first task. Sadly arriving two hours later than planned still wasnt late enough to check in. We dropped our bags and headed off to the pedestrian street for lunch.
The pedestrian street is Copenhagen's version of the 16th street mall in Denver. Many of the same stores are there as well. Ugh, globalization... We had lunch (falafal pita for me) and then Natalie and I tried to get a coffee at a hip little coffee bar/bakery. It took two tries but eventually we got it. :)
The National Museum was next and most of us on the trip have lamented that we were just too tired to enjoy it properly. Just the same, we spent about two hours searching the museum and trying to find the answers to questions like... "What is the relationship between Vikings and the current Danish Monarchy?" I'm not sure yet... and "Why were the pagen Vikings not all that different from other europeans?" Still working on that one too...
Dinner was at a little basement place called Det Lille Apotek (the litle pharmacist), the oldest restaurant in Copenhagen, and we had a pork tenderloin stew with a thick sauce which included pineapple rounds and lots of bacon over rice. Wonderfully delicious and a very traditional dish (Apotekergryden is what the restaurant called it but that's not the traditional name). Pork is huge here, even more so than seafood it seems. Strange, because Denmark is made up of a peninsula and many islands.
At this point most of us were close to passing out but we made one last stop at the Ice Bar. Which is just what it sounds like, a room where the walls, tables, chairs, bar and even the glasses are made with ice from the Torne river in Sweden. In my frozen little glass I had a concoction of Absolut raspberry, raspberry liqueur, raspberry purée, orange juice and champagne. Delish!!!
It was a very long couple of days without a lot of sleep but we made it!

Birds in Airports

From May 14th @ 3:13pm

You know how you see birds flying around stores like Wal-Mart every once in a while?This morning at DIA there were birds in the airport. I've flown quite a bit over the last 5 years an I don't think I've ever seen a bird flying around the airport. Well, now we're at Newark and their birds put our little sparrows (or whatever they were) to shame. I walked around a corner to find our gate and instead I found a full grown pidgeon. Gross!! At one point the pidgeon flew up to a woman who then screamed and proclaimed "I HATE JERSEY!!" Natalie had a short laughing fit at that. I'm just thankful the bird didnt fly at me. I guess you'd have to be there to truly appreciate the moment. But just the thought of pidgeons dive bombing people in airports and airport "white noise" inturrupted by the screech of a shocked airport patron I hope is enough to make you smile. More to come when we land!