Sun, Sand and Denmark

In high school I had a fairly short walk from my car to the building, but in the winter it felt like a mile.  For the dark, early mornings when it was particularly windy and cold I developed a strategy to help the walk pass by a little quicker.  I would imagine a beach on the other side of my school, around where the football field was, and picture myself going there after school to leisurely enjoy the sun, sand and surf.

I now find myself walking to a train station every day before school, luckily not in the dark or the cold yet (although it will be soon), but my imagination requires much less work than it did in high school.  I enjoy a nice view of the ocean while waiting for my train, and catch the salty smell in the air on my walk home.  It's not always going to be the sunny, warm days I envisioned in high school, but hopefully when it gets cold at least part of the vision will be already taken care of!

Here is my view from the train station:

While on the topic of trains, I'd like to give a thanks to the train conductors of Denmark.  There has been more than one occasion in which I am running up the stairs to the train stop, frantically trying to catch the train on time, when I see the cute little train conductor stick his head out of the window, wave to me, and wait! I can also tell you that I have encountered more than one occasion similar to this (by bus, not train) in the US, when the door is practically shut in my face while I watch the bus drive away!

Two weekends ago, my first full weekend here, my host parents took me on a trip through the Danish countryside!  Our destination was one of the two cliffs in Denmark, each is made out of chalk!  I didn't get to touch the cliff, but they said it looks, feels, and acts just like chalk.  We drove by farms, quaint houses, stables, windmills...it was beautiful!  I was surprised to see no dilapidated houses or broken skeletons of old barns, as you might see on a drive through the countryside in the US.  The drive to my cabin is beautiful, but full of funny odds and ends.  The Danish countryside is quaint, clean, and very picturesque.  

We made one stop at a nature center which had a beautiful view and an old tower you could climb up to look out into the ocean.  

After the first stop we drove on to our final destination.  It was an old church, built in the 1200s, near the side of a cliff.  Over the years as the cliff eroded it became closer and closer to falling over the edge.  In 1910 they actually did close the church, and in 1929 part of it fell over the edge. It is now open for display and supported with money from taxes.  The church was very interesting to see and the shore was beautiful!  The inside of the church still had faint paintings on the walls and an old, pretty alter.

There was a balcony outside of the church, where you could look down and see the shore and realize how close to the edge you really are!  Some of you will be happy to know I was in the company of someone afraid of heights, which kept me farther from the edge most of the time :)

Here is a view of the church from the shore, at the bottom of the cliff.  There were steep stairs to get to the bottom!  You can see how the church is very close to the edge!

Before leaving we looked around in a gift shop, which  really was of interest because it was an old house that still had the furniture in it and got some ice cream!  I think Anne enjoys ice cream almost as much as I do :)  We sat at a picnic table and enjoyed the nice weather and a pretty view of the church and the ocean before leaving.  On the way back we saw a beautiful rainbow!  It was a perfect arch and lasted for a long part of our drive!  A few days later on the train ride home I saw another equally beautiful rainbow!  This one wasn't as clearly a full arch, but it was a double rainbow!  I told Anne that I'm starting to think they're a regular thing here, but she said they're really not, I've just been lucky.  When I told this to my Grammie she said that soon Anne will learn, rainbows are a regular for me :) I hope she is right!  I couldn't get a picture to show the rainbow as vibrant as it really was, but you can get the idea.

So that was two weekends ago, but I also got to enjoy some beautiful weather and the ocean this past weekend.  On Sunday I went to a DIS picnic just north of the city on a beach Copenhagen is most known for.  It was a beautiful day with a lot of activity and a lot of fun!

People brought their horses to the beach and swam with them in the water!  

The next picture was taken at the beach right by my house.  I went with Anne, Verner, Anders and three of his cousins who were visiting all day on Saturday.  

When I go back I'll miss being so close to the ocean!  Even when it's not warm enough for me to swim in, it is so beautiful to look at!

I will try to post soon to tell you about my classes, be prepared to be my first psychological subjects!  I also have a study tour this weekend too, so I will have much to report on when I get back!

I hope you have a wonderful week!