DAY 10 - A FAMILY OUTING FOR ICE CREAM AND A VISIT TO Julianehøj... Tuesday 3rd May 2022...

Today was Theo's first day at his new daycare.  It was suggested to Maria yesterday that Elliot would benefit for coming in for some time again also, so Steve went with him, whilst Maria spent the time with Theo.  They only went for a couple of hours and were home in time for their lunch and a rest.  

We have been having lunch at 11am so that Elliot can be put down for a sleep around 11.30am to mid day and then Maria only lets him sleep for a couple of hours so that he goes to bed early in the evening. 

Maria was keen to come on a bit of an outing with us this afternoon and as we couldn't leave before 2pm we decided to do some exploring close to home.  

Pete had suggested we go and check out some of the burial mounds that were in the area, so we decided to go check out Julianehøj which was down the road from Jægerspris Slot.  We had hoped to check it out also, but I think time will be against us today and we might have to come back and revisit the castle another day.

Pete had told us about a very special ice cream stall in Jægerspris what he suggested we might like to take Theo to so this was our first stop.  Understandably Theo was pretty excited to be getting another ice cream today.  Steve was pretty happy also as they had Rum and Raisin ice cream today.

One of the other pluses about this ice cream stall was that all ice cream was made on site as well as their cones and we were able to watch them making the waffle cones.  They also have the most awesome tasting guff that they put on the top of their ice cream.

Awesome ice cream stall at Jægerspris

Lining up for our ice creams

We needed a little help working out the different flavours..

The stall was pretty with lovely flowering pots around the front of the shoppe which were fully out in bloom.  Whilst I love our weather back home, I do love Spring, and the flowers and colours of the earth over here in Denmark.

Beautiful Spring flowers in Denmark

Across the road from the ice cream shoppe was an area of picnic tables that it seemed most people headed to to eat their ice creams.  We ended up there as well.  We did have to watch the children though as it was on the corner of two roads, and one was a main road...

One excited little boy with his own ice cream...

Both Steve and I opted for a Rain and Raisin ice cream as most places in Denmark we found didn't have this flavour.  There seemed to be quite a few flavours with licorice.  The guff here was light and fluffy and Pete was right, it was really good ice cream and the place was really popular with a constant line up of customers to be served..

My ice cream

Elliot was keen to have ice cream also...

Elliot wasn't too keen on sharing.  Maria bought one to share with him, and he really wanted to hold it and have it himself.  It won't be long before he will be wanting his own also...

Enjoying our ice creams at Jægerspris

This part of Denmark is known for the beautiful ancient old oak trees and there was one right in front of us just outside of the ice cream shop.  These beautiful oaks have such character.  There are a few more famous ones in the forest behind Jægerspris Slot (Castle) that are over 2000 years old.  These trees are so different to the trees we have at home..

Beautiful big old oak trees in Jægerspris..

Across the road from where we ate our ice creams was a lovely old cottage with a beautiful flowering Camilla tree which was fully out in flower.  The flowers were huge and the tree was gorgeous.  Below the trees were flowering tulips and daffodils.  Such a pretty picture...

This tree was fully out in bloom...

Right next to where we parked the car was a little playground so of course before we could entice the children back into the car, they wanted a swing.  We had to make it a pretty quick one as by now it was after 3.30pm and we still hadn't made it out to Julianehøj,  and that was out goal for the afternoon.

A play in the playground before we could leave.

Julianehøj.. was situated a little out of Jægerspris and about a kilometre down the road from Jægerspris Slot (castle).  We didn't know to much about it to start with but Pete informed us that there were lots of burial mounds all over Denmark. 

One of the oldest kingdom in the world, early record of Denmark's History can be traced back to the 6t and 7th centuries AD, when the Danes were still a tribal people scattered across the region.  Eventually united under the rule of King Harald Bluetooth, many Danes would settle in England and Ireland during the invasions of the Viking Age.  From these early tales of Viking exploration and conquest, to the modern nation of Denmark we know today, the Danish people have been at the forefront of global events for centuries. We also learnt that because of this a lot of our English words have their origin in the Danish language. 

On the opposite side of the road from the entrance to Julianehøj there was a beautiful avenue of trees.  I am pretty sure that is belonged to the park land surround the Castle, it looked lovely now but I can only imagine how beautiful it would look when the trees have all their Spring leaves.  Pete and Maria had been here previously and Maria had informed us that they went finding through the forest here on their bikes.  They loved the forest around here...

Julianehøj was a very interesting place to visit.  We were first taken in by the strange trees that lined the drive up to the memorial.  They looked eerie and very different.  We were to find out that these trees are trimmed at the end of summer for the winter and then they regrow each Spring.  By the time we left Denmark, these trees were almost covered in leaves again.

These very different trees...

Wild daisies grow everywhere in Denmark..

The dandelions are huge in Denmark

Julianehøj is originally a burial place from ancient time.

The graveyard, which dates from approx. 3000 BC, was originally called Monses hill and Væverhøj and was excavated and heavily rebuilt in 1776 at the request of  Crown Prince Frederik and Ove Hoegh-Guldberg. Human bones, a copper or bronze dagger and flint tools were found.

In 1776-89 Crown Prince Frederik allowed the sculptor Johannes Wiedewelt to transformed the burial chamber into Julianehøj as a memorial for his mother Queen Juliane-Marie with memorial stones for pagan Danish kings.  

Wiedewelt designed a new entrance portal, the former east-facing entrance was closed, and a plaque in Norwegian marble was erected over the new portal with the inscription: 

JULIANE-HØJ - IN THE MEMORY OF THE BEST MOTHER HOLY IN THIS EARLY MEMORIAL FOUND IN AARXI PRINCE MDC FRIDERICH.

In the burial chamber itself, seven memorial pillars were erected in Norwegian Gjellebæk marble with the names of the early legendary kings : Skjord, Frode Fredegod, Dan Mykillati, Harald Hildetand, Wittekind, (from Saxony and who was formerly considered the ancestor of  the Oldenburg family), Harald Harfager,  (which united Norway) and Gorm the Old. In 1782, a Norwegian rune stone mounted on the top, the so-called Igijos stone , was found in 1781 in a grave at the farm Stenstad in Telemark.

The views across the countryside from the mound of the memorial were beautiful, green paddocks and thatched cottages.  We had only been in Denmark a week, so we were still thrilled to see such beautiful countryside.

 

Lovely thatched cottages in this area....

The grounds there were covered in wild little daisies and dandelions and the bumble bees were busy flitting from flower to flower.  We all enjoyed watching them.  It was great to see so many bees busily pollinating the many flowers that were out...

Whilst I was busy photographing some of the trees, the boys busied themselves playing with the gravel on the walkway.  They were having so much fun with the rocks, that neither of them wanted to hop back into the car.  In fact poor little Elliot lost it...

We had planned on stopping in at Jægerspris Castle and take a walk around the grounds where the sculptor Johannes Wiedewelt who had designed Julianehøj had also made another 54 monuments for famous Norwegians and Danes were desplayed.  Be decided that we would go home instead as Elliot was beyond it and as it was now after 5pm figured we would be better to get the kids home, fed and bathed ready for bed.

 

Jægerspris Castle

 We drove home via Landerslevvej so that we were able to show Maria all the wonderful fields of flowering canola.  This is a lovely drive and  there are some wonderful old buildings and even an old windmill, all different architecture than we are used to back home, so obviously, it is all a novelty to us.

 

 

 

 

 

 The historic Danish Windmill is a working example of life in an earlier time when farmers brought their harvest to the mill and wind energy was used to grind grain into flour.  It provides a rare glimpse into the past when thousands of windmills were scattered about the Denmark countryside.

 

Typical Danish Kirke (Church)

 

Typical Danish Thatched cottage

 

Cherry trees are all out in blossom...

 

 It was a lovely afternoon, made even more special that Maria was able to join us.  It is great that she has this week off, and even though she is busy settling the boys into their new day care, it does give us time with both Pete and Maria as a family.