Tequila

Well...I was still listening to the game before I shut down my computer and I just heard the Husky Band in the background playing Tequila. I realized that there is now no longer anyone I know still playing in the band...yet all those new people can play that song the same way we played it (damn, another td to ND) when I was in the Husky Band! It is actually quite comforting to know that traditions can be passed down to the following generations...just by reading the music! ;) Ah well...time flies. I wish I could be at the games now even though the Dawgs pretty much suck right now.

Procrastination Season

I am getting along very slowly with my thesis, but I actually have a topic for it now, so that is a huge progression! I have been terrible lately, however, about sitting down and spending a few good hours reading and researching and outlining....I'm thinking I might have to go to the States for some in-depth research...we'll see if they can fund that!

While procrastinating, I have managed to do a lot of lawn mowing, on-the-knees-floor-cleaning, and I have gotten incredibly far on a cross-stitch project that I started back in high school! For some reason, I feel like I have to get it done before I can get any further on my thesis...but that is not likely going to happen. But last night, while I was working on my cross-stitch, I enjoyed some of my all time favorite movies! Right now, my t.v. is showing a preview of the Disney Channel and they showed the movie Mary Poppins! My childhood favorite! Although, it was a new experience watching it with dubbed Danish voices! It was a little difficult to enjoy it in the same way, when you know the other voices so well. Another favorite of mine that they showed last night was Hook! I could watch that movie over and over again and never tire of it! It's so great!

It sucks the hurricanes are back in Texas and Louisiana...but on the other hand, they say that when the weather is so extreme over there, Denmark (and other areas of Europe) gets really great weather! The last week has been quite warm, although at the beginning of the week the clouds were heavy and thick, but yesterday and today have been absolutely wonderful! Clear blue skies, sun shiny weather! It's been so nice! A great way to start the autumn season!

I'm off to bed now....I am listening to the Husky Game online, but I don't think it will be worth staying awake and listening to the last quarter. At least it won't be a shut-out. Go Dawgs!

A view of the towers over the Storbaelt...

From Sj�lland over to Fyn, we crossed the Storb�lt bridge. The tower looks so ghostly as it rises high into the thick, heavy clouds.

I got a ride back to Aalborg with Martin's brother on Wednesday, but before heading back to Jylland, we were a few hours in Hiller�d in northern Sj�lland. This is Frederiksborg Castle, built in 1560 and added on in 1600-1620. It is absolutely beautiful inside (I visited it in 1996) and has fantastic baroque gardens surrounding it. The castle looks like it is from a fairytale!

This is another view of the fields. I love the way the clouds look as they are highlighted by the sun above them!

This past weekend (Sept 17th) I was down in Horsens to celebrate Martin's friend Carsten's birthday. Right behind Carsten's house is this field that has just recently been harvested and now bails of hay wait to be picked up. This is a very typical Danish landscape scene during this time of the year.

I finished up the rest of my lunch and enjoyed the sun and the view of industrial Aalborg from the north side of the Limfjord. I was relieved that my tires didn't pop and no bugs flew in my mouth during the 60 km bike ride! I can actually see myself doing it again someday...

Looking over at the ferry in Hals

Looking over to Hals on the south fjord side.

On the ferry looking back from the front

Wild daisies

Self portrait...after lunch on the south side of the fjord.

Small boats in the marina on the south side of the fjord.

Para-surfers on the coast.

A jetty sticking out on the south side of the Limfjord. You can see the opening of the fjord from the Kattegat from the upper left corner.

Get on your bikes and ride!

Geesh...my crotch hurts and I'm proud of it! Today, I rode on the longest bike ride I have ever been on! It was over 60 kilometers, or about 46 miles!! Isn't that incredible?! The last 10 km were killer and then head wind ta' boot, but I made it and then enjoyed a nice, long bath afterwards!

The route I took is called the "Kattegattruten", or the Kattegat Route, which is shown on the map as Aalborg - Mou - Hals - Nørresundby (http://www.visitfjordenrundt.dk/index-lim.htm). I rode about 25 km to the east coast of Denmark and met up with the body of water called the Kattegat. Then, I took about a 4 minute ferry ride across the mouth of the fjord over to Hals. Hals (means 'throat' in Danish) is a very cute little town with a nice marina and several nice cafes and restaurants and some touristy type butiks and gift shops. I didn't spend much time there, although I made a mental note to come back one day for a cup of coffee or maybe a meal in one of the restaurants. I had packed my own lunch of a nectarine, a pear, and a cheese and rye bread sandwich! :)

The ride on the north side of the fjord was enjoyable as it was all new territory and there was lots to look at. Seeing 30 km sign to Aalborg was very intimidating, but I knew there was only one way home and that was to peddle all the way there! Fortunately, I had tail wind, and that made the ride back a bit easier. Several times I could see the other side of the fjord and knew that if I was on that side, I would be that much closer to home, but I had to go through Nørresundby and over the bridge (which opened right as I got there to let a sail boat through) and through downtown Aalborg.

Both sides of the fjord have similar terrain...just like everywhere else in Denmark. I saw lots of newly-plowed wheat fields, ready-to-pick corn fields, and several small Christmas tree farms. This part of Denmark is very scarcely populated, so the houses are mainly on farms or far apart from each other. Several times I rode through small communities with more houses and one grocery store and a gas station. From my house, I have to go up and down several hills, but then the trail is flat the rest of the way until you get close to Aalborg again.

I started at 11.10 this morning and was back at 16.20 this afternoon. I was lucky to have really nice weather all through my ride, and although I am quite exhausted now, it is a very nice feeling to have accomplished such a long trek!

Rain drops on roses and whiskers on kittens...

Whoa...last night I was awoken to rolls of thunder, bright flashes of lightning and rain pelting on my window. The storm just seemed to hover over the area for several hours. I usually enjoy a nice thunder storm, but yesterday I watched too much CNN on Hurricane Katrina and I was actually scared that the same thing was going to happen me...right here in Denmark. I have been reading articles in the Seattle Times about the conditions in the Superdome...urine on the floor, feces on the wall...that is supposed to be the United States of America! That country is not supposed to have situations like that! It is actually quite embarrassing the way the citizens (mostly blacks) are acting by looting flooded stores, shooting police officers, starting fires....I can just imagine terrorists laughing in their caves and thinking they couldn't have done it better! I am sure many of these people have no idea that they are being covered world wide. It's nice to know, of course, that many nations are sending support, but it's funny, too, how an engineer from the Netherlands responded to the flooding. He couldn't see how Louisiana could get away with such poor technology to protect their people...considering the Netherlands is pretty much all under sea level and there are 16 million people living there, so they definately can't mess around with the temperament mother nature!