May 20, 2012,  A Trip to the West Coast of Denmark

Karla's cousin Ib convinced his neighbor Ronnie (a Swede who has lived in Denmark for decades and who happens to be extremely well-informed about world affairs) and a friend Tavi (a Romanian who Ib helped get to Denmark along with his two sisters) to help drive us to the west coast of Denmark for some great sightseeing.

Nicole in her Icelandic sunglasses awaiting the tour.

On the road in Ronnie's group.

Our first stop was at an old monastery.  For awhile it was inhabited by an unscrupulous man who controlled all the surrounding land, including the coastline.  In Denmark, if you own coastline, it is your responsibility to help ships that are thrown  aground and sinking during storms near your land.  It is a big responsibility, but the flip side is that if all lives are lost and the ship or cargo washes up on shore, all that property goes to the landowner.  So this unscrupulous fellow was very slow to respond when ships were in danger along his coast.  In fact, at night he would walk a horse along the cliffs above the sea with a lit lantern dangling from it.  This would appear to ships as the lights on the mast of another ship, so they would assume that was a safe light to follow.  But it wasn't. And he just never seemed to be quick enough to help save any of the sailors.  His wealth and scurrilous reputation grew.. 

Across form the monastery Karla, Joni, Laura, Danielle, Nicole, Kairsten, Kristin, Moriah, Paige, Ib, and Ib's son Jesper pose in front of an old windmill. 

This windmill is unique, as its blades are at rest in a "+" position rather than an "x" position.  Normally a windmill rests in the "x" position so wind hits all four blades evenly.  However, several Danes were killed here by Nazi's during World War II, so these blades are intentionally stopped in the shape of a cross in memorial to those who were killed.

Another view of the windmill.  None of these old types of windmills are still in service in Denmark, but there are many wind farms with the new modern electricity generating windmills 

Ib shows us where the North Sea is eating away at Denmark.  The cliffs keep falling down into the sea.

On the grassy top of the cliff.

A summer home with only a few summers left.  Many houses and a church have fallen down into the sea.

Looking south down the coast.  You can see the falling cliffs.

Kristin and Paige examining sea shells.

Nicole and Danielle posing in the North Sea.

Kristin and Danielle

A couple hikers between the sea and the cliffs.  The sun was warming shallow pools of water close to the cliffs and a cool wind was blowing in from the ocean, which combined to create this rising fog.

Kristin and Moriah

Kairsten and Laura

Ib's dog Trixie.

Concordia May Sem-ers at the beach.

Kairsten beach combing by the cliffs,

Kairsten, Danielle, Kristin, Moriah, Paige, Joni, Laura, and Nicole.

At our next stop we hiked to a lighthouse that has been overtaken by sand dunes.

Some sheep along our hike.

Ib, Karla, and Trixie  en route tot he lighthouse. 

Trixie and Ib climbing the mountainous sand dunes.

Looking north from the top of the sand dune towards a small town.

Paige Tavi, Jesper, Danielle, Moriah, and Kristin at the edge of the sand dune overlooking the sea.

Sightseers atop one of the dunes.

The seaward side of a sand dune.

Danielle, Laura, Nicole, Joni, Kairsten, Moriah, Kristin, and Paige, backs to the sea.

Remnants of a barrack that used to be at the base of the lighthouse. 

Ib telling hte students about rocks that had been pushed here from Oslo, Norway by the last ice-age glaciers

Looking from the sand towards a rapeseed field.  Notice the four modern electrical windmills at center left.

May Sem students in lower right of picture.

Heading down from the dunes.

Joni, Tavi, Laura, Jessper, Kairsten, and Nicole

Paige in front of debris from another barrack.

Ib and Trixie coming down.

More Sheep

A building in one of the small towns along the coast.

Fishing boats pulled ashore.

Looking north from the fishing boat area.

Laura and some Flat Stanleys

Paige found this live crab in the water, but Kristin was the first one to pick it up.

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One of the fishing boats.

Jesper and Tavi walking past the building that houses a rescue boat and equipment.

Some houses along the coast (in an area that looks safe for a few hundred years).

More houses.  The funny shaped black one is the base of an old-fashioned windmill which has lost its blades and has been converted into a house.

An old Citroen Car

Another old-fashioned windmill.

Tavi, Trixie, and Karla after sightseeing but before supper.

Joni likes moose - and there happened to be a mounted moose head at the restaurant where we had supper.