Making My Grandmother Proud & Riding A Swan

Yesterday was yet another Holy day here in Denmark. We had Big Prayer Day on May 20th (called St. Bededag in Danish), on June 2nd, we had 'Christ speed up to heaven day' (that is the literal translation of the Danish name for First Ascension Day, Kristihimmelfartsdag), and yesterday was Pinsedag (Whitsunday).

There have been 7 public holidays in Denmark in the last two months! This means a lot of days off for the students and employed citizens of Denmark. All of these holidays fall in the spring time, no less. Lucky Danes! All but one of the holidays, Constitution Day, have something to do with Easter, and the coming and goings of Jesus. But, enough about the holidays, let me get on to how I made my Grandmother proud yesterday. I went to church.

The Cathedral, in Viborg, I attended church in. Picture from: www.free-photos.biz

Unlike her, I am not a regular in the house of the Lord, so it makes her extremely happy when she hears I have attended a church service. Although, I am not sure if it counts when I go to a service in Danish, and can not understand the gospel message that is being preached. I listened super hard to the preacher's words yesterday though, and while I understood several words, he was speaking far too fast for me to put the sentences together.

Some of the words he said that stood out in particular were: spise (eat), aftensmad (dinner), vin (wine), and brød (bread). It is probably not a good sign that hearing words related to alcohol and eating can instantly draw you out of a boredom induced stupor. I asked Henry what the preacher was talking about, and he informed me that the congregation was invited up to the altar for some bread and wine.

Now, I am not much a church goer, and I have never passed up a carb or a glass of wine in my life, so I was totally up for a little snack. But, as we slowly made our way up to the altar, I started to question what was happening.

"So, do we just bring the bread and wine back to our seats?" I asked Henry.

"No. It is just a tiny piece of bread," he replied, and kind of gave me a look like I was an idiot. "Right. So this is some sort of holy tradition?" I asked again.
"Of course," was the answer.

I was very confused. I knew that the Catholics do something like this as communion. But we were not at a Catholic service. I really didn't know what was going on, and had no idea what would take place up on the altar, and since I am not a regular at religious events, I opted out and went back to my seat. I am glad I did. Henry and his family were the last ones to receive their snacks, and were the only ones kneeling at the altar, along side the preacher dressed in his fancy robes, while the rest of the hundreds of us watched them from our seats. That would have been a really awkward situation for me, so I am glad I stayed put.

Whether a foreign language church service counts or not, I know she would have at least been super jealous. The Cathedral the service was held in was stunning. The original building has been around for over 1000 years, but was completely restored in 1859. The high ceilings are painted with intricate murals depicting biblical scenes, the stone walls hold gorgeous, colorful stained glass windows, extravagant candelabras adorn the pulpit, and in the back sits a massive organ and a choir of people with angelic voices. The combination of organ music and choir voices, which we heard frequently throughout the service was so hauntingly beautiful.

The altar inside the Viborg Cathedral. Picture from: www.panoramio.com


View from the altar, inside the Viborg cathedral. Picture from: www.cvltvre.com

Aside from the regular Pinsedag service, three Danish babies also had their naming ceremony. The babies were wearing traditional long, white christening gowns, as the preacher anointed them and pronounced their names to the public. Josephine, Frederik, and Valdamar. I can't say that I am a fan of any of these names, and I felt a tiny pang of pity for the babies. But, since these are typical Danish names, as long as these kids don't find themselves at a school yard in North America, they will likely avoid having to endure any name related bullying during their childhood.

The twins of Danish crown prince Frederik and Princess Mary in their christening gowns. Picture from: www.zimbio.com

After church was over, Henry's parents treated us to an amazing lunch at the Golf Hotel Salonen in Viborg. The crown prince, pictured above, and his father had ate there only the day before. If it was a good enough place for the royal family to eat, then it was certainly good enough for me. The restaurant, situated on a beautiful lake in Viborg, was decorated in a classic nautical theme, and was lined with windows so no matter where you sit, you get a fabulous view of the lake and park. We were waited on by men in tuxedo vests and bow ties. We sipped a delicious Chardonnay, and feasted on a voluptuous buffet of salads, breads, cheese, seafood, and tartelette.

Henry took this picture of the restaurant from our swan paddle boat.

After lunch, we decided to jump in a giant swan paddle boat and ride around the lake. When our time was up on the swan, we rented a row boat. Here are some photos from our lake excursion:

Heading out for a ride in the swan. FYI skirts are very inappropriate attire for paddle boating, especially on a breezy day!


We also ran into a few real swans. Swans are incredibly graceful and beautiful, and just so happen to be Denmark's national bird.


I spied not one, but two babies sleeping outside in their carriages!

Also spotted being very inattentive to their babies, were these 6 man ducks, snoozing on the shore, while the one mother duck chased after the sweet ducklings. Typical.


A view of the Cathedral from the boat.


The row boat experience. Apparently rowing under these trees puts you in the kissing garden.


Another scenic shot.

It was a very hyggelig day, as they would say in Denmark. I may not have understood what was being said at the Church service, but I had lots of gorgeous architecture, paintings to look at, and incredibly organ music to listen to. I enjoyed what I saw of Viborg, and would love to return to explore more of the sweet, small, serene city.

*For more information on the Danish baby naming ceremony, and other odd baby traditions in Denmark, check out my posts Oh Baby and Babies Sleeping Outside

*I had a video blog ready to post this weekend, but my 2 minute video was too many MB for blogger to upload. I was so disappointed. I have seen many videos on blog posts longer than two minutes, does anyone know how I can fix this?