The schools in Danmark has a weeks vacation in the fall, and we do too.
The weather can still be great, and the colours in the nature are beautiful. The leaves are changing and lots and lots of mushrooms show up in the fields and in the woods. The weather is cooling down, but you can be lucky - like we were this year - that it is still nice and sunny.
We started the vacation going to a 50 years anniversary, what we call "Guldbryllup" - "Gold Wedding". The celebration was celebrated the traditional way in a community house in a little village in vest-jylland, near Steffens birthtown and the summerhouse.
We were 80 people for a three course dinner at nicely set long tables decorated with flowers and candles. A musician with an accordion played during dinner. We started with a song, and in between the courses, we sang some more from a little songbook, the inviting couple had made for the purpose. The son and daughter of the couple had made a power point presentation with pictures from the past 50 years of the couple. Very much fun for everybody to watch. We all recognised the charactaristics of the different time periods, in terms of dayly life, fashion in clothing and glasses and cars, aso.
After dinner the tables were moved away, and the dancing started.
The first couple on the dance floor were of course the "Golden wedding couple" dancing the traditional "Brides Waltz". Everybody gather around them, and as they dance evrybody moves closer and closer, so at last the couple cant dance anymore so they have to kiss. Like we do at weddings too.
After that everybody go on the dance floor.
Good old Danish popular melodies, and some traditional Danish folk dance. So much fun.
When the dancing finished, we all gathered in a circle holding hands and singing the traditional farewell song : "Skuld gammel venskaw rein forgå" in vest-jysk dialect. (Same melody and text as "Should all aquaintance be forgot" that you might know). A very emotional tradition.
After the celebration we spend the rest of the vacation in the summer house, by the fjord. Walking the dogs for hours everyday in the woods, by the fjord and at the sea. (Atlantic Ocean). Picking mushrooms, having a typical Danish lunch at my mother in law, and fishing at the fjord were some of the things we did.
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| "Rød fluesvamp" - don´t eat. |
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| Afternoon fall light in the beech wood. |
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| Karl Johan, very nice to eat. |
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| A good variaty of eatable mushrooms. |
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| A good catch! |
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| Goodies for the dogs. |
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| Skål ! |
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| Ryebread and typical Danish toppings, smoked and fried fish, meatballs, liver paté, crab meat, pickled beets, sauer kraut, pickles, and a little vegetables, beer and snaps. |
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| - and a good conversation ! |
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| Row, row, row your boat.... |
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| Picking up the nets, are we lucky today ? |
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| Untangling and sorting out the nets. |
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| Cleaning the mushrooms is "hyggeligt!" |
