24-26 Jul 2011 Denmark & Sweden- Giant TV Deliveries

CADILLAC WITH PINSTRIPING (not as good as Pete's)














KRONBORG CASTLE






















AMELIENBORG CASTLE (Home of the Royal Couple)


GIFION FOUNTAINS


ROSENBORG SLOT(castle)















CHURCH OF OUR LADY-CHRISTUS












STATE MUSEUM WITH 2 BLOCH PAINTINGS




















2 PICTURES BY BLOCH













DOWNTOWN COPENHAGEN



























SWEDEN AND THE FERRY RIDE





















You are probably asking, why are they in Denmark & Sweden? Well, we were assigned to take two huge Plasma TV's to Sweden. The church was in charge of a presentation for the World Boy Scout Jamboree and they needed these tv's. Our department was able to get them cheaper in Germany and we could deliver them cheaper than shipping them. We are proud to say that our mission was a success with both tv's in tact. In order to get to Sweden you first have to go through Copenhagen Denmark, and catch two ferries before arriving in Sweden. I'll tell you more about our journey later but first a little history about Denmark.

Copenhagen is today the capital of Denmark and has its own medieval castle called Kronborg. During the 16th Century, Denmark was a powerful kingdom in Northern Europe. This castle was built on the narrowest part of the land on the Baltic Sea that is closest to Sweden. The king, for many years, extracted high ship charges for crossing between these two countries. The only way these people tolerated the high tolls was because the King protected the ships from piracy. All pirates caught, were seized and taken to the castle for execution. You might like to know that this is also known as Hamlet's castle or Shakespear's Elsinore. It was said that Shakespear spent some time here and used it as a backdrop for his play Hamlet. I'll have to go back and read that one again.

Today, the castle is still majestic. I went up to the edge of the wall and took pictures of the Baltic Sea. It was very rough and the waves were high. We had to cross these waters on a ferry boat that also had cars, trucks and cargo. Elder Walters said a ferry boat just like the one we were on went down a few months ago between Russia and Sweden and everyone froze to death. Nice thought before getting on. Of course, we said a prayer. We had to do this 3 more times. No one was allowed to stay in their cars because they are all on the bottom level, we had to go up to the top floor where there are life preservers if needed. Oh great, now I don't have to worry, except we aren't traveling in the Bahamas. The water is frigid, even in the summer time.

Remember Disney's "Littlest Mermaid"? well the idea started here in Denmark with a book written by Hans Christian Andersen called "The Little Mermaid". It was memorialized by a small statue resting by the Baltic Sea of a little mermaid sitting on a rock at the Langelinie. It was erected in 1913 and is as important to Denmark as the Statue of Liberty is to the US.

We saw the Gefion fountain with the beautiful maid driving huge oxen. Gifion is an ancient goddess. The story goes that the Swedish King Glyfe offered Gefion as much land as she could plough using four oxen in one day if she would be his Queen. She turned her four boys into such strong oxen that they plowed so deep and they lifted up a piece of Sweden and pulled it out to sea where it eventually formed an island called Zealand, not New Zealand. It was beautiful and I took several pictures of it.

Amalienborg palace is the winter residence of the King and Queen of Denmark. When a flag is flying, that means the Royal couple is there. It is designed in the Danish Rococo style. It was very beautiful. Today, the Royal family owns 8 palaces and the Royal ship Danneborg. The Royal guard stands at attention 24 hours a day and they have the changing of the guard every two hours. We also went through the State Museum where they house all kinds of art but we were particularly interested in the Danish and Nordic art section. We found only two paintings by Carl Bloch, they are beautiful, along with many other artists. I am sorry to say, my pictures are terrible, don't know what went wrong but they are still my favorites. My brother Bill will probably know the artists. As for Carl Bloch, everyone might know him from his famous religious paintings that the church uses frequently. If I am not mistaken, didn't they just have a showing in Salt Lake City of his paintings? Correct me if I am wrong. I understand these paintings can be seen in a town called Freidrichsborg near Copenhagen. Didn't have time to go however.

Went in to the middle of town and went through the Church of our Lady. This is where the original Christus is displayed. It is beautiful. It is the work of the sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen. As you know, the church got permission to use a likeness of it which sits in many visitor centers. Outside is a sculptor of Moses holding the 10 commandments. It is truly amazing. It is the only church I have been in that shows the resurrected Christ. He is shown as both the Savior and Redeemer and he is there for everyone.

Copenhagen is a beautiful city but I did notice two homeless men sleeping in the very nicest part of town. People just step around them like they were not there. I thought about leaving a hamburger and fries by his head but when we went back that way, someone had already done that. I guess everyone is use to him being there. I loved the architecture here. It is old but different from Germany. There buildings had very clean lines with lots of color.

We didn't see much of Sweden but we did look around Helsingborg and took some more photos. This is beautiful country but pretty cold for us Sunny California people. We are so grateful to be of service to the Lord and his church in some small way. We are also so privileged to be able to see a little more of beautiful Europe.