Final Thoughts 🗺

Now that we are safely back in our homes and with our families, we just have the memories of our time together in Denmark, but what fabulous memories they are! When I asked the students what their favorite memories of the trip were, two boys immediately replied in unison, "rowing the Viking ship." Even though this was the worst weather day of the entire trip, it was still such a neat experience...maybe is was more memorable because of the wind and rain.  Other top answers were the visit to the school, the bike ride (our bums certainly remember this adventure best), climbing the outside spire for a birds eye view of Copenhagen, making a surprise trip to Sweden, and seeing the white cliffs of Mons Klint. We certainly did a lot in one week! 

My favorite memory is riding the roller coaster at Tivoli Gardens....it was just so much fun, and I thought of Phillip and Clara as I zoomed up and down. I found my name in Denmark, too, which was neat:

Traveling is one of the best ways to learn about the world. Exploring other cultures helps us understand our own selves better, and allows us to have a more informed perspective of the world around us. I hope that everyone on this trip has been motivated to travel again and continue a life long adventure of learning.

Back in North America ✈️

We are safely back on North American soil. It took us an hour to get through customs at the Toronto airport, and our plane has been delayed an hour. Everyone is looking forward to being HOME.

Ready to leap across the ocean and head home 🤗

Marieke likes to take a "jumping photo" of each of her tour groups, so here is ours....

We are checked in and waiting for our flight at 12:15.

Farewell, Denmark 👋

We celebrated our last night in Denmark with dinner at the oldest restaurant in Copenhagen: Det Lille Apote. We had a delicious meal of smoked salmon appetizer (we have eaten a LOT of salmon this week), beef filets, and apple crisp for dessert (no rhubarb...we have had rhubarb quite often this trip). 

You are truly on the throne when you use the restroom at this restaurant...

We are back at the Tivoli Hotel for one more night. Many of us enjoyed the pool and sauna to relax after a week full of excitement.

We are planning a 10 year reunion trip, because we had such a good time together. Marieke invited us to the Netherlands....so stay tuned 😉

Danish Social Housing 🏡

When we returned to Copenhagen this afternoon, we learned more about the Danish Social Housing program.  We were introduced to this concept with a presentation about how 20% of the Danish population use social housing, with tenant democracy being a main feature...the tenants decide on programs and improvements for their housing complex. Then, we visited one of the social housing sites.  Two of the tenants gave us a tour, and were very proud to point out improvements that they had helped to make happen.

The area in front of this complex had just been a green space, but no one used the area, so they added features, like walkways and playground equipment, to encourage people to get outside and connect with each other.

Our students enjoyed some of the playground features, too...

This building was specifically built as a "zero energy" building, and was featured on tours when the Global Summit was in town a few years ago.

One of our tour guides was emphatic about keeping trees when the buildings were designed, so she showed us how this building was actually constructed around the trees...

This positive perspective on social housing was interesting to realize, to help us understand the Danish social system better.

Visit to Mon School 📓

Before we left Stege this morning, we visited the local school. We walked through the primary center, where the little Danish children smiled and waved to us, and then we visited the upper grade levels. The head of the school, Fleming, spoke to our group about the recent changes in the Danish education system, including the lengthening of the school day (the school day used to be over by 1 or 2pm, but now the students and teachers are required to stay until 3pm...the teachers are expected to get all of their planning done during this time as well, so they don't have to take any work home). There has also been an increase in the regulations of what will be taught at each grade level (an international trend). Fleming showed us an example of the planned curriculum:

And Azlan presented another La Roche bat as a memento of our visit:

Nest, we heard a presentation by four well spoken young ladies, who explained the different levels of the Danish education system. We were impressed with their poise at just 15 years old.

For the final part of our tour, we visited an actual classroom, where students were working on a variety of projects, from small group iPad assignments:

To listening to a music video in English (a song by Pink), and filling in the missing words to the lyrics:

This school uses a full inclusion model, so there was a student who was blind and another student with Autism who were in the classroom we visited. The teachers at the school are expected to write an individualized education plan (IEP) for EVERY student in their class (not just those with special needs) and meet with the students' parents at least two times a year to review the student's progress.

As we left the school, and were waiting outside, we saw some kids playing basketball, and urged Larry to show them how the game is played. Larry impressed them with a slam dunk 🏀

Everyone enjoyed interacting with the students...certainly another highlight of our trip!

Best Dinner in Denmark 🍽

We were "on our own" for dinner, since we had lunch at our hotel after the bike ride this morning. Since our rooms have fully stocked kitchens with tableware and cookware, Derek decided to make his famous Chicken Parmesan. We combined the furniture and cooking supplies of two rooms so we could have a real family feast! Several people commented that this was the best meal they have had in Denmark...thanks, Derek!

There was also a beautiful sunset in Stege tonight...hard to believe we will see just one more sunset in Denmark....back to the big city tomorrow for our departure on Wednesday. 

Special posting for Brian 🏞

Well sweetheart, you know that it is inevitable...wherever your wife travels, she likes to find the toughest hiking trail around ⚠️ This trip was no different....see what you missed at the cliffs of Mons Klint:

994 steep steps down to the water's edge to see the cliffs meet the shore...

The cliffs at Mons Klint are also advertised for great snorkeling, too...just something to consider, Brian!

Phillip and Clara could spend all day here finding seashells and other treasures.

Just so you know, there are other people as crazy as me...the elite 994 step club, which has now become my new favorite picture from this trip!

Special posting for Phillip 🐙

Phillip, you would have liked the Geology Museum I went to this afternoon. There were lots of fossils from the sea, and a neat dinosaur display. Plus, there was a 3D Dinosaur movie.

From Vikings to Biking...🚴🏻

Since we used our arm muscles a lot yesterday rowing Viking ships, we needed to work on our leg muscles today, so we headed out on a bike ride at 9:30am. Fortunately, the skies were sunny, and there was no rain. We enjoyed a leisurely bike ride through the Danish countryside, and stopped at a church along the way.

We saw lots of fields of these yellow flowers, which are used to make cooking oil.

We turned off the main road to visit a Dairy Farm, and you know what that means...

ICE CREAM 🍦

And cows...

Azlan was quite the cow whisperer...

We posed for another group picture before heading back.

The bike ride back was a lot tougher than the ride out. We just rode 5 miles out, but it felt like we rode 10 miles coming back because the wind was so strong in our faces. We got really spread out, and Marieke helped lots of people by riding beside them and pushing their backs (since she is from the Netherlands, she is a biking expert). We sure were glad to see our hotel again, where we enjoyed lunch.