I am Home! (At least in 1890 I would be)

So I have arrived and spent the last few days here in Southern Denmark rediscovering part of my family's European roots! I arrived and was picked up by Mie and Michael. I recognized Mie right away, but I was a little unsure about Michael. It has been around 10 years since he visited my family in the states and at the time he had a ring in his eyebrow! Now he is a professional vet, married, and has changed a lot (he no longer as the ring by the way). Right away I was treated to a massive meal (something I have become accustomed to here) and beer (I seem to be drinking beer as if it is a substitute for water!).

My first morning here I was taken to Anne Marie and Hedamon’s house (see above picture) for breakfast where they showed me old pictures of our family and who immigrated to the United States and who stayed in Denmark (turns out they showed some of the same pictures to another college bum some 30 years ago…). If you look at the picture below you can see a family from the mid 1800s. The two adults are Anne Marie’s grandparents.

I believe it was the son on the left who immigrated to the United States and since the Hoeg family (and myself!) has come into existence. The son on the right due to health problems stayed in Denmark, and actually died after only another 10 years or so, but not before he had a few children creating our Danish Relatives family!

After breakfast I was taken all over Denmark. We made our way over to the West Coast for a lunch amung the Sand Dunes, and then went to many different cities and historic sites on our way back to the East Cost. We finished the evening at Mie's home, which is beautiful! It overlooks the sea, farmfields, forests, and the horses she raises!

From there I spent the next two days at Jens and Anna's house, which is the family farm. This farm has been in the family since around 1000 AD! That is a LONG time, and really cool. During my time here I got to meet a lot of sheep and two more horses while also being shown around much more of Denmark, including many more local spots that have significance to the family. I even saw the grave of the son who did not immigrate to the US.

Lastly I came back to where I started this visit, Michael and Carla's house. Here I was able to utilize high speed internet to plan the next few parts of my trip, including several changes. I decided that Denmark to England is a long trip and would skip a lot of good spots, so I have moved back my trip to England in order to see more! Tomorrow I am off to Amsterdam for two days followed by two days in Bruges before I will head to PARIS!