ARCTIC BLAST

We have had a packed house in the office since Christmas:  new missionaries coming, missionaries leaving,  language tests travelers,  immigration snafu victims,  and Missionary Leadership Council members.  Missionaries crowd into the office from  ferries, trains and planes.  Add big winter coats and backpacks, and our little office fills up fast.  Sometimes it's like negotiating an obstacle course to get down the hall to the supply closet. Missionaries are good to haul back supplies for their areas, so backpacks are crammed to zipper-busting fullness.  These become bulging weapons when the missionaries sling them on.  If you don't watch it, you could be out cold with a hit to the jaw......... Bless.  We love them.
Winter has settled in with an arctic blast.  The lakes are frozen over except for a little puddle on the third lake where all the ducks and swans huddle together against a stone wall.  It's a cozy neighborhood.  I hope they can get along for a month or two in a tiny puddle.  Humans probably wouldn't do so well.

View out the back door.  It's about 9 am on a cloudy, windy day.

Since we've been inside a lot, I thought I would share a trip we took back in the fall.  We hopped a train north to Helsingør; a  beautiful town where Elder Buxton served 50 years ago.  It is home to a famous castle called Kronborg Slot. Built in the 1400's, it was immortalized as Elsinore in Shakespeare's, Hamlet, and is now often referred to as Hamlet's Castle.      

Stan buying tickets.  Quaint ticket booth, ehh?  You can see the moat, spires and the long bridge into the castle.

It dominates the  land jutting out into  a narrow neck of ocean,  just a stone's throw from Sweden.   This fortress originally controlled the entrance to the Baltic Sea and was built so the King could collect dues from anyone entering the strait. Visitors refusing the payment faced  a volley of shots from the cannons which still sit along the sea wall aimed toward Sweden.

The ferry between Helsingør and Sweden.  You can see the coast of Sweden clearly, 4 km away.  The cannons are about where we are standing taking the picture.

This medieval fortress was later rebuilt into a magnificent Renaissance castle, complete with arches, carved columns, nail-studded, thick doors and hidden passages and tunnels for the soldiers. Dungeons included.  Apparently, the king had many dwellings and moved his whole entourage when he got the urge, rolling up rugs and carting furniture and pictures as well, leaving the castle as a huge storage shed for vegetables and building supplies until his next visit.

The inside is sparsely furnished now, but plenty of posturing gentry gaze down from huge framed pictures, and the murals stretch from corner to corner.  The doorways are heavily gilded and garnished with cherubs and gorgoyles and such.  The checker board-floored Great Ballroom stretches the whole length of one floor and was also the site for huge banquets. Guests at the many parties were seated along the walls at opulent banqueting tables loaded with food.  At least 24 main dishes were served including fish, hare and lobster, and the centerpieces would be in the form of wild boar heads and stuffed peacocks with outspread tails. Each feast was accompanied by vast amounts of wine, entertainment, and dancing,  and often lasted several days. The parties at Kronborg were well known and very lavish.  Ah, to be royalty.

The Great Ballroom, left, was the largest such hall in all of Europe.  Missing are the magnificent chandeliers which held a myriad of candles.

Since this is know as Hamlet's Castle, what better place to stage productions of, you guessed it, Shakespeare's Hamlet.  One room has pictures of scenes in the castle and prominent actors who have played the role here, including Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole.  I know. Generation Gap.
One more thing.  In the caverns under the castle, sits a statue of this big guy:  Holger Danske. Legend has it that he knows everything that happens in Denmark, and will wake up one day to protect her when she needs him.

After the castle tour, we wandered around town a bit.  Some of these places  probably haven't changed much since Stan was here half a century ago.  Did I just say half a century?  Does that sound older than 50 years somehow?  Anyway.  We love to peek into inner courtyards like the one on the bottom left which shows the old tudor- style architecture.  And yes, people actually live here. Mustard yellow was definitely "in" back in the day.  Lovely old city.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

The Danes are very passionate about several things:  Danish pastry, good food and drink, socialism,  their Queen, and warm black stockings.  To name a few.  Well, just this week, I have added something else to the list: FIREWORKS!!  Who knew.  Apparently that is The Most Popular way to celebrate the New Year in Copenhagen.  Well this is not unusual, you say.  If you watch TV on New Year's Eve, you'll see countries around the world doing the very same thing.  So?  True, but it's a little different here because there are 5 million pyromaniacs in Copenhagen.  And they are in an all-out  war to see who can shoot the most color in the sky, with the most noise on New Year's Eve.  No pansy, city-sponsored 30- minute display.  Oh no.  This is an all out battle of the citizens for 10 to 11 hours.  These are not sparklers and small do-it-yourself bottle rockets and poppers like are legal at home.  No Sir! These are the big boys.  The 100-feet in the air stuff. The Michael Ortman, Jordan Buxton in-your-dreams stuff.  You think I'm exaggerating. I have Proof.  Camera and Video.

The picture just doesn't show how crazy it was. These things were going up all over the city and around the lake.  Constant.  You can see the pockets of light on the horizon in the top photo.

It started about 3 in the afternoon on the 31st, and since it is pretty dark  by 4, that's when the action really picked up.  There were pockets of explosions booming in every direction, the sound echoing off the buildings and bouncing like boomerangs.  Umbrellas of sparkles spread  above every rooftop. Since the  lakes we live by have lots of launching spots,  many hauled their loot here to explode.  Not 20 feet from my back window and over the hedge,  these crazed loonies were blasting away.  Not only that, but in every open plaza, patch of grass, and even middle of the street, crowds gathered. The buses and cars just swerved around them.  It sounded seriously like a war zone.  FOR 10 HOURS. Non-stop.  If there were fire trucks or ambulances for the wounded, you wouldn't hear them.  It was quite a magnificent display.  We trooped up to the roof about midnight to get a better view of the city and then just stayed up because it was too noisy to sleep.  It was beautiful, but the show lasted just a tad too long for me. Thankfully, it finally died down about 2:30 AM.  I chuckle when I compare it to Mendon, where we open the back door at midnight to see if we can figure out who shot off the rifle or banged their pots and pans with a spoon.

Some stray Elders who joined the couples for dinner.  From L: Elders Jensen, Fairbanks, Nielsen and Nielsen.  They were instructed to be inside all evening and home at 10:30 and to stay indoors.  They kept jumping up from eating to see the fireworks.  They loved the view from the roof patio.

The debri in the streets and around the lake the next day was unbelievable!  There is a Muslim center just a few houses down from our apartment.  This Muslim community, as a show of support for the Danish people, picked up all the garbage around the lakes after their 6 AM prayers on January 1st. It was a wonderful gesture.  As long as we are making New Years Resolutions, might we not have a prayer in our hearts for compassion, understanding and tolerance. We are all brothers and sisters. The love of the Savior extends to all and we, of all people, should be the most charitable, the most loving, and the most tolerant.  Happy New Year to all our wonderful friends and neighbors!!!