"THE MICHAEL AFTERGLOW"

August 1, 2011

A wrap-up of activities pertaining to

The July, 2011 "Michael Reunion"

In Copenhagen, Denmark

What a wonderful reunion! What hospitality from our cousins in Europe! What fantastic relatives I have!

I want to thank everyone for coming and for the participation and support Rolf and I received--even from many who did not make it to Copenhagen. One of the things that I forgot to bring up at the reunion dinner was whether everyone wanted to have another reunion in the future? How many years from now and where? So put on your thinking caps. In about 6-9 months I will query everyone again regarding this possibility! Feel free to talk to each other about a follow-on reunion.

I am putting this first "Michael Reunion Afterglow" together so that we might all reminisce about this reunion in years to come. I find it so easy to forget many details unless I write then down as a soon as I can after a trip.

So, to begin, regarding the reunion, some statistics! We had 19 people at the reunion dinner. Six (6) of the group were from Denmark, Two (2) from Germany, One (1) from Norway and Ten (10) from the United States.

Arriving at the Copenhagen Airport on Monday morning the 18th with Doris and Todd, we were met by (if I remember right) the whole European contingent, except for Rolf's kids. I hadn't flown overseas for many years so I wasn't used to the time change and was really tired. However, we couldn't waste valuable tourist time, so, after checking into the hotel, we immediately took off for a tour of the harbor (if that's what it is called in Copenhagen).

We stopped for a drink before getting on the boat and low and behold, Rolf found us seats right in front of a business that advertised "GIRLS!" And, when we had to go to the bathroom, we entered this establishment! I had no idea that there were public restrooms close by along the wharf close to where we got on the boat. Did Rolf really plan for us to have a drink in front of this building?

The boat tour was extremely interesting! Copenhagen looked beautiful. One of the unique views was of their Opera House! And how about the church that had a spiral pathway around it so that you could climb to the top of the steeple! We didn't get a chance to take this walk, but it looked very interesting!

And how about that wonderful and interesting Danish buffet for dinner! I don't have any idea what everyone else had, but I had an open faced liverwurst sandwich! Yumm! The Danes eat their sandwiches open faced using a Fork and knife. I wonder where the idea came from to close up the sandwich and use your hands to eat it?

In the morning (19th), Todd and I took an early long walk in downtown Copenhagen. The one thing we noticed was that the cars and bicyclists had respect for each other--something you don't see in the U.S. However, there are way fewer bicyclists in the U.S. then there are in Denmark.

Meeting up with Rolf and crew around 10 A.M., we drove to Helsingör in Rolf's, Bernd's and Mike's cars (11 of us). Mike had arrived in Copenhagen from Sweden where he and Julie picked up a new car. After their stay in Europe they will ship the car back to the U.S. and then fly back.

Along the way to Helsingör, we made a stop so that Todd could get a handful of sand to take back to the U.S. to a girl that he knew who collected sand from all over the world. But, the sand almost didn't make it into the U.S. There is a law that "dirt" can't be brought into the U.S. However, smooth-talking Todd, giving the customs agent a sob story about his girl-friend, finally convinced the agent that it really wasn't dirt--so it was let into the country.

Arriving in Helsingör, I was really surprised regarding the shape of the house that our grandparents owned--and where my mother was born. I wish I could let you see the picture of the house when the Muslims first took it over--really looked nice at that time (I have it in a Michael album that I put together a few years back). But, we were able to enter the house. It is amazing that nine (9) children (out of 14 kids they had) (or was it 5 out of the 14?) were born in this house!

A thing I forgot to do was to see if there was still a creamery down the street (near the water?) where my mother used to go on Saturday mornings to get fresh butter for Grandmother to make Danish pastry--I believe she made it every Saturday morning.

After seeing the Michael homestead, we then headed out to see three (3) Danish Castles. All the Castles were very impressive.

The first was the Castle that was used by Shakespeare in his play regarding Hamlet. Inside the entrance there is a plaque that references Shakespeare. The second castle was sometimes referred to as "the little Versailles." And the third was the magnificent Fredericksborg (sp?) Castle.

It is absolutely amazing how these Castles could be built without the tools and equipment that we have today--and the extensive labor requirements to build them! Moats were also the order of the day for these places.

That evening we went to Tivoli for dinner. Excellent food! I had a lamb shank. And, after dinner some of us took some of the rides and walked the gardens, etc. I must say I did take the "Flying Chairs" ride and it wasn't really that bad! Most of our group chickened out and did not get on it! Kudos to Mike and Julie who also got on it!

On Wednesday morning (20th) we took a bus tour of the city. Rolf had coordinated when and where we got on the bus. Fascinating city! I wish we had more time to just get out on our own to do some exploring. Perhaps on our next trip to Copenhagen--whenever that may be!

One of the places we stopped on the tour was at the Palace of the Queen of Denmark. She wasn't there (she was in Greenland), but we still got to see the changing of the guard. Some of the guards seemed to me to be in their teens. A second place we stopped was to see the famous "mermaid" sitting on a rock in the harbor.

We also stopped at the only Anglican Church in Denmark. Denmark has a Lutheran State Church. Based on a marriage many years ago, the new Queen, who was English and Anglican requested that an Anglican Church be built. It was beautiful inside.

In the evening, we had our reunion dinner at a place that Rolf had set up. Wonderful little out of the way place. We had our own room and sat at three round tables. Everything was exquisite! We had a great time with everyone being able to say whatever they wanted to say.

With all the preparation and many different things that could have gone wrong, I truly believe that the good Lord was overlooking our reunion. We have a strong background of following the Lord in our family. I only pray that this commitment will be carried on by our children in the future!

P.S. I would really like for all of you to write up your comments regarding the reunion--English or Danish or German! Perhaps the "Michael Chronicle" in the future could have a section in the back that would be called "Michael Reunions." All of our comments could be placed there and be added to the Chronicle every time there is any size reunion. I know of a reunion in Canada that most of our Aunts and Uncles attended, but I have no record of it. Let's leave a record of this reunion for future generations!