Dyrehaven og Bakken

On Easter Saturday we were able to go up to Klampenborg to visit Dyrehaven (Deer Park) and Bakken, Denmark's first amusement park. Several of Jared's co-workers met us at the train station for the short walk to the park and to have brunch. We all agreed on a buffet lunch (right up Jared's ally) and quickly found that there were dozens of choices within Bakken. Finally we were all seated and one-by-one went to get our food. This was a Danish-style buffet complete with lots of frickadeller (meatballs) and potatoes, a salad bar (which has quite a few different choices than we are used to), and all of the fixins for the Danish style open-faced sandwiches (smørrebrod). There was also something that looked exactly like onion rings... imagine my surprise when it was instead calimari!

One of the girls brought her daughter, Anna, along and she had a ball watching and feeding Ruby. I would guess that Anna is about 3 and kept trying to feed Ruby dozens of french fries. Ruby didn't mind a bit, but I was starting to get a bit concerned at the amount of grease her little belly was recieving, so we had to put a stop to it. Then, Anna decided that she was bored and started running all over the restaurant, which oddly her mother allowed (at least for a while). So, since Anna was totally losing it, we were forced to move along with our day.

Anna's mom, Jane, apparently spends a lot of time at Bakken and Dyrehaven, so she was our unofficial tourguide showing us the sights and telling us various little antecdotes. At one end of the park there is a small castle which was used as a hunting lodge for the royal family. The whole park was originally established as a hunting park for the deer to multiple like crazy and provide a fun hangout for the princes, kings, etc. Interestingly enough, the area was already of some import to the people becuase of the springs scattered throughout the forest. The water in Copenhagen was so poor at the time that the fresh spring water was considered to have magical healing powers and of course was sold to the highest bidder along with "special" drinking pots that were only to be used once and then smashed.

There was also a battle or two that played out on the shores between the Swedes and Danes. Apparently some fellow is said to have buried a treasure in the forest and so it has been the goal of many fortune seeker to find the treasure. Jane said that she and Anna had hunted for it a bit using some peculiar stones marked with crosses that they had found throughout the park... It's probably just a legend, but it is a pretty exciting story for kids to get their imaginations going at full throttle!

I'll leave you with a few pictures of Ruby in her Easter dress. I was finally able to find this one that only set me back about $35. I couldn't believe the prices when I started looking last month only to find that I could easily spend $100 for a simple dress for Ruby. I can't believe the prices that people pay for clothes around here. We also discovered some baby mousse, so we were able to play up her curls for church.

Well, I better end there. I have a million preparations to make for Ruby's 1st birthday party tomorrow!! I'll try to catch up in the next few days with all the intervening pictures and get Ruby's birthday pictures up on her actual birthday (May 2). Farvel!