The Dannebrog

A few weeks ago I wrote about seeing the Queen of Denmark when she visited Odense.  During the visit, one of the big thrills for me was seeing the royal yacht, the "Dannebrog".  I went on to describe in my blog some of the statistics of the ship, how long it is, how many compartments, when it was built, etc.  All of the information I shared were facts I found on the internet, because I would never be able to get on the yacht and see it with my own eyes.  Or so I thought!

On Monday, our Chef at work, Jan Martin Eckhardt, and our receptionist, Mette Lindemann asked me if I had any plans for Friday afternoon.  That sounded like an adventure, so of course I said "I HAVE NO PLANS!!!!"

I learned that Jan had been a member of the crew of the Dannebrog several years back.  The current ship's crew holds an open house once a year for former crew members.  Jan could invite two people to accompany him, and wanted to know if I would like to go?  I answered with a resounding YES!  What an opportunity!

On Friday afternoon we headed to the city of Århus, where the ship was docked.  Århus is located on the main island of Denmark, Jutland.  Every summer, the Queen takes a tour of the country, stopping in many ports to see the people of Denmark. Århus is the main industrial port of Denmark.

The bridge from Funen to Jutland

Jutland is mostly beautiful rolling farm land with windmills everywhere!  Denmark uses windmills to generate electricity all across the country.

The "Danneborg" in port at Århus

Mette and Jan

The ship is beautiful.  Everything polished and varnished.  Fit for a Queen!

The guard at the ship.  He had a very big sword!

The deck "lounge" aft

We were welcomed on board by the Captain.  During the welcome, there were several former crew members that had served 50 years ago that received gifts and thanks

We were served lunch while we were onboard.  Of course, because we are on the Queen's yacht, it was served on Royal Copenhagen China!

The ship has special beer brewed just for use on board.  While I was drinking one, I noticed the Captain's hat and couldn't resist this photo!

After lunch, we were able to tour the ship on our own.  Everything was beautiful!  This was one of the main sitting rooms.

The two "white spikes" on the bulkhead in the center of the photo are Narwhale tusks!

The Queen's smoking room

The "Formal Dining Room"

All of the bulkheads were covered with works of art

Another sitting room

This is the Queen's desk

And office

The Queen's sofa with her dolls!

This compartment was full of half hull models of boats

"Baby Baby" grand piano

This stairwell is called "The stairway to Hell".  It is all brass and has  to be polished by the crew constantly!  Hence the name!

Sebastian was one on the crew that answered many of our questions and put up with all the tourists!  He was very patient with us.

I had to have a photo of me here.  This is where the Queen sits when the ship arrives at each port.

The Captain was very gracious and welcomed the American onboard!

And now, just some photos

A woman came up to me and asked me a question in Danish.  When I told her I was from the USA, she was very gracious and told me her husband and served onboard many years ago and this was his first visit back.  My new friend Ingrid Methilda Fredsgaard Leere from Jutland!

And finally, as we were leaving, a new guard!  Just as big a sword!!

Many thanks to Jan and Mette for an absolutely unforgettable day!