Koldinghus on fire

Weekend is over and I have to work soon. Since I have the youth club tonight, I don't have to be there until early afternoon which suits me just fine.

We didn't do much Friday, just hung around here and relaxed. Watched tv, made dinner and had a good time with Anders. We had a good time doing absolutely nothing! Saturday, I went out for lunch with the old Jelling Festival crowd - Lena, Erik and Lars. We discussed the possibilities of having our booth Pitstop this year and decided against it. We all love working there, even though it's hard work with no pay but due to other circumstances, we are not pushing at it this year. Which is a wierd feeling since I have been there for the past 6-7 years and this year - nothing. There will be a different booth out there so I'm just glad that something is being done.

BUT, we did decide to meet up at a later date and discuss the possibilities of working there next year but I'll admit I'm a little pessimistic towards the idea. I honestly think that Pitstop, no matter how much good we did, is dead. I guess we'll see what happens. Either way, it was great seeing them again and we shared lots and lots of laughs over lunch. Afterwards, I went over to Lena and Laine's new home - way out in the boonies. It was gorgeous and I'm jealous in many ways. A perfect house for them in a perfect area for them. I wouldn't be able to live there because it was seriously out in the sticks and since I rely on busses for work, that just wouldn't be a possibility for me. But what a cute house, no neighbours, woods and fields in the surrounding areas, a fire place... ok, barely any tv or internet connection and that would really suck for me. But totally perfect for Lena and Laine.

After Lena, Laine and I ate dinner (Mmmm, Thai food) we drove to Kolding to see Koldinghus burn down - again. Koldinghus is an old royal castle in the town of Kolding, founded way back in the 11th century. During times of war, it was used as a fortress and then afterwards, just another residence housing for the royal family. BUT - 200 years ago, during the Napeleonic Wars, there was a huge fire and most of it was damaged. It's been restored and is now a museum and a popular landmark.

So, to "celebrate" the fire, on the exact 200th day mark, they did it again. Only this time there was no real fire, just lots of lights, smoke and sound effects. The first picture is of the "fire" and it's NOT my picture. (Mine didn't turn out that well so this one I found on the Net and is taken by Maria Tuxen Hedegaard - I don't want to get into any trouble with copyright issues!) It was pretty cool - they used lots of smoke, lots of red/orange lighting and had speakers hidden in the trees with sound effects like smashing glass and fire crackling.

This is my picture after the "fire".

Yeah, ok, Danes are wierd. We celebrate large, devastating fires by putting on a show. But it was a good way of learning the history! BTW, I didn't really know the history so thank you for Internet!

Sunday was nice and quiet. Did artsy/crafty stuff. Went for a walk with Tine. Kenneth came over to watch a movie with Anders. Computer stuff and skype with the parental units.

Good times!