Saturday, February 17, 2018

Sneglehuset, Aquarium, & German Bunkers

On Tuesday my family and I went to a small town called Thyborøn on the west coast of Denmark. We took a sweet little train there, which is a tradition for my host family. 


In Thyborøn we visited a special house called "Sneglehuset" which means "The Snail House."  The story goes that a fisherman and his family moved to Thyborøn in the late 1940's, but the wife was not so happy about the move. The fisherman promised his wife that he would give her a house that nobody else had, and that travelers would come from near and far to see. So, he began decorating the house with shells, muscles, and conchs. He started building and decorating the house in 1949, and finished 25 years later.







After visiting Sneglehuset, we took a little walk along the beach just behind it. There are German bunkers from WWII all over the beaches of the west coast that you can go in and explore in.



Then we drove to something called "Kystcentret" which means "The Coast Center." It was this cool interactive exhibit that shows how coasts are shaped due to the wind and water. It was really a lot of fun and really cool to see. There were a lot of activities that actually show how the coasts are shaped and changed due to the elements.

After this we went across the street to "Jyllands Akvariet" which is an aquarium that shows what types of fish are living around Jutland.



Can you spot the camouflaged fish?
After this we grabbed some lunch and headed back to the summerhouse. It was a very fun, eventful day.

Thank you so much, Craig Howarth, for donating to my GoFundMe! You made it possible for me to experience these wonderful events, and I'm so thankful for your donation.

Danish Word of the Day:
Snegl- snail

Bovbjerg Fyr

This week we don't have school because we have a "winter holiday." My host family rented a summerhouse on the West Coast of Denmark, in a town called Lemvig. It's about a two hour drive from Mørke.


The summer house was in a neighborhood of other vacation homes, and it was really nice. I was able to have my own room, and it was very comfortable. There was a wood burning stove that kept it very warm and cozy. :)




The first day we were at the summer house we went to a place called Bovbjerg Fyr, which is a lighthouse that stands on the coast of Denmark. It was built in 1877, and is now used as an open art gallery and has a small café. You can still go up the to the tower and look out over the ocean. It was very windy the day we went, but it was so beautiful.


Opposite the lighthouse was the coast. There was a giant chain of wooden stairs that went down the cliffs (that were shaped in the Ice Age!) on the beach. (I think there were 240 steps, we counted on the way back up but now I can't remember the exact number...)



It was so beautiful on the beach; there was snow mixed with the sand, and the waves were much larger than I was expecting. There were little strands built out into the ocean to break the waves from hitting the shore. It was one of the most beautiful places I've been since coming to Denmark.






It was very cold, so after going on the beach we went up and got some hot chocolate in the café at the lighthouse. Thank you to my host family for bringing me to such a beautiful place.

I would also like to say thank you to Eva Horowitz for donating to my GoFundMe! Thank you so much for your donation, you made this trip a possibility for me, and I'm so grateful for that:)

Danish Word of the Day:
Ferie- vacation


Eurotour: Days 4 & 5

If you haven't read my previous post, it tells all about the first three days of my bus tour through Europe! We visited Berlin, Dresden,...