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“"If he is removed from the cushion, Egeskov will subside into the moat on Christmas Night."” |
Up to this point of my journey I have seen some wonderful and beautiful places. The next place Jacob, Heidi, and I were going to see was the Castle Egeskov in Denmark. Before I traveled to Denmark I read a lot about Egeskov, and it sound amazing. There is 4 hedge mazes, tree top walking, the parks and gardens, the motorcycle/car museum, and a toy museum. Sounds like a lot...and it was well worth the visit.
When I first entered the grounds at the castle I was taken by the size of the estate. Wow. Lots of well maintained gardens, buildings, moat and a huge ass castle. The first place me and Jacob wanted to go was to the tree top walking. So, we went, and Heidi (being the pregnant self she is) decided to sit this one out.
The staircase up to the trees looked pretty sturdy. Then me and Jacob go to the first landing built on a tree. The tree started swaying back and forth. At this point there was about 5 people on landing. We were 15 meters (50 feet) up in the air, on a landing on a very old tree (270 years old to be exact.) Now it's time to concur the swaying bridge. That went well, but 3 more to go. I really had my mind focused on the bridges and landings, so I didn't get many pictures of the trees and bridges. Oh well.
After we got done and off the trees we met up with Heidi again. The temperature was climbing on up to 95F with no wind. So, we decided to pass the hedge maze and head to the classic motorcycle museum. Now. I don't know if I told you all this or not. There is hardly any public or private buildings in Denmark that has air conditioners. All the buildings at the castle was one without air conditioning, and none of the old windows open. But, I am a real trooper. In the motorcycle museum you can see lots of old motorcycles. A guys dream come true. Same goes for the car museum. Wow. You all will just have to go there to see for yourselves...words cannot explain. The other museums were a rescue, doll, and horse drawn carriages. Too cool.
When we finished with all the museums outside the castle we headed to the castle. I think Jacob has a hard time navigating, because he took us the long way around. Heidi was not too pleased. But, we got to see some real old and rare trees and shrubs. After 15 minutes of walking we finally got to the castle entrance. Oh yeah. When you park and enter the grounds you pay for either the park/museums or park/museums and castle.
Inside the castle the first thing you go to is a staircase. Very nice with windows and antiques. Then on the ground floor you can see the hunting room, and the yellow room. Very nice. Lots of cool things to see. The rest of the rooms are marked private since a person still lives there. After you get done on the ground floor you go back to the stairs up to the 1st floor. On the first floor you have the knight's hall, the hunting corridor, the admiral's room, the rigborg room, a few other small rooms and last the north and south tower. Once again, lots of cool things to see. But, this isn't what I was interested in. I wanted to see the toy museum and the famous wooden man in the loft.
Up more stairs we go. And by the way, when you get to the room that leads to the loft (attic) watch your head! OUCH!! But that's ok, because when you get into the loft the windows are open. Inside the loft there is a nice sized toy museum toys dating from the late 1800's to the early 1950's. I was too happy to see all the toys. One more room to go to and then finally the famous wooden man.
Ah! There he is. And I got pictures. I have been waiting for awhile to see this. And here is the story behind it. Egeskov's wooden man lies under the spire. It is said "If he is removed from the cushion, Egeskov will subside into the moat on Christmas Night." Because of this legend, the family never used to celebrate Christmas at the castle. The current owners serves the traditional Danish rice pudding for the wooden man, so that he can share it with the castle elves, and the human occupants can safely celebrate Christmas in castle.
How cool is that? The area is roped off so no one can get too close to this doll. But, you get a real erie feeling just being there. The castle had this legend going on since c. 1405.
Once we spent a few minutes talking about it, we were ready to leave. This time I hope Jacob takes us the short way back to the parking lot. Well, back to Odense we go. But before we get there, I had to stop for another waffle ice cream. Damn they are good.
previous travel blog entry
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