What's In A Name?

Copenhagen – 12th May

Today we left Nyborg on the island of Funen and travelled across the Storebaelt Bridge to Hvidovre, Kobenhavn on the larger Island of Zealand. Here starts the ‘What’s In A Name?’ facts:

  1. Ny = new and Borg = castle, so Nyborg is Newcastle. Roger and I have now been to Newcastle in UK, Australia and Denmark.
  2. Kobenhavn means ‘merchant’s harbour’, a place of trade and is the Danish spelling of Copenhagen.
  3. Hvidovre means white coloured and referred to the white church in the area at the time. Across town is the suburb of Redovre which referenced to a red brick church.
  4. Zealand is believed to mean ‘land of seals’ and is different from Zeeland in the Netherlands which means ‘sea and land’. New Zealand is named after the Dutch maritime province of Zeeland by Abel Tasman’s map makers; I’m not sure why they misspelt their own province.
  5. Storebaelt means ‘hugely’ and here starts out journey for the day.

The Storebaelt bridge is built in two sections and costs NZ$66 to cross for those who do not have a frequent user card or an online plate recognition booking. The west bridge from Nyborg to the island of Sprogo is 6.6 kilometres long and has two parallel bridges, one for vehicles and one for trains. Once the west bridge gets to Sprogo island (once a home for unmarried pregnant girls), the train goes into an undersea tunnel to Zealand and the vehicles go over the suspension bridge known as the east bridge. The east bridge is 6.8kms long and is a high suspension bridge to let big ships go under it. Somewhere there must be a channel for big boats because we saw wind turbines in the water and some of the bridge structure was built on site because the water level is low. In 1988 prices when they took out loans for construction (the bridges were built between 1988 and 1998), the total cost was NZ$5 billion, hence the reason users are still being asked for a significant toll charge.

Over the bridge, we stopped for a couple of geocaches and lunch. After saying I wouldn’t eat another Danish sausage in bread again we were lured by the sight of a heated hot-dog from the local service station. The photo doesn’t do it justice but it was far nicer than the previous experience. I got to choose from a selection of 6 different sausages; obvious choice was chilli and it actually packed some heat. I could choose some sauces but the server had been totally wound up by the Germans in front of me who refused to speak any other language than their own; I was too scared to make him explain the sauces in English so just went with ketchup. As an aside, our car’s German number plates had been noted and commented upon, with disdain, by our previous host/landlord.

What’s in a name facts: the sausage in bread was called a Fransk Hot Dog = French hot dog. A Danish pastry is actually an Austrian creation – during the 1850 baker’s strike Austrians were employed and they brought with them new baking techniques. 

 

Before leaving the bridge area we went to the free Isbad (translation: Ice bath) museum which displays the boats used to get through the ice when the local seas froze over.

Today’s ABBA tribute is ‘Sitting in the Palm Tree’ (1974) for our inner city apartment in Hvidovre on the 6th floor with no curtains. Lovely sea views if you look pass the supermarket carpark and the power station. One of the photos is my attempt to cover the bedroom window. We went outside and yes you can see inside, however that is not my concern. The biggest problem is the sunlight coming in, especially in the Northern Hemisphere where it is light at 5.00am. Although that could be a bonus because the apartment only has two light fittings, one in the bathroom and one over the kitchen sink.

See me sitting in the palm tree
Looking down at people passing by
People laugh and point their fingers
Like I was a monkey at the zoo
But I will stay here, among my coconuts

Last ‘what’s in a name fact?’ There are lots of men in Denmark called Hans, Peter or Stefan, there is not much variation in women’s names either. Danes can only choose from a list of 7000 names when deciding what to call their newborn. This would be great in NZ, no more kids named Jim Beam, Anarchy, Holden, Juztyce, and any other weird concoctions people come up with.

Tea tonight was McDonalds, I had to decide which sauce to have with my fries from a list of 20 options. I went with béarnaise which has tarragon and other herbs in it so I will count that as my greens for the day.