A Factual Tour Of Ribe
Ribe – 5th May
Fact 1 – May is not a warm month in Ribe and it rains, on average, 130 days a year. Today it is raining but we came well prepared with jackets and thermals; “there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes” (famous Norwegian saying). Because the landscape is flat there is also a cold wind from the Wadden (North) Sea.
The photo below is of the geocache we didn’t do because getting across the moat and scaling the mound to Queen Dagmar’s statue was not possible in wet conditions.
Fact 2: Ribe is the oldest town in Denmark. It has the oldest Christian cathedral and the oldest and second oldest Inn in Denmark.
Fact 3 – 4.4 million of Denmark’s population of 5.5 million belong to the State Church of Evangelical Lutheran and get confirmed. They pay 15% of their salary in church tax. Only 3% of the population attend church regularly; the rest believe that the government will provide them with a happy lifestyle and they don’t need God. A church confirmation is a big affair, somewhat akin to a gypsy wedding or a 21st – it needs to be celebrated with a big party. We went to visit St Catharine’s Lutheran church and arrived in time to see 5 girls, who had been confirmed, leaving the church.
Photos below are three of their chariots – A VW, a Jag & a Ferrari
One left in a horse drawn carriage
One of them had a father like Roger and left in the truck
Fact 4 – Denmark is made up of 400 islands. Initially I chose Ribe to visit because you can catch a tractor bus to go across a causeway to Mando Island (population 30) and to then go oyster hunting. Unfortunately the oyster season finished at the end of April and I’m not into bird watching in the rain, especially when you can only get there on the low tides and have to spend more than 4 hours looking at grey wet muddy mist.
Fact 5 – Ribe would be under water if it wasn’t for the dykes. Like the Netherlands the land is low lying. We went down to the river to see the marker columns indicating past flood levels.
Fact 6 – Ribe still use a ticket system for getting served at a shop. No number no service. Above is one at a bakery, at least this way you can browse the cabinets without being constantly asked what you want.
Fact 7 – Food in Ribe, like the rest of Scandinavian, is not cheap. We stopped for lunch at a café just down from the oldest inn, a hot chocolate with marshmallows was NZ$13.75, a coffee NZ$8.75 and the Danish style ploughman’s platter was NZ$44.75.
Fact 8 – The Danish don’t like German’s. Instead of telling somebody to go to hell, you wish they would go away to Germany. On witch burning night you pray that the witches go back to Germany where they came from. Due to having a rental car with German number plates we have already been subject to verbal abuse. Speaking English to them doesn’t help as the average Danish person speaks fluent English and knows exactly what you are calling them.
Fact 9 -Danish people can spin a good story. Tonight we went on a Night Watchman’s tour of Ribe; yes, in the rain, with 3 Belgians, 2 Aussies and us. We were silly enough to walk around in the rain and wind listening to stories of old for an hour. They were interesting and comical, even the gruesome bits. Places all over Scandinavia and Europe offer Night Watchman tours, so it was good to hear it in English only, with a small group and in a hassle free place to reach. The photo above is the PC statue, designed to settle an argument whether the first people were Vikings or Christians; he is half and half. The guy in the black hat and menacing staff was our guide who is one of 6 men that do this every night for free (or for a small tip).
It is Mother’s Day in New Zealand, so the ABBA tribute song is My mama said, “That’s a thing that you should do instead” (1974). In case my mother is worried there were no greens on my lunch platter, the rocket salad was hidden under the meat (Ed – my contributor for this article was calendarily-challenged and had her NZ Mothers Day dates a liitle confused…)