We then drove to Lindelse Church for the morning service and on the way, I saw a lot of wind turbines on the countryside. I asked Hanne if people complain about the noise and sight of the giant turbines. She said, oh yes! Danes hate the noise and think they are eyesores, just like Americans. But she said she liked them because of the energy they provide, despite all people say about them. I agree.
The Lindelse Kirke--or Lindelse Church--was built in the 1100s. It is quaint and small with two ships hanging from the ceiling, just like at Grand View's campus church. Trille said many Danish churches use the same ships as ornaments to represent connections between them.
The practice before the service was a little rough. During the run-through of ''Jesus Loves Me,'' Dr. Duffy questioned the last time the group had looked over their music. No one really said much of anything to that, but this is the first concert in several days. I know how that goes. That gap of time is bigger than it seems.
''We're physically awake but mentally, we're not quite there,'' she told them. ''On the bus, pull out your music and look at it.''
The service this morning was in Danish, except for the English songs the choir had sung. We were given an English version of the service on paper, which didn't help much, but it was very interesting to listen to.
Nick Adolf gave me a random fact today that tied the area to Grand View. Apparently, he had arrived early to the church before the service and decided to walk around the cemetery nearby. He found two people named Rasmussen and several with the name of Nielsen. Sound familiar?
Freshman Saul Schlegel and his three roommates got to stay with a woman named Magrit Hastrup on her farm, near a fjord that empties into The North Sea. Last night, Saul asked how close she lived to the water and she pointed in a direction and handed him a flashlight to go look. Apparently, it was ''very cool,'' as is Magrit and her five cats, one dog and two horses.
Magrit is familiar with America in another way. She moved to Minnesota when she was very young and lived there for 10 years, until she was about 12 years old. She told me the connection between Denmark and Minnesota is in the kindness of the people and the fondness of the memories.
After the service, Trille Westergaard took us on a tour of Lageland, the area nearby Lindelse, pointing out Stone Age graves and the islands that make up this area of Denmark. Some of the islands are so small, only one family inhabits them. Others are only accessible by boat.
The choir members who were small enough, crawled inside one of the stone tombs, lit by candles Trille brought along. The bodies are gone but the compartments are still there.
Ryan crawling through the tomb door
We also saw the graves of Viking chiefs on the countryside. They are recognizable because they are spots marked by rocks and surrounded by more rocks shaped like a Viking ship. The bigger the ''ship,'' the more important the chief. Most of the formations we saw were 50 to 100 feet long.
After that, we visited a rock beach where we ate lunch, near the coast of The North Sea.
During the excursion, the choir was informed they had to have the order of the concert memorized. They weren't happy, to say the least. Many groaned and frantically studied their music to learn the order in time for tonight's concert.
Our last stop on the tour was a pink castle! Yes, for real. We took a long and mud-filled walk around the castle, surrounded by a moat even! It was cold, but the fog made for a really cool effect. A noble family lives inside, the count of the region.
PINK CASTLE!
Four of the girls, get to stay in a mansion for the duration of our time in Lindelse, belonging to the nephew of the count in the pink castle.
MacKenzie with the noble couple
Lindsay Roberts, Brenda's daughter and her friend who came along, Sam Frantz, both University of Iowa students, are staying there with Jena Butenhoff and Mackenzie Schroeder.
''There's a chandelier in every room of the house, including the bathroom,'' were the first words out of Sam this morning to me.
Apparently, in their section of the house, there are three guest rooms, and while the house is huge, the family has shut down an entire part for the winter, because they only use it in the summer.
The girls also tried fresh caviar, which Sam said was, ''actually really good.'' They say even the family dog, Penny, acts noble. I met them tonight after the concert and they are very sweet, you wouldn't be able to tell they were any different from anyone else.
Angie Coulson, crazy as she is, wore heels on our long, muddy walk around the castle. As long as I've known her, which is about five days, she has worn heels. Apparently, she has only brought along one pair of flats on this trip, the rest are heels.
''I figure if I choose to wear heels, I have nothing to complain about,'' she told me, as she tromped through the mud in bright red heels that looked like they belonged on the streets of New York City.
NYC heels, not for castle mud
She said she's always loved heels since she was little. She has always thought heels make a woman dignified. And Angie will continue to wear her pretty, little heels for the rest of the trip. So far, she has walked through an airport, a stone-filled beach, an underground grave and a handful of other places and we haven't lost her yet.
On a different note, Dollie Pinegar was feeling sick after dinner, but she decided to sing the night concert anyway. She thought she was having an allergic reaction to some food because the left side of her face went numb and swelled a little. Trille took her back to the house she is staying at tonight to get her inhaler. When that didn't seem to help, Jena gave her allergy medicine, which seemed to help a lot.
And she made it through the concert, all the way to the last song when she sang her solo beautifully.
Despite a rocky singing day and a few flat notes and unclear consonants during the concert tonight, the Danish audience of about 100 applauded and called for an encore after it was all over.
Trille said several people in the audience mentioned to her how ''wonderful the choir sounded.''
I'm sure the whole group will feel better about it as their tour goes on.
Susan Armoogan, senior and choir president, told the group just prior to tonight's concert that despite some glitches, she believed that would be OK. To this first audience, it seemed to be more than that.
A few extra things: cats owned by foreign people look foreign. end of story.
Siebert: Sorry to have to make this worse, but it appears Viking Pizza is a chain. I saw another one this morning, on the way to Lindelse, three hours from where I saw the first one.
Sounds as if the choir and guests are having an enjoyable time. The pictures, stories and interviews are very intriguing and unique. May your continued travels be just as exciting and memorable.
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