Watching another ferry as we ride in our ferry.
Here I am on the ferry
The ferry ride was interesting. Topside, after we got started, I spoke with a man there. He was originally from New York City. His name is Sudan. He now lives in Köln and is a computer programmer working for Rewe (pronounced "Ray-vah" - A large department/grocery store chain in Germany). He and I talked about Apple Computers and other things and we told him of our time in Germany and our affiliation with the church. We had a good visit and then he left for other things. At the end of our ferry ride, we headed out towards Sorø. We were supposed to be there by 4 PM and barely made it by then. We got checked in and spent some time wandering and taking some pictures. We arranged for some dinner at the hotel. The room we got was in an old part of the hotel. The man said it was first built in the 1640s.

Part of the decor in our old hotel
Our bathroom was across the hall. Our key was needed for both rooms. We walked around some, including visiting the site of the Sorø Akademie school. (A lot of our ancestor records were housed in this facility, especially probate records).

Sorø Akademie
We had a nice dinner of a traditional Danish dinner and then went to bed. During the night, I locked the room key in the bathroom. Oops.

Our Hotel, built in the 1640s. Our room is right by the neon sign on the end.
Looking out of our hotel room window
The next morning I got the hotel clerk to open the bathroom for me and we got ready for the day, did breakfast in the hotel and packed and checked out.

We found that there are many, many homes painted in this shade of yellow
We headed up to Hejninge and took some pictures and also Årslev and Sonderup, taking pictures.

On the road to Hejninge, small village
That area and Slagelse is where my great-great-grandmother, Ane Pedersen Andersen Lovell was born and lived.
[I will make some specific blog entries for each of these family areas in Denmark. This is just a summary. ]

The church in Ruds Vedby
After that area, we headed out to Ruds Vedby and Kragevig and Kragerup and then Munke Bjærgby (all places where my great-great-grandfather Hans Sørensen lived and took pictures,

The church in Munke Bjærgby
then on the Holbæk for some lunch. We saw the fjord a little on the way and ate at an American-styled restaurant (Café Millers).

Inside Café Millers in Holbæk city.
After that, we headed towards Glostrup. We found that the Copenhagen temple was not far away, so we went there first, getting fairly lost in that part of the city. I got a picture of the temple spire. The temple was closed for repairs.

The Copenhagen Temple

After that, we went on to Glostrup and checked in to our hotel there. We found that most places close in the later afternoon. We bought some ice cream at a shop just before it closed.
Oct. 1 - We headed out to visit Ballerup and Pederstrup, getting some good pictures at a museum site there, Notice the thatched roof. There were many of these in the area. Our Jacobson ancestors are form this area.

A farm building at the Ballerup Museum in Pederstrup
then on to Smørum to see the church there.

The Smørum church, with the date 1636 on the side.

Walking up to the Smørum Church
After that, we headed back to the hotel briefly, getting some spare batteries and then on the Høje Taastrup for some pictures there. Maren Hansen and her two children came from here to Utah.

A plaque on the wall in Høje Taastrup
Here is what the quote says:
"In 1149, as Knud Magnussøn was king in Jutland (the Danish peninsula) and Svend Eriksøn was king of Sjælland (the main island, where Copenhagen is), Knud came with an army entered and burned Roskilde (south of here) and went against Copenhagen, but were stopped at Høje Taastrup (Thorstrup) by Svend and sent them on the run."
I stand by a gate through the wall to the Høje Taastrup church
We were also looking for Kindertofte and Kragerup. We found a church called Hundige and got some pictures there as well, then headed back, stopping in Taastrup at some stores. We was a Red Cross second hand store and bought some things there, including some material for a lace curtain and a walking cane, almost buying a bed warmer. We got some food and headed back to the hotel and watched conference in the evening, staying up for the second session at 10 PM, but only watching some before being too tired.
Sunday, Oct. 2 - Since it was a General Conference day, there would not be any local church meetings. We were finished with our two-day stay in Glostrup, so after eating our gratis breakfast at the hotel, we packed up, checked out and left for the Maribo area. We went directly to and over the bridge at Guldborg and on through Soesmarke to Vigsnæs and found the church there.

The road to Vigsnæs from Soesmarke

The painting of the old Vigsnæs church (torn down in the late 1800s)

The current church
As we started walking around it, there were several people there, most likely having just attended the church, and a woman spoke with us. She was very friendly and took us into the church. Upon asking us about our ancestors and the dates they were here, she said that the current church was constructed after that time, but showed us a picture in that church of the earlier edifice. She introduced is to the minister and then we took some good pictures and then she took us to where the original church has stood. In that place there were a number of old graves and we took pictures of some of the markers and information. She was very pleasant and told us of her interest in the history of the place, though she was not originally from Vigsnæs, having moved there about 25 years ago.

Another nearby home with the thatched roof. Notice the TV antenna on the top.
After pleasant parting words, we left and went to Soesmarke and on to Taars, Vindeby and Kobelev. We found a little at Kobelev, but the best was the windmill and houses in Vindeby.

The Vindeby Mill
We then went on to Taars and the seacoast there. We watched a ferry depart from there.

The beach at Taars
The ferry leaving Taars
After that, we went on into Maribo to find our Hostel. We found it, but were too early, so we walked along the shores of the lake and Kayak Club. After the proper time, we tried the Hostel, but no one answered. After waiting a while longer and trying again, we decided to arrange for something else and got a hotel on the lake shore, called Søpark. It was a very nice hotel.

The Søpark Hotel in Maribo
Looking out our hotel window onto the lake.
The city and the hotel were almost void of any people, it being after the tourist season and a Sunday. We settled in and listened to conference in our room, also catching up with past sessions. We only watched one talk of the last session, it being very late and then turned in.
The next day, we headed back to Germany - to Hamburg and then home (continued in the next blog entry).
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