Our last destination on this vacation was Randers. Beautiful Mariager fjord on our route, the longest in Denmark:
Jens and I took the decision to visit Randers on a late evening the night before, and we looked forward to explore that city. We otherwise were planning to fly home, and even shared a bottle of good wine to celebrate the end of our vacation together. But then we saw how good the weather was going to be, and changed our mind.
The flight was easy and quick:
In Randers flying club, we met Steen and Ulrik – what a nice surprise! Though it was early, they already had had a flight and were having a cup of coffee:
We got permission to park beside the club house:
When Jens booked our accommodation in Randers – a small two-bedroom apartment – he wrote to the owner that we were pilots, didn’t know exactly at what time we’d arrive, and asked for an early check-in. There wasn’t any problem with that. We took a taxi and soon were ringing at the door. A man opened and looked surprisingly at us: “So you are pilots???” We affirmed. And then he said something like “Well, pilots can of course also look like that!” and welcomed us in. He probably expected two young and beautiful persons in pilot uniforms? And there were we, young and beautiful, dressed like backpackers! 🙂
We dropped our stuff, and went for a walk to the downtown. The first thing we noticed was that large DLG plant in the harbour. DLG is the largest farm supply company in Europe, owned by Danish farmers:
We quickly noticed that Randers had lots of industry. But Randers is much more than just one more industrial city. Randers became a thriving market town in medieval times, and many of its old half-timbered houses remain today, like the one below from 1592:
We slowly walked through the town, stopped by those old houses to see the details, took pictures…
The building above had an open gate, and we went into its backyard.
It looked quite different from the facade:
I like places like that – I find them truly charming. Not everything has to be tidy in life.
The downtown was big, and eventually we came to the City Hall Square, with the Town Hall building and a statue of Niels Ebbesen in the foreground.
Niels Ebbesen was a Danish national hero, known for his killing of Gerhard III, Count of Holstein-Rendsburg in 1340. That event meant the end of Holstein rule in Denmark.
Another nice building on the same square was St. Clemens Gaard (former Handelsbanken office) from 1906:
HelligĂĄndshuset (English: the Holy Spirit house) on King Erik Menved square was one of the most interesting buildings we saw in Randers. It was built in the 1400’s, and for the first 50 years or so served as a home for the city’s poor and homeless, both children and adults. One of the most famous inhabitants was the stork Julius, who for several years had a home at the top of the Holy Spirit House. The nest can still be seen at the top of the chimney:
The Holy Spirit House has throughout the years been used for nursing homes, monasteries, private residences, libraries, tourist offices and Latin school. Several times it was close to be demolished, because some people thought it didn’t have any value and they would rather have a bigger square! Fortunately, it is still standing. Today, the house is owned by Randers Municipality; official events and various exhibitions are often held in the large, old premises.
Jens and I spent several hours in the downtown, just walking around and admire the history of Randers, or sitting on the RĂĄdhustorvet (City Hall square) and enjoying a cup of coffee in the sun. And the best thing was that in Randers, the spring was on its way. Cherry trees were blooming, giving a strong hope of the warmer days coming:
For dinner, we bought some food in a local supermarket. Salad and an Indian meal for me, and pizza for Jens. Jens confessed, he was fed up of eating veggies with me, and needed some real men-food! 🙂 He carefully studied the manual for the microwave we had in our apartment, because his intention was to make a crispy pizza. When his pizza was ready, and Jens began eating it, I could clearly see on his face that something was wrong. The pizza got burned on top, and was otherwise way too soft; it was uneatable. Well, it was our last evening on this vacation, I told Jens. And he ordered a nice fat burger that was delivered to our place. Needless to say, Jens was happy (and this is the most important):
