Fog, rainforest & pølsevogn

Early morning in my flying club was so beautiful! With rising sun, the fog was slowly disappearing, and the blurred landscapes were becoming more and more clear. Rime ice was covering the grass, sparkling in the sunlight. It was silent.

Flemming and I had planned to spend a day in Viborg, one of the oldest cities in Denmark. We knew, according to the forecasts, the fog in that area was going to stay till approx. 9 a.m., so we waited with our take-off.

The weather was really nice that day – clear blue skies, good visibility. When we reached mid-Jutland, patches of fog began to appear here and there:

And to our surprise, the area around Viborg airfield was covered in fog. It was supposed to be long gone!

We thought, we’d fly to Skive, land there, wait half an hour and fly back to Viborg – but it seemed Skive was also under fog… Flemming and I flew a bit over the city of Viborg – you can see some of it in the far center on the photo below, and the fog over the lakes Søndersø and Nørresø in front:

Our plan B was otherwise to divert to Randers – and we decided to do so. I reported it to Karup Approach, and we changed direction:

In Randers, there wasn’t any fog, just blue skies and sunshine. We parked behind the club house:

Members of the flying club invited us to have breakfast – it was very kind of them, and we gratefully joined their company.

After breakfast, Arne invited us to see his hangar. When he opened the door, we just said “wouw!” and stood there at the entrance for a while. You will understand what I mean when you see this photo with the replica of Wright Flyer One in the middle:

Arne’s friend Anders, pilot and co-owner of that hangar, built the replica all by himself!

This is my dream of a hangar – with plants, carpets, and aviation memorabilia in between the aeroplanes… Light, warm and cozy, a comfortable place where you want to stay longer. There were many interesting things there. I took around 50 pictures of different corners of that hangar. When I came home and saw them on a computer, I decided to write a separate blogpost – just about that inspiring hangar. And I also need to meet Arne again, maybe together with Anders, if possible.

We got a lift to Randers Rainforest – an indoor tropical Zoo – and went exploring. It is so nicely constructed – with lush green environment, and richly diverse wildlife, a tropical paradise, indeed.

Big turtles reminded me of a gift I once received from my friend René.

René was scuba diving somewhere around Bali, and he bought me a turtle. That turtle was saved from being sold on a fish market, and adopted to a sanctuary where she got my name – Natalie, and a chip – so that the sanctuary workers could trace her. There she was going to be safe, and free. Hopefully many happy years!

It was extremely hot in the Zoo, and very humid – rainforest, after all! But it affected us so much, that we quite quickly saw everything we wanted (or could) to see that day, and got out to the fresh air 🙂 You really only need a pair of shorts and a sleeveless top when you go there!

Flemming and I slowly walked to the City Hall square, and admired all those beautiful old building of Randers:

Last time I was in Randers (with my pilot-friend Jens during Easter 2021), we wanted to visit the majestic St. Martin’s church, but it was closed due to a special service. This time it was open, and we went in.

Someone was practicing playing organ. Flemming and I sat down on the steps by the altar, and listened for a while.

It was about time to have lunch, and we found a table on the sunny side. It was so nice and warm in the sunshine – you really had the feeling that spring was almost there!

After the lunch break, Flemming and I continued our stroll through the streets of Randers. The building on the photo below is from 1592 (not the oldest one in Randers). Please note the strange decoration on its wall (yellow arrow points at):

And a closer look. The sign on top says “hairdresser”, but what is that kind of “dish” below the sign?

Flemming told me an interesting story.

In the old days, since approx. 3,000 years ago and till the late 19th century, it was believed that bloodletting could cure many (if not all) diseases. It was probably the most common medical practice, performed by doctors, and in the 19th century – by barbers. It was quite normal to go to a barber, and to have a bloodletting treatment there (a kind of wellness-thing). Barbers had a special instrument which would cut a small incision in the blood vessel. Around 400 ml of blood would be drawn out on a dish with a half-oval cut on one side – that cut fitted the arm!

Next stop was by the gloves shop, made in the famous Randers’ gloves factory:

Flemming bought himself a pair in stylish dark blue. I saved my money for aviation fuel…

Later, we came by a building that once was home to the Randers Gloves factory. Today, it looked like a residential property, with a couple of signs referring to its past, and a mural on one of its walls (not on the photo):

Randers Gloves factory was established in 1811, and is the longest standing fine glove-maker in the world. The company has delivered gloves and leather goods to royal families since its inception. Princess Dagmar of Denmark even continued purchasing Randers gloves after she became Zarina of Russia.

Nowadays, most of the production is outside Denmark, but the final quality control is performed in Randers.

When we got back to the airport, there was a very nice surprise waiting for us – Thomas and his son Silas flew by to have a couple of sausages at the local pølsevogn (English: hot dog stand), driven by Julia and Kent from the Randers Aircraft Service which is located at the airport. It was very nice to meet them, and to see Silas again:

Pølsevogne emerged on the streets of German cities already in the beginning of the 20th century. In Denmark, the first one was on the street in 1920, in Copenhagen. They proved to be very popular, with approx. 400 pølsevogn in 1950. Today, there are around 100 of them, still serving hot dogs and other good things to their loyal customers.

Flemming and I had a picture of us taken at the steps of a Cessna 340A, exhibited at the airport:

We waived goodbye to Thomas and Silas:

And soon Flemming and I were also airborn. We took many good pictures passing by Aarhus:

Though we didn’t make it to Viborg, we had such a wonderful day in Randers! Met so many nice people, and had great experiences, no matter which way we went.