Tag: Cecil’s European Vacation 2024

Returning to the 15th Happiest Place on Earth (40th Happiest State)šŸ™„- Day 8 “All Good Things…”

Posted on March 18, 2024 by Bruce

Sunday: Walked 3.62 miles, Flew a few more than 4400

12:30 CET to 11:something or other EST Flight from Billund to Amsterdam to Detroit to Indianapolis to home to cats to bed.

Got up early to get breakfast. Said goodbye to the guard rhino in our room. Checked out and headed to the airport.

Goals for the day: refuel & return the car, get the two adventure labs and one virtual at the airport and pick up the Billund Airport exclusive LEGO set. Then go home.
Note: The Billund Airport set had been recently retired and therefore no longer available. šŸ˜Ŗ They had a great sale, butā€¦ at this point, I donā€™t have room or need any other LEGO sets at this time.

By the Numbers:

Hotels: 3 – Refborg (Billund), Grand Hotel (Odense), Osterport (Copenhagen)
Longest stay: 3 days
Shortest stay: maybe 18 hours
Geocaches: 30ish – including Denmark’s First Geocache!
Adventure Labs completed: 12 and a bunch of stages started but incomplete (Yes, St. Canute- I’m looking at you… solving ALs in another language with written answers can be “challenging”)

Trolls: 6

LEGO sets: 13
Minifigs: 10 (4 exclusive to the Fan Tour, 6 exclusive to a location)
LEGO Keyhains: 4

Cost for two people:

  • Tour Cost: $1323
  • Money spent on souvenirs & LEGO: about $1200 Yes, most of this was for mešŸ™„
  • Lodging (7 nights 3 cities): about $1250
  • Meals- formal meals at a pub or restaurant including alcohol and under one circumstance a tip (we were near the U.S. EmbassyšŸ™„): about $500 Breakfasts were included at most of the hotels.
  • Rental Car for 8 days (a Audi SUV thing): $172
  • Petrol: $105 (one fill up)
  • Parking, Trains, & Tolls: about $300
  • Flight Cost: $1900

Total (for two): about $6700 (rounding up)

Lessons Learned/Notes aka wha? huh? šŸ¤”:

When we travel Sue and I try to figure out what we would do differently or what things were different than what we expected.

  • Give ourselves one full day (and night) in a place once we land. In this case, we should have either stopped and spent the night in Amsterdam or spent an extra night in Billund at the start to recuperate from the flight. Next time- fly through Iceland- Icelandair actually has a long layover program šŸ˜
  • Stay in a place around three days to get acclimated (postage stamp rule – Something we discovered in England to really get to know a place stay and explore in an area on the map about the size of a postage stamp) We tend to forget this over the excitement of visiting a new place, but it is good to keep in mind. It was nice to settle in Copenhagen and Billund instead of rushing to a new place each morning. Avoid the “It’s Tuesday, it must be Belgium” Syndrome.
  • It’s amazing how other countries seem to be more trusting. It is nice to see and almost unimaginable to consider in the U.S. except maybe in small towns.
  • Danish chicanes instead of speed bumps?!? While heading to Jelling we discovered a spot where to slow people down they had one lane that had a zig zag pattern, which required you to slow down to get through. A large portion of speed bumps in Denmark are in the middle of the lane.
  • A lot of the roads outside of the main highways were 1.5 lanes so when another care is coming at you you both pull over a bit. Allowing the roads to not use up the much space.
  • 110kph = 68 mph so things move a bit slower and therefore take a bit longer to get from point A to point B.
  • USB C outlets in cars?!? America is so “sophisticated” and high tech, but it was interesting that our rental only had USB-C outlets, and not USB-A which is still pretty much still the standard in the U.S.
  • Why do I have to sign my credit card receipt? Locals didn’t seem to need to sign, just scan and go. Why did some cards never work? (Yes, MINI CARD Iā€™m looking at you). When I purchased things from a person, I had to sign the receipt, something I don’t always have to do in the U.S. but also most automated kiosks seemed to reject my card (as invalid), was this because I couldn’t sign the receipt? What is done with these signed receipts? Do they get sent (via the post) to the bank? šŸ¤”
  • Many places preferred credit to cash… we actually didn’t exchange money during our trip. we had some leftover Euros from our pre-COVID trip to Paris and it was rather amusing that we couldn’t find a currency exchange open when we found them.
  • What happened to getting your passport stamped? It seemed that Amsterdam and the coming into Detroit were the only places that stamped my passport.
  • European flights- passengers are told they are not allowed to photograph or film passengers or crew members without their permissionā€¦ but how am I going to get followers and likes on my YouTube/TikTok Channel?
  • On ALL flights we were given the safety instructions in English… is this because Americans are so stupid they wouldn’t know what to do and are most likely to sue the company if anything were to happen – with the American claiming ignorance because ā€œThey spoke with a funny accentā€ and they couldn’t understand them.
  • Deltaā€™s video makes me think of a Church service. It just seemed to be set up like you were in some new age church with yoga mats surrounded by nature. The Flight Attendant on screen standing in the middle delivering a calm sermon on how to fasten your seatbelt.
  • Set reasonable goals. If anything a true “Whimventurer” under plans in case something happens to pop up. If you have one thing that has a timed entry, thatā€™s enough. What if you really get lost in that exhibit? Do you leave to make it to the next thing on the list? If you give yourself one goal each day, you donā€™t have a chance of being disappointed. We would never had gone on our first Troll hunt if we hadn’t had a flexible schedule.
  • When buying ceramic pieces as souvenirs either pack them nested around squishy things in your checked luggage, or expect to have your carryon bag pulled at every single security checkpoint, I guess a ceramic horse/dragon looks a lot like C4 when viewed from an X-Ray machine.
  • Thoughts on traveling as an anxious ā€˜Murican. There is an image of the stereotypical American tourist in a foreign country and that image makes me sick. Frankly Americans in the U.S. who act like they are better than anyone else make me cringe. I barely speak English properly, let alone another language and we believe that everyone in the world should speak English. I do find it amusing that the Europeans tend to rub it in by having the Union Jack next to English translations and not the Stars and Stripes. Even though the translation is mostly for Americans. Iā€™m guessing there are a few people out there that would prefer the stars and bars, but then again they rarely leave their home town. I guess for me when traveling I am the polar opposite of the stereotype. I rarely talk, might nod my head, if I have to order I am overly apologetic during the process. I joke that we travel on a whimā€¦ we do for some thingā€™s, but Iā€™m pretty much a basket case hoping Iā€™m not too embarrassing. When we traveled this time, I brought a classic looking leather jacket, collared shirts, dark jeans, dress pants and avoided tennis shoes. I found in the past this helped me blend in- instead of the guy in the red baseball cap and ā€œGod Bless ‘Muricaā€ t-shirt in flip flops and cut offs. Of course now everyone wears tennis shoes (trainers), but Iā€™ll stick to walking around a city in my Doc Martens. When I travel Iā€™d much rather have people think Iā€™m British, or Canadian. The world tends to see us as obnoxious spoiled bullies for the most part, especially with the way our corporations run our politics and our media depicts the average American.
  • How many times does your bag need to go through security? We had to go through security in Billund, Amsterdam, and Detroit. While I understand the need for safety, What could I have done in mid-flight or after landing to suddenly become a flight hazard? In Detroit it made a bit of sense since we had to handle our checked luggage, but still…
  • Since I can’t sleep on a plane: Movie Reviews: Wonka ā­ļøŽā­ļøŽā­ļøŽ, Barbie ā­ļøŽā­ļøŽā­ļøŽā­ļøŽ, Oppenheimer ā­ļøŽā­ļøŽā­ļøŽā­ļøŽ, & Blue Beetle ā­ļøŽā­ļøŽā­ļøŽ All the films were nice diversions. I started with Wonka since we were behind the Wonka float at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and wanted to understand why nothing actually happened on the float during the parade and only a dance routine in front of an empty float occurred at the end… I actually stopped part way through the film and came back to finish it later. None were what I would consider 5 star amazing films, but they held my interest for the most part. Barbie was a unique social commentary that was very well done, I understand why it has become a cultural phenomenon. Oppenheimer was a nice historical piece and I understand why it did so well at the Oscars. Blue Beetle… I wanted to give a DC film a chance since they seem to have an aura of despair surrounding them… It was a good super hero movie, like Barbie, some social commentary this time dealing with plight of Latin Americans in the US, but for the most part a good escapist film, which is really what super hero films should be.
  • Flight home last legā€¦ “Please do not change your seat- itā€™s a balance issue.” Was it Phil Foglio who did a comic about how planes actually fly due to certain people, who without them on a plane the plane wouldnā€™t fly? They are seated strategically to aid in keeping the plane in the air.
  • Last flight 39 minutes of first class! I felt so special.
  • ā€œHey, I tell you what is. Big city, hmm? Live, work, huh? But not city only. Only peoples. Peoples is peoples. No is buildings. Is tomatoes, huh? Is peoples, is dancing, is music, is potatoes. So, peoples is peoples. Okay?ā€ – Pete from The Muppets Take Manhattan “No matter where you go, there you are” and always- peoples is peoples.

I will miss our guard Rhinoceros from our time in Billund. Thank you for keeping us, and our stuff safe during our visit.

The Second Happiest Place on Earth – Day 7 “Take 2… and Action!”

Posted on March 17, 2024 by Bruce

Saturday: Walked 4.4 miles

Today started with a nice breakfast before heading back to the LEGO House for one more circuit and to get the virtual geocache on the roof. We discovered a few of our Fan Tour colleagues were also staying at the Refborg Hotel – this was an awesome place walking distance, I mean about a block, away from LEGO House. We started by grabbing a locker (free to guests- activated using your wristband) and then went back to the shop. I believe I mentioned this before, but LEGO Store with Minifig factories have exclusive designs making it a go to place for people who want exclusive minifigs. I bought the last exclusive set available from LEGO house and five minifigs, then sat at the computer before the crowd got too big designing special torsos for each. I did give Sue the chance to work on a couple. As those were printing we looked for heads, legs, hair and accessories. After putting our purchases in our locker we headed back to get our six-brick combination and code. There are over 900 million ways you can put six bricks together. Using your wristband you are randomly given one of those combinations. You then can pick up six 2×4 bricks from the ā€œsmallest LEGO brick factoryā€ in the world. Go home and build your combination.

Sue and I saw they had a building activity just outside and decided to see if we could join inā€¦ timed entrance given out in the shop. We decided we had other things to do so back into the house!

The “Mood Mixer” had you build a character and choose it’s mood (Educators this is “SEL” Conservatives this is not “CRT”). Since we were happy We both choose to do a “Happy Dance”.

My Batman build from the night before was considered “worthy” enough to be used as a demo!

After these activities and as the crowd of people grew, we recalled our goal for the day- to log the virtual geocache on the roof of the LEGO house. You see, LEGO house designers decided that the ā€œphysicalā€ aspect of play would be on the roof, so there are playgrounds accessible from the various colored areas. Also, when the house is open there are play areas accessible without a ticket from the outside of the house. These areas lead you to the roof. The roof is a scale 2×4 brick over the Master Gallery. The dinosaurs are under the brickā€™s tubes and the studs (knobs) on the top are actually skylights. The challenge- take your picture standing on the glass. Being a bit acrophobic this is a challenge, but I did it with Cecil. Oh, the things I do for that monkey.

We then picked up our stuff dropped it off at the hotel and returned to Jelling to see the Viking museum. For a small free museum, it was amazing. They took you through the history of Jelling, the birthplace of Denmark. We had visited the sites outside earlier the week, the museum tied it all together and the accompanying adventure lab helped too. They also had a great exhibit highlighting ā€œBluetoothā€ and King Harald. For me, they even had a comic book! I was glad we had the opportunity to come back when the museum was open.

Cecil felt like he was back in Rome, Georgia!
The museum’s exhibits were interactive, if you touched the orange part it would display the viking’s wound and if it were fatal.
I know why it’s called Bluetooth… do you?

We returned to Billund, stopped off again at the LEGOland hotel to see what exclusive sets they had and The LEGO Group HQ for a photo op then decided to chase down petrol for our rental carā€¦ weā€™ve been off whimventuring (yes, I just invented a word- arenā€™t you proud of me?) for a week and had used up almost a full tank of gas. Donā€™t know what was going on but none of my credit cards were considered ā€œvalidā€ by the unmanned kiosk at the gas station. I even called one of the companies and got a “Not our problem” response, frustrated we returned to the hotel to deal with one more frustration before dinner- how are we going to get all this stuff home?!?

LEGO has an activity in which they people the exact same bricks and ask them to “build a duck” the cool thing is that every time I’ve done this- everyone’s duck is different.
This duck exercise emphasizes everyone’s uniqueness and how there is more than one solution.
I’m sure there are some groups in the US that would frown upon this…
interesting way to reuse old towels…

This had been in the back of my mind since before we left and I thought I had it all figured outā€¦ yes, I make myself laugh too. I had packed my normal suitcase inside a larger suitcase which is brilliant until you realize the larger suitcase, isnā€™t that much larger. We thought about options and even went out to buy a duffel bag to put clothes into. Why is Denmark the second happiest place on earth (according to Pub trivia)? Because culturally they close thing down early. Weekends are not a time to go shopping until dawn. Stores close early so most people get time off to do stuff with family & friends. Remember when we arrived on Sunday the reception had closed right after lunch. We arrived jet lagged, exhausted to an envelop with a key left on a low shelf. People matter, you donā€™t need to be at work 24/7 because you arenā€™t expected to be open, or available 24/7. If only America wouldā€¦ funny thing is I see one group cheering about ā€œhonoring the sabbathā€ then the same people complaining because they couldnā€™t go to the store to pick up last minute snacks for the big game. šŸ™„

So before dinner we looked at all the sets we had bought and what the airline requirements were and got to work figuring out what fit into three suitcases, two daypacks and two tote bags given to us from the fan tour. The suitcases, once packed would be checked and we wouldnā€™t work about them, everything weā€™d have to lug aroundā€¦ not including anything else we might pick up ā€œduty-free.ā€ Before we headed out for dinner our nerves were calmer, weā€™d figured it out, with only a couple of question marks that werenā€™t impossible.

The Second Happiest Place on Earth – Day 6 “Leg Godt”

Posted on March 16, 2024 by Bruce

Friday: 4.26 miles

I warn you ahead of time- where most of these posts have been short- the wonderful folks at LEGO House packed a lot into today so this is going to a big post- with lots of photos. To start it will be easier to just share what LEGO House sent us instead of trying to retell it in my words:

ā€œYou will be joining a group of 25 passionate LEGO fans with 10 different nationalities, for a guided tour of the LEGO company, LEGO House and other amazing LEGO sites that are normally only accessible to LEGO employees ā€“ and some of them not even accessible for LEGO employees.
What have you signed up for?

LEGO House takes you on a unique 1-day tour ā€˜behind the scenesā€™ of the LEGO Group. Listen to the sound of LEGO bricks being molded at our factory, visit the home of our founder Ole Kirk Kristiansen, and rediscover the LEGO sets of your childhood in our internal museum. Last but (absolutely) not least, we will take you on an inspiring guided tour of the awesome LEGO House, where you can see giant LEGO models up close, and finally, you will get 2 hours of exclusive after-hours playtime at LEGO House. Note: The tour even includes tickets to return to LEGO House next day on your own.

More about your day:
We have created a program for you that we are sure you will love. Herewith, I send you the details so that you know what to expect from the day. ā€ØWe can make minor changes if other opportunities come up to ensure that you will have the best day possible.

Your adventure will take off at the LEGO House and rocket you into the LEGO universe. ā€Øā€ØHere are further details:
08.15 ā€“ Doors are open
ā€Ø08.30 ā€“ Welcome, Introduction and Play
ā€Ø09.30 – Guided tour in LEGO Idea House ā€Ø
11.20 – Lunch in LEGO House
12.15 ā€“ Introduction to the LEGO Factoryā€Ø
12.30 – Bus drive to the LEGO Factory
ā€Ø12.50 – LEGO Factory tour ā€Ø
14.15 – Coffee break ā€Ø
14.30 – Guided tour in LEGO House ā€Ø
15.50 – Farewell ā€Ø
16.10 – After-hours play in LEGO House Experience Zones ā€Ø
17.00 – LEGO House Retail Store closes ā€Ø
18.00 – End of Playā€Ø
Please note that you are required to wear closed shoes (no sandals, etc.) for the factory tour.ā€

We got up early and had a great breakfast wondering if anyone else at breakfast in our hotel was going on the tour with us – nope, none that were there when we were. We then took a bit of a stroll around the area (again) picking up a few more Adventure Lab stages and thinking about what the day will bring.

“Where does he get those wonderful toys?”

We arrived at LEGO house and wandered a bit since we had about 15 minutes until we were actually supposed to be there. What?!? I was excited land anxious, so I followed the ā€œif you are on time, youā€™re lateā€ rule. 24 people from 9 different countries were in the group, first thing- build a minifig representing yourself. At each seat was a gift (the first of many). We chatted with Brandon and Rob from Las Vegas who were at our table before formal introductions- name, where do you live, favorite LEGO set or theme. Lena, Mads, and Jonathan were our guides which started in the LEGO Idea House, the original home of Ole Kirk Christiansen the founder of the LEGO Group. While there we went through the history of the company from a simple carpenter shop to what it is today. We also had a chance to visitā€¦ THE VAULT. (play dramatic music). The vault is home to one copy of every LEGO product produced for retail since the beginning of time. Like everyone I searched for certain sets from my childhood. From there it was fun to explore the sets made during what AFOLs call the ā€œDark Ageā€ the time after I gave up LEGO play as a child to when I picked it up again as an adult. It was a dark time for the LEGO Group also as they were trying everything and moving further and further away from their core. That was all covered in the next part of our tour at LEGO Idea House, the history of the company, which was fascinating even to a guy who has read two books on the subject. We received a special minifig when we left.

The Vault holds one of everything the LEGO group has produced fro retail.
We were encouraged to hunt down sets and pull out the boxes. We were not encouraged to build the sets.
one of my early sets from the 70’s I built it and then used the parts to build a sci-fi all-terrain vehicle.
I could never get the motor to function properly! this was the last LEGO set I remember building as a child.
Further back in the vault were display cases of some of the older toys that the LEGO Group had produced.
It all started with a carpenter in the depression who decided to take a chance on toys.
one of the early woodworking tools used to make some of the early toys.
“Only the Best is Good Enough.” This sign is actually in every LEGO building. I recall walking under it every day at the Castleton LEGO Store.
Capturing a child’s imagination in play-a lady bug wearing pants with wiggly arms.
one of the many wooden cars made by LEGO
As quality wood became harder to find, the company integrated plastics into the line.

The infamous duck. As the story goes a young Godtfred Kirk Christiansen was finishing up a set of ducks for shipment. He proudly went to his father Ole to inform him that the ducks were done and at the train station. He had even saved the company money by using only two coats of lacquer instead of three. His father was upset and made him retrieve the ducks and finish the job- correctly. Hence the “Only the best is good enough” motto.

LEGO did not invent the plastic brick, but they did improve on the design making it possible to build much more than before. They also didn’t create a “toy” they created a system of play. Every piece in the LEGO system can work with any other piece. A DUPLO brick can be used to build with system bricks. System bricks can integrate with Technic.
yup.. robots- I can’t escape them.
My last complete LEGO set- before Technic, they were called Expert
The LEGO Idea House back when it was Ole Kirk Christiansen’s house.
It seems so simple- let kids learn through play, but it seems so hard to get adults to understand.
One of the hidden rooms showcasing special themes… The first one I saw was Technic, but the panorama didn’t turn out right- something about a great disturbance in the Force…

Building your Lunch

We then headed to lunch at LEGO House which is a unique way to order and receive food. First you pull out a menu and a bag of LEGO bricks. Each brick determines a part of your meal. Adult (yes, Iā€™m considered an adult) use four bricks to build their meal kids three (and a special kid brick for a surprise). You place your build on a tray under a display screen at your table. It is then scanned and your order is sent to the kitchen for the robot chefs to make. When it is ready a large LEGO box comes down a conveyor belt and you are alerted that it is ready and what color box you should look for. You get to keep all the bricks you used for lunch.

Hmmm… a monkey?
Oh another monkey, looking at the menu… what to build?
The Robot servers… I can’t escape robots no matter how hard I try.
Lunch arrives via conveyor belt in a LEGO box.
Inside… exactly what I ordered and it was delicious.

Off to the Factory…

After lunch we head off to the factory to see where LEGO bricks come from. The Billund factory makes bricks but doesnā€™t do any of the post production. What that means is the bricks arenā€™t packaged for sale here, that happens in the Czech Republic. Bricks for the U.S. come from Mexico for the most part anyway. As with most factories, there were robots, and no photography is allowed. We had our phones locked up so we couldn’t take pictures of the process. It was amazing to see how it all works and the shear number of elements produced. I guess there is a need for a billion or two purple minifig hands… We received an engraved 2×4 brick when we left as proof that we had actually set foot into the factory.

The Factory as seen from a photo of a photo taken by photographer in a plane
The author outside the factory entrance before they took his phone away.
A reminder from the LEGO Story Video made out of… LEGO bricks

Finally, Exploring LEGO House

We returned to LEGO House for a whirlwind tour of the place given by Mike Ganderton, one of the people responsible for the design of the placeā€¦ but first a break, some amazing apple cake, and tea (or water, or coffee). Soā€¦ what is LEGO House? It is the epicenter of all things LEGO. It is the clubhouse for LEGO fans of all ages. It is an activity center for children divided into sections, each focused of a key LEGO ideal with activities developed for children and adults emphasizing the importance of play. Remember: The LEGO Group has a companywide Play Day in which everything shuts down so people can take a day to play. Having worked at a LEGO Store we came back after hours and were paid to play.

The Tree of Creativity & Monkeys

I apologize ahead of time… There was so much to look at while being told about all the other things to look at, so I’m sure I missed something. In the center of LEGO House is a massive LEGO tree. built of millions of bricks it highlights everything that is, was, and will be, and monkeys. It seems that during the design process it was discussed about having animals in the tree. Birds, squirrels, wombats, whatever. Mike suggested monkeys and it stuck so now “Mike’s Monkeys” live on the tree. you can find them in every vignette. For the AFOL these are mocs using the monkey from Creator 3 in 1 LEGO Set 31019 as a base. For the non-AFOL, these are LEGO monkeys. Each branch covers a theme important to the LEGO group. The top of the tree is unfinished and has a LEGO crane so that is shows that we are never done creating.

It’s a monkey party!
Ninjago branches
Ninja Monkey
Sir Monkey on the Castle branches
Friends Branches
Friends Surfer Monkey dude
Arrgh! its the pirate branches
And the Pirate Monkey!
That’s one small ook1 for me, one giant oak for Monkey-kind
The tree never is finished just like creative ideas are never really done.

The Master Gallery

As you climb the ramp leading past all the monkeys, you end up in the Master Gallery dominated by three Tyrannosaurs. Each is built using a different LEGO system, DUPLO, System, and Technic. Around the gallery in display cases are builds from LEGO master builders from around the world. These builders were chosen and their work is displayed for a year. As with looking at anyone’s builds I get two feelings- first, inspiration to build more, then a feeling that I could never match anything displayed. As with a lot of projects I tend to have lofty goals, instead of just trying things a little bit at a time. The “How do you eat a whale? – One bite at a time.” The displays showed the versatility of Lego bricks, in that they covered a wide range. From small vignettes to a dress and everything in-between. I don’t display at LEGO shows, because I’m still in the build a set, maybe modify it a little. Not the build whatever is in your head. I recall the first time I wanted to display, the person running the show was big on emphasizing “We don’t want a bunch of Cafe Corners” which meant it needs to be unique and original… I disagree. at a show you need to show how you can take a set that everyone has at home and improve it. Then again these were masters at LEGO construction, they were definitely at a different level of building than I am.

Why the dinosaurs “ROWR!”
Mike’s Monkey’s are EVERYWHERE!

Getting into the Zone

LEGO House is divided into zones, each zone focuses on a different part of the LEGO educational philosophy. The Red Zone – Creativity Skills, The Blue Zone – Cognitive Skills, The Green Zone – Social Skills, The Yellow Zone – Emotional Skills. The latest addition was to the Blue Zone called “Build the Change” in which visitors are given a challenge and must build it. Each challenge is unique to the visitor and deals with creating something that will address a current issue in the world. The challenges are multitiered but have an element of fun to them.

We did spend a little time in each zone, and had a 7 minute building challenge in the Red Zone. The one thing they wanted to do was not just replicate what people can do at LEGO shows so while there are bins of bricks around every corner, it wasn’t just build, build, build… This was the one time I thought about what I would have brought back to school for my kids if I was still teaching. So many amazingly awesome ideas.

The Red Zone- build whatever you would like.
OUr Group’s builds after 7 minutes.
The Green Zone
Amazing cityscapes similar to ones found at AFOL Events
I think Cecil may have spotted the bananas!
Monkey Overboard! How did he get there?!? Bad Evil GeoCaching Monkey Bent on World Domination!
ONce again… I cannot escape robots.

Now it’s time to say goodbye…

After the guided tour we came back and found a bag full of stuff at our table. We I had been a little disappointed when I walked into the LEGO House LEGO Store, there were two sets I had wanted… OK fine, there were a lot of sets I wanted, but two sets I was looking for weren’t there. The three dinosaurs from the Master Gallery and the Tree of Creativity. They also didn’t have the Moulding Machine, but I was kind of fine with that. What was in our goodie bag?!? The DINOSAURS! so I was really happy!

I said goodbye to everyone and did get Cecil’s photo with Mike so he could join his band of monkeys. Our stuff was safe as we headed out on our own to explore for a bit after hours.

The store was open for an hour after closing so, of course thatā€™s where pretty much every one headed. It didnā€™t help that LEGO set designers happen to be present signing their sets, including the new exclusive set released at the beginning of the month. Those who know me know Iā€™m not usually one who is big on exclusives, or autographs, butā€¦ I think Cecil is still not happy that I didnā€™t get his picture taken with them. Because of the designers signing things they had also put out the Tree of Creativity Set for sale at the store! Of course now we just had to figure out how to get it all home…

SO you and 24 of your new friends have some time at LEGO House without anyone else around, what do you do? Play and explore some more. Our first stop the basement and the history display. After visiting and seeing everything at the LEGO Idea House earlier in the day seeing the public version at LEGO House was interesting. We did this during our free time I think the most interesting part was how they added a way for the blind to experience the exhibits. it was basically a circle the exterior was displays of LEGO products and innovations throughout the years, the inside of the ring was devoted to displays for the blind. headphones t help focus on the exhibit and eliminate background noise, and then large touchable displays of whatever the focus was, so there were large LEGO bricks, a large minifig, a large mini doll, etc.

We then headed back upstairs and looked around playing with some of the simpler activities… like make a minifig… then we took that mini fig and added it to a stop motion movie- because I kind have a thing for animation. We then spent a what time we had left playing with the robots, because old habits die hard. Fortunately we had a wristband for tomorrow so we could keep exploring.

LEGO Moulds are pretty much a super duper industrial secret… So what do you do when you are done with them? put them in the foundation of a new LEGO Building.
Moles only know the secrets and even the ones in the new factory in Virginia aren’t saying a word.

Wristbands

In the US when you go someplace that requires a wristband for entry they usually are near impossible to get off without destroying the thing. When we visited the Strong Museum of Play in Rochester, NY we were given wristbands with RFID chips in them in an exhibit to keep track of our progress that we had to return. LEGO House, your wristband is used in a similar manner. It is your entry, and exit key, it collects and saves the activities you complete so you don’t have kids screaming about wanting to take home whatever they built. the other thing (as an American) I found fascinating was, you could take it off without destroying it. When you get home you log in using the code on your wristband and you can pull up photos of the things you built or did throughout your day. Since we were rushed we didn’t get much done, but that was OK- because we can come back tomorrow!

The smallest LEGO Moulding Factory is onsite in which you get 6 2×4 bricks and a challenge to build one of the over 915,000,000 combinations that can be made with just 6 LEGO bricks

Build your own Minifig and then what should you do with it? Why make a short film with it!

So here’s my “Finished” stop motion film… If only I had a $200 million dollar budget!

Sue’s stop motion film… She took greater care (since you can’t see her had in any of the film. The images and videos were downloadable from our wristbands. along with this amazing photo!

I cannot say again how wonderful this day was! Line, Mads, and Johnathan did an amazing job of herding cats and getting us where we needed to be while making sure we were taken care of. Our group of 24 experienced a full day of LEGO awesomeness and I look forward to doing it again sometime soon. Having been in charge of 35 years worth of classroom field trips I know how difficult it can be, and they were exemplary.

The Second Happiest Place on Earth – Day 5 “Troll Hunting”

Posted on March 15, 2024 by Bruce

Thursday: Walked 6.27 miles

Yes, I said troll hunting!!! After a quick discussion in the morning we decided to go troll hunting by doing an adventure lab focused on the trolls created by artist Thomas Dambo we found one early on and decided to skip a few of the touristy spots to go walking and looking for trolls. It didn’t influence our decision at all that there was an adventure lab connected to finding the Trolls… nope, not at all.

Being married for over 30 years there gets to be a bit of mutual martyrdom, especially when traveling. Neither of us wants to have the other one do things they donā€™t likeā€¦ or if we do at least in moderation. Iā€™ll spend time in a yarn or fabric shop and Sue will spend time at a comic book shop or LEGO Store. Itā€™s a trade off but we each feel as if we are getting the better end of the deal. Trollhunting was my idea, but since they were tied to Adventure Labs and a few geocaches I hope it evened out. The one thing we both realized was just how out of shape we are. We may have only walked six and a quarter miles, but it was over various terrain, something it looked like the Danes were used to, and we weren’t.

Oscar Under The Bridge
Hilltop Trine
Little Tilde
Yes, there were a couple geocaches along the way.
Thomas On The Mountain
Teddy Venlig

So today we squelched through mud, and walked on trails to answer questions about five different trolls hidden in the Danish countryside. There is a 6th “bonus troll” but we decided not to back track to hunt him, we were tired and wanted to head to Billund. We did decide that (like many of our trips) that we really enjoyed Denmark even being here on the off season. Weā€™ve already talked about not spending enough time in Copenhagen and how we really want to return sometime when everything is open. Iā€™ve also decided that I really want to make sure that I use my passport at least once a year. I guess I just added a #71 to the bucket list. Tomorrow is the actual reason for the tripā€¦ the LEGO House Fan Tour.

Note: The Troll Map shows that there are actually a few trolls near us, in Ohio and Kentucky. I’m also checking out other places we will be heading out over the summer, the troll hunt never ends… The ones in Chicago were removed and Indiana is too scary a place for trolls to inhabit. šŸ˜¢

The Seventh Happiest Place on Earth – Day 4 “Bork, bork, bork!”

Posted on March 14, 2024 by Bruce

Wednesday: Walked 8.24 miles

Today we had decided to take the train to Malmo, Sweden. Copenhagen is close and I had never been to the land of 50% of my ancestors. It started off a bit drizzly, but a little rain didnā€™t stop my Viking ancestors, so why should it stop me? As I have have said before caching and Adventure Labs are a nice way to discover an area. Besides it also allows Sue to color in another country on her geocaching map šŸ™„. Trying to figure things out in another language can be ā€œfunā€ and by ā€œfunā€ I mean stressful. Fortunately our hotel was across the street from the train station and the train went directly into Malmo. So once we were on the train, my fretting over did I mess this up and we are now going someplace else vanished.

We emerged from the station and checked the geocaching app to see what was around us. There were a few adventure lab stages to get us going and then we headed into the older part of town. One thing Sue and I have noticed is the amount of space dedicated to pedestrians. Yes, there are cars, but so much is pretty much for people walking or cyclists. We stopped into the Form/Design Center a museum focused on design in its many forms had a quick snack and then viewed a few exhibitsā€¦one focused on open spaces and how cities over the centuries have planned for it and are still planning for it. I hope that the Monument Circle area of Indianapolis becomes something like this.

One thing we try to do every trip abroad is to pick up one thing for the house. Sweden is known for Dala horses. Sue, having spent time in Sweden has a few, they are wooden and have a traditional painted pattern on them. I bring this up because in GUSTUS, the adjacent gallery, an artist had made theirā€™s in clay and had glazed them in unique patterns. We decided to go ahead and buy one. (Sue has since named him “Mo”) I also bought a ceramic dragonā€¦ these are our first purchases of the trip outside of snacks. The drizzling stopped and we walked around a bit more this time around the old castle that had been turned into a prison, and now the art museum. Yes, this was part of an adventure lab. We then headed to the science and maritime museum. I discovered something interestingā€¦ I had no desire to go in. Yes, I love science & STEM stuff, it’s been a major part of my life for over 30 years but not being a teacher and having an overwhelming feeling that if I bought anything for anyone it would just get thrown in a box. So the majority of the day was just taking in Malmo, which was a great way to spend the day.

The view from our Hotel in Osterport. Yes, we were near the tracks
Bikes everywhere… What would happen in the U.S. if people actually could ride bikes everywhere, safely?
Cecil with his train ticket, ready to head into Sweden
The Author across from the train station getting a virtual geocache
Cecil enjoying the public art around Malmo.
Building renovation or are they just covering up a modern building and showing it they it used to look using “art”?
Public Art on the way from the Station
Cecil is wondering what a T.G.I> Fridays is doing here… he also was curious about the number of 7-Elevens,
Intersting at the lack of cars in most areas throughout our trip.
One of the squares in old town Malmo
THe view from our snack break.
Yes, I missed my cats.
Art at the Gustus Gallery. This one didn’t make it home with us.
Some of the other Ceramic options at the gallery,
Yes, it was a stage for an Adventure Lab.
The Science and Maritime Technology Museum (another Adventure Lab
Wandering around the old Castle/Prison/Art Museum
At the Art Museum,not wondering why Sweden is the seventh happiest place on earth.

We went back into the old town area for lunch, this has a bit of anxiety with it even though it really hasnā€™t play out poorly. We could have gone to the T.G.I. Fridays but instead ended up in a nice little place called ā€œRuthā€™sā€ you look at a menu in a foreign language that you have little or no experience with and I know I freeze. Fortunately I have discovered that most places everyone speaks a little English – because Americanā€™s havenā€™t, until recently felt the need to learn another language. Some still wonā€™t šŸ™„ back to lunch- Sue had a wonderful salad and I decided to go with braised ox cheek with carrots, lentils and horseradish sauce. According to my last physical only half of what I ate will kill me, but as Ian Fleming would say “You only live twice.” I also had a local IPA since Iā€™m on vacation, Iā€™m an adult, and Iā€™m no longer a teacher therefore needing to be a ā€œmoral exemplar.ā€

We heading back in the mid to late afternoon and decided to stop at the central train station to wander around the city center of Copenhagen a bit while it was still light out. One of the big tourist attractions is Tivoli Gardens which doesnā€™t open for about a monthā€¦. Sue had done more research on this area and knew near one of the entrances to Tivoli wasā€¦ a LEGO Store. It wasnā€™t massive like some I’ve seen, but it did have a Mini Figure Factory, so I made a custom Mini Figure. When you do this you get to design the torso of a LEGO Mini Figure. It seems that most stores that have one also have some unique design exclusive to their store. Not all LEGO Stores have one, but this was a way for LEGO Stores to deal with “Kidult” Fans of LEGO who complained about going to stores in other cities and having nothing special to show for it except a stamp in their LEGO Passport. So I made one (and got a stamp or two in my LEGO Passport too). We then walked over to the city center. Took some pictures and picked up a few AL stages.

No Rollercoasters for Cecil! Tivoli was closed.
Still Trying to figure out exactly what kind of creature this is…
I call this “Social Media in America”
The author with H.C. Andersen, maybe someone lost in my family tree?
A bull fighting a seamster? I guess I have some research to do on what the story is behind this fountain.
People in Copenhagen have really long legs.
I think climate change is having an extreme impact on countries like Iceland…

One thing we decided while wandering was the need to return to Copenhagen for more than our brief stay. There was a lot we missed. I think Sue and I both decided while visiting Kronborg castle was nice, perhaps spending that time in Copenhagen would have been better… then again with it being the off season, it might have been for the best. Yes, we didn’t see “The Little Mermaid” and other iconic Copenhagen sites… which is why we want to return. “We headed back to the hotel and discussed the day, and what tomorrow might bring… basically What were we going to do tomorrow on our way back to Billund?

Note: Sue has decided that for long days of walking she isnā€™t enamored with cobblestones.

The Second Happiest Place on Earth – Day 3 “Alas Poor Yorick”

Posted on March 13, 2024 by Bruce

Tuesday: Walked 5.48 miles

We did a lot today starting with a Troll hunt. There is an artist who makes giant trolls around the world. A bunch are in Denmark, one was on our way to Helsingor (Elsinore) and the castle Shakespeare used as inspiration for Hamlet. Also on the way were a number of caches and adventure lab stages. I dropped off the first of my travel bugs- letā€™s see what happens. Geocachers know that in the U.S. travel bugs and geocoins tend to go missing. I even did a comic about Cecilā€™s collection. In Europe, that is not the case, While not the general rule I have found (anecdotal evidence) that even when the attached object goes missing the tag will still travel from cache to cache or event to event and be logged. I brought two Trackables with me- A MINI Cooper Hot Wheels , and a Geocoin that I had picked up at a local Leap Day event. I decided more than that would be overkill and add stress to the trip. (Update: the Trackable MINI was picked up while we were still in DenmarkšŸ¤žthat it will get moved around)

Sue on the path to see a troll!
Our First Troll!
The Campfire
The view from the campfire
Look! A bridge! a big bridge!
Sue and I ready to play the role of Hamely and Ophelia?!? I hope not.
The role of Elsinor will be played by Kronborg tonight,
Cecil wondering if something really is rotten in the state of Denmark… he doesn’t smell anything.
The Kronborg Courtyard.
They had a exhibit about monsters! (SEL focus for those in the Ed Biz) in the foundation of the original castle
What else would you expect in Denmark but a statue highlighting that great Danish hero Hercules and his battle with the hydra (Hail HYDRA)
Cecil chats with one of the guardians on the way to Denmark’s oldest cache!
Cecil at Demark’s oldest Cache in the middle of a bog.
Yes, it was cold, but flowers were starting to peek through.

There were some caches and an Adventure Lab around KrĆønborg before and after we toured the castle we were able to get the AL completed. Remember: a lot of things donā€™t open until April so a number of the things that would be open were just starting to get ready. If youā€™ve toured a large historic house in the U.S. or another castle in Europe you might understand the way things go- itā€™s a big house with history. There is a reason why this spot was picked. Who the heroes and who are the villains change and what time period they want showcase can determine that. All this does is make me realize how much I donā€™t know when it comes to other countryā€™s history. By the law of Tourists in Europe we had now completed the requirements by visisting a cathedral and now a castle, the tourist police cannot arrest us- one less anxiety I have to deal with.

After handling the cold (itā€™s next to the ocean- sea breezes bring about cold.) we headed for the hotel with a minor detour to Denmarkā€™s oldest geocache located near one of Sueā€™s favorite places, a bog. We walked the geopath and signed the log. Cecil dropped off the last of the trackables he had and we headed to Copenhagen and the hotel to defrost, rest up and get ready for whatever tomorrow will bring.

The Second Happiest Place on Earth – Day 2 The Bellybutton of Denmark and Beyond

Posted on March 12, 2024 by Bruce

Monday: walked 6.41 miles

I learned in my research a couple of things- first, museums are closed on Mondays and Sue told me LEGOland doesnā€™t open until the end of the month. šŸ˜¢ This turned Monday into a ā€œplay it by earā€ dayā€¦ which means catering to our whims. After waking up and then crashing again… I’m glad that elephant was on guard. I looked around our room and realized that we had just let our suitcases explode and after a knock on the door from the cleaning crew, decided we may need to get our act together. because we were off to Odense where I had booked the next hotel… but what circuitous route should we take?

Using Geocaching & Adventure Labs (AL) as ways to explore unknown areas.

Iā€™m not too fond of geocaching to just get numbers or color in a map or grid (That’s Sue). Thatā€™s why I donā€™t cache that much around home. I have returned to attending local events, but mostly thatā€™s what I do unless we are traveling. When traveling geocaching opens the area to me unlike so many other things. Itā€™s like having a local show you around. Once we checked out of the hotel we decided to take a bit of a walk around Billund before leaving. I think I did well choosing a hotel walking distance from LEGO House. This will make getting to Fridayā€™s Tour easier. We wandered the area around LEGO House to make sure we had an idea of our environment (no guard elephants to keep us safe now). We popped into LEGO House and decided to leave before I got to the point of just staying, or buying stuff. So instead we picked up a few AL stages and an actual cache before heading to Jelling to do a bit of the same. Why Jelling? Jelling is home to a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a Viking Museum (see note about Museums & Mondays). After wandering around Jelling doing one of the ALs and picking up at least one geocache we realized that we were cold, and that we had been smart bringing cold weather gear, just not smart enough to put it on. We then headed to our stop for evening, Odense.

Yes, it’s a geocache, and an AL stage!
the author with King Gorm’s Stone

Interestingly today was planned specifically as a day of acclimation. For us to get used to being outside and walking in late winter, early spring temperatures, but also to get a feeling of how long it takes to get from place to place. In the U.S. if Iā€™m planning a long drive I tend to divide the distance by 60 to get a conservative idea of how long it will take. We found in England, that wasnā€™t the case. It took longer, maybe it was because we were not on major roads for a lot of it, but the anxiety in me decided that having a day to figure things out might be good. What did we discover? That we are going places ā€œoff the beaten pathā€ so plan for more time than you think. Sue got the car, so Sue was the driver… it was out of my control.

After Jelling we arrived in Odense, parked the car and headed to the hotel. The hotel had given us parking recommendations, so the lot was just around the corner. Check in wasnā€™t until 16:00 but we thought weā€™d check to see if we get in at around 14:00. We could, and we plopped in the room for a few minutes before heading out. We were told ā€œturn rightā€ to get to pretty much everything so we did, so as to get the lay of the land. We then started hunting around to see about caches and Adventure Labs leading us to the cathedral of St. Canute. The hard part was the entire adventure lab was in Danish! It required me to flex my tech muscles and use Google Translate and then special characters when typing in answers. We still havenā€™t figured out one partā€¦ so we canā€™t complete it. Not to worry, there are other AL that we havenā€™t finished and probably wonā€™t. You see early on the default was to create a sequential route. You couldnā€™t move on to the next stage until you answered the question. Most AL didnā€™t have a reason to have an order, so it just gets in the way and makes you retrace your steps a larger scale version of the old ā€œdrunken bee dance.ā€ One thing that was awesome about Odense was the lack of cars in the city center. Itā€™s all either bikes or pedestrians. The bikes are fast, so you need to keep alert, but it was nice to not have to worry so much. Wish it had not been Monday, I would have liked to visit the Hans Christian Andersen Museumā€¦ maybe another time.

While we did eat in Amsterdam, Spicy Korean Fries at BrewDog, our first real meal was at a nice cafe towards the end of the afternoon. The experience was a bit different compared to the U.S.- order and pay first at the bar. Sue had a stir fry thing and I had a ā€œspicy sandwich.ā€ Both were excellent but not Danish cuisine. Sometimes you just want ā€œfood.ā€

Afterwards, we camped out for a bit in the room, but decided the one thing we didnā€™t want to do was go to sleep too early. I looked out the window and tried to figure out what was going on in a building across the street. Tables and bright colored stuff on the wall. First thought, it was some kind of a Sue store- it sold fabrics, yarn and sundries. I kept looking and saw what looked like a dragon head on the wall. Later Sue got tired of me puzzling over it and decided we needed to pick up provisions for tomorrow which would require a walk by the building. It was a geek store- by which I mean games, comics, books, cosplay/LARP (Faraos Cigarer a chain of stores throughout Denmark- the name comes from TinTin). I decided to quietly walk in and check it outā€¦ oh my! I really need to brush up on my TinTin and other European comics! After a while decided to head outā€¦ checking their hours for tomorrow, I saw on the door they were actually closed! The door was open for the gaming group, not customers! šŸ˜³šŸ™„ At the local grocery store we picked up snacks for the road and some drinks- the Danish version of Vitamin Water. Then it was off to bed to be ready for the drama and tragedy the next day would bring.

The view from our window at the Grand Hotel, Odense
Our room for the night.
Just wandering the streets
Inside of St. Canute’s Cathedral, a required by tourist law in Europe you must visit at least one cathedral and one castle.
Cecil visiting the birthplace of Hans Christian Andersen
The Steadfast Tin Soldier
Our view of a remote control ugly duckling while eating dinner.
Cecil enjoys the sunset while contemplating his role in the grand scheme
What is going on over there?!? Hmmm…

The Second Happiest Place on Earth – Day 1

Posted on March 11, 2024 by Bruce

Or at least thatā€™s what I learned during pub trivia the Monday before we left. On a ā€œwhimā€ (because thatā€™s what we do) I signed up for the LEGO House Fan Tour back in November which necessitated a trip to Denmark. So Sue and I started planning things out but leaving time for unplanned stuff. First thing we found outā€¦ March is still the off season. Museums are closed on Mondays. LEGOland does open until the end of the month, same for the famous Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen. This is one of the by products of acting on a whim, but Iā€™m not sure with Sueā€™s work schedule we would have been able to pull it off any other time.

We arrived about a week before the tour to give us time to explore at least part of the country. We decided to visit a few places: Odense – home of Hans Christian Anderson, Copenhagen, HelsingĆør – home of Kronborg Castle where Hamlet’s set, Malmo, Sweden (because itā€™s just across the bridge) and Jelling – home of a UNESCO world heritage site dealing with Vikings and Bluetooth before exploring Billund and LEGO House.

Saturday & Sunday: walked 6.48 miles

The flight from Indianapolis to Billund (via Detroit with a layover in Amsterdam). You may already know how anxious I get when travel somewhere. Especially by airplane. So I was already dreading this part of the tripā€¦ itā€™s just the way I am. It has nothing to do with the science of flight, it has to do with passengers. The nurse practitioner basically saying I should wear a mask throughout the trip (or I could get the plague and die) didnā€™t help matters. Someone posted an article dealing their anxiety which dealt with just not wanting to get in other peopleā€™s way. On a flight they would gather their stuff and rush out as fast as possible. This fits with my feelings flying and when people invite me to come over or stay with them when Iā€™m in area. I donā€™t want even a friend or family member to have to deal with me. Meeting for a meal? Sure, but Iā€™ll make sure it is quick, again donā€™t want to waste anyoneā€™s time.

“One manā€™s ā€™simple!ā€™ is another manā€™s ā€™huh?ā€™”

When we arrived in Amsterdam we had a 6 hour layover which gave us time to go into the city. We had heard it was “simple” to get there from the airportā€¦ it might have been, but exhaustion turns ā€œsimpleā€ into an adventure. Due to some misunderstanding – we should have switched trains at the first stop like the person giving us tickets said. We didnā€™t, we went by the belief that it should be direct. Therefore we ended up at the football stadium on game day. Remember this is Europe, so “soccer”, lots of people with scarves politely queuing. Once we figured out where to go and that our train tickets wouldn’t work on the Metro we bought another ticket to get to the central train station all was good. We wandered, picked up a few caches and an Adventure Lab & stopped by BrewDog (We’ve visited other locations in Las Vegas & Columbus,Ohio so we knew what we were in for) before returning to the airport, which was a lot easier since they had people helping poor lost tourists and our old train tickets allowed us through even when it was the metro. We did have to go through security and I realized Iā€™ve gotten spoiled with TSA pre-check. Having to take off my belt, shoes and making sure my pockets were completely empty (I had my train ticket in my pocket and had to start over)ā€¦ I had forgotten what a pain it can be and felt stupid holding up the people behind me. šŸ™„

Sunrise over the Atlantic (Somewhere around Greenland, I think)
Artwork at the Amsterdam Airport, either welcoming us, or laughing at us for various undisclosed reasons
More Artwork in the Amsterdam Airport… Just some cows.. Moooo!
Cecil, trying to blend in with the football fans as we figure out how we got here…
Just outside the central train station
Just a street scene with some amazing historic buildings, that seem to be repurposed as shops for “things”

The only flight that had any issues was the commuter jet heading to Billund. Sunday night it was oversold and needed at least a dozen people to check their carry-on bags. Upon arriving at the small airport I was surprised that there was no customs to go through, so no passport stamp for me! Sue had arranged our rental (and Audi SUV of some variety) so I played sherpa.
Our hotel was dark when we arrived. While all the information I had gave hours, I must have missed the Sunday hours in which reception closed early. I found our room key in an envelope with my name on it amongst a pile of other keys and we climbed the stairs to our room and crashed. I had not slept on the flight (I don’t usually sleep on flights).

Note: Sue crashedā€¦ being in a completely different and inconvenient time zone has made it so she canā€™t really worry about work. Which tells me we need to figure out a way to this more often. Iā€™ve been only worried about typical anxiety filled social and financial stuff. Not a daily grind of work which is completely different. I believe our Guard Elephant helped make her feel safe from the wild creatures roaming Billund late at night.