Dyrehave and more funny Danish words

Ironically, my effort to escape cold and icky (that IS the technical term ;-) weather in Denmark by going to Paris was largely unsuccessful AND when I returned to Denmark I was greeted by some very nice weather on my first weekend after my holiday. To take advantage of the sun and decent temperatures my friend Anne-Mette and I went to Dyrehaven (pronounced: deer haun or something like that), or Deer Park. This is a huge park located about a 20 minute train ride from Copenhagen in Klampenborg but we were lucky enough to have a sweet car to drive there.

The park is immense and yes there are lots of deer although the only ones I saw were off in the distance, perhaps due to all the horseback riders and crazy runners everywhere. Although the Danes are big party people and alcohol consumers they are avid runners - which puts me and my lazy butt to shame, doh! The park is pretty big, 11 square km according to wikipedia and is part of some royal hunting grounds. At the center of the park is this building.















Apparently in the old days the men in the royal family liked hunting but unlike my dad, brothers and uncles didn't have to sit outside for hours and hours in the freezing cold to wait for a deer. Instead the king had his servants go out into the property and drive all the deer toward the above pictured house. This way all the king had to do was walk outside with his gun or knife and take his pic of the animals that were driven to the area near the house - how convenient it was to be a king huh? According to my friend though, even this technique didn't always work out. One of the kings or princes that tried to kill a deer with a knife ended up getting killed himself: stabbed by the deer's antlers - so much for the easy way...

Here is another pic as the sun was going down.















Another interesting thing about hunting in Denmark (which I am learning about due to being friends with lots of foresters who are also avid hunters) is that it is in some ways its a rich man's sport here. I find this interesting because in Maine I think of it as a average mans hobby with the benefit of getting some food out of the deal (can't say I LIKE deer meat but ate a heck of a lot of it as a kid). I remember my Dad, brothers, uncles, and male cousins heading out in the forest at some crazy hour, like 6 am, to go freeze in the snow in hopes of shooting a deer. Surely it was a male bonding thing and they must have enjoyed it but it wasn't anything fancy or fashionable (though I did gasp in horror when people started to voluntarily wear the neon orange gear in public that hunters wear to prevent themselves from getting SHOT). In Denmark, however, for a lot of people its all about having the sporty tweed jacket and some fancy rifle so you look and fit the hunting part.

In the southeast corner of the park is Dyrehavsbakken (deer park amusement park). This is an old school park, not updated too much in recent years (and closed for the season now). The rides are old, but still functional, and it retains its charm. According to Anne-Mette the place is jam packed with people during the warm summer months.

Lastly, I have found a few more fun Danish words:
Slutspurt: this seems to mean something like slashed prices as it always appears in signs when there is a big sale
Quick Pot: this is the name of a shop where you buy tires and other stuff for your car, it struck me as funny

I am considering enrolling in the low-cost Danish course that I am eligible to take as a legal resident. Since I am spending another year in this region perhaps I should get to know the language a bit better rather than making fun of it.....