apple cupcakes and bog bodies

The mountainous heaps of readings and papers that I've had to work this past week has prevented me from updating  sooner. Nevertheless, I do have some exciting things to report on.

On Wednesday, I went with my friend Lauren to The Statens Museum for Kunst, also known as the National Gallery of Denmark. It is the foremost museum of visual art in the country, exhibiting art works ranging from the early Renaissance to the art of tomorrow, including paintings, sculptures, graphic art, photography, videos, and installation art. And the best part? The majority of the exhibits are FREE to the public! 

my favorite sculpture

Statens Museum for Kunst

black and white cupcake

After browsing the museum, Lauren and I decided to head to the market to try some delicious cupcakes from Agnes Cupcakes. Check out the website for all of their awesome flavors! We decided to each get a different kind and then cut them in half, doubling our tasting pleasure. The apple one was almost like an apple muffin with cream cheese and cinnamon icing. The other one we got was called black and white, and was the perfect chocolate cupcake with white icing and dark chocolate shavings. 

apple cupcake

Friday night was a very exciting night for the city: Culture Night! It's an annual event every October that gives visitors access to venues that are usually closed to the public. Around 300 museums, churches, galleries, political buildings, and exhibitions are open for 6 hours, with free excess as long as you've purchased the ticket for the whole night, which is only about 20 USD. There are also lots of restaurants and cafes open especially late with discounts or free goodies. There was a haunted house sponsored by DIS with pumpkin carving, hot apple cider, and s'mores! It was good to have the experience of Halloween from home. We also tried to go up in the Round Tower because they had the observatory (including telescope) open to the public, but the line was so long we didn't have time to wait.

Charlotte and I with our s'mores

cool lion statue at one museum

Tollund Man

Saturday morning was another early start with an optional field trip for my Nordic Mythology class. We traveled 4 hours by bus to Silkeborg to see the Tollund Man, the best preserved body in the world from prehistoric times. The Tollund Man's body was naturally preserved in a peat bog on the Jutland Peninsula in Denmark. Found in 1950, his body was so well preserved that he was mistaken for a recent murder victim! He was found naked, but only a wool cap on his head and a noose around his neck. However, his face is not consistent with someone who has been hung, which leads us to believe that either the noose was not used, or that someone put his face back into a natural position before placing him in the bog. The pictures I took could in no way do the body justice, so I have borrowed some professional photos from the museum's website. 

close-up of Tollund Man face 

After being in awe of the Tollund Man for a while we headed to Arhus to the Moesgard Museum, which had a special Viking exhibit called "Seven Vikings." It was an interactive exhibit that invites the pubic to step into the world of the Vikings, following the stories of seven real Vikings representing all of society: the craftsman, the merchant, the adventurer, the farmer's wife, the Crown, and the Church. I chose to follow the story of the Church though a Bishop at the time. We also had time to go outside and see a replica of one of the few Viking churches that existed. The replica was modeled after finding only a very small section of carved wood (like the wood found around the roof of the church). 

replica of Viking church

It's hard to believe that my time here is already half over! Travel break is coming up in two weeks, and then Thanksgiving follows closely behind, and before I know it finals week will be here and it will be time for me to head home.