Arrived in Aalborg, Denmark, c. 8 a.m. Went to bed late, did not sleep well, and got up early, and so was not up for more than a cup of coffee for breakfast (something that I subsequently regretted just a little bit).
Met on the pier for our 10 a.m. "Danish Beer and Walking Tour," a three-hour overview of the city by local guide Lars Bech (at left in the orange jacket), which included stops at three local pubs and two samples of beer at each. Would have enjoyed a snack with these, but it is not the first time beer has been the first thing I have had to eat on a particular day and it probably won't be the last, and the samples were fairly small and did not hit me hard (probably the equivalent of just two regular beers total).
Our first stop was at the John Bull Pub, founded by a Lebanese immigrant to Denmark who won the lottery in the 1980s and used the funds to open the establishment. Had an Ugly Duck IPA and a Guiness there.
Next stop was Heidi's Beer Pub, which had club music playing, prompting me to make an unevenly-received quip about "Electronic Danes Music." Had a couple glasses of Tuborg Classic here (as indicated on the taps that appear at right). Enjoyed the beer but could tell this was the place we would be least likely to return to if we were ever back in Aalborg on our own.
Last stop was at Sogaard's Bryghus, a former church that is now a brewery and where I enjoyed a couple glasses of its own terrific dark beer. Diane and I had a nice chat there with Mark and Karen from Santa Fe, New Mexico, quite possibly the only couple on the cruise younger than us.
Was ready for lunch when we got back after 1 p.m. and we headed straight up to the Restaurant. Was feeling a little harried by the time we were finishing up, however, as I had less than two hours to proof and print out my final presentation and get cleaned up for it, and so took my coffee with me and headed back to the cabin to finish getting ready.
Arrived at the theater 20 minutes ahead of my presentation to get wired up, set up the computer, etc., and then right at 4 p.m. jumped into "Aesir & Vanir: Gods & Goddesses of the Vikings." Had a decent turnout and it appeared to be well-received and I was glad for the extra work I had put into getting ready for it.
Napped for about an hour in the room and then went to Dr. Robyn Woodward's excellent and lavishly-illustrated lecture on "The Vikings: Raiders, Traders, & Explorers," which had an emphasis on archaeology, her specialty. Was very gratified to have her refer back to my earlier presentation on mythology a couple of times.
Were tired, and had already had lunch in the Restaurant, and so we decided to have dinner in the World Cafe, where we ran into our shipboard friends Jay and Audrey from L.A. and invited them to sit with us.
Went back to the room after dinner and then headed out again around 10 p.m. to get a cup of coffee preparatory to working a few hours. Bumped into my shipboard friend Howard, a former teacher from New York, and accepted his generous offer of a glass of limoncello and chatted with him for awhile.
Back in the room, worked on updating my TravelBlogue and a few other things and then read until I started to fall asleep around 2 a.m.
Breakfast: One cup of black coffee, six small glasses of beer.
Lunch: Vietnamese-style pork burger on baguette, shrimp chips, two glasses of red wine, with some brown rice pudding and coffee for desert.
Dinner: Three types of chilled fish, pickled herring, spiced herring, and smoked sturgeon, which I opted for because they are a specialty of the region we are in. A glass of the Scandinavian aperitif Aquavit would be a traditional accompaniment with these dishes but, as I was already kind of tired, I figured it would just knock me out and decided to just have a beer with them instead. Moved on to a nice slice of roasted lamb shoulder with bearnaise sauce, a minced venison patty with mushrooms and onions, and some pureed celery, along with a couple glasses of red wine.
A view of Alborg from the Royal Pier, which our ship had access to in the absence of a visit from Queen Margrethe's yacht.
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