It was my free day from the nursing home so I decided to do something a little more memorable than just staying home to dust and vacuum and online banking. I decided to take a little drive. I could easily have taken the train but I decided to take a little drive in my never-used-anymore automobile. And what a day for a drive! So happy that I got air-conditioning in my car, too. My GPS wanted to send me the short way to save gas and 12 minutes but I drove the long way, up along the coast to calm my soul. It's a leisurely drive of only 48 minutes and with a nice view over to Sweden on the other side of the opening to the Baltic Sea.
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It's somewhere around 33 years ago that I had last visited the Karen Blixen Museum. I am sure you have heard of her name before. She wrote the book called Out Of Africa. The story became a Box Office hit in 1985 and it won 34 awards of which 7 were Oscars. You most likely remember it because of the main rolls played by Meryl Streep and Robert Redford.
Here is a quick "copilot" overview of what the film is about:
Out of Africa is a romantic drama about Danish aristocrat Karen Blixen's life in colonial Kenya, her struggles managing a coffee plantation, and her complex love affair with big-game hunter Denys Finch Hatton.
Plot Overview
The story follows Karen Blixen (played by Meryl Streep), a wealthy Danish woman who travels to British East Africa (Kenya) in 1913 to join her husband of convenience, Baron Bror Blixen (Klaus Maria Brandauer), with plans to run a dairy farm. Upon arrival, she discovers that Bror has diverted their investment into a coffee plantation and largely leaves her to manage it alone. Karen faces the challenges of running the farm, navigating colonial society, and interacting with the local Kikuyu people, providing medical care, establishing schools, and mediating conflicts.
The story follows Karen Blixen (played by Meryl Streep), a wealthy Danish woman who travels to British East Africa (Kenya) in 1913 to join her husband of convenience, Baron Bror Blixen (Klaus Maria Brandauer), with plans to run a dairy farm. Upon arrival, she discovers that Bror has diverted their investment into a coffee plantation and largely leaves her to manage it alone. Karen faces the challenges of running the farm, navigating colonial society, and interacting with the local Kikuyu people, providing medical care, establishing schools, and mediating conflicts.
Key Relationships
Karen develops a deep, passionate connection with Denys Finch Hatton (Robert Redford), a free-spirited big-game hunter. Their relationship is marked by mutual respect, adventure, and romance, but Denys values his independence, creating tension between love and personal freedom. Meanwhile, Karen's marriage to Bror is strained by his infidelity and lack of involvement in the farm.
Karen develops a deep, passionate connection with Denys Finch Hatton (Robert Redford), a free-spirited big-game hunter. Their relationship is marked by mutual respect, adventure, and romance, but Denys values his independence, creating tension between love and personal freedom. Meanwhile, Karen's marriage to Bror is strained by his infidelity and lack of involvement in the farm.
The film explores several themes:
- Colonialism and cultural interaction: Karen navigates her identity and role as a European woman in a colonial setting, highlighting ethical dilemmas and cultural tensions.
- Adventure and personal growth: The African landscape and wildlife provide a backdrop for Karen's self-discovery and transformation.
- Love and independence: The story examines the balance between romantic desire and personal freedom, particularly through Karen's relationship with Denys.
Setting and Historical Context
The events span 1913 to 1931, primarily in the Ngong Hills near Nairobi, Kenya. The film captures the beauty of the African landscape, wildlife , and colonial society, reflecting both the allure and challenges of life in the early 20th-century Africa.
Recognition
Out of Africa was critically acclaimed for its cinematography, storytelling, and performances, winning 7 academy awards including Best Picture and Best Director for Sydney Pollack.
In essence, Out of Africa is a sweeping tale of love, adventure, and cultural immersion, portraying Karen Blixen's Blixen's journey of resilience, romance, and self-discovery in colonial Kenya.
OK - now that you got what the movie was about, the museum was about Karen Blixen's life - not the movie. The museum is actually Karen Blixen's childhood home where she was born in 1885 and lived until she moved to her coffee farm in Kenya in 1914. Kenya at the time was called British East Africa until it became independent of British Colonial power in 1963. After trying to run the coffee farm for 17 years, it failed miserably and Karen Blixen returned to Denmark due to poor health. The story goes that her husband was unfaithful and infected Karen with syphilis. This is also written in her biography. But recent information reveals a new belief that, yes she was ill but it was not necessarily syphilis. The museum shows doubt. It also tells that she was medicated with arsenic and mercury to cure the syphilis. This is most likely, the museum claims, the reason for her illness and death. I found it rather interesting that though she "had" syphilis, she lived a very long life of 77 years after years of taking poison.
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Karen Blixen was a story teller and an artist. She started to write stories after her return from Kenya to try to earn some money. She wasn't always sure if her stories would be a success so she often used a pseudonym - often a male name. Another big success was a story called Babette's Feast which also was adapted for a screen play and won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. Her first story was a total flop in Britain. Karen also knew an American who had connections with a publisher and though her first story flopped in UK, it was a huge hit in USA. Later, Seven Gothic Tales is published in both UK and USA. Only later was it in published in Danish in Denmark.
I found her life story to be very interesting. One of the things that was mentioned, was Karen's father lived in the US in Wisconsin for just over a year from 1872 among the Chippewa Indians. He was trying to find peace from the ravages of fighting in war at the southern border of Denmark. The internet is loaded with so much information about Karen Blixen, you can google your fingers off.
I found her life story to be very interesting. One of the things that was mentioned, was Karen's father lived in the US in Wisconsin for just over a year from 1872 among the Chippewa Indians. He was trying to find peace from the ravages of fighting in war at the southern border of Denmark. The internet is loaded with so much information about Karen Blixen, you can google your fingers off.
Here are a few links to get you started and then I will add the photos that I snapped.
This is the link to the museum.
And this one with very interesting facts on Wikipedia.
So the first thing I did was walk into the barn which was converted to a ticket office, souvenir shop and restaurant. I bought a few post cards to send to my favorite people while enjoying a cup of Kenyan coffee and a French croissant. If you didn't get your post card, blame the post office - that's what I do.
After the coffee, I stepped into the first 2 exhibition rooms. I've been to many museums but this was the first time that I have ever read EVERYTHING printed on the displays - and there was a lot to read, like this:
I was mesmerized by the story. Imagine coming from a fine and wealthy family and then moving to a completely different continent where you end up employing 1000 people and they look like this:
The Danish word MOD (which means courage)
didn't quite make it in my snap shot.
The above shows the humanity and love Karen had for others.
The next just really overwhelmed me so much.
The book
So, as I mentioned, the museum is actually her childhood home that she moved back into when she returned back to Denmark from Kenya. She was born and raised here and after 17 years in Africa, she moved back home to write her stories. Eventually, she died here, too. These are her rooms in the house as they were when she died in 1962.
And this is her room upstairs where her life came to an end in this bed.
The family estate was huge. It had livestock.
It had a huge garden that was only for growing
flowers to put in vases in the house.
The flower garden was larger than
what you see here in this video.
She is buried on the estate under a 300 year old Beech tree.
The house, as mentioned, is at the coast of the Baltic Sea. Karen's mother owned land that blocked the creation of the marina. But the state eventually saw to it that the harbor would be built. It is 103 years old - opened in 1923. On a much smaller scale at the time, it was the view Karen had from her death bead.
Across the street from the museum is the Rungsted marina with lots of eating options. The kitchen of the restaurant that I planned on eating at with authentic Danish food was closed. It would open in 40 minutes or so. I found an option but I totally forget to take photos of the area. I only have this view, partially covered by a sunscreen. But it was a bit of paradise to sit here and enjoy a bite before returning home.
I wanted a Danish dinner but got a French veggie burger.
I must say, it was very tasty.
At least the beer was Danish.
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