This is a bit late due to a very busy home life, work life, demanding attention-starved dog and all of it with a dead computer. (I'm writing this on our new computer that we hastily had to go out and buy here and now.) But I would like to share and tell you about our 2nd anniversary party with my Danish family. The party was for me and Jens so I was too preoccupied to be focusing on snapping photos. But of the few that I did take, I will add the best of them to this blog. The whole idea was to celebrate on our official day - August 23 - on the west coast of Denmark. But there were a whole lot of events going on in August so instead, we had our first party here in Copenhagen - which I know you all have already read about in the previous blog - see the previous blog story if you've missed it.
So.... Friday after work on September 25, Jens and I headed out to Kolding. It's a fascinating and charming countryside village; is how I look at it when comparing it to Los Angeles. But it is actually the 7th largest city in Denmark. Which means that I was right the first time when I said "countryside village".
Anyway... we held our dinner party at a restaurant in the basement of the Kolding Castle. The castle has a huge long history which I have described before. In short: the castle was built in 1276. As time when on, the castle grew in size. In 1808 the French and the Spanish sided with Denmark against England and Sweden. It was here in cold cold Denmark that that the French and Spanish soldiers were stationed. Because it was a cold cold castle the French and the Spanish soldiers accidental burned most of the castle down due to over heating it. In modern times the castle ruins was a hot spot for many tourist. Eventually the Danes decided to restore the castle and their history.
The way it was restored is pretty amazing on the inside. On the outside the brick is the original structure and the wooden shingles show the part that was restored. The castle opened to great reviews in 1991. In very recent times, a restaurant has opened in the basement of the castle. What a very unique and special place to hold a reception. I read briefly on another site (can't find now) that there was at one time a bakery in the basement. The site didn't say if the bakery is now the restaurant, but I wonder.
I sent out invitations to each family member in the Kolding area. I gave specific directions to meet at 18:10 (6:10 pm) at a local café. It was just to tease them. And if they new I was teasing, then they would believe that we were inviting them to the steakhouse just next-door to the café which is a restaurant chain. But it was at the end of the street in the opposite direction, at the top of the "Spanish" steps where the grounds to the castle begin and where we were headed.
 |
| passage to Spanish steps - in Gaudí style |
 |
| top of Spanish steps / Kolding castle |
I dropped off Jens and his mother at the front gate of the castle.
 |
| our silly girl, Bounty near by the front gate of the castle |
You are not allowed to drive there but I'm from LA, so hey! Then I drove back to park the car at the hotel we were staying at which was just across the street from the castle lake and then I did a quick 4 minute walk into town to the café where the family was waiting.
 |
| view of hotel from castle-lake |
 |
| front entrance to hotel |
Everybody was on time and they all asked where Jens and his mother were at. I told them them that they were at the restaurant waiting for us. They were surprised when I started to lead in the direction of the castle.
Here we are continuing upwards from the top of the Spanish steps and towards the castle gate. Half way between the top of the steps and the gate is this large, white, single-level building which was originally a horse and carriage stables, and work area for castle maintenance and supplies. During WWII, part of it was used by the gestapo for torturing and killing. Now it is occupied by the national guard.
We planned for a quick evening dinner party but still I wanted the place to be special and easily accessible for everybody in the family. I went on-line looking around for someplace special to eat. I never heard of it but when Madkælderen popped up on the screen, I knew this was the place.
 |
| stairs leading down to Madkæleren (Food Basement) |
However, much to my disappointment, when I clicked onto the on-line reservation system, I was bummed because it showed that the restaurant was fully booked. But "call this number for party reservations" was also on the screen. Reluctantly and haphazardly I called. To my surprise they easily booked me a table for a party of 20.
It turns out that they open exactly at 6:30 and not a minute before. So here we are waiting for the guard to open the gate and let us in. Once we are beyond the gate, I did my best to gather the family to take a group photo. Not an easy job. I like all 4 photos but it's impossible to get everybody to "cheeze" at the same time so all 4 pix are included here. Thanks to Martin for taking the shot with me and Jens together.
2-Gunhild and 15-Gitte are Jens' older and younger sisters.
2-Gunhild is married to 4-Jørn.
2-Gunhild and 4-Jørn have three children, 9-Susanne, 14-Tommy and 10-Charlotte.
9-Susanne has a son 1-Kenneth.
14- Tommy and his new girlfriend 7-Christa, have three children 6-Noah, 19-Matthias and their new born 8-Milas.
10-Charlotte has a son 18-Mingus.
15-Gitte is married to 13-Carlo.
And they have a daughter 10-Anne and she is together with Martin-20. He is the one taking the photo but you can see him in the above shots that I snapped.
10-Anne and 20-Martin have two children 3-Frederik and 16-Caroline.
5-Rigmor is the woman responsible for this hug mess. My mother-in-law. In her middle 80's and still going strong. She is a wonderful lady and I am honored to know her and her family.
Unfortunately 21, 22 and 23 were not able to join us but I numbered them here in the photo because they are wonderful and kind family members as they all are.
21- Jesper, is 15-Gitte and 13-Carlo's son.
22-Christian is Jens' big brother and is married to 23- Else-Marie.
11-Jens is the man I love and now celebrating 25 years with.
12-Me, Eddie. Just in case you don't know me and I don't know you.
ok - now take a break for a moment and looks at this photo - we are standing in the court yard of a castle built in 1276. It's mind boggling!
I didn't know what to expect when we walked in but I was amazed. And then even more amazed when I found out that we were to be seated in a huge, separate party room sectioned off by a glass wall. The ambiance was truly special with romantic and cozy lighting in a Viking/rustic style decor.
I forgot to bring my camera so all these pix are from my dumb-phone.
There are 15 bottles here and they were almost untouched by the end of the evening.
I only had white wine from this ice bucket. It was a bit sad but most of the bottles were not even touched and there was no way to take them home. There were actually very few drinking this evening. But for those who did, we were treated to something very special.
I was too absorbed in the wine and the conversation to even think of taking photos. I'm glad Martin snapped these following shots.
The restaurant has a set menu which changes every 2 or 3 weeks. They use what is in season from the local area. Sounds boring to me. But what can you expect from a place called Food Basement? But I didn't care. I knew it was going to be a special place. The price was not cheap but it wasn't crazy either. The price also included an assortment of wines - all you can drink or as they say in Europe - ad libitum. When you add that to the picture, the price suddenly becomes very reasonable. Anyway as I said about the "local" "in-season" food; what could this restaurant possibly come up with that could justify the price? Well let me tell you. It was for sure some of the best food I have ever tasted. It was truly amazing - both in taste and in presentation. And each dish had a little story to tell by the several waiters and waitress that served the food.
 |
| our waitress getting us started for the evening. |
Here is the menu of what was served the week of our party:
Snack
Tørt og godt med blødt og sprødt
Amuse
Torsk 42° - selleri – brunet smør – blegselleri
Forret
Marineret kalv fra Christiansfeld – røget ost fra
Elmegården – tørret tomat – urtemayo
Hovedret
Allegården hane – sauce på hjerter – grønt fra himmerigskov
Dessert
Kartoffelkage – skyr – estragon – aroniabærsorbet
Your guess is as good as mine as to what all of this is in English. But here is a quick translation.
 |
| Snack - a tasty snack - dried, tasty and crunchy - and it was! |
 |
| Amuse - another little snack - fish, celery and butter. |
 |
| forret - appetizer marinated calf, cheese, tomato and herb mayo. |
 |
| Hovedret - main dish - rooster, sauce, veggies |
Notice the rock salt in this tiny bowl - it's typical to serve salt this way in Danish homes. But notice the bowl is the size of a door key and look at the tiny salt shovel - smaller than a door key.
 |
| Dessert - potato cake with sherbet. |
 |
| one of the 3 waiters severing after dinner aperitif |
I guess I had my fair share of "ad libitum" because I don't remember when this came out but I do remember eating it and wondering what in the world it was - kind of spongy. And it must have been delicious because by the time it came to me, it was almost finished.
After dessert it was time to open a few gifts. The first gift was a comical, crazy, fun, story gift. It contained old silver shit and we all had a good laugh.
and some weird, bizarre, wooden sauna carving.
 |
| the party was as fun as a box of monkeys |
Before I knew it, it was time to leave. We already over stayed the opening hours. There were still 12 more bottles of wine to drink. But alas - all good things must come to an end. And now we are on our way to our Golden Anniversary and I am looking forward to the next 25 years with my wonderful hubby.
I don't know if this will work but here is a link to a speech I made at the party. You will have to down load the clip from MS One Drive so give it a minute or so.
Feel free to leave a message. You can do so without having an account. Just click onto anonymous but don't forget to write your name or I will have no idea who you are. Make a copy of what you write because sometimes it goes wrong. You will be able to see your comment here if you did it correctly.
