We started the day at the Naval Base in Frederikshavn.   
Frederikshavn - named after King Frederick the 8th and havn- meaning harbor.  
Many kings have been named Frederick in Denmark including the current crown Prince. 
Per Hansen, captain commanding officer of the naval base greeted us and turned us over to the good hands of Claus Gustafsen, master chief.  

He gave us an extensive and informative PowerPoint presentation covering everything about the base's educational school and touched on many subjects including types of boats, radar, mines, and surveillance.  Also, the changing role of the navy during peacetime.  
We then toured a ship ducking our heads and seeing the view from the command center. 

So much information and I have only given a glimpse of it.  
After lunch in the navy mess hall, we were off to Bangsbo Museum where part of the building dates back to the 16th century.  
Inside the manor house there are rooms showing town history and life as it was.  One room is a perfect sitting room from the 18th Century.  One room has an unusual collection of jewelry made from human hair.  
Next in the stables is a ship from Ellingå dated 1163. 
Also, many figure heads and maritime ships.  
The inside tour concluded with an exhibit of the dark years 1940-1945 during German occupation.  
Outside we went to a bunker and saw a gun left behind from the occupation.  
The weather was beautiful as well as the view from up there.  
A little time with our hosts and then to Aalbæk to Ivan's Irish Pub and then Greek Food

Day 5: We were picked up by our new hosts, the Frederikshavn Rotary Club.  
After some final goodbyes we drove to our new home. 
We were greeted by Mayor Erik Sorensen and given a tour of his city council building.  

We learned more about local government.  
It was interesting to hear about the 21 seat elected council who then picks one of the members to become mayor.  
It is a four year term and governs over approximately 35,000 people in Frederikshavn.  
After a lunch of smoked salmon and spinach pie we went shopping in the downtown pedestrian way. 

A few postcards later, we toured the new music building. An incredible building with exhibit space that morphs for large or small events. 
Then to the art museum with an extensive exhibit of exlibris (book name plates).  The museum has the second largest collection in the world. Everything from lithographs to block printing. Name plates for the Queen and famous artists like Van Gough and Manet.  
Also at the museum was a rotating exhibit by German and Danish artists working in tapestries, ceramics, jewelry, and pastels.  
I could have spent hours pouring over the exlibris.  
We joined our host families for a brief moment of relaxation before going to the evening Rotary meeting.  
We met the rest of the Frederikshavn Rotary and were introduced to more history and culture. 
Our presentation gave them some background into our district and opened a dialog into theirs. 
They are proud of their history and we will experience some of it first hand tomorrow.
submitted by Kathryn Pearce.

Day 4: This morning, I was picked up and whisked away to the Aalborg Zoo, were Henning the Zoo director gave us a grand tour.  
He has been instrumental in the renovation of old buildings and innovation in zoo display, habitat conservation and education.  
He runs the zoo on a limited budget yet inspires contribution and corporate sponsorship.  
Ole’s company Hydro X sponsors a giraffe.  Ole’s friendship with Henning allowed us an insiders tour complete with snakes, monkeys, elephants, polar bears, and of course giraffes. 
After a fine lunch at the Bistro of chicken, bacon, and salad with a creamy curry dressing (a popular dressing we are discovering) we separated to visit our vocational interests.  
I met artist Lene Frederiksen, a fantastic abstract impressionist in Klitgaard.  We shared ideas; techniques, inspiration, and the common feeling that art chose us….not the other way around.  
Next up was a tour of Asaa Harbor Museum with old fishing artifacts.  At the harbor we had dinner of fresh fried fish.  Jen made a good effort but ended up with a hot dog and French fries.  
To bribe us she made balloon animals and hats for all of us.  
Our last dinner together was short as the Black Hats were playing for the taking down of the flag.  
With the harbor as a backdrop, music playing in the air and the sun setting it was a touching moment shared with our new friends. We closed the evening with a farewell party at Ville’s.  
Fine drinks, food, friends, and farewell……

Submitted by Kathryn Pearce (as well as the first 3 days)

Day 2 and 3: We are doing so much every day its hard to believe we have only been in Denmark three days. The Dronninglund Rotary has been terrific hosts mixing local history and culture with our own vocational interests.  
We began Sunday with a visit to Dronninglund Castle Church. 
After services complete with a baby baptism, we had a tour of Voergaard Castle.  
At the castle we saw great art and antiquities.  Beautiful examples of French furniture from several different time periods, paintings by Reuben and Goya, Venetian chandeliers, tapestries from the Vatican, Ming porcelain, etc. The rooms were set up more of a home than a museum.  
The weather was perfect and allowed us to see a working windmill in action at our next stop the Dorf Wind and Water Mill. The Dutch made wind mill from the 1800’s still grinds flour to this day, which is sold in local shops and is much sought after for it’s unique flavor.  The farmhouse near the mill has been preserved, as it would have looked in the 1950’s.  
We were treated to awesome three-layer cake, tea and coffee.  
After touring the rest of the grounds, we went to our host families to prepare for dinner.  After more good food and cheer a few hours of sleep we were on our way to an incredible water treatment facility, Hydro X, an international company with advanced thinking, technology and development.  
Later, we met with Mayor Michael Klitgaard and were given a tour of the city hall and began our understanding of local government. 
The interior workspace was so open and uncluttered. No cubical or piles of paper. 

Next was vocational time. Kathryn was given a tour of a local box manufacturing plant, Jarnes etuifabrik.  It was amazing to see the process from idea to completion.  The company can make one or 50,000 pieces.  I was surprised at how much of the process is still hands on by many skilled employees.  The tour finished just in time to go to Dronninglund Art Center to polish our presentation for the evening and view a wild exhibit on the human form. 

Completing our third day was our first presentation to our host club, Dronninglund. 
The presentation went well and we were pleased with the results of our efforts.  
Exhausted, we will get a few hours of sleep before starting the next day at the zoo.