National Museet

S and I went to the National Museet on Monday. It's not a huge museum, but it is worth a visit. It has a great Children's Museum with a Viking section, a small castle, a 1920's classroom, a sweet replica Pakistani market stall, and a strange horse. As with most things for children in Denmark, it's a really hands-on place to encourage learning through play and S really enjoyed it for an hour or so. Here's my little Viking on his ship . I found out afterwards rather morbidly it's a copy of a funereal ship called the Gokstad from 10th century Norway. It was one of four small ships that an important Viking chieftain took with him on his journey to the kingdom of the dead, along with carriages, horses and other goods and chattels. Maybe that's what the strange horse is there for... After we had finished in this section, we had a quick look around the rest of the museum (I must remember to take some change with me for a locker next time, you aren't allowed to take bags into a lot of museums here so I spent most of the time expecting to be told off!). I had wondered how much a three year old would actually enjoy the real exhibits, but he seemed to really like it. He especially loved the Viking part and the skeletal frame of a real Viking Boat. He also thought their "treasure" was great, and was fascinated by the Egtved Girl. These kind of displays have always made me feel quite sad in a way, I am sure they are informative and very educational, but I am not sure I would want to be on display for thousands of people to gawp at everyday, no-matter how well-preserved I might end up, it just seems slightly disrespectful to me... On our way back to the train station the skies looked rather foreboding, hopefully we hadn't incurred somebody's wrath (this is the back view of the Radhusplasen)! The "monsoon" rains held off until yesterday, they finally finished yesterday evening when a thick mist arose making it seem very eerie out there.

It's another holiday here today, we didn't do a lot, just caught up with a few jobs around the house. Tomorrow I am hoping to take the children to Louisiana Museum of Modern art...will let you know how we get on!