Denmark 6: Viking Stones, a bog body, and the journey to Aarhus

  A short drive away from Billund lay the Jelling mounds and monuments.  According to the website for the location, the Jelling monuments used the name Denmark for the first time, marked the transition from pagan nordic society to European civilization, and declared Christianity the official religion.  There was a free museum here, which we went to first.  Miles especially liked a display where, if you put your hand around a weapon sticking out of a Viking body, it told you the time it would take until death.

The jelling stone motifs are used on the Danish passport.

  Outside of the museum, you cross the street into a graveyard, with two large mounds, a church, and the stones.

    Our next stop was the Moesgaard Museum, primarily to see the bog preserved body that they have.  The museum itself is housed in a truly unique building, with grass on its roof.  About a halfway up there are chairs and tables for use with their cafe.

  The main floor of the museum had a special exhibit involving Viking artifacts. 

 The very small top floor was mostly dedicated to the Mexican Day of the Dead, with papier mache, very similar to what you would see in Disney's Epcot.  The bottom floor was much larger than the other two, spanning different eras of history.  The highlight of the visit, and why I came, was to see the Grauballe Man, a 2000 year old body preserved by a bog.  He was dug up in 1952.

  Nearby we found three other bodies, 3350 years old, with nails, hair, and clothes still in tact.
 

  Our next stop was Miles' favorite, and for good reason.  Just ten minutes out from Aarhus is the Marselisborg Deer Park.  It is a large park that is completely fenced in.  The deer were hanging around a few humans, looking to be fed.  We brought a big bag of carrots.

  I dropped off our gear, with Miles, at the hotel and battled the local parking garage with zero signs in English.  Once established, we journeyed to the local supermarket for dinner and then I attempted to find a coffee shop.  I found one, but they had run out of filtered coffee and stuck me with Americano instead.  I wasn't crazy about it.