The Best Danish Ice Cream Shop

More Skagen Photos

The Skagen beach gift shop. Everyone seemed to find a treasure to purchase. See the grass roof?

Time to leave the beach. We followed a beautiful trail through wild rose bushes and enjoyed many more views.

Taking a rest on the rocks while the last folks picked up a few more treasures and rocks from the beach.

Skagen Beach

Peter in the sea.

Aron at the northern most point of Denmark

Nick taking a dip!

Julia and Jennifer - new friends who thoroughly enjoyed traveling together.

Tammy and Jane loving the beach.

Linda and Anne capturing a moment on their camera.

Adam's first visit to an ocean.


Lifeworks travelers at the northern most point of Denmark. Beautiful!

We spent a beautiful day at Skagen Beach. It was rainy when we left Aalborg on our two hour drive to the northern most point of Denmark. We were prepared for a wet, windy and cold visit. On the way it started to clear off and we saw two beautiful rainbows. By the time we arrived at the beach it was a beautiful sunny day.

What an amazing trip!

On Sunday we visited the Skagen museum of art. In the early 1900's many artists came to Skagen because of the quality of light found on the Skagen beach. This museum had many painting created by these artists who captured realistic scenes from the fishing village of Skagen. We spent a couple of hours in the museum .

Dinner at the Home of a Traditional Danish Family

We were invited to dinner at the home of Claus and JoAnn. Claus is the "Supreme Leader" of services for people with disabilities in the county around Aalborg, Denmark. Claus came to Minnesota on a study trip in September of 2008. We began our visit by enjoying some homemade elderberry tea.

We had a delicious dinner with unique Danish dishes including tomato and onion salad, sweet and sour turkey with veggies, rice, and homemade bread. They were proud to make us homemade spice cupcakes for dessert with home grown grapes from their greenhouse.

After dinner we went out to play the Viking Game. It was so fun that we decided that we are going to make the game in Minnesota and call it the "Dane Game". Peter was the King of the game because he was supreme winner. We all had fun.

Photo hightlights so far!

Julia signing an autograph for one of our new Danish friends!

Adam, Anne and Jennifer watching the bands at the Harvest Festival.

Jennifer and Julia contemplating a candy purchase.

We made the paper!

We made the Aalborg paper which had a nice article about the Harvest Festival and the Lifeworks All Star Band who played at it! It is in Danish, but there is one photo of some of the band members. The article highlighted that Lifeworks traveled across the Atlantic Ocean to attend and play at the Harvest Festival. They played numbers by Bob Dylan, John Denver, and their own song about the current events in America. The song talked about the wars in Irac and Afghanistan and the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. One line in the song was, "BP oil is gonna have to pay." The band played in the rock style with a steady rhythm.

http://nordjyske.dk/aalborg/forside.aspx?ctrl=10&data=28%2c3650227%2c5%2c3

New Friends and Good Music

Today we visited Sofie Bo, a temporary residential facility for up to 17 adults between the ages of 18 and 30. We had a tour of the home and learned about some of the differences (each resident has their own bedroom with an attached private bathroom) and similiarities (the residents are evaluated on their abilities and needs while they are living there in order to determine their future residential living situation)between their residential facility and those in Minneosta. Following the tour, we were treated to a delicious torte and enjoyed conversations with some new friends as well as those we have already had the opportunity to meet during our stay in Aalborg. To make our visit complete, the residents performed a couple songs that they had been working on and asked our band members to perform "That's The Way It Is Today" so they would be able to sing along with the "Lifeworks All Star Band".

U2 Outdoor Concert

We went to a concert at Karolinelund park. It was a tribute band to U2. The members even looked like the U2 members. They played all of their songs. Aron, Evan, Anne, Mary and several Danish friends enjoyed the concert from the front. We danced and sang. Aron asked Mary, "When do you think we will leave?" Mary asked if he wanted to stay to the end and he just grinned and said "Yeah!" We danced all night and stayed to the very end!

A Trip to the Aalborg Zoo

Nick was on a mission to go to the Aalborg Zoo to see some animals and purchase some souviners. We found time to squeeze it in on Saturday morning. Aron, Evan, and Nick took the city bus to the zoo. Nick says, "It was a really cool zoo and I would really like to go back there again someday! All the animals were neat. My favorite animals at the zoo were the seals."

A picture of the loop de loops on the rollercoaster.

Tammy when she got off the coaster. She had sea legs afterwards from the gravity defying ride.

This picture shows the top of the roller coaster. We started by traveling up the track on the right and riding to the track on the left and back.

A post from Adam, Nick, Jennifer, and Peter

Some of us went on a roller coaster at Karolinelund amusement park that was wilder than the Wild Thing . (Peter, Adam, Tammy, Aron, Jane, and Mary were the brave ones)! This was an unusal roller coaster because it was not a loop of track. We started by going up a hill backwards and then it dropped fast and went on a couple of loop de loops and upside down. We stopped at the top of a different hill and then we traveled the same track backwards. It was quite the rush going backwards and upside down at the same time. We all loved it! When we got off we were all off balance.

Good Friends, Good Food, Good Times

Today, the group toured "The Pearl", a traditional Danish "drop in" day program that has recently expanded into Supported Employment. It was a great learning experience for our group and the Danes had quite a few questions for us as well. Following the tour, the Lifeworks All-Star Band had an impromptu jam session with some of The Pearl's great musicians. After the music, we were invited to share in a traditional Danish "Christmas Meal", cooked by the clients and staff at The Pearl. The meal included pork loin, cooked red cabbage, sugar-glazed potatoes, and a delicious apple cake. Good times were had by all and many new friendships were formed!

Tour of Hammer Bakker Program

We also squeezed in a tour of the Hammer Bakker program who hosted the Harvest Festival. They art studios, senior programs, a music recording studio for their band, a weaving room, a sewing and embroidery room, a pottery studio, a farm with sheep and pigs, and a garden. All of the flowers that decorated the Harvest Festival were grown in their green house.

They also ran a museum of the institution that used to be on the grounds where the festival was. Lifeworks travelers were very interested in the museum which was created and maintained by staff who used to work in the institution. They did not hide the terrible things that happened to the residents who lived there. We saw the restraints that were used on people, photos of terrible living conditions, the uniforms of the staff and so much more. Eight hundred people used to live in the institution. The buildings are currently used for the Hammer Bakker day program.

That's the Way it is Today - Encore performance

The Lifeworks All Star Band's encore performance at the Harvest Festival. The Festival was amazing. There were more than 1000 people who attended. Eight different band performed between 10am and 4pm. It was a beautiful sunny day with a temperature of abotu 68 degrees. Everyone had a great time. In addition to the music the art and crafts of people with disabilities in Denmark were for sale. Many of us bought unique and beautiful souviners.

Tammy said, "It was amazing to see how many people came." The All Star Band was thrilled with their performance and the crowds reactions. Peter said, "We did great!"

We have arrived!

We have safely arrived in Aalborg, Denmark and are settling into our hotel rooms. The flights all went smoothly and we had plenty of time to make our connections. It was nice flying out of Chicago at 10pm, because we all stayed up until they served our dinner and then everyone slept.

We are heading out for dinner and then turning in early. Tomorrow is the big Harvest Festival and we want to be rested so we celebrate with our Danish Friends. Many other passengers asked us if we were on a mission trip because of our matching Lifeworks t-shirts.

In Chicago, preparing for our long 8 hour flight to Copenhagen. Judy gave information and details about the flight to the group.

Day 1 - Travel

Our group before we left Minneapolis. Here we come Denmark!

We have arrived safely in Chicago and are waiting for our plane to take off for Copenhagen, Denmark.

Lifeworks Goes to Denmark in 2010

Lifeworks is announcing a new travel and music opportunity for people with disabilities August 24-31, 2010. Fifteen people with disabilities are invited to travel with Lifeworks to Aalborg, Denmark. Aalborg is situated at the narrowest point of Limfjord, the fjord that bisects Jutland, and is Denmarks's fouth-largest city. This trip will not repeat any of the sites or events visited on the October 2009 trip. We were invited by Aalborg Kommune, an agency like Lifeworks, to tour their programs for people with disabilities and attend their summer outdoor music event called the "Harvest Festival" on Thursday, August 26, 2010.

In addition, people with disabilities are invited to audition for a new Lifeworks band who will perform at the festival. Six band members will be selected by Roxxy Hall, who has been contracted by Lifeworks to create and lead the band for this project. Musicians of all kinds are welcome to audition in February. You can still go on the trip if you audition and do not make the band. Prior to the trip, selected band members will practice with and learn from Roxxy. Members commit to attending all practices and have their own transportation to the Peachy Studio in New Brighton. The band members will get together two times per month between March and June. From June 14th to August 20th, there will be individual and group practice sessions for 3-4 hours a day, four days a week with Roxxy Hall.

The price for people with disabilities is $3500. The price for band members is $4200 and includes six months of lessons with Roxxy Hall. Other travelers are welcome at a cost of $2750. Because of transportation arrangements on this trip, all travelers must be ambulatory and able to climb stairs.

We will be holding two information sessions to learn more about the travel and band opportunities. The first session is Thursday, January 21 at 7pm and the second is Friday, January 22 at 10am. A deposit of $500 must be received by February 12, 2010. Final payment is due by August 1, 2010. Monthly payments can be arranged. Information sessions are optional, for more information, contact Mary Lenertz at 651-365-3749 or mlenertz@lifeworks.org.