Wednesday 5th July 2017 – Roskilde, Denmark

Taking the bus into town, we called in at the low-key Roskilde museum, which was interesting but didn’t take much time. There were a couple of very interesting aspects to the visit, the first of which was that they were giving out free popcorn, cooked by two daughters of one of the staff. The other very interesting exhibit was to do with a local custom. Every year since 1787 a ‘Popinjay’ (parrot) Club has held a shooting competition and the winner won a ‘disc’ (a round painting) that was painted with a scene of their choice. This has resulted in an annual snapshot of Roskilde, from street scenes to artisans and representations of the competition. The museum has a large number of these ‘discs’ and it is a fascinating view of life over those many years.

We had noticed that there was a market in the main square on a Wednesday morning so we headed there with high expectations. Unfortunately, it was all rather disappointing. The ‘antiques’ stalls, as advertised, were much better described as ‘flea market’ stalls and the only other stalls were fruit & veg and there weren’t many of either of them. So we made our way back to the campsite for a relaxed afternoon enjoying the sun and the lovely view over the fjord.

Photos: Three of the winners ‘discs’ from the Popinjay competition – In 1833 the Pharmacist won and opted for a painting

of his laboratory; In 1895 a local baker won and here he is in his bakery with his apprentice; In 1902 a restaurant owner won and very kindly requested a painting of the competition which meant that we could see what it looked like; Our pitch at Roskilde Camping with its lovely views; In the evening four of the Vikings ships were out on the fjord – this is the view of two of them taken from the campsite and with a backdrop of the town and cathedral.