I had a fantastic time in Copenhagen and Odense, the birthplace of Hans Christian Andersen. Do you know how you say Andersen in Danish? You say, Annasen. I went with Lars Tharp and the BBC producer, Marya Burgess. You may have seen Lars on the Antiques Road Show. He was born in Denmark but left when he was six. He was great company and told all sorts of stories about Denmark, his parents and grandparents and we saw where Andersen was born, where he walked about in the city and I ate tons and tons of pickled herring. Lars likes Denmark and Danish food but I think even he was a bit amazed to see me eat pickled herring for lunch, tea, late evening snack and, wait for it, breakfast! Believe me, Danish pickled herring is one of the great delicacies of the world, especially with rye bread. It's a pity that the sound of me wolfing down pickled herring won't appear in the radio programme that we were supposed to be making.
Here are some pictures that were taken in Denmark:
(Click pictures to view bigger images)
Lars, me and very big Hans
On the way into the State Art Gallery where they were showing paintings of Italy from the time Andersen travelled there.
Email
