We arrived into Herning by train from Copenhagen on Sunday at about noon, took a bus to the Herning Kvik centre where Gordie plays as he was at a team meeting and practice.
Herning is located in the western part of Denmark and has a population of just over 50,000. A modern city as it was established in the late 1790’s. Home to a large textile industry and many other types of industries and typical of many cities in this area in Europe everything is neat and clean and in its place. Within a 3-4 hour drive from Herning you can be almost anywhere in Denmark so we plan to rent a car and take some day trips while we’re here.
After meeting Gordie after practice we head back his his place which is located next to a lake called Sunds and is about a 10 minute drive from the rink. A nice place and there are other of his teammates staying near him.
On Monday Gordie has practice and a team meeting so I picked up the rental car and Karen and myself took a drive around the area. Driving here is very civilized and with google maps and our GPS we drove around the countryside and ended up along the west coast in a small city called Ringkobing. A much older city than Herning (established 1300’s) it has and old European vibe to it with many old buildings and quaint little houses along cobblestone streets.
Ringkobing
After we walked around and had some hot chocolate to warm ourselves up we headed back to to Gordie’s and chilled out for the evening.
On Tuesday being a game day for Gordie, Karen and I headed to a town called Ribe about a one hour and forty five minute drive south of Herning to visit one of the oldest churches in Denmark and a museum of local history. The city of Ribe was establish around 700 AD and the church was built in 860 AD. The churches are not nearly a grand and as elaborate as those we saw in Germany, and Central Europe, but considering these buildings were unaffected by wars and fires the architecture is amazing. We climbed up to the top of the church steeple and saw an amazing view of the town and countryside.
While driving through the countryside I was amazed by the amount of huge factories located in this area. Lots of manufacturing of all sorts is here with some windmill and energy businesses occupying large areas. With many farms and lots of livestock kept indoors during the winter. All the animal waste is trucked to large bio-digesters which is a huge series of tanks that stores the animal waste and the gas from it generates power for the electrical grid and long side many windmills located throughout the country. Denmark is definitely very ecologically minded.
Hockey Night in Herning
Herning home of the Blue Fox hockey club which is our most favourite team in all of Denmark. Tonight they face off against the Rungsted Capitals at the Kvik arena. Gordie got us tickets to the sponsors lounge before the game which included drinks and diner before the game, drinks and desert between the first and second period and then drinks and sausages between the second and third. The rink was full about 4,100 fans the team did an excellent job with a pregame show and constant drumming and flag waving from the Blue fox fan club, creating a great atmosphere.
A tight game right from the start but Herning scored with 1:04 remains in the third period to win the game 4-3, everyone went home happy. Herning is tied for first in the league and will start playoffs at the beginning of March.
Very fast high tempo hockey with a bit of physicality, it was fun to watch.
After the game Gordie had to stick around and sign autographs and get pictures with the fans which were lined up across the lobby of the rink.
Our first few days in Herning have been great more travels in the area are in the plans so stay tuned.
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