Sunday spent at Roskilde

This past Sunday, I visited a town called Roskilde with my host family. It took about one and a half hours to arrive there but it was definitely worth it. After traveling on the metro for about 40 minutes, my host family picked me up from the Måløv metro station and we drove the rest of the way in their car. Roskilde was stunning and rich with history. Roskilde was originally formed as a meltwater valley at the end of the ice age. At that time, the water was several meters higher at the end of the day, but when the weight of the ice cover disappeared the land rose to its current level and this is how many of the islets arose in the area. In the past, there was extensive commercial fishing in Roskilde Fjord, but today there are only a few commercial harvesters left. There has recently been an improvement in the quality of seawater. This has allowed a variety of fish to be accessible within the Roskilde Fjord. First, we walked by the Roskilde Vikingeskibsmuseet (Viking Ship Museum) and I got to see how they carve the wood in order to make the viking ships and create the sails out of wool, just like how the Vikings used to create it. There was also an old viking ship on display in the water that I got to see while we were on our walk. Afterwards, we walked up the hill on the Island of Zealandand and visited the Roskilde cathedral which happens to be the first Gothic cathedral built out of brick in Scandinavia. It was originally built in the 12th and 13th centuries and spread this style of architecture throughout northern Europe. The porches and side chapels were not added to the cathedral until the end of the 19th century. This cathedral shows a clear overview of the development of European religious architecture throughout the centuries. It has also been the mausoleum of the Danish royal family since the 15th century. After our beautifully scenic walk around Roskilde, we headed back to my host family’s home in Måløv. We ended our night with making homemade jewelry and eating delicious pulled pork burgers with coleslaw. Overall, this was a well spent Sunday, and I am very glad that I was able to spend it with my amazing host family. I cannot wait to see them again in a few weeks.