Day 5: Congress Dinner

Today was by far the hardest day to get through...we have all been so sleepy all day long! We got back to the hotel around 5:30 pm and I took a power nap before the big Congress Dinner tonight.

Around 7 we took a bus down to Fredricksberg Town Hall for the dinner. When we arrived, there was a small reception with seasoned almonds and wine. No coke, no water, no tea. Here is a picture of the town hall from the second story, looking down on the dinner tables:

Once we were seated, there was water! But look at the ratio of water to alcohol. :(




The was the first course. It was some kind of horrific Atlantic Whitefish soup. It had a piece of Parma Ham on top. The tacky stuff on top was some kind of salad.



Finally, something recognizable (that was actually yummy!) - roasted potatoes:

We were told these were Bilberries, but the man from the UK (Peter - he is a hoot!) told us these we Red Currants. Bilberries are apparently black - therefore, these are not Bilberries. These berries were very tart, similar to cranberries. I also learned a little bit about Gooseberries. Apparently they are furry, and are they are full of "pips." Apparently a pip is the English word for seed! We had a few language failures at dinner tonight. For example, Peter was explaining that when short of money, and trying to cook fruit, you take butter, sugar, and flour and crumble it over the fruit. From that point the juices of the fruit cook the breading. Dr. Harris and I informed him that in Texas, that would be a cobbler. He let us know that a UK cobbler made of beef with sliced potatoes on top! Dr. Harris told Peter that is a casserole in the US. He said a casserole in the UK doesn't contain potatoes. It was a fun conversation to say the least! We went on to talk about traffic behavior and some other things...

Dinner consisted of pork loin, rolled pork shoulder, a crackling, some kind of herb-filled mashed potato, and a parsnip. The berries were meant to be eaten with the pork in addition to some kind of sauce. Oh, by the way - there was pickled lemon inside the pork roll...

Dessert was a cake type thing with a fudgy milk chocolate on top. A dollop of mint cream, and a drink of orange juice and mint.

All I have left to say is that it took about an hour between each course. We arrived at 7 and left around 11pm. I am ready for Mexican food, and iced tea - have I already said that?!

I need to head to bed, it is after midnight, and I have to be up early for a 2 hr commute to the pork slaughter facility owned by the Danish Crown. The tour is supposed to be great - I will let you know. A funny thing about it though - Dr. Harris & I got assigned to group #1 8am to 6pm. Somehow Dr. Savell got group#2 9am to 7:45pm or something like that - haha.

I will let you know how it goes! I am sure I am forgetting a funny story or two, but I will add them on tomorrow!