Embassy of the United States

Today, April 2 was the opening day of the 2008 part of Ambassador Cain's ReDiscovery Tour. The day started in Kalundborg in the morning. After having crossed the water to Jutland Ambassador Cain and co-riders rode their bikes from Aarhus to Hinnerup, Hadsten and Randers. The day had many interesting stops and lots of great photos were taken. Please check back soon to see more.

You can read Ambassador Cain's own description of the day in his blog, the ReDiscovery Dialogues or right here.

Today marks the beginning of the second leg of the
ReDiscovery Tour. I have been looking forward to
this day for over six months, since we left the
tour at Kalundborg on September 27.  We start the
day back at Kalundborg, but are a little late
because I had to go to Kastrup Airport in
Copenhagen to say goodbye to Bob Gates, our
Secretary of Defense who has been visiting
Denmark for the past two days. Secretary Gates is
on his way to the NATO Summit in Bucharest, and he
wanted to stop by to pay tribute to Denmark’s
steadfast commitment to global security. As I
said in my toast at the dinner for Gates and
Danish leaders we hosted on Monday evening at the
Residence, “from the Hills of Helmand, to the
seas of Somalia, from the dusty plains of Darfur,
to the muddy flats of Mitrovicia; wherever the
call of freedom is heard, Denmark is there…”
Secretary Gates’ visit was the first one to
Denmark by an American Secretary of Defense in
over 10 years. His meetings with the Prime
Minister, Foreign Minister, and Defense Minister
gave him an opportunity to express America’s
appreciation for Denmark’s friendship, and to
coordinate on important policy matters like NATO
expansion, Missile Defense, and strategy in
Afghanistan.
After saying goodbye to Secretary Gates we headed
to Kalundborg where Mayor Kaj Buch met us in front
of the historic Vor Frue Kirke to commence our
Tour. The unique Vor Frue Kirke was built around
the year 1250, and is said to have been inspired
by Ispen, the brother of Bishop Absalon who
founded Copenhagen. The Church, in the shape of a
Greek Cross, is the only one of its shape in the
world. According to the mayor, it appears to have
been built to the specifications mentioned in the
Book of Revelations. It contains a beautiful
carved wooden alterpiece dating from 1650, the
time of Frederik III.
Kalundborg is an ancient town that has the second
largest harbor in Denmark. It’s deep harbor
makes it a favored docking point for cruise ships
and cargo container ships. 70% of the ferry cargo
traffic to Jutland passes through this port
(which was obvious as we tried to thread our way
through all the trucks and trailers in the hold
of the ferry boat.)
On the way to the ferry the mayor showed us the
beautiful buildings of the old town, rode us down
the bumpy cobblestone streets, and spoke with
great interest about the upcoming Presidential
elections in the US.
I expect there will be a great deal of discussion
on my tour through Jutland about the upcoming
Presidential elections. Given the interest in the
elections, and in order to broaden my storehouse
of data beyond the answers to the three questions
I began posing to riders last summer ( first, what
does “America” mean to you? Second, what one
thing would you like for an American to know
about Denmark? And third, how close do you really
think America and Denmark are as allies, and does
it matter?) I am going to add to my standard list
of questions. After taking suggestions from
everyone within the Embassy family, we have come
up with the following new questions:
1) What should be the next President’s top
priority?
2) What are the biggest differences between Danes
and Americans?
3) What can the US learn from Denmark?

We arrived at the ferry landing in Aarhus around
13.40 and drove about 200 meters out of the port
and immediately unloaded the bikes and started
riding. It would have been nice to drive a little
farther, because the next several kilometers were
up a steep hill! Is all of Jutland going to be
this steep? We biked about 5 km when we were met
by Favrskov Mayor Anders Christensen and his
cycling club of about a dozen riders. These were
fast riders! We rode through the small towns of
the Municipality including Skejby, Lisbjerg,
Olsted and Grundfor before arriving at Hinnerup
where the Mayor hosted us for a reception at city
Hall. I learned that Favrskov is the fastest
growing community in Denmark, with a rate of 1.7%
last year, mostly young folks from Aarhus who are
seeking less expensive housing. During the
briefing I had a chance to visit with the members
of the Cycling Club to ask my questions. Very few
of them had ever been to the US, but all had
strong opinions, and all were following closely
the American elections. They would like to see
the next President focus on renewing the ties
between America and Europe, and they felt that
America could learn about energy conservation
from Denmark. The Mayor, to my question about
what “America” means to him, immediately
answered “land of opportunity, where anyone can
follow their dreams”. The mayor had never been
to America, but had this opinion from childhood.
I asked him if he thought America was still like
that and he said, “I hope so, and I hope it
stays that way always.” The Mayor presented me
with a gift that is bound to be the biggest hit
with my girls of any that I have received on the
tour: a “Guitar Hero” guitar painted in the
colors and with the logo of the Municipality.
What a great gift!
On the way from Hinnerup to Hadsten we followed
part of the route that Lance Armstrong had ridden
when he was last here in a race a few years ago (I
bet he got up the steep hill faster than I did.)
We were joined by the Hornbaek Cycling Club along
the way, and the weather really turned bad. It
started to rain hard. (Where were all the
expensive rain clothes I had purchased a couple
of days ago??)
Nearing Randers we were met by a large group led
by my friend Henrik “Colonel Tom” Knudsen at
the intersection where he dreams of
reconstructing Graceland. Borrowing Henrik’s
“Elvis sunglasses, we headed the few kilometers
into Randers where we met halfway across the
beautiful Blue Bridge over the Gudenaa (a small
river) where a great crowd of media met us, along
with the Mayor of Randers Henning Jensen Nyhuus
and my old friend from the Ethnic Minority
Council Soukrou Eroksen. Henning presented me
with a fine set of leather cycling gloves made in
Randers, which really came in handy given the cold
temperatures. Our entourage, now totaling about
three dozen, set out for a tour of Randers led by
the Mayor and Anna-Mette Knatrup, the Director of
Tourism and Birgitte Strobeck Pedersen, with the
Culture and Leisure department. We visited a
number of beautiful sites including the beautiful
house from the 1600’s where the hero of Randers
Niels Ebbesen vanquished the evil German count in
the 1200s to save the people of Randers. There is
a grand statue of Ebbesen in the town square. We
also saw the grand equestrian statue in the
center of town that was done by the famous Danish
sculptor Helene Skou, who lived right beside us at
Rydhave until she passed away about a year ago.
We made a stop at the Randers Library where I
noted the impressive high-tech and high-touch
e-learning that the Library is pioneering here in
Denmark. They are particularly proud of the “23
tasks” initiative that they are introducing
into Denmark to help the “technologically
illiterate in Denmark” (which they describe as
40% of the population) learn how to learn in the
21st century. When I asked if they collaborate
with any American libraries, they said “yes,
the 23 tasks program comes from Charlotte”.
What a coincidence. That is the town in which I
was born in North Carolina.
We made a visit to the memorial to the great
Danish leader of the 21st century Jens Otto Kragh
and then entered my favorite spot in Jutland…
the Elvis Unlimited Museum! We entered to the
boisterous tones of Heartbreak Hotel sung by The
King himself! (Ole and the Boys) Henrik had a
wonderful reception for me with about 30 guests,
intermingled among the remarkable memorabilia
that Henrik has collected. I had the honor of
“cutting the ribbon” on Elvis Unlimited’s
new website, which consisted of me entering the
pre-set password ‘TCB2008” , which actually
didn’t work the first three times I tried it.,
and then we were treated to a sumptuous Danish
feast that Henrik had arranged. Henrik gave a
very warm and heartfelt speech and presented me
with a personalized “Rediscovery  Tour” CD of
the King’s Greatest Hits! (Ok, that and the
Guitar Hero are both now my favorite gifts).  In
thanking Henrik I had the opportunity to tell the
story of the conversation at the President’s
Ranch in Crawford, Texas last month when, during
the lunch on Saturday, the Prime Minister told
the President about the “great Elvis party that
the Ambassador hosted last year” (the PM had not
been able to attend but his close friend Lars
Lokke Rasmussan, the Minister of Finance, who has
ridden with me on the Tour, told him all about
it). This gave me the opportunity to share with
the President and the Prime Minister the story of
my first visit to Randers when I discovered this
remarkable museum, and how Henrik had arranged 13
Elvis impersonators to perform that night at the
Residence. I thought Henrik was going to cry when
I told him the story! But it is true. Now the
President of the United States knows about the
King in Denmark!
Our celebration of the King was a special way to
end the long day. After taking photos in front of
the blown-up pictures of me in the “Elvis Gold
Lame suit” from my Elvis party, we headed off
toward Randers. But not without lots of hugs and
heartfelt goodbyes to my old friends at Elvis
Unlimited, and to my new friends in Randers. This
is one city I must bring the family to; they make
me feel so welcome here.