Magical Days in Odense: Boat Trip Thursday Night

As usual, we attended the now 'not' Harry Potter Festival in Odense, and this year I had purchased tickets for the 'Zoolomagical Boat Trip in the Dark' for Anna and Lea.

For some reason, this year the check-in for the ride had been moved to the bank opposite of the quai, which caused some confusion, but eventually all the participants found their way over there.

 

Anna and Lea, too. The next couple of photos were taken from the far side of Odense Creek with zoom on my new Canon Ixus - I am somewhat impressed!

 

Luckily, the girls were placed on the same boat.

It still took a while before they departed, as the other boat had to go first, and it seems the skippers want to maintain a safe distance between the boats as they navigate up the creek to Odense Zoo.

I used the waiting time for snapping some pictures, and you can see the best results below.

After the boats left, I had to kill three hours, so I went to the Old Irish Pub in 'Elf Alley' Odense, to wait for my Wife and have a few beers.

Finally Planting some Horse Reddish

A friend of a friend declared on Facebook that she would like her allotment garden horse reddish bed cleared - and as I have been wanting to grow my own for a while, I offered to remove the offending plants for her.

It may not be easy to see in the pics, but I planted about 30 individual roots (I removed the green tops before planting) between the tall spruces standing between the veggie garden and the creek.

For a while, I shall have to water them every day that it is not raining, and I hope that at least 1/3 are going to survive and start spreading offspring, as I love horse reddish salat, horse reddish sauce for old fashioned roasted beef, and plain grated horse reddish topping for traditional Danish rye bread open sandwiches with a variety of meat spread.

Normally, horse reddish is very hard to kill, so I do have my hopes up for this little project!

Getting in the Right Mood...

I have been unearthing some of the Halloween decorations from the basement, and also purchased a few pieces more (notably Billy, some Ghoulish Garlands,  and Uncle William), and spent an hour or so arranging stuff in the conservatory and the living room windows.

Some pics from the entrance to the house.

The windows in the gable end facing Åparken.

And a phote better showing Billy (to the left), and Uncle William (next to the door). I got Uncle William from the FALGS in Odense Saturday afternoon before the girls went on the Harry Potter boat trip, and I carried him with me through the city (I was dressed up with in almost Victorian fashion of black suit, white/silver waistcoat and bow tie, black top hat, and knee-long black coat), and my moustache curled).

Harry Potter Festival 2016: Zoomagical Boat Ride

The day after the Hogwarts Express ride, the girls went on the evening Zoomagical Boat Trip on Odense Å from Munke Mose to Odense Zoo, where some scary and wondrous stuff awaited them.

I still do not know how to manually set my camera for less than optimal lighting conditions, so the photos are not all that great, but I think you will get the overall mood.

Off they go!

The previous tour returns to Munke Mose

The late tour was somewhat delayed, and I walked up the river to look out for the returning boats.

At a bridge, I noticed this:

The return of the late tour. The kids had a great time, and if you ever visit Odense with kids during week 42, I can heartily recommend the festival.

Harry Potter Festival 2016: The Hogwarts Express

Odense Central Library each year organizes a Harry Potter Festival in the weekend of week 42 (Autumn School Break week here in Denmark).

This year I managed to get hold of 2 tickets for the Hogwarts Express (vintage train from Odense Railway Museum) trip, which marks the beginning of the festival on Thursday evening, and is one of the most popular events.

I took a bunch of photos from Byens Bro (the City Bridge) which traverses the railroad station area and tracks, and I apologize in advance for the many almost identical pics.

The pupils start entering the train.

The Express has taken off.

The following photos are from when the train returned to Odense.

The kids retrieved by my Wife - and Lea has spotted me! A certain professor is supervising the disembarkation.

The mandatory photo in front of the engine: