Also known as the day-of-the-infamous-chicken-attack. How I wish I were joking…
From the time we arrived in Denmark, I was curious about the Frilandsmuseet – an open-air museum about 20 minutes from Copenhagen. We had planned to make the trip with Tim, but having visited it various times already himself, he encouraged us to head out on our own.
By this point, we were fairly comfortable with the public transit system, and had no problem making it to the front entrance just as the museum opened.
The museum covers a pretty large geographic area; different segments correspond with specific time periods, including house structures, farm equipment, and family dress habits.
Abby was just excited to see the sheep.
Most buildings were easily accessible avec enfant, and we wandered in and out of thatched barns and cobblestone courtyards.
Some of the colours were stunning.
The scale of the place was a bit overwhelming, but we planned on exploring in various directions…until the incident. I left John snapping pictures, and let Abby out of her stroller to stretch her legs. She toddled off in the direction of the barn, towards several chickens pecking in the grass. I turned my back for an instant to tell John where we were headed when I heard crying and squawking and feathers flying. To my absolute horror, my precious baby was flat on her back, being attacked by a chicken. I couldn’t make this up if I tried. This was no mild pecking. This was a full on claws-scratching, feathers-ruffled, beak-lashing type of attack. I started screaming (John was terrified; said my screaming sounded like primal animal cries) and raced the several feet to rescue Abby. She was crying so hard, and had a goose egg on her head and scratches on her face and stomach. She calmed down in a few minutes, but we realize how blessed we were. Seconds more and she easily could have lost an eye. When we went to the information desk to get some First Aid supplies they didn’t seem the least bit surprised and mentioned that the chickens do tend to be a “bit aggressive.”
Um, a wee bit of an understatement! She had no lasting ill effects (although a few weeks after returning from Denmark, when I pulled out her toy chicken, she acted terrified…can’t blame her)!
It was pretty terrifying but mildly funny (now) in retrospect since all ended well.
We hurried back to the entrance and headed home, so really didn’t get to document too much more (and only saw a small fraction of the museum).
More great textures and colours.
Abby recovered nicely by lunch, but her face looked pretty battered for a few days.
That evening we went for a stroll locally – lots more colour and texture along our way.
Had to snap a picture of this restaurant a stone’s throw from Tim’s – founded by some Dane’s who attended university in Halifax! We never managed to eat here, but heard rave reviews.
Optimisic Musings of a Pessimist 