Cachuma Lake, Santa Barbara, CA

Three years ago, my husband and I went to California to meet with a blogging friend and her family. It was a precious moment as Paula has Danish roots and in her eighties. How I wish we could meet again. We visited Solvang for some short moments enough to feel the atmosphere. It seemed to be more Danish than Denmark.

Solvang was founded in 1911 on almost 9,000 acres (3,600 ha) of the Rancho San Carlos de Jonata Mexican land grant, by a group of Danes who traveled west to establish a Danish community far from Midwestern winters. The city is home to a number of bakeries, restaurants, and merchants offering a taste of Denmark in California. From Wikipedia

They have a statue of Hans Christian Andersen, which brought me to show some photos from Odense, his birthplace.

Pictures from a “Danish” Village Solvang in CA

Lillebaelt, The passage between Jutland and Funen, Denmark

Pictures from Odense, Denmark. Hans Christian Andersen’s birth town

At last some photos from Mission Santa Ynez very close to Solvang