Category: Denmark

So we did it! And it was really really tough – 1200 steps, but in reality a lot of the ones at the top were covered in quite deep icy snow. Most of it had melted, but by no means all.

What we did was the Sherpatrappa Hiking Trail. It’s about a mile walk from the car park before you start, and once we did start it took about an hour going up and 50 minutes coming down (which I found harder because you needed balance and brakes) but Jo found it the other way around.

Anyway, so many pictures it will take up two posts.

First resting point

First snow

Going up

Nearly there

Made it

It’s still looking stunning – difficult to choose the best pics but here goes

Couldn’t finish without more pictures from last Friday. A memorable day.

I’m writing this at Billund Airport. So far the flight has been delayed for 2 hours and 45 minutes, so we’re assuming with the 3 hour cut off for compensation the pilot will put his foot down. Let’s see …

And we’ve just had compensation of 25kr per person. To put that into context, a flat white costs 44kr (although they are extremely good).

Anyway, had a lovely dinner with Tess and Andreas last night. We were all so tired we weren’t sure about going out, but of course it was an excellent idea giving us great food and good company when we needed it.

So how were the stress levels?

1. Would we get everything in the suitcases
2. Would the suitcases be too heavy
3. Would we get all the cases in the car

Delighted to say we passed all 3 with flying colours. So far, so good.

Last morning in the flat

Made it!

After the highs of the weekend, so follow the lows. Now she’s a Doctor (couldn’t resist that), Jo has to move on the the next phase, which means leaving Aarhus after four great years.

So her flat needs to be vacated.

1. Try moving house when you need to put all your possessions into a suitcase. None of “oh I might want to keep that and so sling it in the car”, so it’s been really tough.
2. On the positive side, I’ve loved watching the Danish recycling culture. Not a single visit to the tip – mainly leave stuff on the street and watch it get picked up. And that can be half-empty bottles of cleaning fluid or olive oil, to cutlery and crockery, to a dining table. And she has sold so much of her stuff she’s almost broken even.
3. But finally the Danish requirements for tenants are to leave it “as new”. I guess that’s a bit of a quid-pro-quo for rent controls and security of tenure. So a couple of my jobs were:

Window cleaner (outside and in)

Oven cleaner (first time for everything 😃)

Others had more skilled tasks such as removing light fittings and curtain rails (really) and vacuuming

and loading vans

Plus a tremendous effort by Eileen on kitchen and bathroom – sparkling and looking like new – but no photos allowed.

And as I write on Tuesday evening and we fly back tomorrow the last remaining worry is how to get 3 people, 5 suitcases, one small case and a few sundries into my car to get home from Stansted. As the driver I might be the only comfy one …..

Yet again Eileen found somewhere amazing – out on the marina with underground parking.

And guess what – it’s the highest building in Denmark and we’re on the 25th floor, so about 2/3rds of the way up. Admittedly it doesn’t have especially strong competition as Aarhus Cathedral comes in at no. 7!

It has given us a different perspective on Aarhus – well from about 300ft up for a start, but also out on the marina rather than nearer the old town.

Views are as you might expect

Not a bad place to be hanging out in for a few days, especially in midwinter.

Well, that is a jug (one of many!) of gin and tonic.

It had been lovely to see the girls on Thursday night when we arrived (girls! They’re all young women now but we’ve known them from Parmiter’s days ….) who had all come over to support.

And everyone was a bit the worse for wear the day after (I think tired and emotional is a good way of describing it).

So ultra low-key day – going to the infinite bridge (packed up for winter) for old times sake

and mooching around the marina (and in reality killing time before bedtime!).

What a fantastic achievement after 4 years in Aarhus – we’re so proud.

Something new to me was an AirBNB for cars, so we hired one for the day.

It’s simply people putting their own car on the site and you rent by the hour, which was great.

Aarhus is definitely becoming significantly less car-friendly since Jo arrived. Just about every journey in and around town should be (and is) bike or walking. And everyone is still extremely well behaved.

Anyway, had a lovely day out and about.

And the food has been excellent throughout. With a particular shout out to Jumbo – one of the best bakeries.

Not surprisingly a bread roll (think the best rye or sourdough) and butter (think whipped double cream) with a slice of cheese is a popular breakfast.

But a bit of a sad ending just as we were on the Marina a woman had a really bad fall from a boat onto the concrete which we all heard but Jo actually saw. Fortunately we heard later that although she had really bad injuries she is likely to make a full recovery. Really shook us up.