Category: Denmark

It really was a flying visit – just Wednesday to Sunday.

– no masks anywhere which felt really good

– avoiding cyclists and pedestrians while driving is so hard – cars often don’t have right of way. And parking is pretty hard too.

– so lucky with the weather

– really nice to meet so many of Jo’s friends and colleagues so can put faces to names

– Denmark remains scarily expensive

So after all the excitement of Thursday it was enjoying Aarhus.

Autumn Colours

The Seaside

Including skinny dipping ( we did neither!!!)

Shopping

Plus “panting”

Running

Dining in Jo’s flat

Cycling

Ryanairing

Actually all went fine but was soooo busy but good to be back to normal!

As well as the main event, it is lovely to have a break. So the alarm was set for 3.00 which about as fun as it sounds. But all went well – don’t underestimate the sense of achievement at negotiating a combination of Ryanair and COVID paperwork. In fact the biggest problem of the whole journey was not being able to turn off the heated seat in the hire car!

Good to see the infinite bridge – world famous in Aarhus!

And it was really nice to be in familiar surroundings. Eileen found a great flat about 20 minutes walk from Jo’s flat and similar from the beach, so just about perfect.

And the weather’s been terrific so far.

800 miles over 2 days, but made it (albeit rather tired).

– the whole of Northern Europe’s landscape is unbelievably dull. And so although it was very tedious, I guess it was effective. Very few hold ups.

– speed limits in the Netherlands are annoying. Higher at night, and the satnav seems to think you are using these higher speeds, so arrival time is impossibly optimistic. And they change frequently so you have to stay on the lookout.

– service stations are universally dire.

– adjacent countries do things differently, even though there are effectively no borders. So masks in Germany and Belgium but not the Netherlands.

– everyone speaks English (of course), except when I tried to get a haircut.

– staying in a hotel means breakfast is the best meal of the day by miles.

– Denmark is expensive – might have mentioned that.

– it’s a very long way to drive!

Breakfast (mildly chilly but fantastic)

How could this be anything but a highlight???

Pant (Danish deposit system on cans, bottles etc. I’d been lugging our recyclables around for a week in order to do this. £4 if you’re interested.)

Watering can (bought in Copenhagen)

And the rest

But first we liked this. Any ideas?

Yes. It really is a crab-racing track.

And one takeaway from Denmark is the food really isn’t great, especially when combined with the prices. Did I say Denmark is expensive???

But the hotel breakfasts have been great. Shouldn’t really take photos of food, but here’s an exception.

Decided not to splash out on a bag of crisps ….

…. at £3 per packet.

Another really dull drive, and somewhat surprisingly it got as high as 28 degrees which didn’t add much to the comfort.

But Skanderborg is a nice little village about 15 miles from Aarhus on the edge of the Lake District.

And dinner with a view.

Not sure Denmark is top of anyone’s list for a holiday, but in mid-summer and nice weather it is suitably diverting.

Main event today was to Helsingør.

Even closer to Sweden than anywhere else

But really the main reason is that, as everyone knows (now) the castle is the setting for Elsinore in Hamlet.

And the town is ok too.

And the beach.

Enjoyed this view first thing in the morning.

No, I’d never heard of Copenhagen’s world famous art museum either, and it’s about 20 miles from Copenhagen, but that was the main event today. It’s beautifully located.

And just enjoying the beautiful day at the beach.

And the gardens at the Karen Blixen museum next door to the hotel.

And the masterclass in selfies as usual …

Said au revoir to Jo until we’re back in Aarhus and headed north for a few days.

Although the biggest news of the day was that I didn’t get a haircut! All ready to be snipped and remembered to ask about payment – they only use mobilepay which I can’t get. So the shaggy look continues.

Anyway, satnav took us right through the centre of Copenhagen which was great (and easy) and can add that to the cities we have driven right through (remember New York and Marrakech for example).

Took a detour (although in reality distances are tiny compared to what we’ve been used to) to Hillerød and the summer palace Frederiksborg Slot. Fantastic gardens and palace.

Then to the hotel at Rungsted (see map above) with a nice balcony.

Appalling dinner on the marina but lovely beach.