Return to Dutch territories ……

……........ but before we get there I need to tell you about the other places I visited in Denmark.

Does anyone of you keep a diary, or a notebook? I actually quite like writing down what I am doing, thinking, feeling. And then read it after a while and be quite surprised about the many happy moments you have lived, since your memory (at least mine….) tends to forget these quite easily.

I ended the last blog in Vorupør, Denmark. I mentioned the wind, which was fierce, but fine, and great for the surfers, but it turned to rain. On my second day I got home just before the rain and thunder started to lash my van. I did go out, with a raincoat and umbrella, to have a beer in a nice cool place I had seen, but I was the only one, nobody wanting to venture out in the rain, I guess. On my third day in Vorupør I made a beautiful bike tour along the coast, and passed through the chill village of Klitmøller, paradise for kite surfers, but got very, very wet the last three kilometres.

From there I went to the island of Mors in the Limfjord, for one night, just to go and see.

I had booked myself a campsite, which turned out to be nice and green, but felt like we were in the sixties. Everything totally outdated, but showers functioning so no complaints! And the elderly couple running that campsite were so very, very sweet. It was just a totally different place from Vorupør Camping, where everything was organised on your chipcard, which you had to go and get at a desk in a supermarket, that campsite itself had no office whatsoever. It is actually all these different places and experiences that made this trip, and all previous and coming trips, so precious. The day after I went to Ringkøbing, on Ringkøbing Fjord at the West Coast, but was only allowed to enter the campsite at 14.00. I was up, and ready to leave quite early that day, and had to make a plan. Højriis Castle was more or less on my way, so I decided to visit. I thought there would be a large Parking Area, but it was not very big and no space for my van. Reversing with no adequate sight of what is going on behind the van is a challenge, but a kind man helped me with that and then I was very lucky to be able to turn the van and park at the roadside, in the right direction (being the direction for leaving). Ten minutes later the place was packed with cars and I would not have been able to do the same manoeuvring. It was a very nice castle, all the rooms were furnished as in the old days, and you were allowed to touch anything you wanted to touch, unlike most other old places where you are only allowed to look at it from a distance, from behind a red rope There were some actors acting as the members of the family that used to live there in the old days. I loved the banqueting room, with a table fully set with porcelain tableware, silver cutlery, crystal glasses, for about 30 people. It may have been ‘fake’ stuff though since it was not protected by the red rope, but it looked great!

The Ringkøbing campsite was a good site, very green, good facilities, but a little bit wet the first day. The next day was a sunny day again. I briefly visited Ringkøbing and then cycled along the sea, admiring the many kite surfers challenging the wind and themselves (smile). After RIngkøbing I moved to the lovely campsite Darum, south of Esbjerg. I hopped on my bike and went to visit the Art Museum in Esbjerg and to see the giant ‘Mennesket ved havet’, or ‘Men at sea’, 9 meter high statues of men staring over the sea since 1995. From Esbjerg I moved to nearby Ribe, said to be the oldest town in Denmark. When walking around there I came across Marije, a Dutch woman I had met in Guatemale in 2002, when we were both studying Spanish there, and who later married a Danish guy and went to live in Denmark. Such a coincidence to meet her in Ribe!!! I visited two interesting places in Ribe, one being the Jakob Riis Museum. In 1870 Jakob emigrated to America, as a young boy, and after many years of severe struggle he became a famous journalist and photographer who used his influence to improve the living conditions in the New York slums. The other interesting place was the ‘Vadehavscentret’ or ‘Wadden Sea Centre’ with lots of information. I liked the info on the migration of (millions of) birds most, so fascinating. After Ribe I went to Møgeltønder, where I had spent my first two nights in Denmark. It is almost at the border with Germany so a good starting point for the trip home. In Germany I spent two nights in Oldenburg, and I arrived safely at home on Friday 6 August.

What I will certainly remember from Denmark are the smell of the wild roses, and sometimes the chamomile, and the pine trees, the endless fields full of grains or potato plants with their nice little white flowers, or the rapeseed plants with their little yellow flowers, the old churches with their white plastered walls, reflecting the sunlight from far away. And lots and lots of wild flowers.

#Cloudyskies #Water #Biketours #Art #Nature #Discoveries