It feels great to be back on the road with Lo11y after the long wait for the Schengen clock to reset for our full 90 days. We’ve had a pretty intense few weeks since landing back from the Philippines catching up with family and friends, a trip to London to see Bolton lose the First Division play-off finals, and the small matter of selling our house and moving (just 13 miles) up the road.
So, as we headed off towards Harwich to catch the ferry to Hook of Holland, we could almost feel our bodies emit a sigh of relief with no boxes to pack and unpack for the first time in weeks.
We parked up for the night in the port in Harwich with a group of other motorhomes, most we discovered the next morning being driven by kilt wearing Scottish football fans. Before parking up we had to have our traditional fish and chips supper from a local chippy where we have visited with the Hope cycling group several times before. We can vouch they are still as good as ever.
We normally do the overnight sailing which is very civilised and easy but this time we opted for the day crossing which meant we had a long 8 hours of time to fill. The excited Scottish fans kept us entertained with some music and singing. We raised our eyebrows when one of the ladies said ‘we better get some food, as it’ll be last time we eat for the next two weeks’. They had all been drinking beer since boarding at 9 a.m.
Once we cleared border control we were out onto the smooth easy roads of the Netherlands. We decided to get a few hours under our belt to clock off some kms towards Germany. We pulled off the motorway after about 200kms and found a camper park in a lovely forested area where we had a peaceful night and enjoyed the best camper park facilities ever with spotless, modern heated showers.
We had a long drive planned to reach the west coast of Denmark. Denmark wasn’t a focus for this trip, but it looked like there were some nice places worth visiting in this region as we headed to the ferry further north that would take us to Western Sweden.
The wonderful Dutch roads continued into Germany – it all felt so other worldly with no potholes and litter. We steered clear of Hamburg taking a route nearer to the coast and took our first of many small ferry crossings on this trip across an estuary.
The countryside was much more rural now, and we weren’t entirely sure if we’d crossed into Denmark until we reached the border sign. With big heavy dark clouds looming we decided we would find a nice overnight parking spot on the coast by the Wadden Sea in a natural reserve famous for having 2 million migratory birds visit (we only saw two) and mussel and oyster farming. It was a beautiful stop and finally the sun came out. We took a walk to a local village. We could see a group of people in the distance, and it wasn’t until we reached them that we realised it was a film crew and the road was barriered off. A security guy told us it was a German film about the Germans being captured in this area during World War 2. I went to take a photo but had a finger wagged at me. We had a walk around the rest of the village. There were war memorials around the church, so it must have been a significant area in the wars. The houses and gardens were beautifully cared for. We’re guessing many were holiday lets and weekend retreats.
Back in Lo11y we enjoyed a nice sunset looking out to the island of Robo and got an early night after the long days drive.
Our first stop the following day was the town of Ribe, billed as Denmark’s oldest town and first cathedral. It certainly was very picturesque, with half-timbered houses and cobblestone streets. It was very sleepy at 10 o’clock in the morning so we went to get a coffee and had a lovely chat with a local man about life in Denmark and the state of the UK. As well as loving how immaculate and organised Denmark is, we also love the fact they all speak better English than us (well Colin anyway). We visited the impressive cathedral and had a wander around the streets of the old town.
We were close to the home of Lego, a town called Billund, and were keen to visit Lego House, a museum and hands on activity centre for big and small kids. I’d been online the previous evening and was disappointed to see there were no online tickets available for this day, but we decided we’d call by and see if there were walk in slots available. Billund is another impossibly neat and tidy little town, with a Legoland theme park on the outskirts and even has its own airport which the founders of Lego had set up for their private planes as Lego became a worldwide thing. The government eventually bought it off them and it now has direct flights into it from Lego fans from all over the world.
It was a cold gloomy day and we both commented on how quiet the roads and car parks seemed for such a major attraction, but it buoyed our hopes that we may be able to go into the museum that day. We approached the doors with purpose, then were horrified to find it was closed. We couldn’t believe it – how could it be closed on a Friday in summer? We went back to Lo11y feeling a bit dejected. We discussed the possibility of coming back this way at the end of our trip.
We continued to Silkeborg in the ‘Lake District’ of Denmark i.e. not quite so flat district. The drive was very scenic through wooded rolling countryside and lakes. Silkeborg sits by a lake and has a river running through the town and is known for its museums and art galleries. We parked up in the car park of Museum Jorn, a gallery devoted to a well known (in Denmark) local artist. We thought we’d have a bash at being cultured, but soon realised we were a bit out of our depth with the weird and wonderful exhibits. Jorn’s work was abstract and colourful (Picassoesque), but the temporary exhibition by an Austrian artist called Hermann Nitsch was mind blowing and just too weird for us.
It was just a 10-minute walk into the centre of the town. The main square had a nice feel to it, and locals were sat in the late afternoon sun having a start the weekend drink. There was a wine festival in the middle of the square which strangely we didn’t go into, instead opting to go to an outside café for a glass of wine. We ended up dining in a popular local restaurant in the square where Colin sampled oysters and we both enjoyed the delicious local beef.
Back in Lo11y we tuned in our laptop to watch Germany v Scotland. We were a bit baffled why our UK SIM card for the truck was still working when it hadn’t in France, Spain and Portugal, but we watched the heartache for Scotland unfold. We really felt for the fans whose bubble had been so badly burst so early in the competition. We debated whether we should go and let down the tyres on the German motorhome sharing our car park for the night.
What I should say at this point is that after a couple of glasses of wine we had got tickets for the Lego House the next day, so would be retracing our steps! Quite a big factor was that heavy rain was forecast so going to a museum made perfect sense. We jumped on our Bromptons before breakfast for a cycle around the edges of the town which was a lovely way to start the day. We then visited a scenic viewpoint near Silkeborg, called Himmelbjerg Tower. At 147m it is one of the highest points in Denmark.
It was tipping down with rain by the time we reached Billund and Lo11y was leaking like a sieve, so much so we were worried any bowls we put under the drips would overflow. There were definitely more people around today which looked promising. There was a sign saying it was sold out today, so we were relieved we’d got our tickets.
We thoroughly enjoyed our 2 ½ hours there. The building is fantastic, the Lego models amazing and there were lots of hands-on activities to build Lego. Shame about all the pesky kids… Colin made a fish based on Gutsy, our famously over-sized old koi carp (who with her friends are now in the capable hands of Carriers Cottage new owners). Once made you can take a picture of the fish and it then appears on a screen swimming in an animated aquarium (see below). Colin also had a go at making a Lego Lo11y, but even with me stealing bricks from kids who weren’t paying attention, he struggled to complete more than the front section. There was a history of Lego in the basement which was fascinating learning how it had come into being and the ups and downs of the business over the years since the 1930’s to today. It is quite incredible that it is still so popular and has survived the age of computer games. As all parents will know, it is eye wateringly expensive too, so all we left with was a Lego keyring each.
We headed north again to Denmark’s second city Aarhus (in the middle of our street). As we reached the edges of the city it was the first time things looked less than pristine. It has a big student population (c 60,000) and it had a bit more of an edgy feel, but still had a pleasant old town, a latin quarter with cobbled streets and lots of night life and a waterfront area that is being redeveloped. We parked up in a waterlogged car park full of motorhomes near the waterfront. We’d read it was free to park for 24 hours, but we should have had a parking disk that records how long we have been there. We’d also read we could put a note on the windscreen with our arrival time, but we were both a bit nervous this wouldn’t suffice, and we’d get a hefty fine which lots of other had reported. We luckily met the parking attendant who said he was happy with the note. He also warned us there was a large half marathon event on the following morning and if we weren’t out of the car park by 10 a.m. we’d be stuck there for several hours.
The rain had finally stopped, so we walked across to the docklands area for dinner, then walked into the central old part of the city. Although early evening, it was noticeable how many inebriated people, young and old, there were. We finished the evening in a nice wine bar near our car park for a night cap.
In the morning, after a debate of whether we should stay on and see more, or head further north to the smaller city of Aalborg, we opted for the latter. It was a good choice. Aalborg was an industrial city in the past but has now been transformed into a lovely place with a waterfront with interesting new architecture and an old town with timbered houses and shops and cafes/restaurants.
We parked up next to a marina and jumped on the Bromptons for a cycle along the waterfront and into town. We loved it and somehow managed to dodge the rain showers. We had lunch in a street food place housed in an old furniture factory on the waterfront. There was a screen set up for the Euros that evening and again we debated if we should stay on. Our truck Wi-Fi had caught up on itself now and we could no longer get data. However, we were both keen to visit Skagen which is the northernmost tip of Denmark and read as being a windswept quirky place.
We arrived in Skagen mid-afternoon. The sun was out, so we went to explore on our Bromptons again. The centre of town was fairly quiet – we thought there may be more build up for Denmark’s opening Euros match against Slovenia. We noted a bar with TV screens which we thought we could watch the England-Serbia match in later. We cycled out to Grenen, just 3 kms away which is officially Denmark’s most northerly point. There were walks we could do from here, but we’d forgotten our bike lock, so planned to revisit the following morning.
Back in Lo11y we struggled to get iPlayer working on our iPad by hot spotting to our mobiles. We eventually got it to work, but decided we’d go back into town to watch the match in a bar.
By this time Denmark had suffered a disappointing draw against Slovenia, and being a Sunday evening, the streets were dead. The bar we’d earmarked was closing as we arrived. The barman told us to try another place in town.
The other bar did have a screen with the football on, but the sound was off, there was loud music playing and no-one in the bar was interested in the match. Worst of all most people were smoking in the bar and it soon came back to us how unpleasant that is. Between us and the screen was a group of 10 young people who must have been drinking all afternoon and evening. They were oblivious to the fact they were blocking the screen. They were joined by two older ladies who were equally pie-eyed. Half time came and we weren’t feeling very optimistic about seeing a good performance by England in the second half and our eyes were stinging with the smoke. Meatloaf’s Paradise by Dashboard came on and while the young people looked thoroughly unimpressed, one of the ladies had spotted Colin jigging his knee to it and she was straight over trying to get him to dance. He hung onto his chair looking terrified. He told her that we’d seen Meatloaf live in London in the past, but she then randomly asked if we’d been to Live Aid and when I said I had she went into raptures that I was the only person she’d ever met who had actually attended Live Aid. So that was it as far as watching the 2nd half of the match went. We discovered she and her drinking partners worked on an Icelandic fishing vessel that was in town for some repairs. She was looking after the Captains wife who was staggering around the bar in a tall crooked Denmark hat. She came over to us and slurred ‘I’m very drunk’. It was amusing that the only thing she could remember was Colin's name. They were lovely people though and we were introduced to other ship mates (we were staggered to find there were only 6 people working on such a large ship) and they did us a favour not having to watch an unenjoyable 2nd half of football. We left them to it at 11 p.m. – the bar didn’t close until 5 a.m. so there would be some seriously sore heads in the morning.
The following morning our clothes and my hair stunk of smoke. We drove up to the car park at Grenen and had a cool breezy walk along the beach to the farthest northerly point in Denmark where the North Sea and Baltic Sea meet.
Back in Lo11y we showered and got clean clothes on ready for our next country, and had a good breakfast before we set off to Frederikshavn back down the coast to catch the ferry to Gothenburg in Sweden (not to be confused with Batman’s home town Colin….).
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