Samsø: pure charm.

On my first trip to Denmark, six years ago, when my romance with Simon was young as a spring chicken, we went on a two day sojourn to Samsø island. We brought a tent and a couple sleeping bags and spent two glorious days biking around the island, eating strawberries and pea pods from roadside farm stands, and soaking in the quiet charm. It was my favorite place that I'd been in Denmark. Six summers later I feel the same.

So, I was quite excited at the chance to go back for my second visit. Opportunity arose when Simon got a gig to play two nights at the Nordby Kro Inn on the north of the island. Django and I would be traveling from Simon's mom's in western Jutland, and he was coming from Sweden, so we were to meet at the Inn.

Django and I got in a couple hours before Simon, so we wandered about the very charming village of Nordby.

I absolutely love the thatched roofs.











In 1997 Samsø won a competition to become the site of a 10 year project in renewable energy. They reached carbon-neutral status in 2003, ahead of schedule. 100% of the islands electricity is produced by 11 on-land wind turbines, and over 70% of the heating is produced by renewable sources. They produce enough additional energy with 10 offshore turbines that they offset non-renewable energy use, such as cars and ferries, by sending that power elsewhere in Denmark.



Shortly after Simon arrived, we donned our bathing suits (ahem.. except for Django) and headed for the eastern shore and a swim in the ocean (or the sea or Østersøen as that body of water is called, tucked between Jutland, the islands of Funen [Fyn], Zealand [Sjaelland, home of Copenhagen], and Sweden) About a 1 kilometer walk east from Nordby, slightly longer to the western beach.

The water was surprisingly warm. Simon and I took turns swimming whilst Django pranced upon the sand.



Next morning we went on a 2 km walk to the next village of Mårup to rent bicycles.

Father and son, on the road.



Simon and Django in the village of Mårup.



Day one of bicycling: we embarked on a mission to find these beaches we knew of with very shallow clear water, perfect for a little one. We biked and biked, turning off to many a beach but all we found was stony beaches, water with seaweed, jelly fish (non-stinging, but still!) We pushed on and persisted though and about 6 miles along we found it! An absolutely heavenly bit of beach. Low tide, shallow waters, perfect! We even found a little island that we claimed as our own (until high tide came to claim it back)



Django had a good time.



Django enjoying some really tasty chocolate ice cream, which I have discovered he is an absolute fiend for. I think he had more ice cream during our stay in Denmark than in his entire life prior.



Enjoying a tasty dinner at the Inn before Simon's show.



The next morning (after a really really late night for all of us, as Django stayed up for Simon's show which was just downstairs, then of course the adults stayed up even later. I was thrilled that I got to see Simon play since I miss most shows these days, AND was happy to sing with him on a few songs. Fun!), anyway, the next morning Simon was gracious enough to let me sleep in when Django woke up far too early. When they came back a few hours later, THEY both napped and I had a couple precious hours to myself.

I ventured downstairs, but had just missed the end of breakfast. I went down the road to the local cafes but found that after 10 and before noon, there wasn't a speck of food to be found. The closest market was 2km away. Luckily we'd bought some snacks and so I had a latte and a little breakfast then went for a bike ride to the very north of the island. It was so quiet and peaceful, and felt really wonderful to move about on my own for a bit.

This is what much of the island looks like. Sweet farmland.



On my ride north.



Top of the island.



The next day (in spite of an even LATER night, we got on our bicycles and embarked on what would become a 25 mile ride around the island. That is exactly 25 miles more biking than I do on any average day of the year (ok ok, there is the occasional day when I'll bike maybe a mile or two, but you get my drift). Luckily for me the island is mostly rather flat.



The beach reminds me somewhat of Cape Cod where I spent four of my teenage years.



Django walking the docks in Ballen (don't worry folks, mama was just steps behind), a lively little town with a busy harbor and lots of open cafes.





On the way home. Ah serenity.



Roadside farmstands. Pay on the honor system. Fresh strawberries, peas, potatoes (what Samsø is most know for) and other lovely veggies. Sustainable living. Ah, one might guess that the produce was all organic and float off in a dream of juicy berry bliss, dotted with scrumptious pesticide free pea pods... well, POP! went our bubble when we found out from Malik, who runs the Inn where we stayed, that not only is most of the produce on Samsø NOT organic, but many of the strawberries sold at the roadside stands ARE NOT EVEN GROWN ON THE ISLAND! They're shipped over from the mainland. Oh disillusionment! You'd like to think that a place so concerned with renewable energy would be like-minded about the way the food is grown. But I suppose the pressure to grow in large volume and reach a certain quota of production inclines these farmers to go the way of big business, using fertilizers, pesticides and other concoctions of the chemical companies.

(There was a 21 year Swiss study which basically showed that organic farming does have lower yields [sometimes not much lower], but overall is much more efficient for the input, and a viable option. It's rather more complex than that, and here's one little article about it http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2017094.stm)

It's the ol' quantity vs. quality thing I guess. Personally I prefer quality.

So, on we rode with fragments of our burst bubble still dangling about our heads, but we had a glimmer of hope as we kept our eyes open for an organic farm we'd heard about that even had U-pick strawberries. We finally came across the stand late in the day, so we missed the chance to pick, but we dropped 50 kroner in the can and made off with two baskets of incredibly juicy and delicious strawberries. Yay!




We saw this little place for sale. Thought it might be a nice place to live.



Or maybe this one...



Getting closer to home, only 5 miles to go.



One tired traveler



The next morning after 3 lovely days and nights, so long Samsø... I still love you in spite of my fractured fantasy.



With our copious luggage, we took a taxi to the ferry for the beginning of a long (unnecessarily long I might add, due to an itinerary planning blunder) 10 hour journey to London.



At least the ferries are really cool with playrooms for the kids and cartoons! Makes traveling with a toddler just a bit easier.

West to Jutland

I am writing from London on this cool sunny day, dreadfully behind on the blog. So here's a bit more of Denmark where we spent our first month.

On June 29th Simon, Django and I got on a train and retraced our steps from last year, heading to Holstebro on the west side of Jutland, the mainland part of Denmark. It was a four hour trip to get to Simon's mom's house where she lives with her partner Knud Erik.

Django and I went down to the lakes, a less than 10 minute walk away, to throw stones in the water. Ah, simple joys.



another walk to the lake with Ataata.



Some lucky local sheep, grazing in the peaceful green.





Another of our favorite stops, the duck pond. I think Django looks a bit concerned at the approaching mass of voracious water fowl.



Playgrounds in Denmark are really cool. This one was especially nice with play houses, and a mini zip line.



We drove an hour one day to visit Simon's grandparents. They live on an island called Mors a bit north of Holstebro. Simon's granddad is 83 years old and still tends to an absolutely enormous garden where he grows (and sells) potatoes, berries, leeks, apples, and other goodies. It keeps him very youthful!



Django enjoying some of Oldefar's (Great Grandpa's) melt-in-your-mouth strawberries. Seriously delicious!
(just a note on Danish pronunciation: If you're American, don't even TRY to sound it out. You will be woefully wrong. It's rather difficult to write in phonetics also because there are many sounds that we just don't use in English, the letter D as it occurs in the middle or end of a word is one of them. To me the D sounds somewhere between L and TH)



Look what's growing beneath the bird feeder. Apparently the seeds are in the bird feed. Hee hee.



This is a really charming old traditional Danish home with a thatched roof nearby.



Back in Holstebro, Django took Oldefar for a run around the house, several times.



We took a little side trip, heading even further west, almost to the coast, to visit Simon's sister Dorthe and her boyfriend Bjørn. They live in a lovely old and very spacious home that was once a mill, and they are surrounded by many acres of beauty, including their own small vineyard.

We were amazingly fortunate with the weather while in Denmark and here was another glorious sunny day.



After a light lunch we took a short drive to the North Sea. Simon and Dorthe (the 1/2 Greenlanders) braved the cold water. Django (the 1/4 Greenlander) consented to being dipped in up to his bare bottom. I got my legs wet and Bjørn stayed on the beach.

Is it possible to complain of too much sun in Denmark? Strange, unusual, and certainly eyebrow raising, but for a heliophobe such as myself, it IS. (Don't get me wrong, I WORSHIP the sun, source of all life, I just usually like to do it from under the shade of a tree)





The early morning view from our room at Dorthe and Bjørn's house.



We took another day trip to the limestone mines in Mønsted, the largest in the world. They are enormous and very chilly inside with a consistent temperature of only 46 degrees F, 8 degrees C. They were operational for over 1000 years until 1978.

When Christianity entered Denmark there grew a demand for the building of churches. Burned limestone was the main constituent in the mortar, and so a booming business ensued.

Nowadays, the mines are a tourist attraction as well as a cheese aging facility, where 200 tons of cheese is housed in a deep cave at any one time. Most of it is exported to Germany and called "cave cheese". When we entered the caves (before I knew there was cheese) I detected a faint smell that seemed a bit mildewy, like when you forget some damp clothes in your backpack after hiking in the rain and discover them 3 days later. Turns out it was the cheese! It is truly amazing what strange and foul smelling things people will carry past their nose and put into their mouths. Traditional Danish cheese is one! (of course you will find 6 million Danes who disagree with me)



Some random fun: I like that there is quite a lot of public art all over Denmark. This was in a little town by an inlet called Lemvig (lem-vee). These kitties were particularly popular with the little ones, Django included.

Danes seem to take into account the presence of little ones in the daily lives of adults in the sense that there are more playgrounds and activities many places you go. For instance, I was shopping for sandals and every shoe store we went into had a play area for kids with toys and games. What a great, and really helpful idea.



These are old WWII bunkers built by the occupying Nazis. You find these still standing, scattered about Western Denmark, near the sea and fjords (inlets).



Ah, back to the North Sea for more sun and fun in the waves.



Simon relaxing in a hole he (and Django) dug.



Making a sand mermaid. Why not?



One of the hard things about traveling with a child is that very often there are no other children around for them to play with. We were very happy to meet Lissy and Knud Erik's neighbors who have three children, two of them 4 year old twins. Django made good friends with the four year old girl, and couldn't get enough of the boy's riding tractor.

Here's Django going on his first dog walking expedition where HE walked the dog. He was very excited.



One of my undercover, from inside the kitchen spy shots of Django making friends. It was so cute I couldn't resist!



Django with Simon's mom Lissy and Knud Erik. Farmor (grandmother, or father's mother literally) doesn't get to visit with Django very often. This is the fourth visit since he was born. Hope to see you again soon!



next... the beautiful island called Samsø