Denmark Trip - Day 2 - Amsterdam to Tved, DK
Coming into Amsterdam, we had a nice view of off-shore wind turbines. The country appeared quite green with large patches of what looked like tulip farms or some other kind of crop. We landed at the Shiphol Amsterdam airport (AMS) and tried to figure out where our next flight to the Billund airport (BLL) would board. The Amsterdam airport is huge and seemed more like a crowded shopping mall than an airport. We finally figured out what our next gate was but had no clue how to get there. Thankfully, we had a couple hours until our next flight was scheduled to leave. We made our way through the airport maze and long passport check line and eventually got to our gate 1 ½ hour before our next flight. When boarding finally started, we had to scan our own ticket to get through the gate. It worked fine for me, but Carol got stuck and had to get help. The flight to Billund airport was short and we arrived around 11:20 AM Denmark time. We went to pick up our checked baggage and discovered none of the baggage got transferred from our previous flight! So, we had to stand in line to file a missing baggage claim. The airline (KLM) said the baggage “may” come on the next plane and “would hopefully” be delivered to us the next day. Thankfully, there wasn't anything we needed right away in our checked baggage. We left baggage claim and met Lotte in the front entrance lobby. It was so nice to see her and seemed very unreal to finally be in Denmark!! We hugged and took some mandatory group selfies outside. We then drove about 1 ½ hours to Lotte’s house. Everything seemed very foreign including road signs, vehicles, plants, etc. Most of the cars on the highway were small and the absence of big pickups, SUVs and RVs was startling. Stranger still was seeing small cars and luxury cars like BMWs, Mercedes, and Lexus towing utility trailers. Lotte said that was common in Denmark and rather than driving big pickup trucks, Danes put “tow hooks” on their cars and use small utility trailers whenever they need to haul something. The countryside was beautiful with open wheat and barley fields or pastures with cows and sheep. As we got closer to Lotte’s house, we stopped at a bakery (Smakagerie) and Lotte bought some bread and rolls (we soon learned that rolls are a staple in Denmark). Carol bought some cookies, and we all tried a few free samples of chocolate that tasted like chocolate truffles. We then stopped at a fish store (Fiske – Mols Rogeri) and bought some fishcakes (fiskefrickadeller) and smoked salmon. The store specialized in smoked fish and had an amazing amazing selection of fish. Lotte said she shops there all the time, and the owner is a bit of a character. We arrived at Lotte’s house around 2:30 PM and Lotte gave us a short tour.
Her house is a beautiful old farmhouse with beautiful wood floors and garden. Lotte lives on the main floor and currently rents the upstairs to a lady named Trina, her son and a cute dog named “Spicy” who looked somewhat like a King Charles Spaniel mix? Lotte said she thought she has about 3 acres which includes another separate house, two old pig barns that she rents for storage and a huge metal barn she also rents for storage. The second house is currently rented to a Ukrainian family (Andrii, Natalia, Savastian and baby Solomia). At around 2:45 PM, Lotte prepared lunch of fishcakes (fiskefrickadeller) on rye bread with lettuce, dill, lemon and a mayonnaise like dressing called remoulade. After lunch, Lotte gave us a tour of her property and barns. The barns had some boats, trailers, cars, and a few cool old harvester machines she said someone was trying to restore. She then showed us her vegetable garden that she shares with her neighbors. Her garden had potatoes, carrots, peas, beans, asparagus, tomatoes, lettuce, and onions. Lotte had also planted several kinds of trees and shrubs around the perimeter of her property including beech and oak. At around 5 PM Lotte took us to her new summer house where Carol and I would be staying. Her summer house is wonderful with two bedrooms, living room, kitchen, and bathroom. The house felt very modern with instant hot water, modern kitchen, and a nicely tiled bathroom with heated floors! Some things still needed to be installed like heat, lighting and Internet but otherwise, the house was complete, and it was a special treat for us to stay there. Lotte then took us to her friend’s house to pick up some asparagus (Gronne Mols Asparages). After that, we stopped at the local market (Dagli Brugsen) in Tved and got groceries. The market had a nice selection of Danish beers which, of course, I felt compelled to try. We then went to Ole Carlsen’s store where Lotte likes to buy produce. Lotte introduced us to the owners, Ole and Rita Carlsen and their curly coated retriever named Penny. The store was basically an old barn that they converted into a self-serve store where people take what they need and pay using a phone app or by putting cash into a cash box. Lotte said it was very common to use this type of honor system to sell things in Denmark. We returned to Lotte’s house where we met her neighbor, Andres who lives in the house down the hill from Lotte. Lotte and Carol prepared a dinner of salmon, vegetables, new potatoes, and vino. After dinner, Lotte took us back to the summer house where we had the honor of being the first people to stay there overnight. We turned in for the night at 10:30 PM after being up for more than 32 hours!!
Things I Learned On This Day (#TILOTD) –
After dinner, Lotte took us back to the summer house where we had the honor of being the first people to stay there overnight. We turned in for the night at 10:30 PM after being up for more than 32 hours!!
No comments:
Post a Comment