Baby Elephant Walk

Family Vacation at Jammerbugten

24 juli - 5 augusti 2001

This is my diary
Tuesday July 24 - the first day - we drove through Dalecarlia and Varmland and visited a cousin who has a wonderfully situated summer bungalow at Andskär by Hammarö near Karlstad.
The next day we visited my brother-in-law in Uddevalla and next we drove by the heavily trafficked road E6 to Varberg. We had a pause at the cemetary at Ljung where we found the tomb of my husband's grandfather. From Varberg we took the ferry to Grenaa in Denmark where we spent the night.
Friday - our first day in Denmark - our first stop was in the old Abbey town of Mariager, where the streets are cobbled. This town is called "The Town of Roses" but apparently we were too late in the season as most of the ross where withered. We had a lunch with rich Danish open sandwiches and a glass of beer in the garden of an old pub, "Postkassen", and then we visited the church with among other things an odd sculpture of Christ after the crucifixion, which formerly was used at Good Friday Services.
Northwards on small roads to the island of Vendsyssel, the northern part of Jutland, we observed the flat landscape mostly with fields of golden wheat, ready to be harvested, and many other kind of crops. Large areas with grazing cows. Modern windmills, wind power stations are very common at this flat landscape. dominating the view at many places. At the roadsides lots of flowers, Rosa rugosa and blue chicory, yellow wild parsley, white pimpinell, red sorrel and many more species.
We passed Rold Skov, a wooden area, look at the pictures Attraktions in Rold Skov .
We spent the night at Luneburg Kro a pub/motel with exquisite cuisine - the servings was very nice to look at - but the prize was in class with the service---
map

Saturday we got the keys for the two bungalows we had booked for a week in Grønhøj on the west coast by Jammerbugten a bit to the south of Løkken. We searched for the houses and found that they were situated on a former heath exposed to the winds from Skagerak some hundred metres from the very wide sandy beach. On the beach it is allowed and even common to drive cars. Soon the rest of the families arrived, one ofter the other. The families which should live in common during the week: our grandchildren and their parents. Seven children anf eight grown-ups.
We were very much at the beach. The wawes were mostly high and forceful - I could not think of swimming in the sea, I had difficulties to keep my balance when walking in the hard wawes. Due to the windy climate the families bought kites and much time was spent in flying kites during the week.
Monday we had the Great Birthday Party. All children who had had their birthday earlier during the year 2001 including Helena who is born August 5. The children love to be present when their gifts are opened so this way of having a common party all cousins together is very appreciated. I made a strawberry cake. We had a giant party with lots of gifts that afternoon
Tuesday we made a trip to Legoland, a drive for three hours on way. We old people mostly walked around , enjoying the miniature landscapes.The models in Legoland are mobile. The trains circling round and round, stopping at stations and going again. The boats moving over the water and passing locks - very interesting to see that real natural passing through locks. Models of existing locks in Germany, Sweden, Netherlands. The aeroplanes drove up the starting runway and the sound was so real so you just thought that they should lift any minute - but they did not lift. And the children found lots of fun to do in Adventure Land and places like that. lunch at the "Castle" which is in Medieval style and the staff dressed in that style too. The food was barbequed, for the children they had a special meny with "Dragons Claws" and "Hanged Man"( = skewer hanging on a miniature gallow) and other fantasy names. We grown-ups had roast lamb with baked potatoes.
When arriving home late in the evening we had a very nice sky over our hill in Grønhøj, skifting in red and green.
Thursday we drove nortwards. Our first stop was at the Eagle Reservation in Tuen. We arrived just in tíme for the show, first they displayed some falcons, and then the grand eagles, one golden eagle and four European Sea Eagles. Big mighty birds, very interesting. One of the Sea Egles was quite tame, the keeper said that he was mobbed by the other three. One of the falcons. The keepers talked Danish and German, which my son-in-law and the children did not understand, but they still had a good experience.
The landscape at the north of Vendsyssel/Jutland is a very flat farmers land with lots of power wind mills. the fields of potatoes was lilac or white in high bloom, the rye fields appeared reddish brown, the non-harvested wheat fields golden and the harvested fields were green in different shades. We saw some pig farms with small huts for the animals, a deer enclosure and an ostrich farm so they don't have just black-and-white cattle in the farming in this area.
On the most northern cape the landscape was heath with pine plantations to bind the sand, dunes along the beaches where the naked patches shone white like snow between patches of coveríng lyme grass.
We went to Skagen at the outmost top of Denmark where two seas are meeting, the Kattegat and the Skagerak. You really could see that the two masses of water were meeting. That day was fairly calm, otherwise it had not been as wonderful out here on the cape. But there were lots and lots of tourist, enjoing the sensational sight of the two seas meeting. We old people and some of the children used Sandormen the transporting wagon managing to drive in the sands. You cannot drive a car in that sandy fields so most people walk out to the outermost top of Denmark.
As we had children in our company we did not visit any of the Art Museums - you have to suit the sightseeing to the actual company. But Skagen is very well known for the special light out there and very appreciated by artists.
artistic pictures from Skagen.
Friday some of us went to Ravgården in Sønderlev, a museum and workshop for amber. We bought things to use as presents.
Our week passed very fast and we had to separate and go in different directions. Our grandchildren find it very nice to meet. As we are living at separate places we don't meet them all of us so easily. Already we are beginning to plan to make something like this next summer. Emma and Helena hade a very nice time together - no trouble because that Helena is Swedish-speeking and Emma English-speaking.
Going to Denmark we used the ferry both ways. Kristina's family and Per's family drove to the south of Sweden and used the new bridge between Sweden and Denmark. But they were not so impressed by that bridge. They think that the bridge between the Danish isles Zealand and Fyn is much more impressive. Birgitta's family used the ferry between Harwich and Esbjerg to reach Denmark.

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