I had a lovely time in Denmark, and had to quickly brush up my cycling skills by practising on a little road in the small forest park near to their home, as we were going to cycle around the countryside a lot! My big fall when practising on a bicycle just before I went to work in Holland, when I took of a big branch of Irma's Magnolia tree was still fresh in my mind! But this time it was a lot better, as within half an hour I had my balance right, and was careering down the wee road full of confidence.Every day we packed a lunchbox, filled their two flasks with coffee, and took to the open roads. The first time we went into the town to get to the road leading to some or other dam I was petrified, as not only was I scared of the fast moving traffic, but I now had to cycle on the right side of the road. In South Africa we drive on the left side. But I just kept my eyes on Nina's back, where the small Andreas was sitting cosily in a baby carrier.
They had a nice big hothouse connected to the side of the house, with even a grapevine that yielded astonishing crops, which Jan made wine from. They also had a big strawberry patch, but as it took up almost their complete back garden, I helped them to take out about half of the plants, as Jan wanted to plant some veggies.
Then they decided to take me to Copenhagen, but as the tax to go over the new seventeen kilometre bridge that connected Sealand, Funen and Jutland was so expensive, we would be going by train, and I thought it a good idea, as driving was much more expensive than going by train because of that tax, and also hazardous.
Copenhagen is one of the best cities to live in, I think, as people are quite laid back, and the amount of people on bicycles astonished me. We only had coffee in a cafe, as it was so expensive, and we had of course, like most Danes, brought a packed lunch and flasks, and sat on the grass in a park and had our lunch, with a lot of other people doing the same. Then we went to a huge amusement park where we spent a wonderfull couple of hours, eating lovely icecream, and Jan and Rene going on a thing like a long pole, and strapped to this thing they were taken up very slowly, until, when they were up very high, this thing suddenly made them drop down to earth at breakneck speed.SCARY!I remembered when I came with the ferry once from Harwich in England, none of the Danes went to eat in the restaurant, and as Nina had warned me about how expensive it was to eat in the restaurants, I had bought some food, and sat on the open deck on top eating my food. There were lots of other people doing the same, and most of them were Danes. And when the next morning I went for a coffee, I knew exactly why I was warned off, as that coffee almost cost as much as a three course meal elsewhere!
The day before I left we drove to central Jutland as they wanted to show me the highest mountain in Denmark. As Denmark is like Holland, quite flat, I didn't expect too high a peak, but when we stopped and they got out of the car, I thought we were just having a coffee quickly. Jan looked at me kind of with a questionmark on his face, then he waved his arm in the direction of a wee molehill-like little mount, and I realized that the molehill was indeed Denmark's highest mountain, called Yding Skovhoj.
I questioned their audacity to call that a mountain, but kept my thoughts to myself.
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