roadtrip & images of home

Hazelnuts Galore! I cannot remember when we were able to gather this many, ever! Something to be said for letting the bushes go wild. Snoop loves them too so we race to see who gets there first in the mornings, guess who wins....

At the beginning of August, we, i.e. our youngest son Kylian, his girlfriend Itohan and me went on a roadtrip together. Leaving the husband and three dogs behind.....Our purpose was to visit as many family members in Denmark as we could, whilst driving at a leisurely pace through Germany and Denmark. I did not want to rush things and thought we might as well get to see other places I'd never been to before. I did not consult the other two on where we would stay but opted to surprise them, which worked out fine. For our first overnight-stop I had booked bunks on a boat in Bremen, that was pretty amazing and a great start. The boat was within walking distance of the town centre. Where, kind of goes without saying, we had to go see the Bremer Stadtmusikanten, although you can hardly see them here thanks to the lady standing in front of them;-)

We did get to make a wish, which one does by standing in front of the statue and rubbing the donkey's legs, keep your wish to yourself and be careful not to touch his mouth or anywhere else we were warned or your wishes won't come true. We adhered, and so they did.

Our next stop was Odense on the island Fyn, I had never been (or if I have I cannot recall when) where we visited the H.C. Andersen Museum, a truely magical immersive experience, those Danes sure know how to build/commission incredibly beautiful museums - inside and out - with excellently curated exhibitions! I'm glad to say my travelling companions loved it as much as I did, they managed to stay indoors even longer than me. After Odense onward to Hellerup where we were going to stay with relatives.

Once in Hellerup, a suburb north of Copenhagen we stayed in my aunt Mette's house, who happens to live next door to her eldest daughter. They are members of the Viking swimming club, one of many such clubs along the 7000 km Danish coast. Every morning we cycled from their house through their neighbourhood and woods to arrive here: 

After the skinny-dip we could warm up again in the club sauna, which has windows overlooking the Sont or as the Danes say Øresund!! Apparently many Danish saunas are blessed with such a view....That was not all. Once dry and dressed we went for a coffee and kanelsnurrer at the beach café. I'm telling you those Danes know how to enjoy life.

I managed to run a few errands in some of my favourite local stores: finally got round to buying The Story of Art without Men by Katy Hessel at Books & Company, delicious Earl Grey tea at 100 year old Hellerup The Depot I admit I'm a tea fanatic and clothes at Miss MoneyPenny's vintage shop. All of these shops are located on Strandveijen, which has to be one of the worlds most gorgeously situated roads along the coastline. I gush. I'll stop.

I appreciate how my auntie uses this Small Pillow as a voodoo totem: stab the basterd

my 'bedroom' I slept on Mette's couch in the living room

we got to see lots of relatives, they were all excited about seeing Kylian, no longer a boy, again and meeting his girlfriend for the first time; my cousins hosted a BBQ, we went for walks, visited other homes, in short got to catch up and the wonderful thing is: it all feels so very familiar, not at all like it was two years since we had been

Another museum, well seeing as K's girl-friend had never been we just had to.

Of course I took many more photos in Louisiana Museum, Humlebæk

but this piece below was new to me and I like:

Frida Orupabo, Norway 1986

'Love at first Site' 2020

paper collage mounted on aluminium

 

self crouching on parents' graves in the family plot in Hellerup, theirs is unmarked as we did not ask official permission to deposit their ashes here 2 years ago 

auntie Mette and me on the morning of our departure

On we journey to see cousin Alexandra and her family in Køge

time to say goodbye again

we continue our travels and stay in Kolding where we go to the Trapholt museum

the view from Trapholt

below several images of my favourite piece by

Lea Nielsen  1985

Diary from the Forest 2021

glazed stoneware

Finally, for our last evening we slept in a hotel in Oldenburg (I thought I'ld treat ourselves to a good German hotel breakfast, we were not disappointed). However, to my initial dismay I walked into my hotelroom only to discover one bed was unmade and had obviously been slept in, there were no towels and the previous occupant had left some of his/her rubbish behind.....and no one at the reception, as we had had to check in at another location due to staff shortages. Ah well, I was too tired and sweaty to complain so I first had a shower and used the pillow case to dry off, ignoring thoughts in my head whose head might have lain on it. I then rang the lady-receptionist at the other hotel where we had checked in and she, bless her, after sighing and apologising profusely, promised to bring me fresh towels after she'd finished her shift at 10pm (she did). We went out for a meal and after a gin&tonic all this was soon forgotten. I was glad it was my room cleaning staff had forgotten not the young adults' bedroom, they are more sensitive in that department.

Anyway, next morning we discovered Oldenburg has a surprisingly large pedestrian area and so we happily went on our seperate shopping sprees, meeting one another in Kaffee & Kleid for coffee and cakes before we embarked on our return journey home.

Bonus: Son and me dropped girlfriend off at her house where I got to meet her mother for the very first time and get a taste of where they live. Seeing as they've been together now for three years this was long overdue. It was good❣

....at long last we are back

 

look who is very happy to see me I'm sure: Snoopy after his first haircut😊😉

As often occurs after having been away, I return bursting with energy and the desire to rearrange something in my home once I am back. I get really excited about sorting out and tidying up stuff. I stumble upon things I'd quite forgotten I had, like this collection of fountain pens that belonged to our parents. One, the old Parker refillable one, might even have belonged to my Dutch grandad. I like to imagine it was his. Alas, they were no longer in working order, yet I couldn't bear to throw them away either. Luckily I had not as a friend recently gave me an excellent cleaning tip: you can soak the top halves (with the tips) in water overnight and the clogged-up ink will dissolve and you will most likely be able to use them again. Tada! It worked. I am delighted and have started writing people cards and letters using them. 

 

Below miscellaneous found in a drawer - of which there are many - I am forever collecting, hoarding, sorting.....now I really have to stop gallivanting around and get some work done as I'll be participating in WaardArt-Open-Studios last weekend of September. 

cheers!