Blogs from Esbjerg, Region Syddanmark, Denmark, Europe

Tuesday 31st August 2010 As the school year started yesterday with a field trip to the Vikinge Centre today was a day to get down to some other school work. The reading book this half term is the diary of Anne Frank whose house we visited in Amsterdam. The boys started their own diaries as part of their lessons and maths revision included times tables. We also took some time to catch up with domestic chores before heading off for a walk on the coastal path. Altough it was sunny when we set off we ended up getting a soaking on the way back and enjoyed all the more a hot cup of tea and biscuits on our return.... read more

46 days to take off. I've choosen to start my blog from the comfort off my couch, just to get familiar with the site. As said in my profile, I'm a 25 year old Danish girl, and it is my first solo trip. It's actually only the third time I'v been across the danish boarder, if you count out small trips to Germany and Sweden. So it's a really big deal for me. The trip has been planed for months now, and it is pretty much all I think about, besides my school and exams, the day I leave for Pisa, Italy, is all so the day I'm finished with my exams and is a care taker for old and disabled people, so it's gonna be a pretty big day for me. Some times I ... read more

Hi guys. This is not exaxctly where we are but it is close. We have finished off Germany doing the Rhine and Mossel both very lovely areas. Didnt do much stopping. We headed onto Maastrict but due to bad weather, tummy and my back is still killing me we just kinda drove round for a while. Spent a noght on a campsite and actually used a washing machine and everything?!?!. Met a very nice English couple in their mid 70s who gave us some great tips. We tried to get to the Becks factory but it has changed its opening days for tours so going to try the carlsberg one insead - Along with legoland for Scott!?! To day we crossed over into Denmark and has a lovely morning on the Romo island. The biggest widest ... read more

God Jul (Merry Christmas), I'm currently sitting at John and Ingrid's house and the Christmas festivities have all died down for the moment. I had originally planned to stay here for only a few short days before going back to Zealand but I have run into a bitter sweet predicament that I didn't quite plan for. The Immigration Service had sent John and Ingrid a letter on the 15th of December and - since the letter was in my name - John decided to wait until I arrived in Esbjerg on the 23rd to open it. I arrived in Esbjerg at around 7:00pm and opened the letter to find that the Immigration Service had accepted my application to stay in Denmark until December of 2009 (they said it would take 2 months, instead, it took 2 ... read more

Founded in the beginning of the 8th century, Ribe is the oldest existing town in Denmark. At that time the vikings used Ribe as a trading centre before leaving for "sea expeditions". The first Scandinavian church was built here around 860. The town continued to grow and became very important not just for Denmark but much of Scandinavia. Although there was a great fire in 1580, many of Ribe's original medieval houses are still standing. The great cathedral situated in the heart of Ribe can been seen from far away as the landscape surrounding Ribe is very flat, much of it marshland. The cathedral was built in the 13th century. Many famous people was born or lived in Ribe during the centuries. A few days before Christmas my brother Aage and our friends Charlotte and Henriette ... read more

Tonight is my last night with John and Ingrid. Tomorrow I will be taking the train to Svenborg and then the bus to Ubølle to visit and ecovillage north of this town. As for my time here, John and Ingrid have been just perfect hosts. They have fed me frikadela and rye bread up to my ears! I've never eaten so much in all my life. John took me to visit Ribe and the island of Rømø. He laughed when I was in Ribe because I went to the same bakery, ordered the same pastry and walked down the same street as Grandpa did when he was here. John was nice enough to show me his massive butterfly collection which I found very interesting. We spent lots of time with Trina and Peter and they were ... read more

I just arrived in Denmark today and I have to say I'm fairly tired from the train trip. All in all I was on the train for 8 hours but John Mikkelsen was there to meet me at the station in Esbjerg which worked out just perfectly. This evening we had Trina and Peter over for dinner as well as Trina's husband Peter (I guess Peter is a fairly common name?). Tomorrow we will be going to a fairly medieval city nearby to do a small tour and then I will be going with John's son Peter to a pub in Esbjerg for a few beer and to see if those Danish blonde girls really do exist :) ! We also managed to dig up a few old photos of Grandma and Grandpa from their last ... read more