Week 9

Alright, so we've been in Denmark two full months and in our apartment for exactly one month. We got the apartment settled enough to welcome two guest in the last two weeks, and to top it off, Nick traveled to Sweden and saw one of his best friends! We are really thankful for all our new experiences here and are thrilled to get to share them with our friends and family.

Week 9 started with Nick in Sweden for work and Heather taking care of stuff around the house in preparation for our second guest in Denmark. After spending the majority of the day on Monday and Tuesday cleaning and organizing, Heather and Bella decided it was time for a break and some fun. So, we headed out for a walk through town and some coffee! 

Bella loves hanging out in town people-watching

Yum coffee 

Picture from our walk through town

Nick was also enjoying his time in Stockholm. When he wasn't working, he was hanging out with one of his best friends, Doug, who also just relocated from Colorado. 

Doug checking out Stockholm with Nick

On Nick's return from Sweden, he met up with our second house guest at the airport in Copenhagen and they took the train together. After chatting up a friendly Dane who suggested some cool places to visit, the boys arrived home to Nyborg. 

Nick and Dave on the train to Nyborg

In anticipation of their arrival, Heather busied herself most of the day preparing goat cheese and sun-dried tomato stuffed chicken with a creme fresh pesto sauce and prosciutto-wrapped asparagus. 

Heather welcoming the boys home

After a delicious meal, good wine, and a lot of laughs, we retired for the night. 

The following day we showed Dave around town in the morning complete with a tasty Danish pastry. In the afternoon, we went on a porpoise cruise. Now, in our mind this would be a boat ride with porpoises swimming alongside the boat jumping in the air and showing off. In reality, it was a nice slow boat ride with the occasional sighting of a dorsal fin a hundred yards away. 

On the boat ready to see some porpoises 

It was fun nevertheless and the scenery was beautiful. It gave Nick a chance to practice his photography with his favorite subject, bridges: 

The Storebælt connecting the islands of Fyn and Sjelland

Art

After the porpoise cruise, we decided to head over to the Nyborg beach to beat the heat (it was about 90 degrees, virtually unheard of for this area). This time, we brought Bella along to see how she would like swimming in the sea. The answer: not a whole lot. In fact, we don't know if she even likes to swim, maybe she used to just swim in the lake to herd Brasco back to shore. 

Nick and Bella in the sea

Heather working up the courage to go in the water

Beach time didn't last long and soon we were off to dinner at a little Italian restaurant in town. After a very good meal, we headed back to the apartment to catch the sunset. 

Sunset over town

The following day with Bella in tow, we headed to Sjelland to check out the town of Slegelse and explore the island a bit. As recommended by the woman on the train, we stopped on the west coast to check out the beaches there. They are lovely white sand beaches that for some reason, are swarming with ladybugs. 

Family time at the beach

Millions of ladybugs coating every blade of grass in the area

Bella diggin' the car ride

After our adventure on Sjelland, we headed back to our island for refreshments and food. Nick joined in and had a glass of the Riesling that Dave brought up from Germany. It was a nice way to end our visit with Dave and we can't wait for him to come back with the wife and baby too! We ended our weekend with a lovely walk on the outside of Nyborg. The highlight of which was finding a little remote beach where we decided to take a dip in the sea!  

Our deserted island beach

Over the weekend (with Dave's help) we also got the grill converted to use euro gas tanks and Nick hung the very last light! Sunday night we enjoyed our first grilled meal before hitting the hay ready for the coming week.

Thanks G! 

Thanks Nicky! 

Week 8

Almost two months into our move and here are the major milestones we have hit: 

• Moved into the apartment
• Bought a car
• Got insurance: renters, automobile, & medical travel insurance
• Booked our first trip: Dubrovnik, get ready for the Guads in August
• Found tenants for the Illinois house (well we didn't technically find them the rental agency did, but we have them and that's what counts!)
• Welcomed our first guest

Wow, week 8 was a whirlwind! Nick of course worked during the week, but was able to come home on-time (according to the set Danish work hours) almost every day! Tuesday took Heather back to Odense to buy some indoor plants and the last light for the apartment. Well, maybe it's the last light. When winter comes and the sun only peeks it's head out for a few hours per day, we will determine if we need a few more overhead lights and lamps. 

On Wednesday morning, Nick stuck around the house until about 9:30 while the internet got installed (FINALLY, after about 3 weeks). Heather planted the indoor plants she purchased the day before and started cleaning to get ready for the impending arrival of the first visitor. On Wednesday night to celebrate finally having internet, we took a break from the gym and got pizza for dinner to enjoy while streaming Netflix. This will certainly not be a normal event, but both Heather and Nick relished in the laziness of the evening! It certainly didn't hurt that the pizza was extremely tasty either. 

Thursday, again with Nephew Andy's pending arrival the next day, Heather found the excuse and/or motivation to wash all the inside windows, the outside windows on the balcony, and the glass along the balcony railing. Boy were they dirty! The day was not all work though, Heather took a few breaks to enjoy a Skye call with her family in Idaho as well as a FaceTime call with a dear friend (all possible now that we finally have internet)!

Friday was another busy day for both of us. Nick was of course off to work, while Heather spent the morning working on our insurance claim for the few items that were damaged in the move and the afternoon shopping for and preparing dinner. 

Working on insurance claims isn't so bad if the view is this good.
Note the very clean glass on the balcony. So clean it's reflective! :)

Andy arrived late Friday evening and after a quick tour of the place, we all sat down to black bean cakes, guacamole, salsa, and cucumber corn salad. After dinner, we enjoyed the remainder of the wine while catching up on life. The only thing that would have made the night better was for Stacy to have been there too!

Dinner prep for Nephew's first night 

On Saturday after enjoying some coffee at home, we walked Andy through the town we now call home. 

Yay!!! Nephew!!!!!

Of course, we had to get him a Danish pastry and coffee, so that was our first stop! We took him to a little shop located in the pedestrian shopping area and enjoyed a relaxing morning of people watching and pastry eating at one of their outdoor tables. From there we pursued a few shops before taking a walk around the castle grounds. 

Pictures from our walk through town

Once we were good and hungry, Nick, Heather, and Andy, with a very happy Bella in tow, went to a restaurant for a traditional Danish meal of egg cake. This is something similar to a very fluffy egg and cheese omelet cooked in a cast iron skillet covered with cucumbers, tomatoes, chives, bacon, and pork rinds and served with a side of rye bread and mustard. The one delivered to us was HUGE! 

Are we supposed to finish all that?!

After we all ate too much, we decided it would be best to go back to the apartment of a bit and digest. Apartment time didn't last long though, and soon we were off to the Nyborg beach to enjoy the perfect weather we were having that day. Nick and Andy eagerly and bravely went directly into the water. Heather however watched from shore until she could muster up the courage to wade into the rather chilly water. After lying on the beach for a while and a bit of a walk around, we headed back to the apartment to shower and get ready for a light dinner. With Nephew to guide our way, we shared a large plate of sushi for dinner. Heather even tried (and liked) the salmon. After dinner, we stopped at the nearby ice cream shop to get a few scoops of the ice cream Nick and Heather had been raving about all day. 

It was wonderful visit, but unfortunately it had to end and early Sunday morning, we all loaded into the car to take Andy to the airport. After saying goodbye, Nick and Heather headed home to get ready for the day's adventure: kite-surfing. By about 11 am, we were practicing flying large kites on land to get used to controlling them with very small movements similar to how one would steer a bicycle. 

Nick flying the practice kite on land

After a bit of practice, we were ready to take to the water with the real kites. This required getting into the necessary gear, which to Heather's relief and Nick's displeasure included putting on wetsuits. After a lot of leg-hair pulling and not a few curse words, Nick was squeezed into his wetsuit and we were ready to go. An hour or more in the water learning the basics, our class got cut short because the wind had gotten too strong. Even with Nick hanging on to her and the kite in a low-power position, Heather was getting lifted up and dragged through the water. The kite-surfing will definitely be continued another day though. It seems like quite a fun, but challenging, hobby and from what our instructor said, Nyborg is one of the best places to kite-surf on the island.

Nick setting up his kite-surfing kite

Several kite-surfers were out enjoying the beautiful day

We took advantage of our unexpectedly free afternoon to take a long nap when we got home! Sunday naps may become a permanent fixture in our lives. 

Early Monday morning,  a jealous Heather dropped Nick off at the train station for a three-day trip to Sweden. She's not just jealous he is going to Stockholm; she's jealous that he is going to see Doug, who just moved out there from Colorado. Next time perhaps she'll go with, but this week she'll be busy getting ready for another guest!
   

Week 7

Seven weeks into our move and we are finally feeling pretty settled. By the end of the week, Heather was about done shopping and Nick was nearly finished hanging lights and completely done with pictures. This week, besides work, we took in some fireworks, found some time for true relaxation, and joined the local gym.While Nick worked during the week, Heather did a whole lot of shopping! She spent both Tuesday and Thursday in Odense buying things to get us settled in. We acquired a new vacuum (with super sucking strength), several new rugs (including a beautiful cow hide that Heather is in LOVE with and a rug to go under table in the dining area), an alarm clock (to get the dang cell phones out of the bedroom), and several plants and herbs for the balcony. On the non-shopping days, Wednesday and Friday, Heather found homes for the new purchases and potted several plants. She also thoroughly cleaned the apartment for the first time since moving in. 

Newly potted plants on the balcony
make our apartment feel like home to Heather

In the evenings during the week, Heather and Nick were busy hanging lights and getting the house into shape before our first visitor in Denmark, Nephew Andy, arrives next week for the weekend. 

Entry way with lights and pictures on the wall

It's starting to look more and more like home!

The week wasn't all about work though! Bella went for a few walks after dinner and we enjoyed some beautiful scenery! Heather stayed up late (about 10:45 pm) to watch the sunset on Wednesday night. 

Sunset over town - view from our bedroom window. 

On Friday morning, we (Nick and Heather, Bella stayed in bed) woke up just before 4 am and watched the sunrise together on the balcony. 

Watching the sunrise together on a silent July morning

After the work week, Nick and Heather unwound on Friday night at a festival in town called Open by Night. This year is the 19th year of this evening event and people come from all over the island to hang out, enjoy music and food, and shop an the stores which stay open well into the night. The evening is capped off by a firework show over the harbor. After wandering downtown through the throngs of people, listening to several different bands playing on what seems like every street corner, and trying out some food at one of the food stands set up for the occasion, Nick and Heather ventured back to the apartment (with ice cones in hand) to sit on the balcony and await the fireworks. 

Fireworks over the harbor - view from the balcony

After an impressive display of fireworks, which started at the stroke of midnight, we called it a night. The weekend brought a bit more shopping, but mostly relaxation. After buying a sound bar for the TV on Saturday morning and getting it all set up, Nick and Heather decided to test out the new electronics with a movie day. It was a much needed break from the hustle and bustle of the week!  

Relaxing afternoon on the couch with a movie was the perfect way to spend an overcast Saturday afternoon. 

On Sunday, Heather enjoyed a quiet morning planting her newly purchased carnivorous plants while Nick slept and slept and slept! Heather was quite pleased to find Nick sleeping so well. It's a key indicator that he feels comfortable and relaxed in their new home! At about 11 am when he finally awoke, Nick felt like a new, energized man. A man that was ready work. Nick busied himself installing door stops, hanging the remaining pictures, and installing the living room light. After all this work, it was time to play. So, we headed off with Bella for a walk. We went over to the undeveloped area of the harbor that our balcony overlooks. It has several trails through it and also leads to a small beach area that doesn't seem to be highly used. Unlike Brasco, Bella seemed a bit unsure about the water. She did quite enjoy the new scents though and we are sure she will decide to swim in the sea sometime (although it might take some coaxing from us)! 

Our newest carnivorous: a fly traps.
Hopefully they will eat the occasional bug that flies through our open windows 

With the weekend over, we awoke Monday refreshed and ready to take on another week! After work Monday, we joined the gym and worked out for the first time since moving from Illinois! It felt great! Heather is really looking forward to the yoga and pilates classes they offer too. We both feel settled in at the apartment and ready to get into a normal routine in our new life here!       

Week 6

Wow six weeks in and we are really happy we decided to embark on this adventure. That said, there have been some bittersweet moments, especially this week as we are reflecting on past Independence Days and the good times we have had with family and friends during 4th of July festivities. We certainly missed the family party and BBQ we undoubtedly would have been either attending or hosting had we still lived in Illinois.  

Week 6 began with Nick heading to Switzerland to work out of the company's Heerburgg office for three days. Heather had big plans for the week as well. Oh wait, she's unemployed. On Tuesday, Heather had an opportunity to tag along on a friend's trip to Germany to stock up on groceries and household items. Because tax in Germany is much lower, it is not uncommon for Danes to take a trip across the boarder to load up on goods, specifically electronics, candy, and liquor. Heather's friend, Michaela, kindly showed Heather around Flensberg. She showed her the locations of several good shops, grocery stores, pharmacy, hardware store, electronics store, etc. in case she needs go back by herself. She also took Heather to TK Maxx (TJ Maxx to you Americans). After getting the majority of items crossed off of their shopping lists, Heather and Michaela decided to duck out of the rain and enjoy lunch at a cafe near the center of the pedestrian shopping area. After relaxing for a bit, enjoying a coffee and waiting for the rain to subside, they were ready to power through the rest of their list. Running in and out of shops and weaving their way through the streets while staying under as many awnings as possible, they got everything crossed off without getting too drenched. With a full car, they headed back to Denmark late in the afternoon. Upon arrival back in Odense, Heather loaded up her car with her purchases of a new clothes drying rack, an iron, and a small suitcase for Nick to use on 2-day trips (which are the usual now that we've moved) and headed back to the apartment for her first night alone at the new home without her sweetie.

The following day brought excitement for Bella. She got to accompany Heather to the trash transfer site to unload some empty boxes, broken furniture, and some old blinds left by the previous tenant. After that they went to meet a new friend: the vet! Have no fear, nothing is wrong, we just wanted to meet the new doc before we needed to do so in an emergency, get some more medicine, and talk about what kinds of preventative treatments we need to give Bella. The best news of the day was that Bella doesn't need Heartguard anymore. Now this isn't good news because it's less expensive or because it is a pain to remember it once a month, it's good news because it means there are virtually no mosquitoes here to give her heart worm! What a very nice change from Illinois (or McCall)! Following the vet, Bella took Heather to explore the town and wander through the castle grounds. After Bella's tour, they went back to the apartment to organize some more.

Thursday brought another very unique Danish experience for Heather. Heather drove to the International Immigration office in Odense to register her address and pick out a doctor, thus completing the steps for her Danish Residency. Upon arrival, she was told that in addition to her residency permit, marriage license and lease, she also needed to have a copy of Nick's permit because her permit is dependent on his. She was sent packing without registering, but the silver lining was that she was told she could register in Nyborg. This meant she would not have to drive all the way back to Odense, through the construction AND the traffic associated with them shutting a major artery of the city down to turn it into a pedestrian zone. So, after collecting Nick's additional paperwork, Heather headed back to the government offices. This time, she was allowed to complete her paperwork and select a primary care doctor (choosing a doctor means looking at a list of names with no other information aside from their sex and picking one), but was told that her residency would not be completed until Nick signed a letter stating it is agreeable for Heather to live at their apartment. Even though Heather could prove she was Nick's wife (via a copy of their marriage certificate from the City and County of Denver) and her name is on the apartment lease along with Nick's, the government still apparently needs Nick to officially allow her to live in our home. The reason for this was explained to Heather that because she didn't have a job, her permit was reliant on Nick's permit and because she had no income, they needed to ensure Nick was willing to cover her expenses, such as housing. Our best guess is that this is due to Denmark's strict immigration policy along with their numerous "free social services." The government needs to ensure immigrants will not be a huge drain on their economy and their taxpayers. The day only got better from there though. Heather went grocery shopping for the following day's grilling festivities and Nick came home from Switzerland with a very full box of Swiss Truffles!   

Independence Day for us Americans in Denmark was low key. Nick worked from home, partially because he just got back from a 3 day trip but mostly because our TV was getting delivered. Unless we paid extra to have an item delivered inside the home, deliveries come to the parking lot or the street outside the house. So when the delivery truck arrived, Nick went to the parking lot and brought the new TV upstairs. About that same time, we got a message that our dining table was ready to be picked up at the store in Odense. Good way to celebrate the 4th in my opinion! What American doesn't love getting new things (especially mondo TVs, hah)?! After his work day was over, (about 3pm an hour later than the official Danish hours,) Nick and Heather headed out to shop for an entertainment center and pick up the dining room table. We were successful at one and fell a bit short on the other. The table, no matter how we tried it would just not quite fit into the Volvo. We did find a suitable entertainment center and got it ordered, and, as a bonus, got a much needed coffee maker and an air-popper popcorn machine. 

Yay!! Coffee

We decided we would have to borrow a work truck over the weekend to get the table home. With a little disappointment, we decided to head home to barbecue, until we looked at the time that is. Somehow it was already 6pm! So, instead of grilling burgers and corn on the cobb, Nick and Heather settled for their favorite Vietnamese take out (saving the Independence Day meal for a day they could actually take the time to relax and enjoy the barbecuing process)! 

On Saturday, after we enjoyed coffee from our new coffee maker, we had every intention getting our chores done in the morning and heading into town in the afternoon for a Renaissance-type festival, Danhof, happening at the castle. We (meaning Nick) successfully hung and wired our first light! 

New electrical wiring scheme

1st light up in the new apartment

After that, we went to his office to pick up the work van that would enable us to successfully get our table home. We had to fold down the passenger side seat in the front, but we got it in. Upon arriving home and getting all three boxes up into the apartment, we realized that one of the three boxes did not in fact belong to us, or to our table. So, back Nick went to the store to get the right box and then to the office to drop off the work truck in exchange for our car. By the time we had our table put together, the entire day was gone. Amazing how slow the day can seem to go when at work, but how quickly it goes over the weekend! We promised the next day we would go out and enjoy ourselves! 

Sunday came and that's just what we did. After enjoying our morning coffee on the balcony, Nick, Heather and Bella set off for the market that was set up as part of Danehof. Danehof is a large festival held in Nyborg each year on the first weekend of July. The two-day event is a recreation of what the town was like during Danhoffet when the Danish king would meet with his parliament at the castle. This took place during the Middle Ages between the early 1200s to the mid 1400s. This meeting brought people throughout the country to Nyborg and activities such as jousting tournaments, markets, and other entertainment prevailed. 

The market is set up just outside the church in the center of town

After pursing the market and purchasing some delicious sausage from a butcher located in nearby Ørbæk, we checked out the other stalls peppered all around the castle grounds before landing at a coffee shop for some lattes and a sweetie. We shared a cake sort of similar to a strawberry shortcake with a layer of mascarpone. After our treat, we headed back to home to get our master bedroom set up. After Nick hung our pictures and our light, the bedroom was complete!

Our little sanctuary

Later in the afternoon, we headed back out to Danehof to take in some sort of knights' battle with 3 men on each team hitting each other with swords. We had very little clue what was going on or who won, but it was a beautiful warm day and we had fun. 

We ended our Sunday by finally grilling our 4th of July burgers and corn before heading off for a bike ride through town. Unfortunately, all good days must come to and end and with the end of this day came the end of the weekend. Monday took Nick back to work while Bella got a bath and Heather got all hairy. 

A very unhappy, but CLEAN puppy!