Week 10

Week 10 was one of celebration for us! Not only did we enjoy really good food and wine (this is always something to be commemorated in our book), but we celebrated our 8 year anniversary and took our first family trip to Germany!

The week started as usual with Nick working and Heather doing whatever it is she does during the day...mostly it seems like this is cooking, grocery shopping, cleaning, and a bit of relaxing. On Tuesday though, she spent the day in one of her favorite ways: grocery shopping and cooking for sweet hubby. After Nick's long day at work and then a quick trip to the gym, we got to enjoy a very tasty meal of quinoa fritters with an almond aglio olio sauce and a salad of cucumber and corn with a cilantro lime dressing topped with parmesan. Yum, thank you Pintrest!   

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On Wednesday, we celebrated our 8 year anniversary. Boy, how quickly the time has flown! It seems like just yesterday we were in Colorado saying our vows and celebrating the day with our wonderful families and friends. Now we are celebrating half way across the world on this crazy adventure of ours!  

We were rewarded for our 8 blessed years together with clean windows! This is really something to see. The window washers repel from the roof of the apartment building washing a bank of windows on each floor before lowering themselves down to the next window. Heather is highly considering this as a job opportunity! 

Repel down a building, and get paid? Sign me up!

The clean windows weren't the only gift though. On his way home, the ever spoiling Nick bought a beautiful bouquet of flowers for his sweet. 

We continued the celebration with dinner out at a nearby Spanish restaurant overlooking the harbor. It is a good thing the view and company were so interesting, because the food left much to be desired. We made up for it with a decadent dessert from the local bakery though. We shared a very large, very tasty tart with just the prefect amount of flakiness in the crust and a rich cream filling topped with fresh strawberries. All in all, it was a lovely evening and a happy anniversary.     

The rest of the week was fairly low key, work, gym, dinner and bed. Repeat. Friday evening, we spent some time online looking for a destination for our weekend's excursion to Germany. We settled on heading towards Lübeck, Germany in the northernmost state of Schleswig-Holstein. The next morning we were off with Bella in tow to explore northeastern Germany. 

Bella loves family road trips, especially in the spacious V40! 

After about 3 hours of a beautiful and diverse scenery, ranging from fields and hilltopped forests to old towns and beaches, Heather spotted a castle in what looked like a quaint little town called Plön. We decided to pull off the road and check it out. The town is situated on the shore of largest lake in the Schleswig-Holstein region, the Great Plön Lake, and is surrounded on virtually all sides by that lake as well as on several smaller lakes. The Plön Castle is a 17th century chateau overlooking the town and the Great Plön Lake.

The castle that caught Heather's eye  

Tree-lined walkway leading to the castle

Raspberry mousse with German chocolate cake
and a nice dry reisling. That's the way to vacation!

The Great Plön Lake from castle grounds

View of town from the castle grounds

Love, love, love the small alleyways hiding
little outdoor eating areas and shops 

The town was so cute, we decided to forgo our trip to Lübeck (at least for now) and stay nearby. After driving around the shores of the lake, we came across a the very small town of Bosau. We stopped at a little hotel that gave us a reservation, dog and all, with no problem. The room was much better than we were hoping for. It included a balcony with views of the lake and across that, the town and castle of Plön.  

Lovely views from the room

Both Nick & Bella quickly found spots to relax!

After unwinding, Nick, Heather, and Bella went to find some nourishment. (Note: in Germany it is very common to bring your dog basically everywhere and they are welcome as long as they stay quiet and behave. Unlike the US and Denmark, dogs are also allowed inside of restaurants as well and are typically trained from a young age to lie right underneath the table at the owner's feet. Many restaurants will bring out a bowl or water for the dog, just as they would bring you a glass of water.) We stumbled upon an Italian restaurant with authentic Sicilian food. It was delicious and we left with very full bellies and sadly, no room for ice cream. Before turning in for the night, we decided to walk through the little town of Bosau. We found some very lovely, well maintained gardens, as well as some large beach areas with nice sandy shores. 

On Sunday morning, we walk through the woods near Bosau along a wandering trail we noticed when we drove into town. After that, we had one more quick stop to make in the town of Plön before heading towards home. We NEEDED spaghetti eis. What in the world is spaghetti eis you may ask. Well, it is, hands down, the BEST ice cream sundae ever! It starts with layer of whipped cream, this is covered in its entirety with a large mound of vanilla ice cream that is pushed through a spätzle press to come out in long strings like spaghetti. Fresh strawberry syrup is generously poured over the top and shaved white chocolate is sprinkled on top.  

Is it spaghetti, is it ice cream? No, it's spaghetti eis!! 

For some reason, unbeknownst to us, this has not caught on world-wide. So anytime we are in Germany, we make sure to get it at least once, if not once a day! After lunch (it covers enough of the food groups to be considered that, right?!) we headed back for Nyborg relaxed and happy. 

Monday took Nick back to work while Heather checked out dog boarding locations to take Bella to while we vacation for a week in Dubrovnik, Croatia. Around noon, Heather meet a wife of Nick's co-worker who relocated from Australia at the beginning of the year. What was planned as a short lunch before grocery shopping and picking Nick up at 4, ended with Nick calling Heather at about 4:30 saying, where are you?  Heather had completely lost track of time and was still sitting there chatting with Tanya. Oops! How time flies when you are having fun!   

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!