Denmark — ca. 2009
As a child growing up in a Central European family, my parents had plenty of vacation days, but not necessarily the financial means to go on overseas trips with 3 kids. So every fall, spring, and summer school break was spent in our camper, driving to different parts of Europe. We went to Tuscany, Venice, Côte d’Azur, Paris, Bretagne, the Netherlands, Germany and many other places. Usually, my mom and dad would choose the destination based on the weather, distance and whether there were enough activities for us kids not to get too bored. After plenty of time spent in Southern Europe, one summer the choice landed on Denmark.
When my brother, sister and I return from our respective scout camps in the middle of July, the caravan is already parked in front of our apartment building. My dad is busy fixing the bicycles on the back of the car. My mom immediately proceeds to wash the clothes we kids took to camp and my brother, sister and I receive packing lists to prepare for the 4-week vacation. Since this is not our first camping trip, we all know the drill and run up and down the 2 flights of stairs carrying bags stuffed with clothes, toiletries, and books. Dedicated sets of cutlery, a grill, towels, cleaning supplies and board games are stored in the caravan all year round to make the process a little easier.
Once everything is put away in its respective cabinet, I help mom, who’s preparing the snacks for the next day’s early departure. As always, we will be having a selection of sandwiches (salami, ham or cheese with mayo and pickles), different flavours of potato chips, and some fruits. We pack all of it into 2 square cooling bags and place them behind the driver seats before going to bed early. After all, the departure time is set for 6am the next day. My mom sets up the GPS, my dad drives and my brother, sister and I are back asleep before we even reach the highway taking us north. Our first destination is Goslar in central Germany, where we are visiting a family whom we’ve met on a campground in Italy a few years ago.
Conveniently located about halfway along the way to Denmark, we enjoy a 2 or 3 night stay in their house to break up the drive. We get to know the family friends at a BBQ, visit the impressive Rammelsberg Mine nearby and hear some interesting anecdotes about the time during which Germany was split into east & west. Since we are still in German-speaking territory, my sister and I use the opportunity to stack up on reading goods. We put together our pocket money and buy some popular magazines like “Bravo”, “Popcorn” and “Mädchen”. Meanwhile my parents exchange Swiss Francs to Danish Krones and then we’re ready for the adventure. Neither of us have ever ventured further north than Germany and there is much to explore.
We finally say farewell to our friends and after another 6-hour drive, we arrive at the campground close to Billund. While the city itself doesn’t have much to offer, my mom included this destination so we can visit the original LEGOLAND. We end up spending 2 days exploring the park with its impressive monuments and full-on worlds built with nothing but Lego. My personal highlight is the “Dragon” rollercoaster in the world “Knight’s Kingdom”. Both my brother and I just can’t get enough of it and even tho I loose my sun hat on the 3rd go, we ask our dad to join us again and again.
The main focus of the rest of the vacation is nature. For our next destination, my parents find a campground directly on the shore of a fjord somewhere in the center of the country. We are generously given a spot right at the water and set up the caravan with the eating table facing the huge Viking boat on the other side of the wide lake. During the next week or so, we occasionally take our 2 rubber dinghies out on the water. Once, my sister causes a scene when she notices a centipede crawling around next to her feet. She screams and stops paddling, so with only me trying to move us, we suddenly go in circles in the middle of the lake. Finally, I too stop paddling, remove the insect and after a few moments, my sister calms down. Meanwhile, my dad successfully caught a fish for the first time here. So when everyone is back on land, we grill the fish along with the sausages we bought at the supermarket earlier.
Leaving the fjords behind, we then head further north to the very tip of mainland Denmark. We stay close to Skagen for a few days, where we enjoy cycling around the dunes and most importantly visit the famous site where the North Sea and the Baltic Sea meet. When walking along the beach in Grenen, see the waves from the two seas collide — they crash into each other from different directions. It creates a visible line in the water, like two different patterns or colors of waves mixing but not fully blending. The phenomenon is quite rare in Europe. Unfortunately, it also means that we are not allowed to swim here, since the waves are too strong. Instead, we watch the cute seals hanging out at the beach.
Then it’s time to slowly go back south again. Along the way, we stopp a few more times, for example in the city of Esbjerg. Here we visit the pretty old town, as well as the Fisheries and Maritime Museum. It features exhibits on Danish fishing and shipping history, a large saltwater aquarium, and daily seal feedings. The outdoor area includes reconstructed fishing huts and a maritime-themed playground. Given the remote location of our final destination in Denmark, we stock up on provisions for the next days. Even at that time, supermarket tourism is one of my favourite activities abroad. I use the opportunity to pick up a few Danish words too. Interestingly, some words are quite close to German, like “Kartoffler” which is “Kartoffel” in standard German.
From Esbjerg, we head to Rømø. The small island off the North Sea coast is part of the Wadden Sea National Park. It’s connected to the mainland by a narrow causeway and famous for Lakolk Beach, which is one of the widest sandy beaches in Europe. Our campground for the night is not too far from there, but we still take advantage of the option to drive your car right onto the sand. Due to the strong wind, Lalok Beach is also popular with kite surfers and kite flying. We also give the latter a try while watching the sunset and have a blast. The next day, we circle the island to see the thatched roofs of the traditional buildings.
And then it’s finally time to head home. We quickly stop in Bremen on the way to give my dad a break from driving, and for us kids to see the statue of the famous statue from the fairytale “The Musicians of Bremen”. But my personal highlight upon returning to Germany is to be able to listen to the hits on the radio, which are more similar to what’s played at home. Then, when we actually return home and finish all the unpacking, I close the door to my room and am alone for the first time in 6 weeks. Both during the 2 weeks of summer camp and the camping trip, I shared a sleeping space with my friends, brother, and sister. As always, it feels a bit weird to sleep by myself in the first night – but maybe it’s also the thought of having to go back to school in 2 days…
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