Hein
and I are flying to Denmark this evening after 11 pm.
7h15: Aqua class at Virgin Active. Our friend Mikaela’s 50th birthday
… she asked Julia (our instructress) if she could bring bubbly and sweets. Balloons and paper garlands were hung and
bubbly, choc balls and cookies were placed around the aqua pool. We had a great class, sung ‘happy birthday’
and then I showered and dressed.
Our
girls, Sammy & Minx haven’t been to a ‘cat hotel’ in years, so I first
drove past the vet for their injections.
Driving to Katmandu Cattery is nerve-racking, cause the kids meow and
the last bit of road in Lammermoor is yucky.
But they were safely booked in.
Bought
a few last-minute things at the shops and packed our bags. 1 x ‘suitcase on wheels’ for on-board luggage,
1 x duffel bag for ‘check in luggage’.
Hein
worked in Midrand and got stuck in serious highway traffic … it took Hein 2
hours from Midrand to Allandale offramp.
Arrived home at 7pm, ate a sandwich, packed a few things and we phoned
Uber for a ride to OR Tambo.
Although
we arrived at the airport around 8pm, we ‘shrink-wrapped’ our ‘check in
luggage’ and went to the business lounge.
What a pleasure! Tables and chair
to eat at … extremely comfortable chairs and ottomans for your feet. The food is amazing … different desserts,
(hahaha notice I mention it first), a fabulous tomato soup with amazing choux
puffs filled with creamy cheese, breads, cold meats, fruit, drinks, etc. It was nice to just relax and realized that
we’re nearly on our way. I wore my small
bright-yellow Dutch clogs’ earrings.
Boarding
the KLM plane just before 11pm – now this was only my 2nd trip
overseas (the last trip was to England in 1999!) – so I was super excited but
really apprehensive over the late flight.
Seated and suddenly they announced:
‘Alma Pretorius … is Alma Pretorius on board’ …. Wait, what??? Did I drop my passport or something? Their machine wasn’t sure if I was on
board. Wow, that was a bit weird.
After
take-off, we settled in our seats. (Hein at window, me in the center) I had my
blow-up pillow, earplugs and sleeping mask …
and then KLM served dinner. At
midnight!!!! A cute little cardboard box
with Dutch decorations, a chicken wrap, cubed cheese and Provitas, small salad
and a caramel-cream dessert. Both of
us managed some sleep … on and off.
Tuesday 24 October 2017
By
6 am (only halfway to Schiphol airport Amsterdam), we were gasping for some
coffee. I suppose we could have asked
for some, but were too shy (?). At 8am
they served breakfast (pork sausage, scrambled eggs, tomato and potato cubes in
tomato relish. AND COFFEE!
Around
11am we landed at Schiphol airport. Wow,
what a fabulous airport! Since our
lay-over was only for an hour, we walked around a bit, looking at all the Dutch
food, souvenirs and décor. At the
business lounge, I changed clothes, freshened up a bit and changed my earrings
to Denmark earrings. Not a lot of food
choices in the lounge, but I did loooove the little spiced cookies at the coffee
station
Boarding
KLM again, Hein managed to snag a seat at the emergency exit with leg
space. Flight to Billund airport,
Denmark only about 2 hours. A little
cardboard box with cheese sandwich, Dutch sugar cookie and water was handed
out.
Billund
Airport – exchanged our Euros for Krone and waited for the bus to Kolding, our
destination. With a woman bus driver,
the trip was just over 1 hour, but the route was so scenic! Autumn leaves and trees all over, green grass
and small villages. By now, we seriously
needed matches to keep our eyes open … but we were in Denmark!!!
First
Hotel Kolding (https://www.firsthotels.dk/hoteller/danmark/kolding/first-hotel-kolding/) – what a fabulously
situated hotel …. Right on the square opposite the train station. Booked into our room (222) and although real
basic, the room had a separate bathroom (shower, toilet, sink, iron and ironing
board), 2 single beds together (king-size bed) but hahaha … only 2 single
duvets (or they call it quilts) – NOT 1 KING SIZE … anyway.
A desk to work at, a comfy chair, doors that
open to the inside hotel courtyard facing the other rooms and ample hanging
space for clothes … not so many packing space.
But I managed. When you enter the
room with your hotel card, you then insert it next to the door inside the room
and that somehow ‘operates’ the lights.
Pull the card out – no lights. AND
THE BEST THING … a coffee machine! Using
coffee pods – and not medium coffee strength … DARK! Woohoo!!!!
Unpacked
everything and had a nice nap. At 7pm we
met Hein’s client at Mokka Café (https://www.tripadvisor.co.za/Restaurant_Review-g227599-d1082556-Reviews-The_Mokka_Cafe-Kolding_South_Jutland_Jutland.html) – weather was coldish (no rain) and what a
pleasure to walk to the restaurant (about 10 minutes away).
Wednesday 25 October 2017
6h30
am – we were awake and it was still pitch dark outside. Had some of this yummy machine coffee and
opened the doors for fresh air. 8h30 we
showered, dressed and entered the hotel dining room for breakfast. Goodness, what a spread!!! A few different breads to slice, small buns,
various fresh Danish pastries, gluten free crisp bread (wasn’t so nice), really
good cinnamon crisp, thin, round ‘cookies’.
There were a few cheese choices, cold ham choices and PATE! Gosh the pate was yummy! Cereals, different yoghurt choices, fresh
fruits, dried fruits and nuts, filter coffee in pots and tea/Chai tea on a
counter.
Hot
choices were sausages, really firm scrambled eggs, baked beans and really
crispy bacon. There’s also a hot covered
tray with soft-boiled eggs in the shell … quite interesting. A bubbly lady – Bilma – chatted to us. I sampled a few of the interesting items,
Hein had most of the hot choices and delicious fresh bread! And more coffee of course.
Since
this was a business trip, Hein worked in the hotel room. Now Wi-Fi is free in the hotel (and most
restaurants/coffee shops – you just ask for a code). But since my phone’s roaming wasn’t active,
it meant that if I leave the hotel … Hein couldn’t reach me.
So
I took to the streets. First I walked to
the 7-11 shop (inside the train station) and just browsed at all the goodies,
checking the prices. Further up the
street was a Netto grocery store … what a pleasure to walk around and check the
interesting goodies and prices. The
exchange is 1 krone to 2.3 rands. It
started to rain but luckily, I had an emergency plastic raincoat so I quickly
walked back to the hotel. Sat in the
hotel foyer, chatted to Bilma (she told me about a few nice dinner places) and
read on my IPad while checking the weather outside.
Glancing
outside around 11h30, I saw the sun!
Quickly packed away my IPad and
walked up and down the close-by streets of Kolding. Quite a few interesting clothes shops –
outside a shop they had ‘bargain rails’ and I saw a jean labelled ‘Alma – Super
Slim’. I didn’t buy it.
Hein
had a Skype business call in the hotel room till about 13h30 … so I popped in
to tell him I’m down at the hotel foyer.
Asking the receptionist for a nearby lunch place, he recommended ‘Brød’ (http://cafebrod.dk/?lang=en) – a
sandwich coffee shop. Oh my goodness,
what a charming little place. Warm
décor, fake fur (well, I think they were fake) on bench seats and quite a
selection of sandwiches to choose from.
Hein chose a Danish chicken salad open sandwich … it was really
yum. I chose a pickled Mackerel open
sandwich … delicious!!
After that delicious sandwich lunch, we
relaxed in the hotel room. Late the
afternoon we sat in the hotel dining room next to the big windows … it’s just
sooo interesting watching the people walk by (or cycle – it’s quite popular)
and most of the private taxi’s are station wagons. I popped over to the Train Station 7-11 and
bought a Ben & Jerry Cookie Dough Ice Cream Sandwich!! Yeah!!!
When I read a chick-book, the girls who are dumped ALWAYS eat Ben &
Jerry ice cream. I wasn’t dumped, but
now at least I can relate to the ice cream …. It was quite delicious! On my Samsung Health app I walked over 6 km’s
during the day.
Bilma, the friendly lady in the dining room,
recommended an Italian restaurant for dinner.
A buffet. Luckily the hotel
receptionist booked a table for us at 7pm – we were meeting a friend for
dinner. Strolling the streets to Nicolai
Café (https://www.tripadvisor.co.za/Restaurant_Review-g227599-d1140394-Reviews-Nicolai_Cafe-Kolding_South_Jutland_Jutland.html), it was coldish but bearable. Arriving
at the Nicolai Café, we realized the local movies open into the café.
Once again, only 1 waiter and 1 waitress …
place was busy! A few tables had groups
of between 5 and 10 people. Yet service
was quite good.
The Italian buffet was impressive – at 118
krone per person it had: 2 different
pizza’s (thin crust and crispy), 3 different pastas, crostini’s with topping,
salads, fresh bread, shrimp cocktails, salmon, olives, artichokes, cold meats,
cheeses, etc. What a feast!!!
When we walked into the café and saw the
movie posters, we noticed the 1 poster - ‘Arlette’ – standing in queue to pay after our
delicious meal, the movie doors opened and people streamed out! There were quite a few flower bouquets and
the waiter explained that this movie ‘Arlette’ is an autobiography of a French
Jewish lady who was detained at the end of the Second World War to Auschwitz
concentration camp. She had her camp
number tattooed on her forearm. For 40
years Arlette never talked about her ordeal … but then started to give talks, a
book was released and 2 movies, the latest being ‘Arlette’.
Arlette Andersen is 93 … and while we’re
waiting for the stream of people to pass in the café, this short white-haired
lady stood right next to me. (Pity I
didn’t realize then exactly who she was … only Googled it afterwards). Right next to me!!!!! Wow, what a privilege.
Thursday 26 October 2017
So much for sleeping late … 6h30 – pitch dark
outside and nice cool weather. Wanting
to brush our teeth, lights are not working.
But the plugs worked … phoned reception and informed them … got a
brainwave, switched the hotel cards (that we had to plug in the wall for the
lights) and it worked. Yay!
Drinking coffee (good coffee) in bed,
chatting, relaxing and went to breakfast at about 8. Had a lovely breakfast, but when I walked
quickly out of the hotel, I realized my clothes were not ‘weather-fit’. I changed my clothes for the cool weather and
off I went.
First I walked all around the Lake Slottsøen … all the Autumn trees are just lovely,
bushes with bright red berries and ducks and swans gliding over the water. At one stage I had to detour through houses
to reach the other side of the lake.
There’s also a Koldinghus castle right next to the lake and lovely
modern apartments where Hein’s team stays when in Kolding.
From the lake I walked again through some streets lined with shops
and restaurants but ventured further over a canal. Walked into Café Klein (https://www.tripadvisor.co.za/Restaurant_Review-g227599-d3435481-Reviews-Cafe_Klein-Kolding_South_Jutland_Jutland.html) for coffee
and cake (and free Wi-Fi). A very
intriguing cake caught my attention: a
Lagkage (birthday layer cake).
It’s a
layered cake with different variations according to your taste … this version
had sponge cake, tiramisu cream, raspberry jam and macaroons on top. It was delish!!!!! With a strong black coffee. I sms’d Hein for an update and decided I’ll
meet him back at the hotel for lunch.
When we planned our dinner at Nicolai Café, I downloaded a map on my
phone … with a few other places marked on it.
So now I pulled out my phone, saw the location of Café Klein and could
navigate my way easily back to the hotel.
If I was lost, I would have just ask anybody the way to the train
station.
I ordered a Turkish tea, Hein a beer and then we ordered a platter to share. Flatbread with 3 dips were served first and wow, those dips! Our platter had 1 beef kebab, 1 chicken kebab and 1 lamb kebab (so yummy). Also some rotary meat (schwarma), more flatbread, chips, rice, veggies and a meatball. Everything was really really good. You can see the BBQ area (they use charcoal) and the way they prepare the meat. On paying, the guy told us that on Friday and Saturday nights, they have a buffet for 168 krone.
Walking back, we passed this toy shop. Last year Hein bought me a box of Lego’s from
this shop – from a 60+ lady and she was really helpful in choosing the
Lego’s. Hein told her it will be for
earrings … she told him he must post a picture on their shop’s Facebook
page. Which Hein did after I created my
earrings, ring and brooch from Lego’s.
So I wasn’t wearing my Lego accessories but had it in my
handbag. Walked into the shop, started
to talk to the young girl behind the counter, but the next moment this same 60+
lady walked from the back to the shop and said to Hein: I remember you! You bought Lego’s for your wife as earrings
and you posted a picture on Facebook.
My goodness, she remembered Hein after a year! Hein introduced me and I showed her my
accessories.
For the rest of the afternoon, we read and rest in the hotel
room. Walking after 6pm through the
streets a light drizzle was falling. A
Hungary restaurant caught our eye and we walked into Budapest restaurant (https://www.tripadvisor.co.za/Restaurant_Review-g227599-d4322117-Reviews-Budapest_Restaurant_Steakhouse-Kolding_South_Jutland_Jutland.html) . Quite a few people already and the décor once
again so cosy. Only 1 person behind the
bar and serving the tables. Amazing.
Looking at the menu, we decided on a garlic-cheese-basil pesto
flatbread as starter. Goulash soup as
main for me and steak with crispy bacon, lots of cubed potatoes and a fabulous
boozy creamy mushroom sauce for Hein.
Everything was just delicious.
Hein had some house wine with it.
Walking out later, it was still drizzling, but we thought we’ll visit the Irish Pub for a drink. I decided on a cappuccino, but the barman was a bit clueless. He fiddled with the coffee machine and brought me a black coffee .. a very very very strong black coffee! Whew … I managed about half of it. Hopefully I won’t be awake all night. Pub was quiet, but everyone is always just so friendly. Back at the hotel room, I checked my Samsung Health App and a personal best: I walked 8.14 km!!!! Woohoo.
Walking out later, it was still drizzling, but we thought we’ll visit the Irish Pub for a drink. I decided on a cappuccino, but the barman was a bit clueless. He fiddled with the coffee machine and brought me a black coffee .. a very very very strong black coffee! Whew … I managed about half of it. Hopefully I won’t be awake all night. Pub was quiet, but everyone is always just so friendly. Back at the hotel room, I checked my Samsung Health App and a personal best: I walked 8.14 km!!!! Woohoo.
Friday 27 October 2017
Our last full day in Kolding! So
sad! A train trip somewhere is in
order. Hein had a Skype call just after
lunch, so we decided against going to Copenhagen (about 2 ½ hours’ train drive)
and went to Aarhus (the 2nd biggest town in Denmark) for a 1 ½ hour
train trip. On the train they have free
Wi-Fi (if you have a monthly train card) and between the seats power lugs for
your cellphone.
Looking out the window was just amazing … passing farms, green lands, muddy (very muddy) fields, another lake on the other side with sailboats and quite a few stations (I think 8). The train stations are announced as well as on a screen. Arriving at Aarhus station … it’s a mall! There are all kinds of shops, a McDonalds, restaurants, fashion shops, toy shops …
At
Emery’s we stopped for coffee … it’s a little bakery with the most delectable
goodies on display! The Danish version
of sweetie pies are ‘Flødeboller’
(chocolate covered marshmallow fluff balls) – and cappu.
The homemade ‘sweetie pie’ version is
delicious! Walked around a bit, saw an
accessory shop (similar to our Lovinas) and just as expensive!
Out of the
station and you feel like you’re in the center of town. Just walk down the street and shops are lined
on both sides. A few small ‘food trucks’
in the center and we both decided: it’s
hot dog time! When Hein visited Denmark
last year, he couldn’t stop talking about their hot dogs. The different kinds of ‘vienna’ is heated,
the bun sliced on the side and then wrapped in a paper bag. From the top - different kinds of sauce bottles hang and is
squirted into the top of the bread roll … and then the Vienna is pushed into
the center.
Hein opted
for a normal one with little bit of mustard and tomato sauce. I had mustard, tomato sauce, some creamy
sauce, extra onions and some gherkins – mine was fantastic!!!!! I popped into a few stores, looking for some
‘earring possibilities’ but didn’t find any.
A chocolate shop caught my eye and I had a look at their display … and
saw something interesting:
Lakrids
chocolate … a flat piece of licorice covered in dark chocolate. (Apparently Denmark has a particular love for
licorice.) The company Lakrids has the
only handmade licorice in the world! And
I had a piece in my hand … yes, I did buy it!
Tasted it and really quite enjoyed it.
Actually
it had my head spinning thinking maybe at home I can buy black licorice and
coat it in chocolate …
It was
time to head back to the Aarhus train station.
Denmark has such amazing buildings … mostly old-fashioned. ½ hour from Kolding train station, people
boarded the train and there seemed to be a problem … we watched in confusion …
it seemed the new people actually booked certain seats on the train! But people have taken their seats. And lo and behold … we were also guilty. I was just livid! Why the heck could the ticket office not
warned us? We walked to the back of the
train, but there were no seats!
Ughh. So for 30 minutes I sat on
a hard step … not impressed at all.
At the
hotel Hein went to the hotel room for his conference call … and once again I
walked around the streets – this time really looking for some key-ring for
myself. After an hour or so, I walked into another coffee shop ‘Two Maidens’ (https://www.tripadvisor.co.za/Restaurant_Review-g227599-d6898463-Reviews-Two_Maidens-Kolding_South_Jutland_Jutland.html) .
Browsed the display shelves and saw a yummy Raspberry tart.
I removed my jacket (the shops are really so
hot inside), sat down next to the window overlooking the cobblestone street and
enjoyed every single bite of this tart-but-sweet-and-buttery-pastry pie
slice. With delicious black coffee. Asked for Wi-Fi password, sms’d Hein and then
walked a few more streets before I returned to the hotel.
Wanting
to have something special for our last Denmark night, we decided on Munken … a
fine dining restaurant. Now as usual, I
did look at the menu … but somehow focused on Hein and his love for steak. Seated in a booth, we looked at the menu and
realized … there’s really nothing ‘yummy’ for me. Everything sounded ‘ordinary’. Walked out and decided to go to Naz BBQ for
their buffet.
The
restaurant was busy … people were chatting and laughing … wine glasses clinked
and the smell of BBQ was intoxicating!
Sitting down, we ordered drinks and started filling our plates … my
goodness, the variety of Turkish foods displayed were mouthwatering!
Baby marinated eggplants were sliced on the
side and filled with minced herb meat, hummus, a delicious tomato-ish relish,
sour cream, spinach salad, Greek salad, Dolmades (rice leaves filled with
rice), marinated (and very pink) beetroot, gherkins, flatbread triangles with
mince, chips, beef kebabs, chicken kebabs, lamb kebabs (all covered under a
flat bread to keep warm), baked eggplants filled with mince and baked in a
tomato sauce, bell peppers cooked in sauce and chicken drumsticks on yellow
rice with cashews.
I
had tiny bites of nearly every dish, but my favourites were the hummus, the
flatbreads, the tomato relish, the Dolmades, the marinated and baked eggplants
and the lamb kebab.
There
were 2 young lady waitresses and I asked our waitress if I can have Turkish
coffee (which wasn’t on the menu). She
asked one of the managers/owners and he said he’ll prepare it for me. I also asked for Baklava (of course). The Baklava ‘cigars’ were served with ice
cream and had quite a bit of pistachio crumbs in it … so it wasn’t that overly
honey-sweetness. The Turkish coffee came
in a small cute ornate coffee cup with a lid.
But when I lifted the lid, the cup was empty. The waitress then realized my cup was empty
and laughed herself silly … she was too quick - the coffee was still steeping
on the coals. I just adore Turkish
coffee!!! It was so perfect with the
Baklava.
I
would seriously recommend this restaurant to anyone! It’s an experience! Even if you don’t LOVE meat, there’s such a
lot of other dishes to enjoy. Walking
back to the hotel, we stopped in at the Old English Pub for a nightcap. I asked for a Raspberry juice and although
sweet, it was nice.
At
the hotel we packed almost everything … we had a really really early start the
next morning! Checking my Samsung Health
app, I walked more than 7 km’s that day.
Night night.
Saturday 28 October 2017
Our
alarm went off at 2 am. Showered,
dressed and packed the last few things.
2h30 am we stepped into the lift … a guy with a bow tie greeted us. I asked him what was the occasion? Their company had a ‘nerd’ party and they’re
off now to party … he hasn’t been to bed
at all. And we’ve slept and were on our
way to the airport.
Waiting
in the hotel foyer for our taxi, more guys dressed as ‘nerds’ were drinking
beers and then they all left for a club.
Our taxi trip was about 1 hour. At
Billund airport, with 2 luggage bags, we decided to book both in … and only
kept Hein’s computer bag on the plane.
What a pleasure … at machines, you book your boarding pass, choose your
seats, place the tags on your luggage and then wait for the personnel to open the
gates.
Now
we urgently needed a coffee shop.
There
are quite a few ‘duty-free’ shops … perfumes, loads and loads of chocolates and
sweets, clothes, mementos … but I didn’t buy anything. When the gates opened, you again load your
luggage via machines … you lift your bag on a scale, it weighs it, asks you for
your boarding pass (and it has to corresponding to your name) and then it
approves it and off it goes to the plane.
What a fabulous pleasure.
Hein
was watching a giant clock on the wall … it was see-through and a guy in
overalls was at the back cleaning it. Or
so we thought. While I quickly browsed
the shops, Hein had been standing there watching this clock … and realized it
must be a video.
But it’s so real! This ‘guy’ is painting the short arm of the
clock … then he cleans the rest of the clock … and then he scrapes off the
short arm and repainted it to form the next ‘minute’ of the clock. It’s utterly brilliant!!!! Here's the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7u1wCzby14o
At
Schiphol airport, Hein managed to book an aisle seat for himself (for leg
stretch). A really nice Dutch lady sat
at the window and we discovered she’s Afrikaans, actually from Joburg, married
a Dutch guy, stays in Amsterdam and is visiting her family in
Johannesburg.
Breakfast
was served on the plane … with coffee.
Chatting with Phileke was lovely … somehow the 10 hours weren’t that
long. My blowup pillow, earplugs and
sleep mask proved once again a good thing.
I actually managed to sleep for a bit at stretches. Lunch was ‘kiep’ (chicken’) or pasta … Hein
and I both chose the pasta with tomato-chili sauce and it was fantastic! A small salad, a bun was served too. Dessert was 2 small choux buns on choc mousse
with cream. Delicious!!!!!
In-between
snoozing, we watched movies (in the headrest in front of you), read or
chatted. I told Phileke about the
choc-covered licorice and my plan to buy flavored chocolate to cover ordinary
black licorice. By early evening, I was
tired of sitting, so we made turns to stand and walk around a bit. Dinner was something tasty, but I cannot
remember what now.
Eventually
after 9pm we landed at OR Tambo. Waited
quite a bit for our 2 bags (hopefully they were here and not opened) and
listened to a lady who had R170 000 worth of jewelry stolen out of her
luggage. An Avis driver was holding a
board ‘Mr H’ (heehee) but then I saw Phileke and she waved me over … introduced
me to her sister and mom and then gave me a bag of black licorice wheels! Bought in Amsterdam! How sweet was that!
At
long last we arrived home around 11pm.
What a fabulous trip!
No comments:
Post a Comment