Last Danish Day

I didn't finish (or Danish, hahaha!) the post yesterday, as I got caught up in finding the right pictures to go with it so here is the start and then I'll finish (or Danish) it today:

Well, just a few more hours and we're home bound. It's been a lovely few days here in Denmark, though slightly cool weather wise, the welcome has been nothing but warm.

A lovely lazy Sunday afternoon yesterday, complete with nap and a Skype chat with Phizz, then a delightful dinner by candle light, a delicious dessert and then chocolates after.

Couldn't help myself, had to get into the dessert before the picture was taken...

We have ben very spoilt here at Emma's. Sad to have to go home and look after ourselves again!

I have made it my mission to always have a welcome email waiting for Phizz whenever he gets to a new hotel, and this morning I one-upped it by making sure that he was passed an actual note when checking in, since I knew which hotel he's staying at. I've been feeling slightly smug about surprising him like that all morning, because I know how much he likes surprises. I smiled every time I imagined his reaction when being given an actual welcome note. I love surprising people. Unfortunately my poor mother was surprised during the night with a severe attack of the common house cold variety, which I hope to avoid catching...She is now sniffling and sneezing away. Poor Mum!

Today the kids had to go back to school, but since Sam was suffering from a bit of Asthma he was lucky to stay home, or rather, come to a magnificent castle with us. We had a beautiful drive through the Danish countryside and then arrived at the stunning Frederiksborg Castle. I was so impressed by the vast rooms and the very ornate decorations - the Great Hall is very aptly named.

(the following is written today:)

It was really cool at the castle, though Sam, who has been there more than once, was not so into it but he was quite a patient little boy. He did enjoy seeing some big lion sculptures and I dared him to put his hand in its mouth - and he decided he was so brave he dared to put his finger up its nose...(Emma caught it on camera here.) Four year old boys love a dare and I should have known that!

I enjoyed hanging out with kids again so much these last few days, they are so much fun, but at times they did remind me why I do not want to be a full time nanny anymore!

We had a lovely lunch at the castle's restaurant before we had to pick Ruby up from school. The last few hours before our departure were spent being entertained by a fantastic band made up by Sam in a Scooby Doo costume, and Ruby and her friend who both had several costume changes. I cannot explain how adorable it was (and how much it hurt our ears...)

We had a very smooth trip to the airport, after massive hugs and cuddles and thank-yous at the train station. We hopped on the S tog, got to Hellerup station swiftly, then got to the right platform and had 4 minutes to catch the train to the airport. We still had to check in, as we couldn't check-in online for some reason, but it only took a second at one of those self-check in booths.  We couldn't sit next to each other anymore, but that was ok. That was just a tiny hiccup compared to the next one. We checked in our bags, got through customs quickly and located the cake shop we HAD to visit before leaving Denmark to eat a cake we HAD to eat before leaving Denmark. That was also very successful. After a big lunch at the castle and a lovely afternoon tea with cakes at home, we weren't in need of dinner, so cakes it was. The cake shop, if you're interested is called Lakagehuset (after learning fluent Danish over the last five days (NOT) I am guessing it means The Little Cake House) and the cake you must all eat if ever in Denmark is called Christianshavnkage (Christian's harbour cake, I presume). Delicious. Luckily the strawberry was only decorative and could be removed so I could eat it.

After our delicious, nutritious and healthy dinner, it was time to board our plane home. We were seated behind each other on an exit row each, so not allowed our bags or jackets during take-off or landing. Unfortunately we were not going anywhere for 45 minutes instead of taking off - during which I was extremely bored without my iPod or Mac. It got gradually hotter and hotter in the plane during this 45 minutes, and the delay was because there was a small dent found in one of the blades of the engine. 

After much checking by engineers, it was found we should change planes. So after the heat of the plane, we were back in the cold and rain, into a hot bus, in which we were kept waiting for another 10 minutes, before we were allowed back onto the cold tarmac, where we had to wait to board another plane. This really helped my poor Mum and her dreadful cold get better acquainted! I was only agitated and worried that I would also catch a cold soon.

Luckily we were soon airborne and the flight went fine after that, got to Dusseldorf 40 minutes behind schedule, but got our bags quickly and the bus to the car park was waiting. I propelled our little Kangoo down the autobahn at 150+ km/h to get to our nice warm beds as soon as possible, which took me a good amount of concentration. I kept realising how fast we were going, and telling myself not to imagine what would happen if we crashed at that speed. Tired brain did well. We got home safely.

It was very cold in our house and suddenly we noticed the lights didn't work in the kitchen. A good amount of appliances had stopped working, including our heater/hot water system and fridge. We tried for a while to figure out what was wrong, but were too tired to come to a proper solution. We stumbled into our beds.

This morning, poor sick Mum left early to go work in the shop, and I woke up as I heard her car crunch down the drive. I contemplated going to the gym considering last night's dinner. As a brave little girl I decided to go. It was good, Zumba with the delectable Ben on a Tuesday morning is always a small class, and he always puts in extra steps for a challenge. He's been teaching us new dances and is mixing it up. I really enjoy the variety, compared to the first gym I joined when I got here, I am loving this one: beautiful boys as teachers and heaps of super cool dances!

Coming home all sweaty however, to a cold house without being able to have a hot shower, was a bit of a downer. We called an electrician who quickly dropped by on his was home from something, but he didn't have the right tools to figure out what was going on and promised to return. So it was up to me, as usual, to be the hero of the day. I unplugged and re-plugged all the appliances until I discovered it was the pump for the fountain in the pond that keeps triggering the safety switch. So I unplugged that, and voila - everything else was back in action.

It is now nearly 7 pm and the electrician has not returned. Go figure. I did have a nice hot shower, and blogged for a bit, spoke to my delightful husband for an hour (still can't convince him to get his cute arse over here) and did some washing. All of which would have been impossible without electricity. Also did a supermarket run to replace all the food in the fridge which had gone off, and got some cold tablets for my Mum. I  have not experienced any cold symptoms yet, and I hope I may be spared...I am in excellent health, so that helps.

It's soup and bed for both of us soon. Hope you are all well!