under another sun

Up early expecting an empty black house, but Gillian surprised me. Her flight had been cancelled in the middle of the night and bumped till the next morning. Another goodbye to Gillian, who I'd really enjoyed meeting again. Still she had to travel to Copenhagen today, so Toby drove her there and back with Romy.  Lorraine and I drove up to Hvide Sande, and had a look many shops although bought nothing other than a wee pressie for baby Enzo. I was tempted for myself by a teeshirt with a seagull version of The Scream by Edvard Munch. Then we went to look at the people fishing on the harbour walls in the water that links the Rinkøbing Fjord to the North Sea, then to the nearby Akvarium and fishing museum. Many tanks of drab looking North Sea fish, but I was happy. Then north to the next town where there was a more upmarket food store called Meny, where we bought a chicken and some provisions. Home again, and after a spot of a late and sausagey lunch I went for a walk over the dune, and...

A beautiful morning, I went up onto the dunes for a bit of drawing. Absolutely fascinated by the wind and the marram grass and the dunes. Lorraine and I popped into the hot tub, which was like having a bubble massage. In the afternoon we all drove off to the oldest town in this part of Denmark, Ribe . First job was for us all to go into a cafe restaurant, to wolf down an open sandwich. I  chose one with herring and pickles and salads and dab of curry sauce. Very yummy. I wanted the herring as Romy had lent be a book of short stories by a Danish writer, the first of which featured herring. Then we walked through the old town, looking very lovely and not dissimilar to  places in England, however the doors had a flavour of their own, some of them looking quite Tolkeinesque. The cathedral rather nice and made out of bricks. Some gorgeous glass inside, and the doors very interesting too. I loved the symbols for the evangelists on the heavy doors (eagle, bull, lion and man/ angel)....

Properly rainy morning, all a bit wild. Toby and Romy slipped into the hot tub. I went for a longish walk and did a bit of sketching. Just the way the wind blows over the dune grass is lovely. All looked pleasingly bleak. In the late afternoon we all piled into Lorraine's car to Nymindegab Kro -- a hotel restaurant Romy had been recommended. Good food there, and a nice atmosphere with attentive service.  Below  the Kenny bros in the restaurant, a damp start, Toby and Romy in the hot tub, which Lorraine and I went into too. I took a pleasingly bleak looking walk along the beach, and our party in the restaurant.

Slept really well. A relaxed morning, coffee and breakfast and lovely to be able to sit about catching up with Toby and Romy, and great to see Gillian again. Overcast and ominous weather, with rain. I mooched up to do a spot of drawing, much taken with the grass there which I looked up and its called marram and it binds the dunes together. There are a line of high sand dunes along the coast which is a long white sanded beach that goes on for miles. We are on a strip of land, between the north sea, and Ringkøbing Fjord behind us. This is not really a fjord, it's more like a lagoon, with a small opening to the sea a few miles north of where we are. I wonder if the water is brackish. All of us amused by Germans in the next house doing lively but joyless stripped to the waist exercises on their decking. A quick walk with Toby then Lorraine, Gillian and I made off to the supermarket by car. Raining quite heavily when we arrived. A nice shop full of Danish flags, and good stock. Added a ...

A pleasant flight, despite my misapprehensions and nervousness. I was looking at my phone at some of my recent poem during takeoff and this, along with Lorraine next to me, made me feel strangely calm. At Billund the Brexit dividend of a long slow queue. Lorraine talking to people in the queue and several going to weddings. Once through, we got a first 'tak' from a man. We collected our hire car from a very pleasant Somali origin guy. The car hire building set apart and nice and calm.  The landscape seemed to be very open and rural, with excellent roads, with hardly any cars on them. A big difference to southern England. Once Lorraine installed in the car -- a new automatic Audi -- and had become a little more confident as she had never driven an automatic before, she really liked it. The trip to the west coast of Jutland incredibly easy with very few other cars. Farmland, hedges and the odd wood, and the occasional small village or town. All very lovely, like an unspoilt Engla...