With a baby brewing in my belly, yet somehow not thwarted by our recent Gothenburg trip, we felt the clock ticking on our ability (and willingness) to start traveling again. Having a baby on a prison island in the middle of Covid and a gigantic international move of 2 adults, a house full of stuff, a baby and dog really put the kaibosh on our travel mojo.
Travel sure looks different these days (more playgrounds, less beer halls) but we can't stay within driving distance forever if we wish to live our best European lives. Not yet ready for an airplane trip, setting sail on a ferry was our mode of transport of choice.
Destination: My favorite country to travel to and the place I have returned to the most (5x) in my nearly two decades of traveling, Germany!
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| Not visible in image: the train is actually late |
I can't explain it - Martin does not share my enthusiasm - but I love it so much!
This trip looked much (much) different from my previous ones. But as usual, visiting Das German Friends was a top priority.
Said friends have also accumulated plenty of baggage in the form of crotch fruit over recent years. The next generation of our Edinburgh gang is gaining in size and strength. Our stops along the way:
Kittlitz, Germany
An hour east of Hamburg is a literal village called Kittlitz where our friends Moritz and Thesi moved to from Berlin. Being in this stage of life people no longer require the fun of city dwelling and move away seeking greener pastures and a more rustic way of life.
We hadn't seen these friends since just before the pandemic when we all converged in Bulgaria for a wedding. They also visited us in Brisbane in November 2018 where we went to Byron Bay and I asked myself for the 10th time: Why am I here and why is this place so popular? I don't get the appeal!
Also joining us were Jan and Mariya who threw the aforementioned Bulgarian wedding. They never made it as far as Australia but we did meet up with them in Hong Kong during our first New Years Eve in Australia (2012, dangerously close to a decade ago).
Kittlitz is right on the border of what used to be East Germany (see also: history) and we were assured that the architecture on that side was dank and depressing. We never did experience the brutalist architecture, however, as we were too busy getting lost in the woods. I'm unsure if this was in East or West Germany.
With 4.5 kids between three couples the days were tame and the nights were early, but we had a ton of fun laughing, catching up and for the 5 out of 6 adults who were not pregnant and not me, having a few brews.
Neu Wulmstorf, Germany
Located conveniently nearby less than an hour to the west of Hamburg was our only non-Edinburgh German friends, Stefan and Sascha. We met them on our month-long journey in Asia just prior to starting grad school in Edinburgh, and last visited them at their magnificent Hamburg penthouse apartment when we returned to Europe in 2015.
But in the bustling city they live no more. As a gay couple you might assume, incorrectly, that they had not fallen victim to/been blessed by parenthood as we have, but with that assumption you would be very, very wrong. In fact they turbocharged their parenthood and assembled three kids in less than a year!
It's a wild story, and I'm not even sure I fully understand the exact details, but it's something they wanted for a long time and they are A+ dads and the delightful real life version of Modern Family. More kids to entertain my kids in the future to keep them out of our hair so the adults can drink? Babies for everyone!
We took 2.5 of the combined 4.5 kids to Wildpark Schwarze Berge, which probably is not a stop we would have made in a pre-child life. But the absolute beauty of Germany is that even this child-focused zoo the snackbar sells beer along with their currywurst!
This is why I keep returning to Germany. Just when you think it takes itself too seriously (true) you realize that it is a completely clown shoes Candy Land (also true).
The best part of the "wildpark" were the many docile, free roaming, big fat pigs.
After a few days of catching up, letting the kids run wild, eating homemade spaetzle and basking in their magnificent, palatial yard it was time to head north. But not home to Norway yet!
Tønder, Denmark
This isn't exactly on the standard Danish tourist trail, but it wasn't too far out of our way and Martin spent three years of his life here in his early teen years. In this very house!
It was fun to see places from his childhood, like the place where he fell off his bike and busted his two front teeth that have fallen out and caused dental problems multiple times throughout our relationship (for example, aforementioned NYE trip to Hong Kong).
Technically we stayed in the nearby village of Møgeltønder, which sees more tourists - and royals - as there is a royal residence there.
Rømø Island
The Danish equivalent of the better known German island next door, Sylt, Rømø was a holiday destination of Martin's youth. We had to make a detour to check it out because you can freaking drive your car on the beach!
Coming from Australia, where only the hardest core 4WD vehicle would even attempt beach driving, I was terrified to take our fairly new BMW out onto "sand". In fact I insisted we try walking first, not realizing that the beach is at least a mile wide and walking with a toddler is downright foolish and/or impossible.
But during that failed walk attempt I realized the sand is virtually as hard as concrete. No way will you bury your car in sand and need to be towed out. How is this sand?!
It was a nice detour to stretch our legs on the way to our next destination.
Givskud Zoo
You can get out and walk through 90% of the zoo, except for the lion enclosure. It was really convenient because the place is huge, and parking lots are ample, so you could drive your way to different sections of the zoo but still get out and see animals the old fashioned way.
Martin remembers going here as a kid. It's not far from Legoland, which is like Disney World Light as far as time, money and aggravation are concerned and Freya is in no stage of life where that is yet advisable. So the likelihood of us coming back on a future trip is high.
Vejle Deer Park
Instead of staying right next to the rural zoo and paying zoo hotel prices we stayed about a half hour away in the town of Vejle. Just outside of town they had my favorite stop of the trip, a park filled with super tame deer that you could just sit and chill with.
Or, with a toddler, chase and spook them so they run away from you. Still cool. It was free and I don't think I've ever seen anything like this, either. This area of Denmark is a good place for animal lovers, clearly.
Arentsminde
Our last stop of the journey was a random town in the north of Denmark, not far from the ferry terminal that would take us home. A distant relative of Martin's, Edel, lives here (I believe his mother's cousin's wife). She was at our wedding in Florida half a decade ago, so we didn't want to be in the vicinity without making a house call.
Or maybe we will realize that going anywhere with two kids is not worth the effort, and stick to North Dakota family visits only for the foreseeable future. Time will tell but one thing is for certain: we need to be better about taking photos of just the three of us!
