I love going to Denmark for the obvious reasons, seeing my parents (and my sister and her husband when they come over from the States), seeing my friends, eating Danish food and such.
But since we’ve begun driving to Denmark instead of flying, I also look forward to the road trip to get to Denmark. Easy for me, I don’t do any of the driving… ;-)
I look forward to just being with Tony. Just the two of us, in our own little bubble.. moving through the changing landscapes, moving through the different countries… Singing along to Queen – is Bohemian Rhapsody the perfect road trip song or what? We totally do the Wayne’s World thing! ;-)
I also like taking pictures of sort of random things and below you’ll see some of those.
My apologies in advance. ;-)
The first country we pass through is France. Getting off the train at Calais and the biggest difference is of course that they drive on the right. Which doesn’t faze Tony one bit! He’s so brave!
Our first stop is at Cité Europe, a large shopping centre just outside Calais. We buy croissants – it’s France, croissants are mandatory! And a few other bits. But it’s only a short stop, because we have a long drive ahead of us!
We only drive through the very top of France, takes about an hour to get to Belgium. And there are really big differences! The moment you drive into Belgium from France, for example, the roads are nicer, wider. The drivers, however, are not better!
We don’t stay for long in Belgium either! A couple of hours perhaps and then we’re in the Netherlands. The roads change again and again a bit for the better.
If we get past Eindhoven without the sat-nav getting us lost (that’s happened twice!!), we get through the Netherlands in about an hour.
And then we’re in Germany. Well, in 800 metres from that sign there in Dutch. In Germany the roads are wider and you can drive crazy fast! But we wouldn’t do that of course. ;-)
As you might expect, even the German road works are efficient and with these smileys they are also very helpful. Becoming ever happier as the distance you have left to endure the road works decreases. ;-)
One thing I don’t like about driving through Germany is the Elbtunnel in Hamburg. This tunnel is about 3km long, but feels like it’s atleast 10 times that length. Could be to do with the fact that I really (really!) don’t like tunnels under water..
But atleast there’s this to look forward to shortly after passing through the Elbtunnel: signs to Flensburg. Flensburg is like 5 minutes from the Danish border, yay! But we’ve still got 3-4 hours to go from Hamburg to where my parents live.
The Danish border! A sight for sore eyes and travel weary Carina & Tony. Just a couple of hours at most now. Almost there!
That last bit, driving through Denmark, kinda feels like the longest! Because we’re almost there, so close, just a little further. Because the motorways in Denmark aren’t lit, driving through the dark adds a strange sense of otherworldliness to the impatience and excitement of being. Almost. There.
My parents live only fives minutes from the exit off the motorways, so when that’s in sight we’re relieved that the long journey is over and the goal is in sight. :-)
