Leaving Kolding for Horsens

The bar in the Steak House

Dick was up at 6 am and I heard him singing away in the bathroom over the horrible whirr of the shaver. I forgot to put on my white noise the night before, so it was my own fault. In any case I got up and played scrabble on Words with Friends, which I can't seem to be able to access now, even where there is a good wifi connection. Dick had to pack and eat breakfast before 7:30, when he had to go by taxi to the business school where he lectures. 


We went down to breakfast. The cafe looks out over the plaza where the railway station is located and people where going off to work. By their dress I could tell that the weather was miserable. It was overcast, which is pretty normal for Denmark, but the hats pulled down over their ears, long scarves hanging down their backs or rolled in big blogs around their necks and boots with fur lining showed me that it was not a day when I would wander around old town to take photos. 


The breakfast consisted of three kinds of yogurt, four different types of cereal, thick Danish bread, rolls with poppy seeds, the funny cheese that the Norwegians love, which always looks a little weird to me. It's a brown cheese called myse ost, which is made of goats milk, and has a very unusual taste. I'm sure it is like peanut butter or Marmite (bone marrow spread on bread in England) that you learn to love as a child. There was of course two cheeses which looked normal to me though I didn't know their names, certainly some unpronounceable danish name, scrambled eggs, sausages, bacon and soft boiled eggs. Naturally there is a good assortment of danish pastry, and fresh and dried fruit. Dick is able to eat a bowl of cereal with yogurt and fruit, a bacon sandwich, and a big piece of pastry without gaining weight, which I no longer can. So I had two tablespoons of yogurt mixed with dry fruit, a boiled egg and a roll with poppy seeds. Now, there is cappuccino, latte and regular strong coffee all over Europe and I always have a cappuccino. I always take an apple or orange for my second breakfast at 10. 


I went back to the room and decided to sleep another hour, but found there was a program I liked on TV, NCIS, which I hadn't seen before. So I watched it, took a shower and dressed, half packed and sat down to write my blog.  When I was almost finished, the telephone rang and a voice said: "You have ten minutes to clear the room."  Whoops, noon had come faster than anticipated. I threw everything in my bag and by the time I closed and zipped it up, the cleaning lady was standing at my door. 


I read the Razor's Edge by Somerset Maugham while waiting for Dick and realized that he would have lunch so I ordered a hamburger. But I was surprised because they gave me mayonnaise on the side, which was so bland, you might as well have eaten raw egg whites. When Dick arrived, I still hadn't received my food, so he drank coffee and complained, which calls just giving me the data I need,  that it would start raining soon, and we should go as soon as possible. After an hour, we left and yippee it had started raining. So, we would like to rush, but I can't,  so even going the short distance my coat was dripping and my hat was ready to wring out. We needed to be on the train for an hour, so I continued reading my book.  


Kjeld met us in Horsens and carried my bag to the car. He is very kind that way. He also took one of Dick's bags. And in an hour we arrived at their home in Soevind where Jette was waiting with coffee and short bread.

Kolding, Denmark

The room for breakfast in the First Hotel.

Yesterday I spent the morning in the college that Dick was lecturing at. I worked on my blog sitting in the teachers' room, which actually was a huge office where they all did their work. I laughed when I looked around me.  Remember the paper free office? Well it isn't here. There were stacks of papers on every desk, on the floor, under the desks.The biggest lie we were ever told by computer producers. 


I have tried to get rid of the paper in our office. For awhile I scanned receipts and put them in files. But then at tax time, I had to run the receipts off and put them in files for the accountant. That's twice as much paper. 


In any case, when Dick was finished we all went for lunch in the cafeteria where the students also eat.. Now this was a wonderful lunch, a buffet with tons of salad food, beef and chicken and again potatoes done in many ways. We sat with three of the teachers, Hanne, a chubby lady with bright blond curly hair, who carried a hot pink backpack. She was the sweetest, constantly coming back to the teachers' room to see if I had coffee, or if I needed some fruit. Then there was the tall skinny woman, whose name I forgot. She reminds me of many Danish women, a boy's haircut, worn severely, no make up and dressed in jeans and a pullover.  And Bodil, seemingly the head of the teachers. She was very serious, well dressed with a mint green leather jacket and a skirt. She and I had a good conversation about teaching language in the classroom. Then Bodil drove us to Kolding, pronounced Calling. 


The countryside reminded me of the landscape just west of Madison, rolling hills, pastures, fields where grain and corn will be planted. Felt like home. 


The First Hotel looked good. But we had to wait for two hours until our room was clean. I sat down and pulled out my smart phone to play scrabble and no wifi. I asked the woman behind the desk and she handed me a piece of paper with the code. I tried to put it in, but it didn't work. I again asked what was wrong. "I don't know," she said irritated, "no one else has any problems. I can't help you." Of course, I was really unhappy. Wifi is important to me. And I want to play scrabble. 


 No one else has any problems? Is the receptionist insinuating that there is something wrong with me? That I'm too stupid. But then she can't fix it either. So what is she saying about herself? I am thinking, why doesn't she ask one of the other people there to help me?  Maybe I'm overreacting, but I did feel like batting her. In any case, a receptionist does not dismiss you. She at least pretends she wants to help you.


 When the room was ready, we went up and I pulled out my computer and figured out what to do. It was too complicated to do on the telephone. 

The Steak House

Dick found a restaurant, called A Heref0rd Boeffstouw.  Which I guess means, A Hereford Steak House. Anyway there were all kinds of steaks there including the Japanese milk fed massaged beef. It was all very expensive, but then everything is in Denmark. The restaurant was in an ancient yellow building, next to a building that was built in 1589, a red building where sausage used to be made.

The oldest building I have seen in Northern Europe.

After being in Spain it was unbelievably cold here. It was overcast and the wind blew right through my winter coat, so we took a taxi. Everyone thought it was so funny, because it is only five minutes to the hotel. But age has its privileges.