Sondervig Sunsets

There is a reason I love living on the west coast. Sunsets over the water. And that holds true to any west coast that can give me a nightly show. And the west coast of Denmark's Sondervig certainly delivered.

Sondervig Summer House

About 10 kilometers west of Rinkobing is the resort area of Sondervig. Mark's mom's family has had a small summer house there for a number of years. I won't go into the details of our misguided arrival that had us wandering around looking for the house that Mark hadn't been to in about 15 years, but suffice it to say we were happy to finally kick our feet up. Literally. Mark was a big fan of the hammock. We maintained a rigorous schedule. Up at the crack of 10am. Read Harry Potter by the fire. Take the one minute walk to the beach. Look for amber on the beach. Hit the hammock. Repeat.
I have to say I was convinced, absolutely convinced I would find a piece of amber in the sand during one of our numerous walks. I can't count the number of times I picked up a brown rock and showed it to everyone only to have them (translation, Mark) laugh at me and chuck my rock in the water. Pick up brown rock. Show Mark. Ignore laughing. Repeat. And oh I forgot the part about knocking the rock on my teeth, because amber sounds and feels different than rock on your teeth. At least so I'm told.
After a couple of days of rainy beach weather akin to Stinson beach in the winter, the rest of the Fleeton clan arrived and brought the sun with them. Will couldn't find any amber either.
We had a great time between hanging at the house, playing at the beach, eating fabulous Danish pastries and playing card games into the wee hours of the night.
Mark bought a kite for Will ...
but Will was most pleased with the plastic cleaning bucket.
Climb into the bucket full of water. Splash and laugh. Be removed by adult from said bucket.
Repeat.

Mark's Famous Ancestry

Do you know the name of Denmark's most famous explorer? And no fair answering that if you're related to him. Ludvig Mylius Eriksen (known by his middle name of Mylius) was a famous Danish explorer who bravely navigated previously uncharted areas of Greenland, he also happens to be Mark's great great uncle. There aren't a lot of descendants of Mylius because he died in Greenland without ever having children.
When we arrived in Rinkobing, Mark's aunt Karen met us at the train station and showed us around the town where Mark's mom and the man whose name she carries (Lene Mylius Fleeton) both grew up. Mylius has his own statue and an entire wing of a museum dedicated to his expeditions.
As we toured the museum and read about what he did, I was struck by two things. One, that I was learning about the history that will be part of my children's history. And secondly that perhaps my husband comes by his wandering nature naturally.
I think it is a shame that Mylius is not well known outside of Denmark. In Denmark, he is certainly known, just ask Mark and Jack who got free beers from some toasted Danes who learned of their ancestry. And speaking of.... this most famous of Danish explorers is getting some new recognition. His own beer. That's right, move over Carlsberg and Tuborg, there's a new brew in town: Mylius. There were some family disagreements over whether or not a namesake beer was a good tribute to Mylius. Now that the decision has been made though, I'm hoping it will be a smashing success at least enough to get Mylius some more name recognition outside Denmark. Give my future children's peeps some props please.

Copenhagen

Arriving in Denmark gave us some serious sticker shock. Especially after a summer filled with plenty of good deals and cheap eats. But on the 100 dollar train ride from Aarhus to Copenhagen we witnessed the most amazing sunrise I've ever come across and it was totally free. The sunrise felt especially gratifying after the long day we had just endured to get to Denmark. We had started the day in the Czech Republic, leaving there about 10am. We took a van to Linz, Austria for a 4pm flight. We stopped over in London for an 8pm flight, arriving in Aarhus around 11:30. Took the shuttle from the airport to the train station and then waited for the 1:30am train to Copenhagen.
We deserved a good sunrise.
I thought it appropriate that we began our trip in Ireland where Mark's dad hails from and would be ending our trip in Denmark, where his mom is from. And we were lucky enough to have relatives to meet us both times. Jack, Angela and Will had been in Copenhagen already for about 6 weeks, so while not exactly locals they did know how to get us around and take care of us.

Isn't that the best to be able to show up and have people there to take you to all the right places? And we had our own personal entertainer in Will. That's one of the many things I love about kids. Everything is funnier when they are around. Everything tastes better too.
Spaghetti sauce:
Milk freshly squeezed by Uncle Mark:
Raisins. Remember when raisins were a special treat instead of part of a healthy breakfast cereal?
And my personal favorite, ice cream!
I learned that very early on in my television career you can't go wrong with a cute kid... people love pictures of babies and puppies.