Welcome to Denmark
It had all started out as one of my crazy ideas. I was participating in an art show in Saeby, Denmark, and somehow had to get my sculptures over there. Shipping seemed the most logical way, but when I did the math, it turned out that driving to Denmark and hand-delivering them only cost a little bit more. And since we hadn't been to Denmark yet...
Exactly.
We left on wednesday evening and drove about 325km to Osnabrück, Germany, where we spent the night at an Ibis hotel, next to the Autobahn. In the morning, we drove on towards Hamburg. It took longer than expected, because of all the road work, but after we crossed the border and entered Denmark, we started making good time again.
Our first stop and taste of Denmark was the little town of Kolding.
That didn't take very long.
Back in the car and on to Arhus, which was to be our base of operations for the next 2 nights.
Since it is Denmarks second biggest city, we were expecting some heavy traffic, but it seemed like all the Danes had packed up and moved out of the country for the weekend. We hardly saw any cars driving into town and quite easily made it to the Cabinn Hotel, where, after a little ordeal, we checked in.
After a 560km drive we felt the need to stretch our legs (we had walked around Kolding for less than an hour) and get a bite to eat.
Since the hotel was conveniently located next to the restaurant row of Aboulevarden, we had a look there first.
Afterwards, we walked around some more, saw the (few) sights the town had to offer and got some beer and cakes from a 7/11 before retiring to the hotel and a good night sleep.
Our first impression of Denmark wasn't all that great.
We were hoping it would get better.
We were quickly led to a table and handed English menus, which is always a plus when you don't understand a bloody word of Danish.
We felt like pizza. I ordered a Quattro Stagioni, while Isabelle had a Pizza with salmon.
The food was first class. I think I especially need to mention here that the black olives I got on my pizza were not only huge, but also extremely tasty. I'm very picky when it comes to olives, but I could eat a jar of these, I swear.
Service was swift and friendly, and I guess appreciative of our few words Danish.
We did get a bit of a shock afterwards, when I asked for the bill. The pizzas were definately worth their 105DKK or 13 Euro, but I somehow felt ripped off by a 6 Euro Coca Cola. Ok, so it did come with a slice of lemon, but still...
Further more, I was charged an additional 10,65 DKK for paying with a foreign credit card.
I don't like surprises like this. I don't mind paying good money for good food, but I don't like getting ripped off. At least put the prices of the drinks in the menu, so people know what they can expect.
The hotel itself is located in a building that also houses a bank, a law firm and a restaurant, so it kind of gets confusing when taking the elevator from the parking garage and finding yourself on the second floor, where there are no rooms.
The unfriendly and bored looking person at the reception desk failed to mention this to me. He also failed to mention that in order to drive into the parking garage, it would be best if you were driving something the size of a handbag. Thankfully I drive a small car. Larger cars leave nice colored stripes on the walls. As far as 'secure parking' goes, it may be secure if someone bothers to lock the back gate. For this you pay an additional 80DKK per night, mind you.
The hotel room is small and with the green sheets on the tiny beds, reminds you of an O.R. The bathroom is suffocatingly tiny and a manual is applied to work the fosset and shower. One wrong operation and you need to change your clothes.
There is a minuscule TV, which gets 6 channels, as long as you have a remote. We had one on our first night, but it had magically disappeared on our second night. When I went down to reception to ask for it, I was given another which didn't work. When I went down again to mention this, one of the guys went to another guest room and took the remote there. 'See if this one works,' he said, 'or I'll take one from another room.' Guess that solved the mystery of where our remote had gone to.
Throughout our stay, there was a distinct toilet smell in the hallways and in the 'lounge', which is probably why nobody bothered hanging out there.
But it wasn't all negative. We had a coffee maker, which is always a plus. Unless ofcourse they don't refill the coffee the next day...
