tirsdag den 8. juli 2014

Summer house

.. In Denmark there's a long standing tradition that people living in the cities will crave nature during their weekends. And back in 50, 60, 70 - going abroad was rare and expensive (not to the other Nordic countries, but they are/were not that different from Denmark). Thus, many people purchased small houses along the beaches (Denmark is surrounded by water, mostly, hence the island climate) and these were called summer houses. People used them mainly during the summer. Often they would be a short ride away from the city. My grandfather owned one of these. He built it himself (he was a bricklayer before he became a buildings engineer, courtesy of the free Danish education system - even back in the 50'es..) Before he passed away my aunt purchased it. Last time we borrowed it was just a couple of days before Eric was born (I actually started having contractions there)
Since we haven't lived in Denmark the last couple of years it made no sense to use it. We're just back and don't have that much vacation time to use. However, Claus was able to take a day off, so we took an extended weekend (3 days). My in-laws wanted to come, too, and since it has a small extra room there was space! We're members of a 'car sharing system' (Cars in Denmark are extremely expensive as is gas, will write a post about that I think) so we decided that with 3 little kids and a lot of luggage we would forego public transportation for once, and take a car. It took only 1 hour and 10 minutes. Trust me, if we had a car, I would buy a summerhouse in Kulhuse (well ok, it would depend on the price of course)..It was so relaxing to be 'away' from everything, even if it's just a few hours away..
 Getting ready for the beach
 At the beach
 Giving grandma a spa treatment

 Barbercue


 I love water when it's not in a tub



 Eric
 Eric touches small purple starfish - it's dead
Walking to the beach. Around ½ mile. 



 Getting old-fashioned ice creams in 'Jægerspris'
 Tent-making