Marielyst Conclusion Denmark

Since last Saturday (26th July), we have been in Marielyst, in the south of the island of Zealand. Marielyst is a well-known Danish holiday resort on the Baltic coast. Many Danes have their 'summer house' here, where they regularly spend their vacations. On a huge area, there are thousands of such houses, all in a similar bungalow style. The plots are quite large and practically all shielded from view by hedges and many large trees. One feels a bit like in Switzerland – everyone has their own ride-on lawnmower, their large grill, their porch with little lights and lanterns (hygge, indeed) and, very importantly: their own 'Dannebrog', the Danish national flag. In Denmark, it is – no joke! – forbidden to hoist another national flag.

In the center of Marielyst, alongside some boutiques, there is a large supermarket, many restaurants, and several ice cream parlors. The Danes love ice cream. It is extremely sweet and can be combined with numerous toppings like sprinkles, chocolate powder, and even marshmallows (?). This astonishes the Swiss!

The restaurants generally offer the same menu: pizzas, meat dishes, and some pasta dishes. Finding something vegetarian is, as Matilda mentioned before, practically hopeless. I have never eaten so many Margherita pizzas in four weeks as here, even though I am not a fan of them.

There is hardly anything healthy available, which means we often cook for ourselves. Culinary (and vegetarian) highlights are more likely to be found in Copenhagen; since we are avoiding big cities on our trip, we are just out of luck. I do appreciate the well-equipped summer house kitchens! By the way, most restaurants rely on self-service, which became increasingly annoying to us (sorry!).

The wonderful kilometer-long sandy beach here offers plenty of space for dogs and people, and the Baltic Sea is clean and warm, between 19-21°C, so quite pleasant. Overall, the coasts of Denmark – at least for me – are the most beautiful landscape feature of the country. In four weeks, it was mostly warm enough for swimming, so no one needs to fear bad weather. Holidaying in Denmark is definitely a great alternative to vacations at the overcrowded Mediterranean beaches. The risk of forest fires and heatstroke is also significantly lower.

Finally, I would like to say a few words about how people here tick. I would describe the Danes as polite and friendly, but very reserved and discreet. Despite our wishes for more interaction, we had very little contact with the people. It seems that Danes prefer to stick to themselves. When we had our flat tire, we received many offers of help, which we remember very positively.

Families are very much present in Denmark, often with grandparents involved and, very importantly: the dog. Danes love their dogs and you can take them almost everywhere, which was great for Gina!

The well-known 'Hygge-Lifestyle' of the Danes is especially reflected in the interior design of their homes. Candles, fairy lights, ceramics, and paintings are found everywhere. Having a cozy home is as important to Danes as their family ties.

The Danish language deserves its own blog post. Just a bit about it: No word is pronounced as it is written, and the Danes can produce sounds that have remained a mystery to me so far. A small example: 'Rød Grød med Fløde' means 'Red Gruel with Cream' and is pronounced something like: Röll Gröll mell Flöhä. The three different 'L-sounds' that have to be made are so difficult that the red gruel for non-native speakers is about the same as the Swiss 'Chuchichäschtli'.

On Saturday, we say 'farewell Denmark' and travel to Germany, Amsterdam, and then by ferry to Newcastle. This begins the second part of our adventure in Great Britain. The travel week will surely be exhausting, but we are very much looking forward to our destination.

See you soon when we say 'Fàilte gu Alba'!

(from Olivia)