I was pondering writing up a post about this year’s anniversary trip to our favorite cabin by the sea. I mean it’s been the fourth time we have been at this place. Nothing new. But then I only talked about being sick last year. This year we actually did some exploring. And it was our 10th anniversary. It feels wrong to leave that out when I did share our wedding and the honeymoon here too in my early blogging years. So here we go even though its two month later…
Sunday February 4th
Our plan was to hit the road around 11 am. I think we left 11.45. The drive to the sea is about 4.5 hours and is 443 kilometers. The drive itself was rather uneventful. Only we had to stop for restroom brakes and had to stop 4 times because every restroom was out of order and we didn’t feel like a porter potty on a gas station. It did loose us a lot of time. In the end we stopped at a Burger King. I got some fries and a Sunday, the husband a milkshake and all was good.
We arrived a bit after 5pm and moved into our cabin. We had a great few of the Baltic Sea. It was raining. We weren’t yet in the door and. started the fire place. I love fireplaces and sitting there watching the flames. Instant relaxation. I think I also heated up the sauna right away and hopped in before we had dinner. We brought pasta and pesto for tonight.
The rest of the evening was just relaxing on the couch, reading, playing phone games and such.
View from our cabin. Later the week the horses were on the meadow and it was a nice view.
Monday February 5th
In previous years there was the option to have Brötchen (baked rolls) delivered to your cabin every morning. Unfortunately they don’t offer this service anymore. I had researched a little café that served breakfast in town. The Café unterm Heuboden (Café below the hayloft) was really cute. It served homemade breads and had a good selection of breakfast. Unfortunately the pancakes were out so we settled for waffles.
The husband had a traditional breakfast with Brötchen and cold cuts (salami and cheese) and I ordered a salmon bagel – which was divine. After we had waffles. The coffee was also good.
It was so good that I decided we would be back on Friday.
Our only to-do today was grocery shopping for the week. Oh and hitting the drugstore. Which took us a couple of hours as we see it more as an event. We look at all the different things and discover new products. Luckily we didn’t spend as much time as last year. We didn’t need as much as I didn’t need to cook every night. Yeah.
When we got home I again heated up the sauna and enjoyed the evening between reading, sitting in the sauna and outside in the rain after the sauna. It was a relaxing afternoon and evening.
Tuesday February 6th
Today was wellness day on the agenda. The husband needed to do nothing because he was exhausted from work and just wanted to sleep in and relaxe. I was fine with it and declared it a wellness day.
When I woke up I sat in front of the fire and read for a while. But I wanted to go out for a walk since we hadn’t been out at the water. I love walking the coastal trail. It was raining and storming outside badly. The weather app said it would be a full blown one by 10 am so I figured I should go out before that. I got dressed and headed out. By the time I was at the water I was wet. I didn’t mind. I started the trail with the wind coming in from behind. I figured if I go the bigger loop back through the woods which would be easier. Well, I came around a corner and saw a dog walker. The dog was “miles” ahead of him and I could already see he had noticed me and was all excited. I am scared of dogs and I knew in this weather and with this storm the dog would not hear anything and didn’t seem very well trained. So I had to turn around and “run away”. I was a bit mad that I once again had to make amends because of inconsiderate people (the trail was supposed to be leash only zone). So I decided to go the other direction. I was soaking wet after only 10 minutes. And in this direction there was another dog walking coming at me. So after 20 minutes I decided I am done. I was starting to freeze too. And the storm picked up. I was ok going back.
And so the wellness day started. A late relaxed breakfast. Lots of sauna. Face masks and hair mask in between. Sitting outside in the rain again and enjoying the cold drop on my hot skin. The fire place, talked with the husband, laughs, a dinner (chili con carne) and an early night for me. Bliss.
Wednesday February 7th
Today was our event day. We were headed for Denmark.
We didn’t stress much on starting early so I think we only headed out around 10.30 am. It was a 50 minute drive to the little town of Tønder we wanted to explore. I had read a couple of blog post from people living in the north of Germany at it was there go to place for some Danish flair and some interior shopping and of course good pastries.
Our first stop therefore was the recommended bakery for breakfast. When we entered we were so overwhelmed. So many great pastries, cakes and breads. I tried to take a picture but I felt a bit uncomfortable doing so. It was always very crowded so it wasn’t that easy.
I had some sort of cinnamon roll – to die for – and some savory snack and of course a coffee. I also wrote two birthday cards to my cousins here.
After breakfast we headed out and just explored the main shopping street. Going up and down and peeking into all the interior and home appliance shops. That is something my husband loves to do. I find it a bit boring to be perfectly honest specially when I go there without any purchase in mind. Be he can look at vases for hours.
The one recommended store that I really wanted to check out was of course closed for today because of renovations and inventory. Sad.
We strolled through town, enjoyed sunshine. Took many photos of old houses and streets and crooked buildings. A good amount of selfies so that a few turned out ok. I looked for shapes too.
I also went inside the local church – as you may know by now something I always look into because I just love the sacral architecture. Bonus it was heated and I could warm up a bit. And there was a little free library in the back as well. Nothing I could read though but I found that endearing.
Shops were closing around 5pm but we had seen most stores and were a bit cold and hungry too. We decided to get some gifts for the husbands team, he also wanted to get a bouquet of flowers for our anniversary tomorrow and we also went back to the bakery and splurged on way way way too many pastries. I am not going to admit how many we bought for two people….
After that we decided to have an early dinner in town. I wasn’t really hungry yet but we knew getting everything would be closed by the time we were back at the cabin and we didn’t have anything to cook. We had some burgers and fries (so many fries) and enjoyed the local café where mostly Danish folk hang around celebrating their end of the work day.
We then headed home while dusk was falling. Back at the cabin we had desert from the bakery and relaxed in front of the fire place before it was time for bed.
Thursday February 8th
Anniversary Day. Yeah.
We started with a chill morning. The husband slept in. I chilled in front of the fire place with my book. Then we had a relaxed breakfast. After wards the husband unwrapped his (our) present. The photo book I made. We sat on the couch going through it and reminiscent of memories.
After that we got dressed and went for a longer walk along the coast and through the town. We discovered new corners of the town we had never went through which was a lot of fun. And it made us aware that we can still can come back and find places to explore. We passed by a restaurant where I originally wanted to reserve a table. It looked really strange and trashy from the outside. But best friend keeps saying it is really good though. Maybe next time.
Us being married ten years and still goofy as ever.
For our anniversary dinner I had reserved a place at an Italian restaurant a town over right at the sea. Of course it was dark and we couldn’t see anything but it was a nice spot. We splurged on dinner and had a 2,5 hour meal I think.
I started with a lobster soup – very good (not homemade obviously – no lobster around here) and the husband had bruschetta. He then ordered pizza salami (Europe salami!) and I had some beef with potato gratin and lots of salad – also very very good and a lot. For dessert he chose tiramisu and his option was better than my chocolate desert that ended up being a store bought one. A bit disappointing to be honest.
We headed home after that and chatted a to while having a drink and then I headed to bed after cleaning the kitchen and getting ready for departs the next day. The husband stayed up a bit longer.
Friday February 9th
We ended our vacation with a more relaxed depart day. Since we had decided on Monday to go to breakfast at the café again we didn’t have to eat at the cabin and then clean all the dishes while loading the car. We used the time to pack the bags, I even had time for morning sauna before showering and at 11 am we headed off.
We took our sweet time at the café. I decided to go with the salmon bagel again as it was that good. The husband had also a similar breakfast. We forgone the planned pancakes as it started snowing and streets are started to freeze over. We decided to not test our luck and get on the way. The first 50 or 80 kilometers were country roads and they were not ploughed so it was a good decision. Once on the autobahn it got easier. It still was a more strenuous drive with so much weather.
Add in a sudden alert that we needed an oil change like now. Why does that happen? Every gas station we stopped didn’t have the oil we needed. So we ended up driving off the autobahn and to a hard ware store. There we found a gazillion different kinds of Moto oil. Googling and researching and all we were none the wiser. I was so annoyed by then. The car handbook didn’t give any clue either. So I called the Volkswagen hotline asking what to put in. Take a guess what they said. You need to ask your garage as they do know. Didn’t I start the conversation with we are on the road and this alert pops up, we need to know if we have to fill it immediately and if what oil to use… Sigh. Why is it so complicated at times.
This whole odyssey made us come back home around 2 hours later but we were home. The car is running and everything else went smoothly.
We chilled on the couch, had food and a show and then I was off to bed. And that was another successful anniversary trip to our favorite cabin by the sea.
Where have you spent your 10th anniversary (if you already celebrated that)? Do you have plans for that 10th anniversary? Where have you spend your last anniversary? Do you care about anniversaries at all? Are you a fan o pastries? What food from this trip are you envious about? Have you visited Denmark?
10 comments
Oh goodness, this is pretty much my ideal vacation. My husband prefers hot vacations, but the sauna would have been a big draw for him. It sounds so perfect!
Our tenth anniversary, hmm. That would have been 2006 so we would have had a six-year-old and a three-year-old, so we probably didn’t do anything big, but I think the next year my parents watched the kids and I joined my husband on a work trip to Vienna and we added a few days, so that was lovely.
What were you reading by the fire?
It was a really relaxed vacation and just what we needed. I tend to like a cozy vacation during winter. In spring or autumn I prefer being outside a bit more and doing more adventures and exploring.
I read a book by a Turkish author “without a country” and also a sci-fy novel taking place in space. Both good entertainment. What are you currently reading?
What a lovely, relaxing trip!!
Grrr at dog owners who don’t keep their dogs in their sight. It’s irresponsible and dangerous for everybody.
I did not document our tenth anniversary on my blog, so who knows what we did? I suspect that we did nothing more than stare morosely about our house because everything I wrote in that month (May 2018) was about how our house was falling down around us. LOL.
That made me laugh “stare morosely at our house”. Apparently it didn’t fall on you, you are still here. I. The end it is just a date but I am happy we got to spend it like we did.
Yes dog owners not knowing there dogs pretending these are not (wild) animals are the worst. I can tell if someone know how to “handle” the dog and then I am much more relaxed. I’m the second one was old and just idly curious I knew he wouldn’t chase me but I was already anxious…
This vacation sounds just like what you both needed. Sometimes, it’s good to go back to the same place and explore so much more, but also have a stress-free holiday because you’re familiar with where everything is. That Danish town is so pretty, I love looking at old buildings, although our old here is not really old to Europeans.
For our 10th anniversary, we went to Lord Howe Island and then had a few days to the end in Sydney. It was so beautiful; I really loved it.
Haha yes we Europeans are spoiled when it comes to old places. When the husband and I went to NYC and to the natural museum (I think that was it! We made a game of finding the oldest piece. I think it was some 280 years… I felt very arrogant but it made us laugh.
I need to google Lord Howe Island as I have no idea what that is but any trip away is a good thing in my book. And Sydney must be a great place to see.
What a lovely vacation to celebrate your 10th anniversary! It sounds so relaxing to take a sauna and read by the fire, and eat pastries! My husband and I have been married for 30 years! Some years we were able to do something special or travel. Other years we just had a small dinner at home. Both ways of celebrating are lovely! Oh yes, I’m a fan of pastries! I think I’m most envious of the cinnamon roll!
Wow 30 years is such a long time. We haven’t always been traveling for our anniversary but we do try to do something special.
That cinnamon roll was amazing. I’ve had a whole bag I took home. I would go to that place again just for this pastry.
Happy anniversary (AGAIN! I feel like I already said it somewhere, but doppelt gemoppelt hält besser ;)).
What a WONDERFUL trip for your anniversary. I loved everything about it. The food, the coziness, the cute little shops. I need to get Jon to go on a trip with me … sigh.
It was such a fun way to spend our anniversary. I hope you and Jon have the chance for a little trip together. Maybe do something low key when visiting his mom spending a night some place close by. Then it doesn’t feel too much but still special.