Thinking out loud

Brain farts, mental hickups and other moments of clarity
About Me

Skier, geek, thinker & dad. I also like beer.

My Other Sites
TwitterFacebook
Tags
Archive
2010 (15)
2009 (12)
Filed under

the journey

See all posts on posterous with this tag »
 

The dark heart of Denmark

Today we ventured into the dark heart of the Lolland interior.  A perilous journey, full of danger and wallet raping entry fees, it was Silje's first contact with Rhinos, Giraffes, Tigers and Donkeys.

Knuthenborg Safari Park was actually much cooler than I thought. A former Herregårdspark (royal hunting estate) that some visionary aka 'loony' Danish toff decided would be far more fun full of Tigers and Antelope instead of rabbits and pheasants.  About 400 hectares in area, you just drive through the middle of the animals and get out of your car to touch them when you want. They do prefer you to stay in your car in the Tiger and Wolf zones though.

It also had the world's coolest play areas for the kiddies including about 2kms of obstacle course through the trees. Turns out Thomas and I spent more time there than the other kids!

They did have more than your typical 'do not' signs however. My favourite (below) is the 'Ingen medbragt spaghetti' or 'no home brought spaghetti' at the monkey enclosure. Maybe there was some illicit Italian gastronomic trade going on that I didn't see?

(download)

Filed under  //  the journey  
Posted
 

Spring at the Beach

To end the season, we decided to spend a couple of weeks in Denmark in order to catch up with the family, and give Tina's mum plenty of time with Silje.

While we may have unlucky with the snow in Austria, we certainly got plenty of sunshine. That is one of the amazing things about living in the Alps - while the rest of Europe suffocates under a thick blanket of perpetual winter cloud, the Alps are normally bathed in sun thanks to the mountain's micro-climate. Despite the cold, it was still possible to wear t-shirt, shorts or even sunback in minus 0 temps - provided you were in direct sunlight.

Back in Scandinavia, I now remember why I found my first winter here so hard.  We left 24C sunburn days in the Tirol and arrived to 7C Danish spring.  There might be 'day'light until 9pm already, but the wet, 40kt winds do tend to put a damper on things.

Which brings us to our walk along the beach.  Our cottage is only 400m from the Baltic Sea so we try to walk along the beach every morning. Some days are not as nice as others however.

(download)

Filed under  //  photos   the journey  
Posted
 

The Dolomite Express

We decided to take the long way home. Why drive north to Denmark when you can head the opposite way to Süd Tirol and experience the Dolomites? I'm pretty sure that we wont do another season in St Anton so there was need for some reconnaissance of our next escape.

Superlatives in any language fail to describe the magnitude of their beauty.  Limestone monoliths erupting from the forest below, up to 2km high. Depending on the time of day, they are either, yellow, grey or pink and provide an amazing contrast to their sky blue background and spring forest foreground.

Some of the towns here are equally enchanting - a unique combination of Tirolean architecture, Italian food and local Laddish authenticity.  We spend a couple of nights in Canazei which was lovely & so friendly. A large park in the centre of town with a number of play sets meant Silje had a ball, especially around 4-7pm when all the families come out to socialise before diner. The only negative point for me was the ski terrain seemed lacked any runs back to town.  

Wolkenstein in the neighbouring Val Gardina was a little gem we discovered.  A village of about 1700 people spread through the valley in beautiful Tirolean houses, it had access to the same area as Canazei with the added bonus of 3 runs back to the centre of town plus a few nice looking side country possibilities.

Before heading back north, we also stopped by Cortina d'Amprezza.  Much bigger than most resort towns, this place was truly gorgeous.  Full of espresso & wine bars, Gucci & Armarni shops lined the pedestrian only centre.  The pistes seems seemed pretty sedate but I'd heard that there were some nice freeride possibilities there.  If so, this could be the place we move to - if only we could afford it!.

(download)

Filed under  //  The Journey   photos  
Posted