Journey: Grenaa Dog Park – Mols Bjerge National Park – Hovegaden – Ebeltoft – Agri Bavnehog Parkering – Poskaer Stenhus – Kalo Castle ruins – Lisbjerg

After a lovely walk around the dog park we drove through Mols Bjerge National Park in search of coffee. I’d googled best cafe in Ebeltoft and found one that looked lovely but as I turned right instead of left at the roundabout Mark was moaning I was going the wrong way and it turned out the cafe I’d picked was 3 miles from Ebeltoft…and closed 🙈

Still Hovegaden was gorgeous and there was a Michelin star restaurant next door so I asked if they accepted dogs and took them there instead. Sat out on the terrace we ordered coffee and I popped my pinkie finger out (as mother taught me 😂), Mabel wandered off to sit at another table, Jasper fell asleep and Ernest surveyed the lawns. It was about half way through my coffee I realised half the sticky bra I was wearing had come unstuck and was dangling out the bottom of my top leaving my left breast free – obviously had to happen at a posh place 🙈 After discreetly sorting my bra, we paid £12 for a single caffetirre 😱 and went for a walk on the beach thankful we hadn’t ordered cake (the main meals were upwards of £80!). The beach was lovely, the waters crystal clear and quite warm. Ernest loves the water now, and even Mabel got her ankles wet.

We then went on to Ebeltoft which has a huge frigate ship called the Jutland which you can climb the rigging and mast of (we didn’t), and a brilliant glass museum. I’m not usually fussed by glass art but this was incredible. There were three exhibitions. The first by a controversial American artist who did political/satirical life size pieces you would never guess we’re in glass, the second was intricate glass beadwork covering everyday objects and beaded flowers and the third was there permanent collection which had a mesmerising immersive piece called Cosmic Space made up of painted glass. You also have the opportunity to make a little bead plate design which will be added to a large collective art piece.

I adored the Cosmic Space and instinctively lay down in it. Mark captured several reflections of me in the floor. One word of caution though – if you take a standing selfie looking down it’s easy to forgot you are on a glass floor, which means you get an up the top view of the girls minus the stupid sticky bra you opted to remove earlier – the resulting photo was deemed FB inappropriate 🙈

From there to the wilds of Agri Bavnehog Parkering. To compliment his posh morning water Ernest was desperate to eat dried horse poo and Mabel obviously rolled in it. The 360° views from the top were well worth the climb and the pups arrived back at the van tired but happy. We then drove past the Poskaer Stenhus standing stones on to Kalo Castle, arriving just as a classic car and bike show were gathering. Mark was tempted to drive on but the castle ruins are one of the highlights of the area so I squeezed the van in and prayed we could get it out later.

Like a lot of Denmark’s best attractions it involved a hike as it’s situated on a promintary, fortunately they also had an ice cream stall at the start for sustenance. Modern steps had been added to the ruins so you could see the spectacular views from the top. I did the obligatory handstand and wished I could do the splits and then we walked back to the car park and hundreds of people in a now heaving show. Sadly no Manx bikes but lots of gorgeous cars. There were several of my favourite e type jags but the one that style my heart was a cute bubble car called Lilly.

Tonight we are staying in a proper campsite doing our chores. The bed linen has been washed so perhaps no sand for 24hrs (wishful thinking). The pups were outside on their long leads which works well until I left them unattended to do the dishes and popped my head out only to see Ernest had upturned both chairs and the table in order to get Marks empty yoghet pot. He is such a cute mischief…love all 21 kilos of him (Mark is praying he stops growing soon 😂)

Journey: Jyske Aas – Aalborg – Hobro Fyrkat Viking Centre – Fjellerup – Meilgaardvej – Fyrtårn Gjerrild – Grenå Hundeskov

So last night I drove us to a little sculpture walk called Jyske Aas it scored 3⭐ on Google so I didn’t have huge hopes but when arrived it was an overgrown spiral that took a minute to walk…with a free carpark…it did the job but not my best find… Mark was not impressed.

I was in slug mode this morning so it was gone 10 before we left for Aalborg. That despite the fact that the dogs had brought so much sand into the van and evidently into our bed that it was like sleeping on an emery board…I can sleep anywhere 😂

Aarlborg is another nice potter about town with a few hidden gems. The highlight is Kindepark which has singing trees. When a singer comes to perform they plant a tree and a medley of their songs can be played under the tree. There is a really eclectic mix from Sir Cliff Richard who started it in 2012 to Kiss, Beyonce, and classical music. It’s a great idea and the only one in the world. 

We walked the streets for miles soaking it all in, the opera house is very striking, each did our exercises on a public gym, had brunch at a cafe and found a quirky ceramics place hidden down a traditional residential street. I then spotted a wonderful comic store and got lost for a while looking at all the graphic novels. Meanwhile Mark was nattering to the owner who was so lovely and friendly. Rather than head inland to Viborg (as suggested by Google), having heard we loved the beaches he suggested we go to the east coast which was less touristy and very pretty…and so we did!

First stop was the Viking Centre, Mark had spotted a photo and knew nothing about it but it was only 10minutes of our rough route so off we went. It was great fun, a really interesting site, we met some friendly sheep, dressed up as Viking farmers, pretended to be blacksmiths and read some history. So odd this wasn’t listed as a main attraction on Google, it deserves to be.

From there it was back to the coast, we drove east to Fjellerup and shock horror Mabel refused a beach walk! She was too comfy on the sofa or else didn’t realise and so I took the boys while Mark made dinner. It’s actually very rare we get half an hour alone from each other…more often than not I’m his moany shadow that keeps pestering for food.

Mark had hoped to find somewhere we could camp in Fjellerup but no such luck. I actually love driving at dusk as it’s beautiful light and the roads are quiet and had thus found two extra sites to visit. The first was a lighthouse with stunning views – said the multiple 4⭐ reviews from 10 months ago. I persuaded him it was only 30 minutes extra and would be worth it. We opted for the wiggly longer route and stumbled upon a stunning castle called Meilgaardvej (not on Google) before driving through lots of Xmas tree plantations, woodland and into what seemed like endless prairie land. The lighthouse no doubt had breathtaking views…but was locked and seemingly in someone’s private back garden and our motorhome took up the entire dirt track road which I’d had to reverse up…it was pretty though. Whoops sorry Mark 😂🙈

I tried to make it up to him with my camping spot suggestion – a dog park. Tomorrow’s walk is sorted a mere metre from the van. On arrival he said it looked odd and is dubious… Fingers crossed it looks better in the light…or at least the dogs love it 🤞

Today’s lesson – Google doesn’t know everything, speak to locals they are friendly and take you off the beaten track 😄