Cristina's Birthday

I woke up at 6am, a more normal time, and an hour before the grocery store opened. Bella had wanted to go with me, but I didn't want to wake her up, so I turned on my phone and checked my Facebook and rested beside my sleeping wife. I fell asleep again, and this time when I woke it was 9 and Marion was already back from the grocery store. Oops!

Marion gave Cristina a carved wooden bowl that she got in Skagen yesterday

Marion bought fresh brötchen and made coffee, which makes a perfect breakfast. Afterwards, we headed to the local flea market (known in Denmark as a loppe market). It started raining, so we went under a big tent and listened to a musician play guitar and sing songs in English. The rain slowed enough for us to have a look around. The flea market reminded me of flea markets when I was a kid; the kind where people bring random stuff to sell. So often today in the States, the stalls at flea markets are more like mini-stores that specialize in one particular type of product that they obtain cheaply somewhere else. Like this guy sells knives, and that guy sells movies. But this Danish flea market was old school.

I had only used our credit card so far on this trip, so I still had no Danish currency. These flea market vendors don't take credit cards, which was good for our budget. It was much easier to avoid purchasing an intriguing trinket because, well, we had no cash. We still did not get out of there without buying something, but even I will admit that it was a good deal. There are these stainless steel containers called tiffins, which are British Indian lunchboxes for carrying the tiffin, a slang term for a second breakfast or lunch. They stack nicely and hold the different parts of the lunch separate. Cristina found one with four compartments tagged for 40 kroner (about $7). In the States, she had seen similar ones for about $20. Marion offered to front us the cash until we could go to an ATM. Before Cristina went back to the guy selling the tiffin, I reminded her to bargain. "And don't let him know how bad you want it," I said. "He already knows how bad I want it," she said. So Marion offered to do the haggling and try to get the tiffin for 30. She headed towards the stall and we pretended to browse other tables. Cristina noticed that Marion was no longer talking to the guy, but she had the tiffin under her arm. When we rendezvoused, Marion proudly announced that she got it for 20 kroner! That's about $3.60! She said the man spoke German and she struck up a friendly conversation with him. Man, she's a pro.

The $3.60 tiffin!

From there, the kids went back to the cabin with Marion. Harry, Cristina, and I went to the ATM, then Aldi (a grocery store). We bought things for Cristina's birthday dinner (fruit salad and a green tossed salad) as well as items for our picnic tomorrow during our car ride to Vordingborg. While we were shopping, Marion and the kids made a cake (from scratch!) for Cristina. They improvised a glaze with water, sugar, and a little chocolate.

Glazing it up

Singing Happy Birthday

Bella said she wanted this kind of cake for her next birthday

We ate a simple lunch of bread and cheese with vegetables, and the birthday cake, which was delicious.

It's just not a party till someone plays with their food

We went for one last walk to the beach. Cristina and Sofia took a ton of great pictures, so I encourage you to check out their Facebook pages to see those! I came back early with Bella and Sören because Bella was feeling done. We had some down time until the others came back, then we started making dinner. Harry helped the kids make a fire.

To add to our fruit and tossed salad, Marion made potato pancakes, which were delectable. And so simple too. Why have I not made these myself on a regular basis? Even Alex, who doesn't care for potatoes, ate several. I must add them to my repertoire.

Danish remoulade (the condiment on the potato pancakes) is kinda growing on all of us...I think we'll be taking some home in August

During the Germany-Ghana game, Cristina remembered that we had bought ice cream for her birthday, so after Germany scored a goal, I dished up the ice cream. Unfortunately, Ghana scored one before I could even serve it. Bella asked if this meant we didn't get any ice cream! We all ate yummy triple chocolate ice cream while watching Germany tie Ghana 2-2. Harry and Marion were disappointed with the end result, but it was a great game.

While the kids got ready for bed, I started vacuuming some of our space bags in preparation for our departure to Vordingborg. I hope Trine is ready for the invasion!