We found a small Italian eatery in Hjørring run by an Italian couple. I talked to one of them, and I think we both were equally happy to speak Italian. Actually she's learning Danish, so she suggested that she'd speak Danish to me and I'd speak Italian to her. Worked like a charm.
This cabinet is a perfect metaphor for our house. We found the cabinet in our local charity shop. It was old, relatively cheap, and it looked decent. There were a few issues, but nothing that required too much work.
Or so we thought.
When I started cleaning it, I discovered that the rear panel was loose because, apparently, someone had tried to pry it open using brute force (vandals!) and torn it from the attaching clips. The veneer on the right side of the cabinet is chipping away at an alarming rate, and I need to get wood filler to fix that before the problem gets worse. One of the shelves has visible stains that I’d like to mask. So now I also need to get special oil for that.
In other words, as with our house, I need to put some work into the cabinet before I can use it.
On the bright side, I felt unexpected pleasure working on the cabinet. I guess I can see myself in it: we’re both old and worse for wear. But with a little bit of TLC, there is still useful life left in us.
Baking bread, reading, writing, fixing the house... I could get used to this bohemian lifestyle.
Bumblebees are already hard at work in our garden.
 to bake bread rolls this morning.](uploads/thumbs/1773828412_97c299f8.jpg)
Today I've discovered that there is no better way to start the day than baking bread. I used [this recipe](https://www.leckerschmecker.me/daenische-haferflockenbroetchen-a-d-kneten/63743511508212) to bake bread rolls this morning.
My first ever loaf of bread. It's actually better than I was expecting from my first attempt at baking bread.
Oxfam in Frankfurt am Main was where we stocked up on books. We didn't expect to find a similar -- let alone better -- alternative to it in Denmark, and definitely not in Bindslev. But the local _Blå Kors_ surprised us in the most positive way. Not only do they have shelves upon shelves of books, but the books there are also way cheaper. To wit: the books in the attached photo cost us around €13.
First signs of spring in our garden.
Today, we biked 6km to the nearest place worthy of being called a town. A bike tour through a desolate landscape, gray weather, and strong gusty headwind -- I hated every fucking second of it.
On the bright side, I'd like to revise my previous statement regarding finding good bread in DK. We've found a bakery that has really good bread at reasonable (by Danish standards, that is) prices. (OK, it's still not quite as good as German bread, but beggars can't be choosers).
Instant negatives of moving from Germany to Denmark
Now that I've wrote about the positives, it's only fair to list the negatives:
- Weather. Brrrrr, windy, and foggy.
- Prices. It will take us a long while to get used to eye-watering prices of, well, pretty much everything (with a possible exception of Internet and 5G plans).
- Food. The only place to buy decent bread is Lidl. There are good places to eat, but overall, it's a definite downgrade compared to Germany.
- Nature. As in there is virtually none to please the eye. Besides the birds in our garden, that is.
None of this is unexpected, but it requires adjusting that won't happen overnight.
One of the first things we did when we moved in was to order a washing machine, a dryer, and an induction stove. All Bosch, because we want to support the German economy. I'm quite fascinated by the washing machine: it has so many genuinely useful features, and its display appeals to my inner geek.
Instant positives of moving from Germany to Denmark
- Zero bureaucracy
- Very few people
- Practically no traffic and no cars parked on the streets
- It's so quiet here
- Our garden is teeming with birds
[BONUS] Our neighbor came by this morning to welcome us to the neighborhood. She even brought a flower and a card. ❤️