“Life is short and the world is wide”
🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊 Today is CNY day 2, the weather is very cold at -12 degree and the grass are covered with sleet.
Nevertheless, we are fearless of the harsh weather as we are well covered up and we are going to exploring Saeby, which is 1hr away from our place in Aalborg.
Here is a brief introduction of Saeby - a town and a seaport located at the east coast of the Northern Denmark. It has a population of 12,000. This picturesque little town by the sea, Saeby is well preserved with many yellow painted houses. This is one of the oldest towns in the Northern Jutland and the very first inhabitants settled here during the Viking Age.
Here are some of the yellow painted preserved houses that I got from the google. These houses are on the conservation list by the government. When you buy over these properties, you are not allow to change the facade. As these houses were very old, new timbers(10%) are laid across to hold the structure.
This town is always busy during the summer where people can rent the summer houses by the the friendly beach where you spend great families bonding times together. Fishing is one of the usual activity along the streams or rivers where they are full of trout and mackerel. Whether you decide to spent time roaming at the town centre or lazing at the beach, cafes and restaurants are easily access.
🚌🚌🚌🚌🚌🚌🚌🚌🚌🚌🚌🚌🚌🚌🚌 So how do we go to Saeby? We took bus 12 from our home to Vesterbro and change to bus 973X, it is such a scenic bus ride from Aalborg.
This is how Vesterbro look like, it is actually another part of the Centrum area. FRIENDS cafe is just a few steps away from Vesterbro bus stop.
Passing through the fjord of Aalborg, part of it is already frozen up.
It will be a scenic 45min bus ride from Vesterbro Bus stop all the way to Saeby Bus Terminal where vegetation & dairy farms are scattered all over the ride.
💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝 Remember I mentioned about our Danish friends - Jeppe & wife Marlene ? They and their 3 kids ( Luna, Asger(means Viking sword) & Hugo) are staying in Saeby. It was such an honor that they are inviting us over for a real Danish dinner on CNY day 2. They are aware that this is CNY season and we are away from our families so they want to do something for us. This is such a great blessings.
My mum told me, never visit your friend's house empty handed, so I get these for them. Knowing that they love stew pork bellies, I home made some for them.
And also present them my humble gifts : Korean facial mask, chocolates for Luna & Asger as well as some baby stuff for Hugo who is 6 months old.
After the 45min scenic bus ride from Vesterbro, we reach Saeby Bus Terminal. Rustic & laid back humble building from long long ago.
This is the road leading to our destination. Quiet and peaceful surrounding. It will be 7 min walk from Saeby Bus Terminal.
This is how a TRUE BLUE DANE's HOUSE look like - a real Scandinavian house 🏡: I had the permission to share some photos here.
The first thing we see as we entered: this is where we hang our jackets and put our shoes. At the point where I am standing to take this picture are the stairs that lead us upstairs to their bedrooms which I did not take any photos in respect of privacy.
Enter again to another door, we have a lounge area:
The long dining table, the colors of the walls & the table is sooooo comfy
The sleek and clean kitchen.
At the corner of the kitchen, there is an underground section which was built from the old days. OMG, first time see and feel a dungeon - read too much from the books, articles and news in regards of old houses with underground sections where people used as a bomb shelter with food & beds during the war. This place consist of a cold room of 2 freezer, cellar and dry food room. The walls of this section is chill because, soil and mud are behind the walls.
See these ancient switches... I am speechless, I saw those Asian ones at my grandma's house now I am seeing the European's.
Part of the house was from the 19th century - this wall is from those days. It was expanded by the last owners before Jeppe bought over for a further enhancement. He just bought the house last October and currently his upgrading and improvements are not complete yet. According to him, most of the Danes do all these handy works or repair works themselves because to engage a professional company is very costly. He intended to bring down the wall of the kitchen to make it an open concept kitchen.
This is their common toilet but what I want to present is the wall - the walls are from 19th century.
🏡 Summary of a real Scandinavian house 🏡 : The house is cozy & sleek. Decorated with wall arts and plants. The wooden floorings and fire place is another specs. Lastly the lightings.. same as my current house. The lightings are usually warm lighted lamps and candles. If your house is brightly shined with LED then it is not a thorough Scandinavian theme. By the way, the term "Scandinavia" is refers to Denmark, Norway & Sweden.
Here we have Boss carrying the king of the house - Hugo, he is so good looking and chubby.
Marlene offered us some tea and Danish snacks. Yummy and not sweet at all. hahhahahaa
Jeppe is such a professional host that he gave us a sight seeing tour of Saeby. Not only to the attractions of Saeby, he even showed us his old home and some private properties belonging to his family. While driving past the town centre (Algade), the buildings are mostly old structures from those days, winding roads and cobblestone path. Due to Covid, shops are now closed, I hope when the restriction lifted, I will have the chance to roam at the town centre and chill over at a cafe. There is even glassblowing shops here.
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Saeby Harbor : This marina is in the midst of expansion for more boat's space. Not only you can admire the idyllic scenery of the harbor, the different designs of the boats, you can watch the seagulls by the sunset and even chill at the restaurants here. Take a close look of the sea water, they are freezing up.
Lady of the Sea : A more-than 6-meter-tall sculpture, that was made by Norwegian artist Marit Benthe Norheim in cooperation with more than 800 local school children. There is a story that this lady is looking after the fishermen for a safe return. This is another photo I grabbed from google
Saeby Beach is a child friendly and pet friendly place. Ample parkings, Summer houses for rent, restaurants, restrooms and etc. First time of my life, I see a frozen sea. These ice stoned up along the shore by incoming waves. Frozen coastline, the whole stretch frozen! What a sight to me!
Love this place very much that I requested Jeppe to pullover. We are at the top of Saeby. Patches of green that look like golf courses are scattered at the right side when the blue sea is at my left.
This photo below which the guys took is very significant to them. It's a shame, I do not have a good camera to zoom to the background which is a ship. It's their work related.
We drove past the Voergarrd Castle dated from 1481, the photo below was grabbed from google. I did not manage to take any photo as the place was rather unkempt which I suppose is due to the winter. I believe this place will be charming in Summer. There is a story that " There was a lady named Ingeborg Skeel who acquired the estate in 1578. The highly enterprising Ingeborg managed the estate herself, which was unusual for her time, and it aroused the suspicion of people in the community. She was accused of various evil deeds and it was rumoured that she was a witch who pledge allegiance with the devil. And here are reports of a ghostly lady making her way around the castle at night to be the soul of Lady Ingeborg. Another story dated further that the lady of this castle had the architect thrown into the moat and left to drown, so that he could never build another one of this castle.
Hunting is another activity for the local. There is a special law, if your target is located at your permitted hunting ground you can shoot. But if your target run to the opposite field which is not in your permitted ground, it is illegal to shoot. Even the target is just standing directly opposite at you, even though at point's blank distance. As long as the legs are not in your permitted shooting range, you cannot pull the trigger at all. Another rule to the hunting - no hunting allow before sun rise and after sun set. The locals respect all these law by heart. See these deers and fawns, roaming freely at the forest or even the roads where they will cross over. If they run into your fields, then they belong to you. If they run over to someone's else field then they belong to someone's. To cut short, you have to take care of them if they come to your field.
The town turn quiet once the sun set but the charm is actually on the skies. It is such a shame that we do not have a good camera. The skies is full of glittering stars which we did not have the chance to see it in Singapore. And it is so cold outside that we need to get indoor to bake ourselves at the fireplace asap.
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| This little Viking is so cute and chubby. He loves potatoes very much. |
Here is the authentic Danish Dinner hosted by TRUE BLUE DANES.
And finally here is our picture before we end our day in Saeby. Our blessings got enhanced further because Jeppe is driving us back to Aalborg. We are so fortunate to have the them with us during our stay in Aalborg.
They presented me a gift : A book to understand what is "Hygge" (pronounced "hoo-gah") is usually translated as "cosiness", but it's not just about warm lighting and candles, It also involves with the feelings of wellness and contentment.. (Boss & I were still wondering why the supermarket have a big selections of candles). During the long, dark winters when Danes retreat inside their homes, hygge is what brings them a great sense of comfort and joy.
Dear Readers,
We have come to the end of this blog of our Day Trip to Saeby. If your time allow, I would like to invite you to look out for other blogs regards to our lives in Aalborg.
1) Relocation from Singapore to Aalborg
2) Exploring Aalborg as a resident
3) Lindholm Høje @ Aalborg - The Ancient Burial Grounds for the VIKINGS
4) One Day Silkeborg @ Denmark
5) Explore Copenhagen @ Denmark
As mentioned earlier that Denmark was having partial lockdown now in Aalborg retails shops that are less than 5000sqm are opened, F & B are still available for takeaway only. Mask is mandatory when you are indoor and practice 2m social distancing, all museums and tourist attractions are still closed countrywide. Finally we can explore and shopping at the pedestrian streets of Aalborg now. We are planning to explore Copenhagen and Silkeborg soon. Copenhagen is the capital of Denmark, naturally it is a must go place for me. As for Silkeborg, it is because of a 2500 years mummy - The Tollund Man.
