2021 in retrospect

Another year in the shadow of the Corona virus.
… And yet another year without the honeymoon, which my wife and I originally had planned back in 2019. Yet another year without travelling outside the borders of Denmark – well not quite.

In December 2021 we finally got the chance to go outside our own country for the first time in sooo long. Over some time, we had saved money to update our kitchen. Instead, we used that money to buy a trip by boat along the Norwegian coastline.

Right up to the travelling date, we did not know whether it would happen – or if Corona once again would block our dreams. But we did it. We got all papers and Covid-tests ready and was allowed access to Norway.

Fantastic trip from Bergen and all the way up to Kirkenes and back again. Hitting the absolute top of Norway on Christmas day! Wow!

We hope to finally get our honeymoon travel in 2022. By then it will be delayed by 3 years.

We also hope to get a more normal life and get out of the shadow of Covid. It has lasted long enough. (This text was written before the current situation in Europe).

2020 in retrospect

A new year has gone, without me writing anything in my blog. But I am still here.

In the beginning of 2020, my wife and I had huge plans to see more of the world this year.
Our honeymoon, which was canceled in 2019 due to the sudden decease of my mother, had been re-planned.
On top of this, we had bought ourselves a short vacation in Paris in the spring.

We ended up going nowhere, since Corona – Covid-19 – came and destroyed all our travelling plans.
Sigh.

In the fall, a water pipe suddenly broke and poured lots and lots of hot water into our apartment.
We managed to finally stop the water, so we can still live in the apartment, but not without some damage, which still hasn’t been corrected yet. The insurance company has luckily said yes to pay for most of the damage, but apparently it can take a very long time to get someone to fix things.

Well, that was what 2020 was all about. Let us hope, 2021 will be better.

2019 in retrospect

I haven’t written much here in the last months. That does not mean, nothing has happened. Quite the opposite.

The major things that happened in 2019 actually began in 2018, so I will start there.

In the summer of 2018, I asked Nina if she wanted to marry me – which she luckily did. Almost a year later, in the beginning of summer 2019, we got married in beautiful weather, under a large tree. It was so romantic.

In the fall of 2018, my father suddenly died. My mother and father got divorced when I was tree years old, and I haven’t had much contact with my father since then. It was still a shock.
In the process of planning the funeral, I did get in touch with my fathers’ side of the family. A bunch of really fantastic cousins, I had lost contact with.

Shortly after my father died, my grandmother (om my mothers’ side) got ill. She had just held her 102 years birthday in fine style, but now her health deteriorated fast. She always recognized Nina and I, but I don’t think she ever realized Christmas came and went.

In February 2019, my grandmother passed away.

Nina and I got married in June 2019 in company of many friends and family, including my mother, who had been ill for some time, but seemed to have gotten better. She attended the party to very late in the evening. The next morning, she got ill. The home care had found her non responsive and called an ambulance. She died on the way to the hospital.

We had to cancel the planned honeymoon and use our planned holiday instead to handle the funeral and all the paper work. This was so hard.

Today I can look back at a year with extreme ups and downs. But I am also able to finally look back at the wedding and remember how fantastic it was. Nina has been a tremendous help to me all way through the tough parts and I love her so much.

We are now planning a new honeymoon in summer 2020.

What a year.

Happy New Year to all of you!

2018 in retrospect

The best things in life aren’t things. (Quote: Art Buchwald)

If you follow my blog, you might think 2018 was an uneventful year.
You would be wrong, but that is all because I have been lazy updating this site.
Let me try to bring you up to date. 🙂

At New Year, a year ago, I went to a small party. Four people: An old friend, her boyfriend, a female friend to my old friend – and of course me. It was all nice and cozy.

In January, I started at my new job. I was well received, and at least at the time of writing, it has been a good change.

February and March were pretty uneventful. I tried to sum it up with this Ben Stein quote:
“The first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: Decide what you want”.

April was almost uneventful too, except for my old friend (with whom I had celebrated New Year) inviting me out to dinner, with the company of the woman I met at the New Year party.
It was nicer than an ordinary dinner normally is, and I ended up inviting the woman out some days later.

In the warmest summer in Denmark for as long as anyone could remember, we started to see more and more to each other – and at some point, we became a couple.

It went very fast from there. It all seemed right. We both had very warm and fuzzy feelings for each other. Our families liked the newcomer. We had the same taste in humor, traveling and most other tings – and the things we did not have in common were really not that important (and still aren’t).

We soon decided to take a trip to Belgium, to visit the cities Bruges and Brussels. In Bruges, one of the most romantic cities in Europe, I fell on my knee and proposed to her. She said Yes. 🙂

Another significant experience in 2018 was my grandmothers (on my mother’s side) 102th birthday in October! 102 years and still going strong.

My father, on the other hand, was not going strong. He passed away that same October. 🙁

After having buried my father, I went on a short trip to Prague with my fiancé. It was fantastic and once again it turned out that we are good at traveling together.

2018 has been a very eventful year. Except for my father passing away, it has been one of the most fantastic years (possible The Most Fantastic) in my life – so far. I hope for a new fantastic year to come.

Happy New Year to all who read this!
With the hope that 2019 will be fantastic!

April weather

These days it is like summer in Denmark. Hot and sunny.
Next week more normal weather: Not so hot, not so much sun, maybe some rain.

If you live in Denmark, you do not have to travel to see all kinds of weather. You just have to wait a little while. 😉