Legoland and Blåhøj

Hello!

Godt Nytår / Happy New Year!

I’m back, after many a draft post but no actual posting during the last six months. I have been focusing all my free time on my Module 4 language learning. And I am pleased to say that last week, I passed it. Horray!

Before I begin Module 5 next week I thought I’d get the ball rolling with blogging again. So here is a post about last year’s Easter trip to Billund. Easter Day fell on 21st April last year, so the weather really felt like Spring. It takes a while in Denmark for Spring to get going. Do not expect a hint of it in March, you will end up disappointed.

So off we travelled to Billund by car on a sunny Spring day. In Denmark, the Easter break starts on Maundy Thursday so you get five days off. I wrote about our first Danish Easter and its traditions in a blog post here, if you want to revisit. 

We stayed in an apartment within a big summer house, at SkovBo Ferie in Blåhøj. The house is owned by a couple, Birthe and Bent, who live next door and they were brilliant hosts. We were surrounded by acres of land with horses, deer and chicken. It really felt like an escape from city life. We spent Thursday and Friday just enjoying the gardens, relaxing and doing an Easter egg hunt for Lydia. 

We then met a family from Sweden, staying in the apartment next to us and Lydia and their six year-old daughter became great friends. They fed the animals and played for hours outside, into the late evening. It really was idyllic.

On Saturday we went to Legoland! I had been before, in 1996 when I was 11 years old. I remember it vividly and was so excited that Lydia was at an age to experience it. 

The same Indian camp was there, Lego driving school, miniature buildings and of course, Lego play areas. It brought back so many fond memories. I still have my Legoland driving license somewhere.

Except now, I wasn’t an 11-year old. I was a parent of two small children.

And suddenly, the penny dropped as to why my parents rarely took the four of us to theme parks as children. And why perhaps going on an Easter Saturday wasn’t our greatest plan. The queues were long. The rides, ‘blink and you miss it’ short. 

We lost Sofia’s beaker, broke Lydia’s, all snacks were consumed or thrown on the floor by the second queue. We were left with having to buy food and drink on site. And that’s where I was really surprised. Not a rye bread, piece of fruit or water fountain in sight, which is very un-Danish. The only healthy option was a buffet at £23 per adult, £12 per child. Water had to be bought in plastic bottles, snack options were ice cream and chips. It all felt very big, very commercialised, and not the quaint lego park I had imagined. 

That said, it’s an experience. Legoland in Billund, the HQ of Lego. You’ve got to try it, haven’t you and I’m very grateful we did. There were still pockets of the Lego magic everywhere you went. 

On Easter Sunday we were close enough to my aunt’s farm to drive there for Easter lunch, which felt lovely to spend the day with Danish family.

We then headed back to Copenhagen and on Easter Monday, enjoyed another Easter egg hunt with friends in Kongens Have.

A pretty perfect påske!