Kinder Tragedy

Maribo, Denmark -- Rest Day

We made the executive decision this morning to stay put for the day. The weather was nice, we had electricity and working WiFi, and there were definite online tasks that needed attending to -- housing in London and Paris with Mike and Ely, and flights to Africa. The small nearby beach would provide ample entertainment for the kids. 

Breakfast was extra special as we ate at the picnic table with our Swiss biking family - Corina, Kristof, Lara, and Anja. It was fun to compare biking notes and stories. Years before they too had a single tandem and pulled a double tag-a-long behind for the girls. They tend to travel a bit shorter distances each day, but it was incredibly gratifying to see that their morning packing ritual spanned the appropriate three to four hour time period. 

The kids spent the entire morning at the small beach, playing with clams and KinderEgg toys. They made a small pool, complete with water slide and resident clam. In the end though, it was a rough day for the beloved KinderPeople whose painted faces were no match for the abrasive sand. 

Kinder People, before 

In an attempt to forget the tragedy of the the partially erased Kinder faces, we decided to walk into town for lunch.  All of us are trying to come up to speed on Danish, though I should have a definite leg up due to my background in Swedish -- college exchange program... a mere 30 years ago.  Here were a few items we translated at the restaurant:

Chokoladesovs - chocolate gravy - chocolate sauce

Flødeskum - cream foam - whipped cream

Bådkartofler - Boat potatoes - wedge fries

Some words, seem not to need any translating at all. 

I found it interesting at lunch to note that Dex was unwilling to try the honeydew melon on his plate. Kylie, on the other hand, must have hit her head on something hard, as she refused to even try the chocolate cake accompanying her ice cream!  Also, to make sure we don't totally lose touch with what's going on in the world, we pre-ordered the 8th Harry Potter book though we're a bit dubious about the description as a play. 

The rest of the afternoon was spent at the campground, Meg and I in endless frustration as we tried no fewer than five times to book flights to Africa. Here again, we seemed to be at the mercy of the websites.  At one site we were rejected for not putting in the credit card “BillingState,” though an actual spot to do so would have been pretty helpful.  VISA rejected us three times at another site even after verifying the charge on the prompt “fraud alert” email and later spending 15 minutes talking to Sandy in Colorado. 

Dex and Kylie played like champs the whole day, either at the small playground, the beach, or the nearby mound of hard packed sand. Another chapter of the The Trumpeter from Kraków was read in the tent, though I'm pretty sure we'll need to fill in Meg in the morning.