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Archaeology Denmark Monthly recaps

My November-December 2020: The move to Lolland

by on 03/01/2021

With November came the biggest move of 2020 – to the island of Lolland in southern Denmark, where I’m currently working at an excavation. December was all about Christmas spirit until it wasn’t, when Covid-19 entered my family’s household and turned our holiday into weeks of isolation and constant testing.

The last bit of autumn in East Jutland

I flew home from my month-long visit to the Faroe Islands on November 1st, and spent the next two weeks at home in East Jutland. It was nice with some downtime after a pretty full-on month. I spent the weeks catching up with my family, going for long walks in the countryside, walking my kittie around the garden and clearing out boxes of my old stuff (hence the awful glasses on the picture below!). It was nice to soak up the last bit of autumn before winter kicked in with its endless rain and wind.

A weekend getaway to the island of Ærø

In mid-November, shortly before I moved to Lolland, my mum and I sailed to the island of Ærø for our annual mother/daughter trip. We were supposed to go on a roadtrip through Switzerland and Liechtenstein (first in March, then November), but since the trip was cancelled, we chose Ærø as our alternative.

It’s an island that we both really wanted to visit, and it certainly didn’t disappoint. We both loved the quaint village of Ærøskøbing, complete with cobbled streets, colourful half-timbered cottages and cozy Christmas shops. We adored our cozy airbnb in the maritime village of Marstal. And we also found great joy in exploring Ærø’s gorgeous nature and discovering its archaeological and historic sights. All in all, it was a wonderful and peaceful weekend that ended way too soon.

Moving to Lolland and settling in

On November 16th, the day I’d been waiting for since the early Autumn finally came. I started my journey towards Rødby, my new hometown at the southern end of Lolland, a landscape so flat that you can see for kilometers on end. I caught several different trains and busses before finally being picked up at the bus station by Orion, the youngest son of my host family. He drove me the last two kilometers to my new home, a gorgeous farm on the countryside, about three kilometers from my workplace. I spent that first evening getting to know the family and their many adorable pets, before going to bed in my new room, full of excitement for the next day.

I woke up early the next morning and headed out on the three kilometre walk to work, a nice walk along a country road with hardly any traffic. I was greeted by my colleagues who welcomed me with open arms and showed me around the place, and then I was sent out to the excavation where we’re excavating Iron Age houses and adjacent structures. Since then, I’ve dug countless holes, drawn countless profiles, pulled out countless animal bones and had more mud on my face than ever before.

Most days went by like this, although we spent the rainy and stormy days inside sifting soil, and we also spent a day at the museum in Maribo. I love spending so much time outdoors, and I also really enjoy my walks to and from work despite having to get up quite early to do it! And the best feeling is coming home to a house full of cuddly animals after a long day at work!

Adventures on and around Lolland

I’m not used to working a 9-5 job (or 8-4 in this case!), and it’s not something I see myself doing for the rest of my life, but one of the perks that I do love is the long weekend. And the fact that I can plan my adventure days ahead now that I know that I’m always free to do as I please on Saturdays and Sundays + on the Friday afternoons!

I haven’t sat still much during my weekends on Lolland. I’ve been on a 26 km hike along an abandoned railway, been on a biking and hiking trip to Hyllekrog at the southernmost end of Lolland, walked the dogs Kanzi and Modig around Rødby, spent an afternoon exploring the area around Rødbyhavn, seen the gorgeous murals at the church in Tågerup, been for a frosty morning walk in the countryside near Lundegårde, been Christmas shopping in Maribo and been on a day trip to the tiny islands of Askø and Lilleø!

I’ve loved what I’ve seen so far, and there’s still lots more on my list for the upcoming months. Even though I’m now working full-time, life hasn’t stopped being an adventure!

A very coronafied Christmas and New Year’s

I was so excited for December 18th when I travelled the long way home to spend my two-week Christmas holiday at home with my family. But I hadn’t even stepped inside the door when I got the news of the first family members being infected with Covid-19. And so started the horror story.

Over the next weeks, we kept isolated from the rest of the world and had test after test as we were infected one by one. All of this meant that we had to spend Christmas and New Year’s separated from each other, and all the cozy family outings that we’d planned had to be cancelled. We tried our hardest to make it a cozy time despite everything, and I got busy baking, going for long walks and painting – until I also had to isolate when I received my positive result on December 30th. I still can’t get over how unlucky we’ve been, although I’m very grateful that none of us developed serious symptoms.

Destinations visited in November-December 2020

  • Vágar, Faroe Islands
  • Hov, Aarhus, Ærø, Lolland (Rødby, Rødbyhavn, Holeby, Maribo, Bandholm), Askø, Lilleø and Hørning, Denmark

Highlights

  • Our perfect weekend on Ærø. Everything about it was wonderful!
  • Settling into my new life on Lolland. I’ve enjoyed everything about it so far! But mainly because of the cat, dogs and puppies!!!
  • Finally working on an excavation again. I’ve missed dirt!
  • My 26 km hike along the abandoned railway. It was wonderful to just walk and get to know my local area!
  • That one frosty morning that we had at the end of November. I sure have missed wintery conditions!
  • I bought new winter boots from Vegetarian Shoes and got new hiking boots from La Sportiva for Christmas. It’s so great to finally have solid, vegan boots on my feet!
  • My parents gave me a gorgeous new suitcase with a mountain landscape for Christmas. I love it, and it will be perfect for my future moves!

Challenges

  • Testing positive with Covid-19 alongside most of my family. The holidays were ruined the second I got home and have been all about isolation and getting tested every 2-3 days. On December 30th, I tested positive as the (hopefully) last one in the family. The isolation meant that we were separated at both Christmas and New Year’s, so the celebrations weren’t quite what I had hoped for. Hopefully, we can make up for it next year!

Most popular post

The other posts

November:

December:

Most popular Instagram picture

A revisit to gorgeous San Marino resulted in more likes and comments than any other post in November and December!

Coming up in January 2021

A new year is ahead of us with (hopefully) brighter times and open borders! But first, we have a few tough months to get through. For me, 2021 didn’t start off in the best way as I’m still battling Covid-19. My symptoms are mild with a headache, some coughing and no smell, but it’s the isolation that’s getting the better of me. Hopefully it will all be over soon for my entire family, so we can get started with our new year.

When I eventually get better and have finished my isolation, I will head back to Lolland to continue my life there. I miss it, and I’m very excited to get back to digging holes and cuddling the cute animals at the farm. I expect to spend the weekends adventuring around the island!

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