Against all odds, how one adventurous trip became a triumph of the human spirit during pandemic

“Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain.” — Jack Kerouac

The twelve memorable days of my life that was magical and weaved beautifully through serendipity and synchronicity! I travelled during pandemic for a training and had a few days to explore. Here are some excerpts from my journals.

I made sure to be aware of the exhaustive information to feel confident during the trip. From the covid protocols to where one can access testing in a foreign country to all the ‘travel bubbles,’ ‘travel bridges,’ ‘travel corridors,’ and finally thorough documentation. I took stringent prevention and control measures — wearing double masks, face shields, and carrying enough sanitizers.

For the previous seven months, the pandemic had upended our lives, restricting movement. And in a flash, I was boarding a cab in front of the Billund airport! It was surreal. Eric, the property owner, welcomed me with a warm smile to tell me masks were only meant for public transport. It was liberating!

The quaint cottage, my home for the next few days, was overlooking a farm nestled in a thick pine forest. The cabins were very Scandinavian — minimal, simplistic yet functional with a kitchenette, and laundry. The pine forest let me experience ‘Forest Bathing’ — inhaling the scent of pine, and listening to the rustling of leaves and the wind in the tree, almost like a guided meditation, helped me to quieten my mind and deepen my connection with the surrounding.

The next day, after a sumptuous Nordic breakfast, I was all set to explore the oldest town in Scandinavia called Ribe, 60 km away from Billund. The connections to Ribe were neat with connecting Taxis, Xbus, and trains.

The first stop was the Viking museum; I learned the history of Ribe — the town served as an essential medieval emporium connecting Scandinavia & Western Europe. The exciting part of the museum was that it had two beautiful areas that reconstructed the Viking village between 800 and 1500. l felt that I was walking through an authentic Viking village.

Ribe Kunstmuseum, one of the oldest art museums in Denmark, was fascinating! It housed the masterpieces by the Danish artists from 1750 to 1940. The ground floor was hosting Hans Scherfig’s work — lithographs that depict jungles and savannahs.

Then I headed to the Ribe cathedral, which took almost a hundred years to build, started in 860, and was completed in 1134!

Ribe is a ‘picture perfect’ version of Denmark frozen in time with its cobblestone lanes, middle-age houses, and a maze of crossroads emerging from its medieval town square — that would be packed with tourists during normal times, was completely deserted.

Before exploring a town, the foodie that I am, one thing I never forget is doing my research on the best restaurants in that place! Sælhunden is supposed to be an institution in Ribe for traditional Danish cuisine. Very hyggelig setting in an old cozy house! It was a bright sunny afternoon; I chose to sit outside by the canal that the Vikings used for trading! The Apple Compote with whipped cream and macaroons is a must-try! It was Marcel Proust’s ‘Madeleine Moment’ for me! As soon as the apple with the cream touched my palate, an exquisite pleasure invaded my senses, something isolated, individual! Pure joy!

With the exotic taste of the Apple Compote still lingering on my palate, I hopped on to the Xbus, which headed to Esbjerg to view the stunning sculpture by the Danish sculptor, Svend Hansen.

As I was approaching the beach, I could see the spectacular silhouette of the four men against the sunset! I stood in front of the 30 ft high colossal white statues, blankly staring at the sea yet contemplative. Although the figures may look alike, I thought there were subtle differences among them. Again the place stood abandoned in the time of the virus.

The next couple of days was my rendevous with LEGO®. As one enters The LEGO® House— the experience center of LEGO®, the giant machine that makes 2×4 red bricks welcomes you. You can watch the production process in action. It spits out the new bricks, bags them, and shoots them out into a box. Quite a fascinating sight!

The house has over 25 million bricks and has four colored zones — red is creative, blue is cognitive, green is social, and yellow is emotional. Each zone engages the audience to think differently with LEGO® bricks! It was lovely to see children and adults sitting together, stacking, building, and enjoying the ‘clutch-power.’ The uncrowded zones gave me immense opportunity to engage with the bricks.

The staircase in the LEGO® house surrounds a 15m tall ‘Tree of Creativity’ full of small details. It was built by hand using over 6 million standard LEGO® bricks over four months.

The highlight was Arthur Gugick’s John Lennon, which was kept at the masterpiece gallery here! Arthur, who is no more, was known for his innovative mosaic style. His use of printed tiles is a unique technique for LEGO® mosaic and adds a subtle color variation to his work.

The LEGO® museum in the basement is a classic example of storytelling. The desolate terrace was another fascinating space with installations with a 360-degree view of Billund.

The grand finale was the on-site MINI CHEF restaurant, where I could build my menu with bricks. The video screen on my table showed me behind the scene story where the LEGO® mini-figures were preparing my food in the kitchen. Then, the meal in a LEGO®-shaped box arrived through the conveyor belt served by the robot helpers. Apparently, in regular times, one needs to stand in a queue for hours to get a table!

LEGO® House is a brilliant example of an immersive and interactive experience! The next day, I again went back after LEGOLAND®, which was quite underwhelming after LEGO® House!

The time had arrived for my training. It was a week of intensive training full of new learnings, meeting new friends, earning a new skill, and, yes, good food! Post my training; I returned to the cottage, perfect for my nature escape.

Just a day before flying out, I received a message from Lufthansa, all the flights to India stand canceled!

“People don’t take trips — trips take people” — John Steinbeck

I started looking for all possible connections flying out of Billund and checking the pandemic restrictions. To cut a long story short, I luckily got a seat on the Air France repatriation flight. With just an hour of layover in Paris airport, I ran a marathon in CDG with my stroller and several art prints, which were even more precious than my boarding pass!

I arrived at the departure gate huffing and puffing only to witness chaos! Apart from the Air Suvidha self-declaration form, passengers needed to do more documentation. The Air-France staff managed it very well, patiently explaining the procedure to the passengers.

I pre-booked my RT- PCR test at Mumbai Airport online. As soon as I disembarked, the immigration was fast and smooth, followed by the covid test. I checked into the Airport Transit hotel for the night till I got the report. As soon as I received my report, the BMC officials cleared me to head back home.

Exhausted, I slumped into the backseat of the car, closed my eyes, and thought of all the things during the trip I could be grateful for!

“You have to take risks. We will only understand the miracle of life fully when we allow the unexpected to happen” — Paulo Coelho

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