Our Memories Are Better Than The Reality.

AMAGER STRANDPARK.

We walked around the harbour last night before bedtime. The pizzas are 10 kroner dearer than in the centre. Despite the competition, people must be prepared to pay the extra for the sea view (the one in the centre had no outside seating and overlooked a petrol station).

Rosie decides we have enough dirty clothes to fill a washing machine. Paul goes for a run in the woods. They lead to the Karen Blixet museum. At one point, he ran past her gravestone. Karen wrote "Out Of Africa" based on her life in Kenya. Meryl Streep played her in the multi Oscar winning film.

We're on the road by midday. Paul has a conference call at 2pm. We've picked a site outside Copenhagen. It's new so we think it might offer access to shops. Wrong! It is outside an office block amongst other office blocks. We passed IKEA on the way so return there. Rosie looks around during the call.

The evening stop is described as quiet and secluded. It's just a mile away so we move there. Wrong! It's a scruffy car park on an urban pond next to a recycling plant.

Let's try the one we've planned for tomorrow night. On the way we'll call at the parkrun venue. Wrong! We can't find and almost knock a cyclist off his bike. Although in defence, he did come alongside at breakneck speed.

We find the parking spot. We used it last year and still stirs the soul with its views.

We go for a walk before dinner along the sea front. We can sea the long bridge to Malmo, Sweden in the distance. The area is well used by cyclists, joggers, canoeists and the odd swimmer. Braver than us it has to be said.

We call for a beer at a local restaurant. Over a pint and a half of beer, which costs £12, we decide that the area is not as pretty as we remember. More buildings have gone up and there is a blight of graffiti. Paul's throwaway line of "we'd be better off in Germany" has us rethinking our journey. Hamburg now has a parkrun and we are only 175 miles away.