Its the beginning of December, and as has been customary at this time of year in recent times, I’m working at the International Ceramic Research Centre, Guldagergård, Denmark

for the next couple of weeks. Here’s a rather sleepy me standing at the front door.

I arrived late last Friday night after an overnight ferry from Newcastle Upon Tyne (England) to Ijmuiden (near Amsterdam) then a long drive through Holland and Germany. It rained and I hit the rush hour around Bremen and Hamburg, but it all became more civilized as I arrived (another ferry rather shorter journey) at Rødbyhavn in Denmark, and the final hour’s drive became quieter and quieter.

In previous years I used to make the journey a different way...  from Cumbria, to Newcastle then via the ferry (25 hours) to Göteborg, arriving late evening... there was then an agreeable drive down the west coast of Sweden, through Copenhagen and eventually to the quiet town of Skælskør... The ferry journey up the river to Gothenburg (Göteborg) was spectacular, and often quite surreal on the way home, early morning in late autumn.... Alas, DFDS seaways sold the ferry last year and closed the route.. so to get here now takes a longer drive and is much more arduous... and I really miss visiting my friends in Sweden.