Wednesday 9th December 2015

Tuesday

After yet another night of broken sleep, I am awake at six, and am soon having a shower and packing before checking out and having breakfast. This is a week of four nights away and three different hotels.

It is still dark, and dawn is still more than an hour away, but with some last minute details to hammer out, I want to arrive at the factory for eight to give us time to prepare. The roads are quiet, so I make good time out of the city and through the fertile farmland to Varde. This must be about the 12th or so visit here, I know my way now. I arrive at half seven, so have time to think, check mails on my phone and watch the trains on the line beside the factory.

At eight I go in, and straight into a meeting and then wait for the others to arrive and then the fun and games can begin. It is a game of cat and mouse, and one I am bored with already, but we get through the meeting, then have a tour round the factory before lunch, and then a drive down to Esbjerg to see their other facility, another tour and we are done by half two, so I can now drive to Arhus.

It is a glorious sunny day, the trees and countryside is vibrant, even in December. Up the motorway to the intersection before heading north to Arhus, I hoped to arrive before rush hour began at three. In the end I am pulling into the suburbs by three and at the hotel by quarter past. I am booked into the Radisson, which means grand rooms and fine views over to the modern art gallery.

I relax for a while, then I get a call to say my friend Anni and her husband, Bo, arrived, so I go down laden with presents and a card. We hug and shake hands, then decide to eat in the hotel, all of us choosing the smoked salmon and a beer.

Sadly, Anni has to be at work at six in the morning, so they bid me farewell and I go for a wander with my camera through the quiet city streets.

After a fine meal with friends, I took me and my camera for a walk round the city centre, snapping the sights of this fine city.

Starting at the hotel, past the concert hall, the modern clock tower and ARos, with its rainbow halo.

And then into the network of narrow cobbled streets, each adorned with lights and decoration.

I like Arhus; it's Denmark's second city after Copenhagen, and in my opinion more representative of the rest of the county, or at least Jutland, than the capital, which is really like a different country.

After saying the city's name, I usually say under my breath "in the middle of our street", I cannot be the only one who does this, I'm sure.

I end up at the canal which runs through the city centre, but in December there is no zorbing on it. There are festive lights everywhere and so is very attractive, as are the plethora of bars and restaurants. I call in at The Sherlock Holmes for a couple of beers and watch the start of the Man Utd game on TV. But staying all game will mean at least two more beers, so I walk back to the hotel, taking a couple of more shots.

I lay on me bed watching the game, my eyes grow heavy and I am sure I miss some of it. But, Utd lose, I laugh and go to bed. Phew.