Greetings from Jesper Theilgaard
The popular meteorologist and climate expert Jesper Theilgaard has spent many holidays in his summer house in Nordby. Here, he is surrounded by magnificent nature, love and nice weather.
I was 10 years old and had just set foot on Samsø soil for the fi rst time. My family had decided that this year’s camping trip would be to Nordby Camping on Samsø. The white VW Beetle was loaded with dad, mom, and four children – all without seat belts in those days.
Despite this, we arrived safe and sound onto the island, and to Nordby Camping, where we were received by a very kind camp manager. It was the legendary year when England and Germany played the World Cup fi nal and so he organised a football competition on the site. We walked to Nordby several times, and we would always meet an extremely sweet dog – Lassie, near a farm on the outskirts of the town.
Many years later I often visited this very farm because Samsø became a pivotal point in my life after I had fallen in love with a girl who- coincidentally – owned a house in Nordby. And, as it turned out later, her parents were good friends with the family on the farm where the dog lived.
The trip to Samsø was a bit diffi cult viewed with eyes of those times. The train journey to Kalundborg stopping at all stations, took about a couple of hours, the same as the crossing to Koldby Kaas where the cosy bus to Nordby was waiting. So after a bus trip through Samsø’s beautiful landscapes, we opened the door to the house in Nordby, fi ve or six hours after we left Copenhagen.
Today, fortunately, everything has become much easier, where our car takes us quickly to the ferry, which now only needs one hour and fi fteen minutes for the crossing to Ballen, but the feeling of ease that always streams through me when we leave the ferry has not changed. The island’s nature and beautiful villages welcome us every time. I miss only one thing from Koldby Kaas ferry port, when we drove ashore, we used to be met by a collection of white stones on the hillside at the exit road with the text “Welcome back to Samsø” – but anyway. We still feel welcome today where the same message at Ballen ferry port sends the same message in its own modern way.
There are many reasons for choosing Samsø as a sanctuary. The many shops and farm shops with local produce, which I also remember from my childhood, still exist in the best of health – now with MobilePay so you don’t have to carry actual cash to buy potatoes and strawberries.
And in addition, the summer weather on Danish islands is sunnier than elsewhere in the country and Samsø is no exception. We have often stood on Ballebjerg in sunshine watching the clouds over Jutland – and they didn’t drift towards Samsø.
And of course the island is self-suffi cient with energy, an achievement that has won international fame for the island.
About Jesper Theilgaard
Qualified as an aviation meteorologist in 1978, and for more than 25 years, has been popular as DR1’s TV meteorologist.
Jesper has written no less than 25 books about weather, weather phenomena, and climate for both children and adults.
Last updated: 11/08/2020 14:11
