Bed 'n' Breakfast 

Link to Calendar: https://www.airbnb.dk/multicalendar/40767093

Siden december 2019 har jeg drevet Bed and breakfast, med stor succes. Man kan leje lejligheden med plads til 5, og hvis det er nødvendigt med en ekstra soveplads, kan det også løses. Man kan leje med eller uden måltider (se Menu). Udlejning gennem Airbnb.com, Booking.com, men meget billigere direkte hos mig (se Kontakt). God rabat på længere lejemål. Har du booked hos et af bureauerne, kontakt mig.

Since December 2019 I have been running Bed and Breakfast, with great success. You can rent the apartment with 5 beds, and if an extra sleeping space is needed, it can also be fixed. You can rent with or without meals (see Menu). Rental through Airbnb.com, Booking.com or much cheaper directly with me (see Contact). Good discount on long term rentals. If you have booked by one of the bureaus please contact me.

Seit Dezember 2019 leite ich Bed and Breakfast mit großem Erfolg. Man kann die Wohnung für 5 Personen mieten. Wenn ein zusätzlicher Schlafplatz benötigt wird, kann dieser auch bereitgestellt werden. Man kann mit oder ohne Mahlzeiten mieten (siehe Menü). Vermietung über Airbnb.com, Booking.com oder viel billiger direkt bei mir (siehe Kontakt). Guter Rabatt auf Langzeitmieten. Hast du bei ener die Bureauen gebucht, bitte mich kontakten

Omtaler/Rewievs/

Ana Reynosa, Michigan:  Staying at Poul's farm house was the most amazing experience. We are a family with tow small daughters and they absolutely loved the stay. First, the location is beautiful, up in a high hill reachable by car (or bike or walking) with an amazing view of the land and sea in the horizon. The house has all you need and it is very comfortable. Poul welcomed us with a tour of the farm and let us try the amazing plums and blackberries from his garden. The house is an independent area next to Pou'ls house, so there is absolute privacy. Poul was so great with our kids that the first thing they said as soon as they woke up in the morning was "I want to go to Poul's." Poul made us a wonderful breakfast with delicious jams from his garden, bread, cheese and veggies. Hirtshals is a wonderful place. The bunker museum is impressive and it offers beautiful views of the north sea. The aquarium is a lot of fun! We would definitely recommend this stay for any family, couple, or individual who wants to know more about the Danish history and have great conversations with a very interesting person!

Charly Peters, Norwich, GB : Friendly host (and dog!), lovely house, fantastic location and views, good food, Poul was very accommodating. 10/10*

Sander Trooster, Haren, NL: We had a very pleasant, short stay, and felt really welcome. Poul was very helpful!

Ole  Snerte, Oslo, NO: Et flott sted på en høyde med fantastisk utsikt og en veldig hyggelig vert.

Friedrich Hörl, DE: Schöne Lage, wir fühlten uns sofort zuhause, wurden vom Gastgeber mit einem prima Frühstück verwöhnt

Johannes Schommer, DE: Poul Green ist ein wundervoller positiver Mensch, da reicht eine Übernachtung leider nicht, um zu plaudern. Das Nächste Mal wissen wir, dass wir mehr Zeit mitbringen müssen

Fabien Roure, FR: Cette location est au calme en pleine campagne alors qu'Hirtshals est à moins de 10 mn. Ce beds & breakfast est en plus blotti au cœur du jardin fleuri du propriétaire Poul. Il est très accueillant, très sympathique et prêt à partager avec ses hôtes. Un excellent séjour lors duquel le propriétaire est un plue value !

Gambia

Mit afrikanske projekt.

I lejligheden ses en masse ting fra Afrika, nærmere bestemt fra Gambia. Mest træskærerarbejder, men også sandmalerier, ligesom jeg har duge og servietter, der er fremstillet i Gambia.

I vinteren 1910-11 blev Nordjylland begravet i sne. Vi var fuldstændig spærret inde på Engbjerg. Dot havde det skidt med, at vi ikke kunne komme ud, og på et tidspunkt sagde hun: vi skal på ferie. Men de traditionelle feriesteder var alle udsolgt, så til sidst bookede vi en rejse til Gambia i 2 uger. Det blev starten på et sandt eventyr for os begge.

Vi faldt for dette dejlige land. Et fantastisk klima og utroligt søde mennesker. Vi boede på et dansk ejet hotel, Lemon Creek i Bijilo. Lige på stranden, gode værelser og en god restaurant.

Vi fandt hurtigt ud af, at Gambia er et meget fattigt land. Vi besøgte skoler og private hjem og kunne konstatere, at de havde intet. Boligerne var meget små dårligt byggede huse. Fire vægge og få udtjente møbler. Ingen køkken, ingen toilet, ingenting. Men folk var glade, smilende og meget gæstfri, og det var bemærkelsesværdigt, at der var ingen tiggeri. Skolerne var som at blive sendt tilbage til det 19. århundrede i London. Ingen bøger, ingen hjælpemidler, undervisningen var terperi af remser. ”Lærerne” var i mange tilfælde ikke uddannede, mest kvinder fra landsbyen, der forsøgte at lære eleverne de mest basale ting, regning og engelsk. Der var stor spredning i alder, og skolen havde mere karakter af opbevaring end undervisning. Vi oplevede flere tilfælde af korporlig afstraffelse. Til Dots stor fortrydelse. Vi fandt senere ud af, at det faktisk er forbudt at slå børnene, men det er særdeles udbredt.

Vi blev enige om at vi gerne ville hjælpe. Vi besluttede, at det, vi kunne gøre, var at støtte nogle børn med uddannelse. Vi havde en af de første dage mødt Barry, der forsøgte at slå sig op som tour-guide (det lykkedes faktisk). Vi bad ham om at finde to kvikke piger (Dot mente det var pigerne, der havde mest brug for hjælp, hvilket jo også var rigtigt), og på den måde mødte vi store og lille Fatou. Store Fatou var 14 år og lille Fatou var 7. Store Fatou forsvandt ud af systemet af familiemæssige årsager, men jeg støtter stadig lille Fatou, som vil være læge, og hun er ikke lille nu. Faktisk støtter jeg endnu en Fatou. Fatou er det mest almindelige pigenavn i Gambia, idet det er almindeligt i de fleste stammer, at den ældste pige hedder Fatou

Vi fik pigerne flyttet til privatskoler, hvor undervisningen trods alt var bedre, uden at være prangende. Gennem de næste år greb dette ”projekt” om sig, og vi har gennem årene støttet ca. 15 børn med uddannelse. Vi ser stadig de fleste af dem og deres familier. En af dem, Alice, blev Dot’s yndling. Vi mødte hende tilfældig på en skole, da hun var 16. Hun blev vores pige. I dag er hun min forlængede arm i Gambia. Hun sørger for at betale skolerne og hjælpe børnene med tøj og sko, skoletasker og lignende.

Alice er kristen, meget religiøs på en meget afrikansk måde. Hun blev uddannet som kok, og arbejdede et stykke tid på Lemon Creek, men hun fik et bedre betalt job som barnepige for en kinesisk familie. Hun er meget glad for børn, og da Hoja, en pige i hendes menighed, blev udstødt fra sin familie, tog Alice hende med hjem. Hun er nu tilbage hos familien, men vi betaler stadig hendes skolegang. Samtidig har Alice taget en nevø til sig. Alice’s kusine døde, mens sønnen var ganske lille. Faderen giftede sig igen, og Paul, som sønnen hedder, blev ”til overs” og bare overladt til noget familie, der faktisk ikke havde råd til at have ham. Også Alice’s far, der er begyndende dement, boede der, så hun var nødt til at finde et andet sted at bo. Hun har nu to små rum, hvor hun bor sammen med vores "datter", Mariama, på 11 år. Et forladt barn, der kom til Alice sidste år. Faderen er nu i Senegal hos en af Alice's søstre.

I 2018 begyndte vi at arbejde med en ide om at bygge et hus til hele hendes ”familie”. Måske med plads til flere forladte børn, som der er del af i Gambia. Vi fik tilbudt det stykke jord, Alice’s far boede på, for en rimelig pris. Huset, der lå på grunden, styrtede sammen i regntiden, fordi grunden hælder. Desværre døde Dot en uge efter vi havde erhvervet grunden, men i 2021 begyndte vi at bygge. Det går meget langsomt, men efterhånden ligner det da et hus, og Alice planlægger at flytte ind i april.

Vi forsøger at skaffe andre sponsorer til projektet.

Jeg tager stadig til Gambia en eller to gange om året. Jeg bor ikke længere på hotel, men lejer et hus i en landsby. Det giver mere frihed og mere kontakt til lokalbefolkningen. Det kan virkelig anbefales. Gode råd gives meget gerne.

My African project.

In the apartment you can see a lot of things from Africa, more specifically Gambia. Mostly wood carvings, but also sand paintings, just like I have tablecloths and napkins made in Gambia.

In the winter of 1910-11, North Jutland was buried in snow. We were completely locked up inside Engbjerg. Dot was upset that we could not get out, and at one point she said: we are going on vacation. But the traditional resorts were all sold out, so in the end we booked a trip to Gambia for 2 weeks. It was the start of a true adventure for both of us.

We fell for this lovely country. A great climate and incredibly sweet people. We stayed at a Danish owned hotel, Lemon Creek in Bijilo. Right on the beach, good rooms and a good restaurant.

We soon found out that Gambia is a very poor country. We visited schools and private homes and found that they had nothing. The homes were very small poorly built houses. Four walls and few worn-out furniture. No kitchen, no toilet, nothing. But people were happy, smiling and very hospitable and it was remarkable that there was no begging. The schools were like being sent back to 19th century London. No books, no aids, the teaching was mostly learning of strips. The "teachers" were in many cases uneducated, mostly women from the village who tried to teach the students the most basic things, arithmetic and English. There was a great spread in age, and the school had more the character of storage than teaching. We saw several cases of corporal punishment. To Dots' great regret. We later found out that beating the children is actually forbidden, but it is extremely common.

We agreed that we would like to help. We decided that what we could do was support some children with education. One of the first days we had met Barry, who was trying to establish himself as a tour guide (he actually succeeded). We asked him to find two witty girls (Dot thought it was the girls who needed help the most, which was also true), and that way we met big and small Fatou. Big Fatou was 14 years old and little Fatou was 7. Big Fatou disappeared from the system for family reasons, but I still support little Fatou, who wants to be a doctor, and she is not small now. In fact, I support another Fatou. Fatou is the most common girl name in Gambia, as it is common in most tribes for the oldest girl to be named Fatou

We got the girls moved to private schools, where the teaching was better after all, without being flashy. Over the next few years, this "project" took hold, and over the years we have supported approx. 15 children with education. I still see most of them and their families. One of them, Alice, became Dot's favorite. We met her by chance at a school when she was 16. She became our girl. Today she is my extended arm in Gambia. She makes sure to pay the schools and help the children with clothes and shoes, school bags and the like.

Alice is a Christian, very religious in a very African way. She trained as a cook and worked for a while at Lemon Creek, but she got a better paying job as a nanny for a Chinese family. She is very fond of children, and when Hoja, a girl in her congregation, was ostracized from her family, Alice took her home. She is now back with the family, but we are still paying for her schooling. At the same time, Alice has adopted a nephew. Alice's cousin died while the son was quite small. The father remarried, and Paul, as the son is called, was "left over" and just left to some family that could not actually afford to have him. Alice's father, who is beginning to have dementia, also lived there, so she had to find another place to live. She now has two small rooms where she lives with our "daughter", Mariama, aged 11. An abandoned child who came to Alice last year. The father is now in Senegal with one of Alice's sisters.

In 2018, we started working on an idea to build a house for her whole "family". Perhaps with room for more abandoned children, as there are some in Gambia. We were offered the piece of land Alice's father lived on for a reasonable price. The house that was on the plot collapsed during the rainy season because the plot is sloping. Unfortunately, Dot died a week after we acquired the land, but in 2021 we started building. It's going very slowly, but eventually it looks like a house, and Alice plans to move in in April 2024.

We are trying to get other sponsors for the project.

I still go to Gambia once or twice a year. I no longer live in a hotel, but rent a house in a village. It gives more freedom and more contact to the locals. It can really be recommended. Good advice is very much given.