Tolne, Denmark
back to the roots
I traveled to Denmark to take part in yet another Workaway experience, which led me to Tolne, a small village town in northern Denmark. Tolne is primarily known for its railway stop and has no more than 210 people living there. It's situated within the forests and expansive fields. With each day, the surrounding areas seemed to grow more and more green. I thoroughly enjoyed trekking through the forests whenever I had the afternoon and evenings free. There, I would find myself listening to the forests come alive with birds chirping and watching the snails crawling over every surface.
At Tolne Gjaestgivergaard, there were four of us volunteering. I was greeted by Fabian, a young man from Argentina who’s been traveling through Australia and was looking to stay in Denmark for the next year on a working holiday. Christina, a student from Russia who’s been more recently living in Norway. She was here to carry out a film/documentary on Tolne Gjaestgivergaard, living on site to better understand the dynamics and operations of such a facility. Then we were later joined by Anastasia, who traveled here from San Francisco (small world). She practices ceramics and is an amazing illustrator. Throughout our time, we were accompanied by two more volunteers who stayed for a couple of nights. They were friends of Christina’s and had been hitchhiking around north eastern Europe. One from Russia and the other from Ukraine.
Throughout my time there, the place remained rather busy. People were always stopping by for an ice cream or beverage, or coming to stay at the bed & breakfast. A little about the space… Greg and Janne purchased the building several years back and have been making gradual renovations to overall achieve their dream of providing a dynamic, collaborative space bringing people together focused around the arts and creative, sustainable lifestyle. Once in the space, you can clearly see their passion for ceramics. Both, are very talented artists who have worked their entire life perfecting their craft.
The work was always changing. Ultimately, it consisted of keeping the entire place operational. I spent time gardening, cooking, preparing the guest rooms, sheet-rocking, helping build a new room, assisting with the kilns, dabbling in the ceramics studio, writing, drawing, exploring the nature, and enjoying meals with people from all over. It felt great to get back to some hands-on work. Digging in the dirt, preparing food, and creating have all been things that I have been missing!
For more on Tolne Gjaestgivergaard, check out their website!
“First we eat, then we do everything else.”
There was a group of about 13 friends who spent several days with us. Pictured are a few of them helping making a ramsløg seasoning.
