Adventures in Denmark

Dale has let me loose to write the blog this week so here goes.  We finished last time at Jelling on the largest island of Jutland in Denmark.

The following day we went to the horse racing at Billund.  It was harness racing, similar to American Style but with an New Zealand country track feel.  They had a good set up there.  We were able to walk around before the afternoons racing commenced into the stabling area and to see where the tote was.  We parked track side with many other vehicles and sat in our camp chairs, wines in hand.  There were 9 races, with about 3 every 45 minutes.  Both the commentary and the crowd were both very subdued when it came to each race. Nobody really seemed to notice, certainly no cheering on your runner, but it was still a nice atmosphere out in the sun that afternoon.

Billund harness racing

After the races we drove east to the next main island, Fyn.  We ended our day with a swim at 8pm and a spot for the night nearby.  The following morning we had another swim.  The beaches and their facilities are of very good quality.  However most the time I wear my sandals into the water as the bottom can be rocky.  Also we have noticed the presence of jellyfish.  We have worked out from our research that the varieties we have encountered are harmless, but off putting to us to say the least.

The next town we stopped off at was Faaborg, which was quite memorable due to a band that was playing in the town square that afternoon.  The band consisted of a brass section, drums, guitars, keyboard and vocals and their songs featured Danish and English vocals, even the Duffy song 'Warwick Avenue'.  Funny hearing Warwick pronounced War-Wick as two full syllables as opposed to Waw-rick, cute though.  The town also had 1 remaining historic gateway and a bell tower.  We headed toward Svendborg in the south of the island, stopping off for a look at Egeskov slot (castle) on the way.

The next morning was exploring the churches and marina of Svendborg, then we drove across the bridge and walked around Valdemars slot (castle).  People were coming across by boat from Svendborg and there was a lovely lake also.  We drove over another bridge to a small, long island called Langeland.  It has one main highway from north to south and the coast is only ever 3 kms away from the main road.  First stop for us was the main town called Rudkobing.  I will remember this town due to its antiques/jumble sales!  From this point on in Denmark we have started to notice that people with any second hand goods that they want to sell, will put them outside their house with a price and honesty box.  We came across a stall in the town which was manned and had a lovely chat to the owner and bought several items.  We bought a Wedgewood plate from England (however not perfect condition), a porcelain teacup and saucer made in Poland, a porcelain teacup made in Colditz during the GDR (former East Germany so we thought that was really cool) and 3 forks, as we have broken some in the van.  All up it was 2.50 euros, so we were very pleased.  That afternoon was rounded out with a look at another castle called Tranekaer slot and then we headed to a beach where we parked for the night overlooking the ocean.  Just perfect.

In the morning we woke up and of course went swimming.  It was a glorious hot day.  We then drove 20 minutes to the northern tip of the island, to a town called Lohals.  Quite small with 1 or 2 shops, but a good sized marina and swimming beach.  The island being small was great to get around and the roads generally quiet.  Dale has mentioned the driving here is easier compared to Germany as the Danish are more patient and also the speed limits are lower.  We have only started to see more traffic now we are near Copenhagen, but will get to that later.  That afternoon we drove to the ferry terminal to get to Lolland, another island (yes there is a bit of a pattern forming).  The ferry crossing reminded me a little of the Portsmouth to Isle of Wight crossing in the UK.  It was 45 minutes long, and you parked your vehicle and went up to the passenger deck for sailing.

Egeskov Slot

Concert in Faaborg

House in Koge from 1527

Mons Klint

We didn't have anything planned to do in Lolland so spent the night before completing the drive to the island of Mon in the morning.  Using one of our glossy brochures we had acquired at the information centre, we visited two historical sites.  Both passage tomb burial mounds from Viking times amongst farmland.  They were interesting to see, as we had been driving past signs with heritage symbols for about a week and it was good to follow one and see what it was all about.  There was good signage (we have appreciated seeing more English) and it reminded us of a site we went to in Ireland.  The main sight to see in Mon was the chalky cliffs called Mons Klint (Danish for Cliff).  They were pretty amazing, as there are steps down to the bottom and a beautiful swimming beach down there too.  It was getting near 30 degrees that day so we found a shaded spot on the beach, put out our towels and relaxed for an hour or 2.  To finish the day we went to Nyord, which is a small island, very close to Mon, which was joined by a bridge in 1967.  It takes about 5 minutes to drive end to end, and we stopped at a nature centre and had a look in the village.  We couldn't seem to get enough of the sight seeing that day and went across the bridge to Zealand where we stopped in Vordingborg (to see the Goose Tower) and then in Avno.

Passage tombs on Mon

First thing the next morning we went to Avno nature centre.  There is an estuary and bird life that can be seen from an ex airport control tower.  Therefore it is the highest bird hide in Denmark.  We went up the road to Svino strand (beach).  This was where we have seen the most jellyfish so far.  They were harmless- there were plenty of children in the water and even one man throwing them at his family, but it was a bit hard to get used to them brushing past you.  Needless to say I was chicken and didn't last very long in the water, which was very warm and clear.  We drove to Rodvig, where based on a  tip that we had read on another blog you could pay for showers at the marina there.  Water and toilet disposal is harder to find in Denmark, so we didn't have enough water in our van for a shower.  I had been eyeing up the ice creams pretty much since we had got here as they looked delicious and they didn't disappoint.  I tucked in to a coffee icecream and vanilla/chocolate/cookie icecream cone, probably for the equivalent of over 3 euro, hence we had not bought one before now.  Everything is more expensive in Denmark, so we are watching what we spend, and stocked up on food before leaving Germany.

We got up early and had a walk around Rodvig, which has a nice marina and coastline, with some chalky cliffs in sight.  We saw a church which is precariously perched on a cliff (some of it fell into the sea below in 1928) in Hojerup, and we saw Vallo castle, now a home for 'single ladies of an upper class', our guidebook said.  After Dale joking that he would leave me there, he let me back in the van and we headed to Koje.  The sights there were St Nicholas church, which had an amazing 17th century alter piece, and many of the half timbered houses.  One near the church is from 1527.  We drove inland to Roskilde and saw the marina and cathedral this afternoon.  There was a concert on in the park this evening which we watched for about an hour.  We followed this with a walk around the marina where we happened upon the country and western club line dancing to Brooke Fraser's 'something in the water', which was a bizarre moment.

Next stop: Copenhagen.