4/ 2016 The 2 Islands Bornholm and Rugen

Across the long Oresund Bridge to Malmo,Sweden. Almost becoming a bit hohum, all these long bridges. Rapid drive along the South coast of Sweden to Ystad.  Arrived at the port to find a ferry leaving in a couple of hours, space for us and even better, an oldie’s discount - 50%!! On the ferry for an hour and a half – time enough for all the passengers, male and female,  to get a 400mm plastic glass of beer. (Not Joanna!) We would see, and consume, many more of these plastic cups of beer on Bornholm.(This is David speaking!)

We made a “No language” friendship with the people next to us. We changed our seating arrangements to accommodate them. Spent the rest of the trip with them offering us food, smiling, waving etc. We couldn’t come up with any common language except ‘Tak’. Most unusual.

Bornholm is only a relatively small island, 104km all the way round. Anticipated only a few days on the island, but much cheaper mid week ferry fares convinced us to stay longer and in the event we enjoyed Bornholm a lot. Probably the highlight of this year’s travels. It is Danish, although much closer to Sweden.  It has changed hands many times in the past, but now thanks to the EU it has stability– it doesn't seem to matter (much anyway- they seem to be a happy bunch). We stopped at Ronne, then Hasle where we settled into a camp ground for a couple of days and cycled up the West coast past a series of charming little fishing harbours. This was probably one of the best cycling trips that we have done on our travels. So pretty and all the history, mostly about catching and smoking herrings, well described on info boards in each little hamlet. For the first time of cycling on this trip we met “A Hill”, but not any old hill, it was 22% of hill. Quite steep.

It is  a great place for smoked fish with ‘smoke houses’ complete with a tall chimney at various small places. We overdosed twice on buffet spreads including all sorts of smoked fish. Yum! Joanna heaven.

 

Wild produce was in abundance – cherries, apples, blackberries, raspberries. We kept picking the cherries, but I have to be honest, the supermarket ones are better. And of course Joanna was still trying to get the best wallflower photo.

Thence to the town of Allinge in the North of the island starting with a walk around the headland in strong, strong winds, with a diversion down to Hammerhavn(Harbour).  However back at Allinge we struck gold in arriving just at the start of their annual Jazz festival, with groups from all over Scandinavia. So we stopped and enjoyed  three days of listening to jazz, in the morning outside a coffee bar, afternoons in a garden and always down by the harbour with a big tent for the evening. Of course we had to consume the 0.4l glasses of beer at regular intervals just to look part of the scene! We each had our favorites – David the group including a piano accordion and a violinist who were wonderful together.  For Joanna it was a 17 year old electric guitarist and  a very attractive pianist – both of which she is sure will be famous one day.   The festivities ended well into the night (ie morning), each night, with a ‘jam’ session on the Saturday night.

 

We also included a visit to the unique round churches of which there are 4 on the Island.They served not only as a place of worship but also for defense, everybody huddled upstairs during times of attack.  With their bright white paint, and internal frescoes, they are very photogenic.

Completed the week with a couple of bike rides and a tour of the East and South coasts which are popular beach places but with a stiff wind and long uninteresting beach – not our scene. The sand is very very fine – apparently often used in hour glasses (that’s an interesting bit of information isn’t it).

However it was the north of the island that we really loved. The little harbours, smoke houses, rocky coves, sandy bays. Not too many people but enough to make it interesting.

Another plus for Bornholm, or all of Denmark for that matter are the number of free, clean, public toilets, good for us old folk and they are very solidly built with a door capable of withstanding a ram-raid (but who would want to ram-raid a toilet!)

A much longer ferry ride from Bornholm to Rugen Island in Germany,(and no discount!) but on a painted ocean. Apparently it is hardly ever like a millpond, but it was that day. Lovely!!

Arrived in Rugen and for us, summer arrived. For the first time on this trip we could go out without a raincoat. A bit of a shock, with temperature changes from mid teens to mid 20’s. Really had no idea what to do on Rugen but headed for the big smoke – Binz on the East coast and found overnight parking right in the town. We got on our bikes and cruised around,  but really the best bit was strolling along the promenade admiring all the elegant buildings which thankfully survived WW2 and the rigours of  the Cold War years. We marvel at the crowded beaches with their unusual wicker beach chairs, and even had our first swims of this trip. Great little beach bars to enjoy a beer at too.

Did a day trip on the Rasender Roland steam train from Binz to the South coast, which included a ferry ride to make it into a round trip. Was fun especially the bit in an open carriage. A good way to see the countryside.

Spent a day exploring the top of the island with it’s very long beaches and lines of cars parked along the road. More swims – we were a bit startled to find that many of the beach population were nude and very brown! All shapes and sizes. Nobody cares. It is great. It saddens me to think of the huge body issues that many NZers have.

Attempted to cross our last big bridge (only 4kms) to Stralsund, but the satnav organised us over the old causeway instead. Never mind. Stralsund is one of the Hanseatic towns in the North, controlled by a bunch of merchants in the Middle Ages. Wonderful red brick buildings with gables, turrets, archways, including some huge high churches (how did they keep the bricks vertical. Once again we had timed our arrival with the local annual festival celebrating some medieval victory and the plague. It is often hard to find the details of these things when you don’t speak the language. It was fun, lively, loads of medieval stalls, pottery, ironwork, tin soldiers amongst the usual stuff and a myriad of food stalls, largely based around meat and bread and of course beer (this time in ‘flower pots’ with a deposit on them, but David has invested in one to keep his beer cool). It was a bit like Oktoberfest over again. The intoxication level was rising rapidly as we left on our bikes about 10pm, wanting to get back to the van before dark.

And so now for the long road back to Calais. About 1000 kms, but 2 weeks to do it, so no rush.

Cheers from Germany David & Joanna.

3/2016 Denmark

We were heading off to Denmark, but as usual our plans being somewhat fluid, we visited Groningen in the north of the Netherlands instead. Big excitement when we passed a huge Fonterra factory in the middle of the countryside. With all the dairy cows, almost thought we were back in NZ for a moment.  A bustling town with a seemingly huge variety of sports facilities. The Dutch are never daunted by the limitations of their landscape. We saw artificial hills for mountain bikes, skiers and a huge, overhanging climbing tower. David treated himself to a last New Herring and some smoked mackerel for home cooking.

Next day off into Germany and to Hamburg for a quick zip around the town. A pleasant city but not in our minds, in the stand-out variety. Walked our little socks off, had a good night on the town, meeting up with some friendly locals at an outdoor bar in the Reeperbahn red light area. But the stand out for us was our camping position right on the river just a few hundred metres from town. Camping is not really the word. It was a run down carpark with zero facilities, but was monitored and legal. A very nice beach bar on the premises. So many European towns seem to be doing up their old dock areas and these become useful carparks – good for campers. We were able to watch all the ship repair docks, ferries and party boats and even a huge cruise ship cruising past. Also lots of cool, trendy bars pop up. Not quite our scene, but always fun to look at. David found more New Herring so he was happy.

Finally we headed off north to Denmark. A bit of trepidation as we had zero language, which as we have discovered can be very isolating when you are travelling independently. France is always a breeze and David has a smattering of German, Italian and Spanish, which help us get by. People say that the Danes all speak English. Well they don’t. Especially out of the tourist spots. We have had many sort of half conversations, where you think you are following it then suddenly realise you have no idea what they are talking about. Oh well!! We have had nothing but friendly, positive, helpful interactions with the Danes, but hard to get to know people when you can’t talk to them. We have learnt a few words, mostly to do with food, but the two best are “tak” – thank you and “Hey” – Hi, which sounds a cross between hi and hey. A very catchy and appealing sounding language as those of you have watched the TV series Borgen will know. A fantastic series set in Copenhagen, if you get the chance to see it.

We didn’t really know what to expect here in Denmark, but have been charmed by the little fishing villages and thatched cottages with dormer windows. Thatching is obviously a booming industry, we have never seen so many. The population is only about 5-6 million and all appear well off and they fly their flag everywhere. here so the countryside is not densely populated, however there is always plenty to look at as you drive around. Harbours are all along the extensive coast with millions of yachts.  We spent the first week or so exploring Jutland. Ribe, Ringkobing, Spotrup Castle, Aarhus.  They have a tourist road route called the Marguerite Route, which is easyish to follow and takes you along the more scenic routes.  Out with the bikes again. Lots of flat land and cycleways. Unfortunately there has also been lots of wind and rain which can make cycling a bit daunting. The weather here has been hopelessly unreliable. My weather app changes every few hours so really have little idea of what we are in for. It’s a bit like Scotland, just put on your coat and get on with it. Can’t believe when we see the local population walking around in short sleeves, while we are rugged up as if it is winter. What’s more they go swimming!!

The New Herring have changed to smoked herring and a myriad of other smoked fish, one of Joanna’s great food loves. You buy the fish or eat it at the smokehouse, so there is often a delicious aroma of smoked fish pervading everything. Other food is quite expensive and not as enticing as France. A big focus on fish – pickled herring, gherkins, sausages. Lots of fresh produce to be bought from roadside stalls – new potatoes on sale everywhere plus peas in the pod, cherries, raspberries (we saw wild raspberries the other day).  Beer is drunk everywhere by men and women and it seems any time. Tuborg and Carlsberg being the biggies. Our regular coffee time at 11am seems to be beer time for many here, and quite a lot earlier. Have been unable to buy any low or no alcohol beer, which is not really David’s thing but he has discovered it is a good refreshing lunchtime drink, when driving in the afternoon. Have also enjoyed the wallflowers here. Keep trying to take the best photo, but of course they are never as good as the real thing. They seem to sprout up out of any old crack in the pavement.

 

Travelled on to Funen Island – connected by bridge. A night at Middelfart, On to Odense and a trip to the Hans Christian Anderson museum. Very interesting and educational especially for Joanna who had a great love of fairy tales as a child. However a bit boringly presented we thought, involving heaps of reading. A bit unusual because the Danes seem to love  interactive museums, with a load of activities to get you involved, especially the kids. Not really our thing.

Continued our travels round Funen – Egeskov Castle, Faaborg, where we happened on a street festival with lots of music and the usual beer drinking. By this time we were both suffering from colds, and David with a nasty cough, so were spent a couple of very quiet days recuperating in a little fishing harbour on the island of Langelande.

Crossed the Storebaelt (Great Belt) Bridge from Funen to Zealand. It took 12 years to build and was opened in 1998. It is made of 2 parts with an artificial in the middle. One part 7 kms and the other 6.6kms. Very impressive. Makes Auckland’s Harbour Bridge pale into insignificance. With several long long bridges with a central suspension section it is not surprising the Danes are leading designers.

We were itching to get to Copenhagen but had to make one stop en route so David could see the ancient Viking ships at Roskilde. The Danes seem very keen to improve the historic image of the Vikings as ferocious invaders and rather as as quiet little villagers with a few rogue fighters who went out to rape and pillage. David has a condition in his hands called  Dupuytren's contracture, which is reputed to only exist in people of Viking descent, so he maintains that this proves they were raping and pillaging in the British Isles. They have been able to identify the exact place and the exact month and year in which the largest skeleton hull was  built in Ireland  by comparing the rings in tree trunks.  Amazing!

We loved Copenhagen.It is hard to describe such a wonderful city. You have to go there.  Four busy days of biking, wandering, soaking up the atmosphere. The weather was not always kind to us, we got completely soaked a couple of times, but never mind it didn’t put us off. It is a wonderful cycling city. So organised, but we did wear our helmets! Did all the main sights, although suffering from castle burn out we just looked at the outside of them – a Gauguin exhibition, Christiania hippy colony, Paparien street food, canals, Little Mermaid and even an evening at Tivoli gardens with a front seat rollercoaster ride for David. But best of all, quite unwittingly, we timed our visit with the annual Jazz festival. Around every corner was a new group. A great way to while away the time and observe local life. Think we covered the town, thanks to our bikes and a great guide book. We managed quite well with our bikes – only one near miss when we made a wrong turn and David went to turn his bike as a bunch of locals on their way home bore down on him, retracted the bike only just in time (we didn’t understand what was said but their meaning was clear!)

Up north to visit Fredricksberg Slot. Another castle! Always impressive but really, enough is enough. But also visited the wonderful Louisiana modern art museum. Highly recommended – not only the art – or some of it – but the wonderful architecture and location.

During our time in Denmark the UK made what both of us believe was a sad and reckless decision to leave the EU. David remains upset at the low level of the debate on both sides.  The ‘leave’ (with their catchy anagram) were a collection of lies and far right issues, the ‘remain’ was threats based on finance.  Nowhere did he read of the dream of youth to be part of a future multicultural Europe, free of hate and war, to become one of the world’s great powers.

Well the plan was to head down to the south of Zealand and catch a ferry to Puttgarden in Germany.  But we suddenly had the bright idea of crossing the even greater Oresund bridge to Sweden. Driving across the bottom of Sweden to Ystad and catching a ferry to Bornholm Island in the middle of the Baltic. Such a good idea that it is exactly what we did.