2014 England and Scandinavia - Denmark

14 - England and Scandinavia - Week 5 - Denmark

Saturday - 21 June - Charmouth, England to Copenhagen, Denmark.  We drove uneventfully from Charmouth to Heathrow, handed in the car, caught the Scandinavian Airlines plane, then flew uneventfully to Copenhagen. All good and some would say uneventful.

Our hotel, Andersen, is small, fairly new, in a good location, and quite comfortable.  Given it's light until quite late, we decided to walk around the City at 5.00 pm however the Sunday afternoon crowds, compounded by 5 large cruise ships being in port, was a bit discomforting after 4 weeks of village life in England.   We found a traditional Danish restaurant close to the hotel and enjoyed a traditional Danish dinner followed by our first traditional Danish sleep.

Sunday 22 June and Monday 23 June - Copenhagen has little, well none really, high rise buildings.  The many streets we have wandered down are lined with the classical 1800's neoclassical buildings as well as the earlier renaissance designs.  On the outskirts of the city there are some contemporary 10 storey buildings that did upset the locals prior to them being built.  The city is well laid out with 480 klm of bicycle tracks and lots of greenspace.  The Danish are renowned for their strict following of rules and this is a quite striking feature while walking around the city.  There is no jaywalking or running of lights - everything is predictable as far as car, bicycle and pedestrian traffic is concerned.

As usual for us in cities, we bought a two day ticket for the Hop-on Hop-off bus. These buses go to all the major sights to see and give a great commentary about the country, its culture and its history. Because you can get off and on at any stop for two days they are a great way of getting around the city sitting on the top deck in the open air.

A Night at the Museum - an ancient, large, and  now extinct,  breed of cattle (the Auroch)

We spent some time in the Danish National Museum (it's free) getting acquainted with the Viking era and the earlier occupants of the land on which we walk. There were the perfectly preserved Bog people 1300 BC so well preserved when they were analysed the contents of their stomachs contained their last meal. 

Bronze Age Lurs - musical instruments  (1200 to 700 BC)

The Egtved Girl buried 1370 BC

Either its a relative or a Viking shield

Hold hands with Hans

Hans Christian Andersen the well known fairy tale author of the 1800's lived in Copenhagen with his twin brother Danny Kaye.  So there is the obligatory statue of him in the main square. The famous (if you know of her) The Little Mermaid statue is a big drawcard too.  Actually there are many public works of art with interesting sculptures in various locations.

The Little Mermaid (right)

Our biggest excitement for the day was being caught up in a real live carjacking and police chase.  The orderly streets of Copenhagen were thrown into disarray, as were we while crossing a dead-end street at the lights (green of course) when screaming down the street came a red BMW followed by police cars with sirens blaring.  Not initially realizing that the BMW and police cars were related, we quickly moved onto the footpath as the BMW screeched to a halt.  The three occupants jumped out and took off into the crowded shopping mall.  Julie immediately chased after them hoping to be fourth in line at whatever sale was going on.  Realizing they were carjackers she stopped and turned around dejected as the two police vehicles in pursuit screeched to a halt too and the police took off after them.  Other police cars with sirens blaring circled the streets around us for ages.  We went over and took a photo of Hans Christian Andersen the fairy tale author.

We tried to visit Frederick and Mary at Amalienborg Palace however they didn't answer our knock on the door. The two guards were no help either.

Near to where we are staying is the famous Tivoli amusement park - the second oldest in the world. Well we'd never heard of it before however it did apparently inspire Walt Disney in his creation of Disneyland and it is apparently well worth seeing if you're into that sort of thing.

The Danish Royal Yacht in Copenhagen harbour

Tuesday 24 June - Copenhagen to Aeroskobing.

Denmark is a country made up of 706 islands, about 90 of which are uninhabited, and its highest point is only 170 metres above sea level.  Since 1976 is has been rated as the happiest nation on earth, even with a 49% (average?) income tax rate, GST equivalent of 25% & surcharges on almost all credit card transactions.  

Today's drive was somewhat of an adventure - for the very first time driving a left hand drive manual car, on the right side of the road - every now and then - in a non-English signed country with cyclists whizzing past us in the towns with right of way and a freeway speed limit of 130 km per hour. Navigating a roundabout or a four way intersection for the first few times did my head in. We had a two and a half hour drive from Copenhagen, on the Danish island of Zealand, across a fantastically long and architecturally interesting The Great Belt Fixed Link  toll bridge (6.8 klm long), to Svendborg on the island of Funen.  

The Great Belt Fixed link

While waiting for the car ferry to take us to our final destination, we tried to work out if we were parking legally or not (we still don't know) as we walked into town for lunch.   

We then found our place in the queue for the Aero Island car ferry thinking we'd be last on and last off which suited us novices.  As it turned out, we were first on and up a narrow suspended ramp inside the ferry which tilted down as we arrived at port to enable us to drive off.   

Waiting for the ferry to Aeroskobing in Svendborg, Denmark

Interesting cafe tables

We're staying in a very cute and very quaint old village, Aeroskobin, with it's cobble stoned streets and houses from the 1700s - even some from the 1600s - on the small Danish island of Aero (30 klm long x 8klm wide) in the Baltic Sea.  

streets and houses of Aeroskobing

 

 

The population of the whole island is about 7,000. The place is best described as idyllic with its slow pace, friendly population and picturesque countryside.  

The harbour at Aeroskobing

There is almost no such thing as vegetarian food here, or in Denmark and possibly in the whole of Scandinavia for that matter.   Julie had to settle for a cheese platter for dinner - she couldn't face a whole fish which seems to be the other common alternative.  Given she'd had cheese and bread for breakfast she's quickly becoming cheesed off with Danish food offerings.

Wednesday 25 June - cycling around Aeroskobing.  Our Frommer's Rough Guide to Scandinavia listed Cycling Around Aero as one of the five best offbeat experiences in the whole of Denmark.  Aero is said to be one of the best islands in Denmark for cycling because of its low-lying terrain and scenic paths.  So on a perfect Summer's day, we hired our hotel's bikes for 24 hours and set off.  25.1 klm and some hours later we arrived back, saddle sore and somewhat exhausted - it was not quite as flat as we'd expected, more undulating really. The ride took us along the coast through fields of ripening grain, to little hamlets and villages and along sealed and gravel roads and cobblestones. 

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Morning tea was had atop the cliffs of Vodrup Klint, a geological rarity with clay layers topped with soil full of snail and cockle shells from the sea. Water percolates out of the lower slopes allowing farmers unlimited water for their cattle. All the farmers need to do is push a pipe into the cliff and the water collects in a pool.

Voderup Klint (water springs and landslides)

B                           Bregninge Church and very well kept graveyard (1200 AD) in the middle of the island

Altar in Bregninge Church (1200 AD)

The afternoon was spent driving this beautiful island from top to bottom.  Just a beautiful place with seven churches in total on such a small island.

Thursday 25 June - moving day driving from Aeroskobing to Helsingor, Denmark.  After a leisurely breakfast outside in the hotel courtyard, remarkably wearing only T-shirts, we packed our bags and drove onto the car ferry to head back towards the north of Denmark.   There may be one thing more stressful than driving in a left hand drive car for the first time with speed limits on the motorway of 130 klm/hour and that is doing it in a big storm with driving rain.  So that's what we did.  Julie is getting more confident being a passenger while I drive a left hand vehicle. She has progressed from curling up on the floor in the back under a blanket and whimpering to recently sitting in the passenger seat and, from time-to-time, leaning back, grabbing the handle and yelling "oh God, oh God'.

Our drive took us back across the famous Storebaeltbroen (Belt Bridge) then two and a half hours later we arrived at Helsingor (aka Elsinore) on the north east coast of Zealand Island. Our room outlook is across the narrow channel to Sweden which is remarkable to us as we watched the many freighters, cruise ships and large car ferries which cross between the two Scandinavian countries.

Noah's in the restaurant business now

We walked into the Helsingor old town centre square for a Thai dinner just for a bit of spice for a change.  The square was alive with jazz music and some dancing.

After dinner, given it was still light, we wondered home via the Baltic Sea promenade past the Naval Museum where we could hear opera singers performing, a full sized replica of Noah's Arc and past Kronberg Castle which is reportedly the inspiration for the castle in Hamlet.  

Kronberg Castle - inspiration for scenes in Hamlet

Although there is no evidence that Shakespeare ever visited here, Helsingor promotes its Hamlet connection,

Friday 26 June - When in Denmark ,do the "Viking Thing".  Today we set off south-west from Helsingor for an hours drive to the seaside village of Roskilde.  It was in the harbour in 1040 AD that the Vikings scuttled five ships of varying types and sizes. In the 1950's old, very old, bits of wood started washing ashore.  In a complex operation, the five ships were located and salvaged.  It took 25 years for some of the ship timbers to be fully preserved.  All the while archaeologists painstakingly pieced together the pieces and put them on display. 

Roskilde Viking ships from 1040 AD - three of the actual ship remains

Doing the Viking Thing

The museum is fantastic.  As well as the original structures, each of the ships has been replicated using the actual tools and techniques used by the Vikings over 1000 years ago. The reproductions are moored in the little harbour in the Museum. There are ongoing displays of Viking shipbuilding, rope making and all sorts of other activities undertaken by the Vikings.  Two of the ships were Viking fighting ships, two were trading ships and the other was general purpose. The size, shape and number of crew required determined their function.

One of the Viking ships - actual remains

Wooden sailors tool chest from 1040 AD

Viking submarine

Full sized reconstruction of the Viking warship - made in Dublin as was the original given Dublin was a Viking town

Next on the agenda was a 50 minute drive north to Frederiksborg Palace in Hillerod.  This enormous palace was built from 1560 and constructed on three islands and was originally the royal residence for the king. We were able to wander around the largest Renaissance palace in Scandinavia, around the spectacular building, in its central courtyard and through its expansive gardens.

The Frederiksborg Palace - well a lot of it anyway

Just some of the Palace sculptures

Palace and its gardens

Tired from going 'Oh Wow, isn't this amazing" all day we drove home to Helsingor to have a lovey Italian dinner before readying ourselves for moving day tomorrow when we head to Sweden by passenger ferry for a twenty minute trip across the Baltic Sea.   We've really enjoyed our week in Denmark as our first exposure to Scandinavia.

Here's Hamlet at our hotel