Denmark - 2

DENMARK - 2 

Lucy's adventures  in Copenhagen - 7th - 12th June 2017

The First Day

 

The first thing you notice about Copenhagen is the bicycles, they are everywhere. I read that there are more bicycles than people and most people use them to travel around the city. At first it was a bit scary, but you soon get used to it, although it is a good idea to avoid the morning and evening rush hour. 

 

As in Amsterdam I spent the first day getting a feel for the city and planning what to do. Lucy wanted to rush off to the National Museum as she had read that it was the best place to start if you are interested in Viking history. I persuaded her that it would be better to go tomorrow. Reluctantly she agreed. So we walked for miles around the city, sat in cafes, visited churches and for me the highlight was the Danish Chair Exhibition at the Design Centre. There was also a fascinating film about Børge Mogensen, the furniture designer who made the concept of 'Danish Modern' known throughout the world.

 

 

 My aim has always been to have a different iconic chair in every room at home, and I will definitely add a Danish one to my collection when I get back. I still haven't managed to get Lucy to share my love of chairs, so while I was there, she went off to find the Hans Christian Andersen statue.

 

I caught up with her at the Little Mermaid  and we walked back together. Although this time I wandered off to look at The Kastellet, a well preserved star fortress built by King Christian IV in 1626 to help improve Copenhagen's fortifications in the conflicts between Denmark and Sweden. This fortress is a pentagon, rather than the seven points at Bourtange.

 

The National Museum - Friday 9th May

Lucy woke up early and rushed off to the National Museum to learn all she could about the Vikings from Denmark. Last night I managed to get BBC news and sat up watching the election results, so I needed a peaceful day after a night with very little sleep. I had a coffee at the Mandela Bar and set out to meet Lucy at about midday. There was an Asian festival in one of the squares with street food and music so I stopped for lunch.

 

When  I finally caught up with Lucy she was so engrossed in the exhibits that she didn't notice how late I was and excitedly told me about everything that she had seen. 

 

She also said that she wants to go to Legoland as she had found a Lego shop on the way to the museum and had stopped to play for a bit. I said it was too far away, but we might go at a later date. Then I told her that we could visit the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde in the morning, so she soon forgot about Lego.

 

She was exhausted after her busy schedule and went back to the room to sleep, while I rounded off my day with a visit to the famous Tivoli Gardens and Amusement Park. 

 

Roskilde -  Saturday 9th June

Lucy woke up early and was in a rush to catch the train to Roskilde, about 30 miles from Copenhagen. Roskilde, was the hub of the Viking land and sea trade routes and the capital of Denmark from the 11th century until 1443. The fabulous Gothic, twin-spired Cathedral holds the tombs of many Danish kings and queens and is one of the most important churches in Denmark. 

Lucy dodn't want to stop long as she was in a hurry to get to the Viking Ship Museum on the shores of Roskilde Fjord. The Museum houses the remains of five original Viking ships that were sunk in the fjord as a barrier  to help protect the harbour. There are also a number of  workshops where replica ships are made using traditional tools and methods. Lucy spent hours there and it was hard to tear her away before they closed.

She also learnt how to weave a Viking sail and wanted to go for a sail on the fjord in one of the replica boats, but unfortunately they were fully booked. 

 

When we got back Lucy made a cardboard Viking ship and surrounded herself with all her purchases. I couldn't stop laughing when I looked at the label on her Viking broach. It was made in Tysley Birmingham, about a mile from where I live.

 

A Sunny Sunday in Copenhagen -  10th June

 

In the morning I walked to the architectural centre and on to Nyhavn, the famous canal and restaurant district. Then I spent the rest of the day sitting relaxing and chatting to people at the Oscar Bar and Cafe in Rainbow Square. 

 

While I was chatting Lucy went to find the Hans Christian Andersen museum and spent her last  afternoon in Copenhagen listening to Fairy Stories.

 

Lucy wants to go to Sweden

When we got back and I was looking at the maps to plan a route for the morning, Lucy suddenly said that she thought we ought to go to Sweden. When she was at the Viking Museum she discovered that at the time of the Vikings the Southern part of Sweden was part of Denmark and inhabited by Danes, so it made sense to include the SW coast of Sweden in her Grand Viking Tour. 

 

 

Sweden is about 9 miles from Copenhagen and the Øresund motorway and rail bridge from Copenhagen to Malmö joins the two countries but you can't cycle across it. I found out that a ferry runs every 20 minutes from Helsingør, about 25 miles North of Copenhagen to Helsingburg in Sweden. There is also a good cycle route that follows the West coast to Gothenburg, where you can get a ferry back to Denmark. So it all looked very possible and I told a very excited Lucy that "Sweden here we come".

Denmark - 1

DENMARK - 1

Rødbyhavn Ferryport to København - Sunday 3rd June - Wednesday 7th June 2017

 

Lucy was ready to take Denmark by storm. She had spent the winter reading all about the history and culture of the country and learning the language. I am not quite what she thought she was going to find as I kept telling her that the Vikings left hundreds of years ago. I too was pleased that I had learnt some of the language. Although English is widely spoken, it was nice to be able to use some get by Danish. I also found that I could read it fairly well and interpret sign etc. 

 

It was a wet, misty public holiday weekend (Pentecost) when I got the ferry to Rødbyhavn in Denmark and Lucy enjoyed her first Danish pastry during the crossing. I was the only cyclist on board and eventually I found the right cycle path that would take  me North  across the Danish Baltic islands to Copenhagen. The rain eased, the sun came out and I enjoyed my first cycle ride in Denmark. Lucy insisted that we stopped outside the beautifully restored hotel in the town square at Saxkjøbing and wondered if we could afford to stay there. I told her we would probably be in the tent as campsites are plentiful in Denmark and have well equipped kitchens. She persuaded me to go in and enquire, so as it was our first night in Denmark, and just within my price range, I decided to stay there and have the evening meal package. It was fabulous and so was the breakfast. 

 

Baltic Islands and Bridges

I spent the next three days cycling across several bridges linking the Danish islands, Lolland, Falster, Storstrøm, Masnedø and Zealand, that straddle the entrance to the Baltic Sea between Germany and Sweden. For most of the 185 km the cycle paths followed the 153 a long, straight road running parallel to the main motorway to Copenhagen. It was quite tiring at times because of the wind and also because there were some fairly long inclines that surprised me because most of Denmark is very flat. 

 

Monday, the 5th June, was still a public holiday, Danish Constitution Day, marking the signing of the constitution in 1849.which was the reason why so many Danish flags were flying. It meant that the shops were closed but luckily I had enough food for a picnic lunch. Lucy thought she was going to get Danish pastries every day, but she had to make do with boiled eggs, bread and dried fruit. 

 

On Storstrøm I cycled past two people sitting in a field eating their lunch and thought they were on motorbikes, so I waved and carried on. For some reason  I decided to go back to chat to them. I am so glad  that I did as I met a French and a German woman, Mel and Kaja, long-distance, world travellers, not on motorbikes, but on bicycles. We sat and chatted in the sunshine for about an hour and Lucy shared her boiled eggs with them, although I am not sure that she liked the cucumber that Kaja tried  to feed her.

 

You can reead about Mel and Kaja's cycling adventures, which make mine look quite feeble, at https://cycle-to-explore.com/

The bridge to Zealand

One of the highlights of this stage of the journey was the Storstrømsbroen, the bridge that connects the Islands of Falster and Masnedø, and the second bridge, the Masnedsundbroen,  that links the little island of Masnedø with Zealand. I spent well over an hour walking across the first bridge, stopping to look at the water far below and taking photographs. It is 3,199 metres long and 26 metres above the sea. It was opened in 1937 and looks as if it has never been painted or repaired since then. A new bridge carries the motorway traffi, which you can see in the distance, but this bridge still takes light, local traffic and cyclists along a poorly maintained concrete road, and it is still the main rail link between Hamburg and Copenhagen. The central part looked like a huge fairground ride. I loved it. A new bridge is scheduled to open in 2020, but there are no signs of it yet.

 

 

Heavy rain and thunder was forecast for the final day riding to Copenhagen and I had to shelter a couple of times from the torrential storms. Again the path followed the 151, and also the coast for this stretch, but this time clearly marked with a C, and took me right into the centre of the city.

 

Again I deviated from the route at times to go to look at the sea and cycled past some very expensive looking weekend houses. I was about 300 metres from the budget hotel near Central Station when the heavens opened. As I was right outside a bar that looked inviting, I went in to shelter. There was a great, relaxed atmosphere inside and The Mandela Bar became a regular place for me to start and finish my days in Copenhagen. It is in the old meat packing district, an area that now offers a variety of arts, theatre, alternative comedy, live music etc. A great find.

 

I checked into the hotel, and went to the Tourist Office where I picked up brochures and bought a Copenhagen Card to give me entry to museums, and unlimited travel by train, bus, metro and the canal water bus within a 50 km radius of the city. I took them back to the Mandela Bar, where a jazz band provided the live music for the evening  and planned my next 4 days in Copenhagen.

Across Germany

ACROSS GERMANY

Crossing the Border - Saturday 27th May

 

Guten Morgen aus Deutschland

This was the design on the paper serviette at breakfast.Once I  had crossed the border near Bourtange I started  to cycle East. The plan was to reach the Baltic Sea at Lübeck and then follow the coast to get a ferry across to Denmark. 

Three days to Bremen  Saturday 27th May - Monday 29th

 

 As in Holland there are hundred of cyclists and the cycle paths are excellent and well marked, but they tend to be alongside the roads rather than well away from them. I soon got into a routine of cafe stops,  picnic lunches and afternoon Kaffee und Kuchen or a visit to an Eiscafe.

 

 

Lucy began to sulk when she realised that my German is better than hers, so she sat up most nights wearing headphones hooked up to a German Language App on my phone.

 

A day in Bremen - Monday 29th May

 

A cycle path along the side of a busy main road took me across the River Weser and right into the city centre where I lazed away a few hours. Lucy found the Bremen Musicians from the Grimms Brothers Fable and listened to their story.

 

While she was doing this, I sat in a cafe overlooking the river, explored the Altstadt, looking at the Altes Rathaus (Old Town Hall)  and St Petri-Dom (Cathedral). I couldn't resist buying a well-designed German Böker camping penknife, complete with knife, fork and spoon. I finished up in the Wallanlager Gardens, which are on the site of the ramparts that once formed an extra line of protection around the city.

 

Eventually I found Lucy drinking Becks as she had discovered it is brewed in Bremen. I managed to drag her away and continued on an off-road cycle path to a Gasthaus near Lilienthal, where I finished a perfect day with some good German home cooking. 

On to the Baltic - 30th May - 1st June

 

I spent three days riding to the Baltic Sea along cycle paths through flat agricultural land, past farms  and little villages with wind turbines on the horizon.

. 

 

At one point there was a sign to say that the cycle path was in a bad condition although I could see little sign of any damage, just a few cracks in the tarmac. I don't think I have seen any potholes since I left England. The surfaces have been really good, flat and smooth. 

 Through Hamburg - Wednesday 31st May

 

As I have been to Hamburg a couple of times before I decided to cross the Elbe and several tributaries to the South of the city and miss the town centre. This was an interesting route that took me over many bridges, through a huge industrial area, past power stations and areas under construction. There were some great industrial landscapes. 

 

Although it was only about 30 miles, it was a long tiring day as most of it was through busy urban areas, all on paths beside roads, but there were hundreds of junctions to negotiate, so a lot of map reading and starting and stopping to wait for lights to change and all the while having to keep  an eye on the traffic and other cyclists who suddenly appeared from nowhere.  

To Lübeck and the Baltic - Thursday 1st June

 

It was great to be back on the open road and riding  on off-road trails again as I cycled to Lübeck, in Schleswig-Holstein. an important Hanseatic trading city since the late 1100s. Many buildings are Brick Gothic and a lot of the town has been rebuilt  since it was extensively damaged during WW2. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. As it was a beautiful evening I spent it exploring the city, sitting in Cafes and taking photographs. 

 

These are the towers of the Holstein Gate, one of two remaining medieval city gates which have become the emblem of the city. I took these photos at about  8.30 pm and it was still very hot without a cloud in the sky.  

 

Lucy had been reading about the Danes who used to live in the area and wanted to visit the Viking museum, but it was too far from my planned route, so I have told her that we will visit museums  when we are in Denmark.

Arriving at the Baltic Sea - Friday 2nd June

 

Finally we arrived at the Baltic and  from now on will follow the coast North towards Denmark. Again it was very hot, and a public holiday, Whitsun, so the beaches were crowded and there were lots of cyclists riding on the coastal paths. 

 

There are rows and rows of these Strandkörben, wicker beach furniture on every beach. They are peculiar to the Baltic coast and offer seating and protection from the wind, sun and sand. Of course Lucy wanted to sit in one so I found one in a picnic area for out lunch. 

 

I stopped for the night at Kellenhusen and went for an evening walk, far out to sea, along the very modern pier. These photos show the view walking out and back.

 

 

 

The Danish Border - Saturday 2nd June

 

I crossed from Mainland Germany over the Fehmarnsundbrücke to the German island of Fehmarn (the first of many bridges that I will cross as I island-hop on my way to Copenhagen). 

 

 

I was about 8 km from the ferry port of Puttgarden,  when the road suddenly disappeared. They had dug up about a 2 km stretch. There had been no prior warning, or any diversion signs. After consulting the map I figured out that I would have to cycle an extra 16 km to get round it. Luckily a couple came past and said that although it said no way through for cyclists, you could get through if you pushed across the sand. So that is what I decided to do. It was really hard in places with a heavy bike with 4 panniers but I got through. 

 

Finally I arrived in Puttgarden and booked into a cheap and cheerful ferryport hotel. I had a room on the 7th floor overlooking the port. Lucy loved it and sat looking at the ferries knowing that she would be going across to Denmark in the morning.