DENMARK - 1
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.
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