Denmark

On July 29, we arrived in our first port of call in Denmark, a country of 6 million, located in the southern Nordic region of Europe. Its citizens are know as “Dutch”. 

Skagen
Our first stop was the little town of Skagen (pronounced “sko · gn”) population 7,000 of the nicest folks around. Nestled in along the coast between Norway and Germany, the Skagen peninsula is where the North Sea meets the brackish Baltic Sea. (Thinking of you Luana, during our Baltic adventures!)

One of the things that is really cool in Denmark is that there are bicycles sitting/laying  around everywhere. The communities provide these free of charge, and they are a single to anyone. Just leave it on the sidewalk when you get there for the next guy to use. And don’t worry if it’s gone when you leave. There is likely several more to help yourself to next door or right down the street. 

So, not having ridden one, I am not qualified to offer advice, but I do wonder how the ride is on some of these cobblestone streets…

So, I must say that, when we were visualizing this portion of the trip for the last two years, this little town is exactly what we pictured. Quaint, a bit cool. Cute and quiet. 

After a bit of shopping and site seeing, we asked where the locals eat, and settled in at “Cafe & Restaurant Kokkenes”, a little outdoor cafe tucked away behind the village square. The menu was in Danish, and there was no expectation that anyone spoke English. 

So let me help you out. If ever you find yourself in a Dutch cafe, you will need to know two things. First , “pardon, meer brood alstublieft” is critical. It means “pardon me, more bread please”. You’ll definitely need this phrase, followed by “ontzettend bedankt” which translates to “muchas gracias”. 

The bread is very unique here. King of a German brown bread with seeds of some sort. My Nordic Brunch Plate came with jam, so, more bread please…

Very small menu here. However, when we were deciding on our order, our Google Translate could not figure out several of the items. When we asked the server, all she could say was “swim”. After a few tries, we finally figured out it the items were all various fish dishes. With no additional information to go off of, I ordered the combo plate. And so glad that I did. Yummo! Several different seafood items were included. 

I especially enjoyed the picked herring. (Everybody was excited about it except the herring.) it reminded me of when I was a child. My grandmother and aunt (I think) loved picked herring. They let me try it, and it was just awful. They laughed, and my grandmother explained that I would love it when I grew up. I never gave it a second thought, but i immediately recalled the conversation when taking my first bite. How cool!

So, we did not try them, but there are vendors selling Pølsevogn hotdog from stands on the plazas. These are rød pølse (red sausage) dogs, the national food. We’ll have to try them at one of our next Danish stops overs. 

Ronne
On August 8, we travelled to the Danish island of Bornholm, in the tiny town of Ronne (pronounced Ron • na). 

Bornholm was settle a thousand years ago, and has a population of 14,000, most of which live in the town. It is best known for producing grandfather clocks. 

The town was rebuilt extensively after WWII. It has primarily German and Swedish architecture and culture. Most of the buildings are orange roofed, yellow timber framed houses, and red brick buildings. 

Most notable are the town’s clock tower and the lighthouse.  We enjoyed the little town square and wandered around a number of streets. Very easy going place. 

We also enjoyed some local street food, a bratwurst on a bun with sauerkraut and spicy mustard before returning to the ship earlier than usual. 

Sailing away at sunset, we were able to see Denmarks massive offshore windmill energy farm.  Google indicated there are 648 of them.

Copenhagen
On August 10, we arrived in Copenhagen, the city of bicycles and beer. It is a beautiful city. I was a little disappointed in our photos today, but there is a nice collection of photos here.

This is a super “green city” with goals of becoming carbon neutral by 2025. There are two bicycles for every citizen in the city. It is the most used transportation. Trains are also used, and bikes are allowed on trains. The city will be carbon neutral by 2025. 

Some bridges used for commuting are only open to bicycles. One carries 35,000 bikes per day. 

Almost every car is electric. And they have a unique way of keeping people from driving cars. In Denmark, if you purchase a car, there is a 180% tax. (So a $50 car is going to cost you $140,000.)

Copenhagen is home of the 100 year old Tivoli Park, the amusement park that is said to have been the inspiration to Walt Disney to create Disneyland. 

Just outside of Copenhagen is Billund, Denmark, the home of the Lego Corporation, and the original LegoLand. I had no idea. So much to see, so little time…

We took a city tour, and found ourselves at a fine dining establishment. It was exquisite. 

Smorgasbord means open face sandwich here, and they are delicious. Also, Karen thought the oysters on the half shell were so fresh and “clean”, they were the best she ever had. We finished up with a bowls of bouillabaisse soup, which is a French seafood soup. I make a similar soup (cioppino) but I always hear the French version was better. 

It was awesome. They serve a bowl of prepared shellfish over a grilled whitefish, then use a beautiful pitcher to pour the soup rich soup broth over the top. Very cool, and equally delicious. 

At one point, we were having a beer along a canal. There was this omission looking lady with three kids wandering about. Somehow, he leaned over the edge of the canal (there was not a railing) and her dress got snagged on something on the wall of the canal. It was 10 feet down to the water, and she was stuck, with her baby in her arms, bent over balancing on the edge of the canal.

To make matters worse, there were thousands of tourist around, passing to and fro. Somehow, a restaurant worker saw, grabbed a broom, and managed to reach down and knock her dress free before the fell in. But then, she somehow dropped some paper into pro the canal. The broom wasn’t long enough to reach it, and she was hysterical. We left before they sorted it out…

Copenhagen does not have any rocks, so in medieval time, they had to make their city walls out of earth, and all of their buildings are wooded. 

The earth walls kept the canon balls out as good as their rock counterparts, but were a lot easier to scale when the pirates stormed the city.  Luckily, they were Vikings, and they held their own I suppose. 

It is just a given that your breath will be taken away while visiting Copenhagen. Additionally, there are two other probabilities as well. That being that both yourself, and your credit card will get a workout while traversing the city. Yes, this town is so expensive. But, you gotta pay to play…

So we saw some beautiful sites on our city tour, but one definitely needs many, many more days to see this city. If we ever come back, it has to be during the off season. Super crowded here!

Aarhus
On 8/11, we awoke in the lovely town of Aarhus (pronounced or · hoos), population 350,000, making it the second largest city in Denmark. It was founded in the 8th century by the Vikings. It has a vibrant music and art scene, and it’s  Romanesque architecture is magical. 

This Danish town is located on the North Sea side of the narrow channel leading to the Baltic Sea. (Goodbye Baltic Sea. Thank you for having us.)

Anyway, it was a lovely town. We spent the way wandering along the canals. Luckily, not many people here today, so we appreciated that. 

We visited this department store that routed through six levels of shopping to get to their rooftop gardens. Really cool. We enjoyed a glass of champagne there. 

We also visited the oldest street in town, which had the cutest little colorful houses. 

On the way back to the ship, we spotted this one seater car. Amazing little thing.

While Denmark did wear us out a bit, it was the homelands of the famed Dutch-American farmer Rip Van Winkle, who slept through the entire American Revolution, awaking 20 years later with a long white beard and the worst hangover of his life. So, it could be worse, yes?

Next stop, Norway, home of yet another story. 

Thanks for tuning in. 
– Mike
“I know not all that may be coming, but be it what it will, I’ll go to it laughing.” – Moby Dick by Herman Melville