FRIDAY 24th DAY 21 SWEDEN
The Viking Line arrived in Sweden early and we were tempted to drive back into Stockholm for more sightseeing but, with a deadline to reach for my flight back to England, we headed south towards the centre of Southern Sweden. Difficult to find any cafes open at 8.00am so ended up in a smart hotel alongside groups of American tourists. We breakfasted as part of the group.
Annie and Danielle were busy working out the general direction of our journey south down the map for the next one hundred kilometres, by skimming the guide books and locating places of interest worth a visit. Anne-Marie was still enjoying driving and me, keeping a record of our expenditure and, of course, writing.
We stopped in the pretty town of Vadstena, again located at a lakeside, visiting an impressive castle/fortress surrounded by a moat. Nearby was a very large church, once an abbey with a convent and friary attached had been founded by St Brigitte, the Nordic Saint who’d made pilgrimages to Jerusalem and Rome.
The church was built of huge grey blocks of stone with a vaulted cream roof, the joins decorated in charcoal grey and red, most unusual. A beautiful wooden altar was divided into squared sections each with daintily carved 12th and 13th century figures representing different aspects of life and death.
Behind the main altar was another room on one side of which were smaller archways each with a curtained section on either side of a black iron door, rather like an oven door. Behind these doors the friars used to hear the nuns confessions. A huge velvet-covered box contained the bones of Brigitte and her daughter Catherine, who had actually organised the building of this church and, nearby, a smaller, much more simply carved wooden altar.
We’d actually attached ourselves to a Swedish group being given a tour of the church, but the guide gave up on his English and gave us a pamphlet to read instead, so we never actually found out what it was that inspired Brigitte to head for Rome in the first place.
Strolling around the town we found neat little pastel-coloured houses with very pretty gardens alongside the grey lake. Already there was a feel of autumn. Something about this place was reminiscent of Stratford with lots of tourist shops selling lace and embroidered goods. We stopped for a drink at a bar owned by two young Moroccans who were delighted to be able to speak French.
It’s becoming obvious that more people here speak French than in Finland. Also, Sweden, or maybe it’s just in this area, seems packed with little towns and villages compared to the vast forest-filled areas of Finland.
Stopped to see a 13th century church with high white walls and high steeple renowned for its murals. The old woman looking after the key had a sweet little house but at the bottom of the garden was a small hut, possibly her original home, which was filled with ‘antiques’. She showed us things and chattered away as though we understood every word, we didn’t, but could hazard a guess at most of what she was saying.
She had all the paraphernalia of a lace maker, spinning wheel, little spindles for making the lace, irons of different sizes plus a fire-holder for all of them. Also china, glassware, old dolls, a portrait of Martin Luther, cooking implements, enough furniture to make life comfortable and a guest book. Altogether an unexpected visit.
Our drive continued through corn fields, distant forests, houses in groups rather than alone, a seemingly gentle pace of life. The farm buildings have to be huge as animals and fodder are kept indoors throughout the winter. But, as we drove, there was little sign of people.
Stopped for the night in another pretty town built along a rocky wooded ridge overlooking a lake. The Youth Hostel was full but managed to book a camp site chalet with an all wood interior laid out for a holiday for four. The one disadvantage, toilet facilities a chilly walk away but for one night it was all right.
Took a drive around the town, built at different levels along the ridge, in search of somewhere to eat but could only find one restaurant (expensive) and a pizzeria (£5.00 for a small pizza), otherwise only a few burger bars so settled for the pizza. Watched the comings and goings of the youth of the town, surprisingly quietly. Saw the first signs of immigrants as several of the boys had Vietnamese girlfriends. Wonder what their parents think of that situation?
Took a digestive drive around the town before retiring, apart from the young people in the market square the place was as dead as Dinas Powys on a Friday night!
SATURDAY 25th DAY 22 SWEDEN TO DENMARK
The next day we looked in vain for an open café at 8.30 am. We left feeling hungry but luckily found a comfortable motorway motel with breakfast at £4.50, which provided enough food for lunch. There was a sudden invasion of young families, some with Asian children, spilling out from three giant double-decker coaches. There are some beautiful coaches on the road here, many of them quite new.
Stopped later at the small town of Jangby to visit an important Iron Age site, but we couldn’t find it. Came to the conclusion that the author of our guide book must have made a mistake!
Drove on to the ferry coastal town, noting already a change in style of buildings, taller, brick built, windows divided into tiny panes, roofs sloping more steeply. It bucketed with rain so didn’t look further than the nearest Konditorei (Cake Shop/Bar) before catching the ferry to Denmark.
The ferry seemed very small and insignificant compared to those huge ships further north but it did have one curiosity. The prow of the boat opened up like a huge jaw when it was about 100 metres from the opposite shore in readiness to let the cars out. One ferry was actually a boat train ie three carriages of a train filled up the lower deck, whilst its passengers climbed to the deck above to the cafeteria and duty free shop.
As the clouds cleared we realised that Denmark was actually only a stone’s throw away from Sweden, rather like travelling from Portsmouth to the Isle of Wight, just a twenty-five minutes ride to a low level coastline with a magnificent castle standing out on a promontory, Helsingor, the castle supposedly chosen by Shakespeare as the location of ‘Hamlet’.
Once on land we drove directly to the castle for an outside view. Brick built with a green copper roof, mullioned windows, a huge courtyard with several towers rising up to turrets, a large moat with fortifications built all around to defend the castle from any attack coming from the sea. Altogether very impressive. The place was heaving with foreign tourists, a far greater range of nationalities than we’d seen in Sweden or Finland. Suddenly realised, we’ve travelled a very long way.
Time to search for a Youth Hostel, which ended in a very long drive from the south of the town to the north following wrong instructions. The vegetation through which we were driving was quite new, much brighter green with huge trees, more like the English countryside, no more pine or silver birch trees.
We continued our search for a bed that night, driving along the coast road fringed by beautiful houses rather like those of Hampstead in London and finally ended up in one of them! The Youth Hostel was a large red brick mansion with spacious lawns infront of it whilst behind was a private beach looking out onto pale blue water, the coastline of Sweden in the distance, delightful!
Having booked our beds we drove the short distance back into Helsingor looking for a meal at 9pm. Found the town to be neat, clean, buildings laid out in rows but, on a Saturday night, virtually deserted with few bars or restaurants in sight. Finally found one and were served a meal of sole decorated with prawns and something like caviar, alongside a baked potato, very tasty.
SUNDAY 26th DAY 23 DENMARK – COPENHAGEN
Awoke to glorious sunshine and a dripping Anne-Marie, just back from a morning dip in the Baltic. We were reluctant to leave such an attractive place but with a time schedule to follow we headed for Copenhagen, stopping en route at the delightful Museum of Contemporary Art of Louisiana.
Located in a park of ancient trees, on a slope alongside a beach, much of the building was built within the slope with huge picture windows looking out onto a garden filled with sculptures by Henry Moore, Miro, Kunst and others, beautiful.
There were superb collections of paintings from the last 100 years, it was rather like finding Tate Modern in a park. We lazed over drinks in the sunshine for a while, before driving slowly into Copenhagen.
The drive along the coast was very pretty, the road ran alongside the beach decorated with sunbathers, masses of sailing boats were racing out at sea, Sweden was clearly in view and attractive homes lined the road. It must be very pleasant to live in a capital city with beaches and water activities close by.
First impressions of the city were very different from Sweden and Finland. A return to dark buildings, only four to five storeys high, a much greater variety of window size and shape, much more decoration around windows, on walls and on rooftops.
Found ourselves staying in what appeared to be a small hotel looking onto a quiet square near a main boulevard within walking distance of the centre. However, having decided against the crammed room for four at £20 EACH, we descended into a different world in the basement, small rooms, the width of a window, each with two three-tier bunks and a wash basin squeezed in.
With the four of us, plus luggage, in the room we couldn’t move so had to take turns to each make our bed (bring your own sheet), £10 each a night. In the lower windowless basement, some rooms were larger, with beds for twenty people, with three showers for all on that floor, and three W.C.s for all on our floor.
Masses of school children and students were pouring through the narrow corridors, it was rather like being in the confines of a ship. But it was clean, apparently better than the Youth Hostel, and about the cheapest accommodation available.
Having settled in we set out walking to explore the city. I must say we’ve been very lucky, for maps are always available at a variety of tourist centres, (also in some shops), plus a lot of other information so no difficulty in finding our way around.
Found ourselves strolling along the longest pedestrian street in the world, which included some familiar shops eg. Benetton and Body Shop. Fashion colours were similar to those further north, a range of deep reds, mustards, dirty greens. Fortunately, we were not tempted to buy anything as prices are high and we’ve nowhere to pack it.
Lots of people were strolling in the sunshine. There seemed to be a far wider range of nationalities visiting here than further north, many Americans but also a few English voices too. There were many people on bikes, including children carried both infront and behind the rider. Also, a very large number of young people on roller skates and skateboards, whizzing along the pedestrian area, and in the cycle lanes along the street.
Later we drove to the outskirts of the city then wandered through a lovely park down to the harbour side in search of the most famous monument in Copenhagen, the statue of The Little Mermaid, apparently a great disappointment to most people.
Found her placed just alongside the esplanade, balanced on top of a few large boulders, a life-size statue of the little mermaid with her two fin feet about to enter the world of people. (I think, I keep hearing snippets of the story read in French whilst the English version is floating back to me.) What I hadn’t expected to see was a huge oil tanker moored across the harbour entrance behind her, and boats passing to and fro to the open sea.
We were there about 8.00pm and still there were people coming along to take photos. It must be quite a circus to watch the coachloads of tourists spilling out around her throughout the day.
Found a steakhouse for the evening meal, scrubbed wooden table, serviettes hanging from it, also a pen on a string to tick off your order on the pictorial menu. Very decorative presentation of steak on iron platter with two onion rings in batter, a baked potato filled with sour cream and chives plus a little pot of beetroot slices, very tasty.
MONDAY 27th DAY 24 DENMARK - COPENHAGEN
Awoke to sunshine, breakfasted with the masses, then discovered that the car had been broken into, the two small rear windows smashed, the boot opened and, stolen from the inside, two cameras, the two Sale raincoats, and some gifts. Change of plan.
Luckily the police station wasn’t too far away so went to declare the break-in.. Luckily, the hotel owner recommended a good garage on the outskirts of the town. We left the car there for repairs and continued sightseeing.
Went to an older part of town famed internationally for its ‘Fringe Village’, created some years ago in an old barracks. it looked rather like a prison, with huge buildings on the perimeter and open space with trees and a few shacks in the centre. The people living there looked like the scruffy drop-outs living in squats in England, yet the scale of this Village was huge by comparison.
Apparently, it’s run as a separate town within a town, quite a new venture in alternate living. There were a huge number of scruffy dogs wandering around and a lot of junk lying about. Some residents do work in the city, how the rest survive we didn’t find out.
Alongside this ‘fringe village’ were canals running through a very picturesque old part of the city, with lots of sailing boats and small cargo boats moored along the banks. Imagine it to be like a small version of Amsterdam.
Climbed to the base of one church spire. You could actually climb to the top of the spire by an outside spiral staircase but after 300 steps up I was exhausted. Had a beautiful view over Copenhagen, small rivers running into the nearby sea, canals flowing throughout the city, lots of parks and brown rooftops.
Took a taxi back to collect the car from the garage. Too late realised that our one remaining camera had been left in the taxi! Luckily someone remembered the colour and type of taxi. The owner of the garage was EXTREMELY helpful. He immediately phoned the Police and the taxi’s base. By a stroke of luck the taxi driver was honest and had handed the camera in to Lost Property so, back to the familiar Police Station to collect it!
By now we were feeling in need of space and relaxation rather than involvement in the rush hour. We found one of the big parks and strolled at leisure, admiring the modern sculptures, and drank to a less complicated time on our last few days.
Discovered another pedestrian area alongside a different canal. Sat at a café and ate at leisure before finally discovering the HUGE octagonal area enclosing the royal palace, guarded by soldiers, not unlike Buckingham Palace in London. Around the building were four roads leading in different directions, one of them to the most beautiful fountain in gardens lining the canal, probably more impressive by night rather than day.
We wandered back to the car through a very smart shopping area, rather like Bond St in London.
TUESDAY 28th DAY 25 DENMARK
We decided to leave the city immediately rather than cram in a morning of more sightseeing, too many museums and palaces to choose from. It took ages to find the motorway having set off in completely the wrong direction. Here the roads are numbered rather than named so you need an up to date map. The important town directions which we were looking out for rarely received a mention, and signposts were at car level so nearly impossible to see.
There’s also a basic, different approach between me and the others ie I don’t move until I know where I’m going, whereas they often take off with only a vague idea of the route. Both systems have their advantages.
Drove through very agricultural countryside, not unlike England, no longer the huge rolls of hay, now back to old style blocks and smaller tractors. We still haven’t been able to work out whether farmers work individually or as co-operatives. Very hot so I fell asleep, awoke to find we were at a port driving onto a ferry, surrounded by giant lorries, rather overwhelming.
Just a twenty-five minute crossing, very pleasant sunbathing on deck. There’s been little time to sunbathe and relax throughout the holiday.
Still in Denmark, drove the short distance into Odense, another large town. Found the Youth Hostel, an old farm converted, so a good opportunity to understand the layout of a typical farm building. It was built in a huge square shape, the farmhouse lying in a section of it. The original main building possibly held the homes of the farm workers, the animals and food supplies.
Now it had all been attractively converted into a dining room and reception/lounge area. Upstairs there were lots of little rooms with pine bed, table, chair, sink, white walls, grey carpet, red door, plus lots of fittings and brightly framed posters, even a modern slot-in key.
Down in the central courtyard were lots of scattered tables, benches and surprising six feet tall bunches of colourful Busy Lizzies.
The only disadvantage, NOISE, a party of school children on an outing running all over the place!
We took an evening stroll to discover the town’s most important personality, the writer Hans Christian Anderson. The original part of town, of his childhood, has been kept intact, little brick houses with high sloping roofs, brightly painted wood decorations and masses of flowers in window boxes. Hugely exploited for tourists young and old with Museum, Hotel and Restaurant.
Moved on and found a cheaper restaurant, overwhelmingly decorated with chandeliers and old china ornaments. Had what would have been a delicious meal had there not been a surfeit of batter over plaice with prawns, mushroom sauce and potatoes sprinkled with parsley.
Took a digestive walk around the town, hardly anyone else around at 10.00pm. Found a huge pedestrian precinct and a shopping area. Lots of embroidery and stainless steel goods in shop windows but otherwise the goods not very different from home.
WEDNESDAY 29th DAY 26 – DENMARK
Glorious sunshine yet again. Wonder whether you’ve had similar weather? Visited the cathedral, a strange façade fronted by many steps. Inside, all painted white with a beautiful altar, the back of it rather like a sculpted picture in five parts, painted gold, depicting scenes from the Bible, similar to some seen in Sweden. On the walls were paintings of nobility in grey marble surrounds and in the crypt, two skeletons lying in their coffins, royalty from centuries ago.
The disadvantage for my writing, all the information about what we are seeing is read from French guidebooks, though I follow it at the time I remember it less well than if it was in English. Not to worry.
I forgot one thing yesterday. We stopped at a wonderful Viking Ship Museum constructed on the side of a fiord. Apparently, the Vikings used to protect the entrance to the fiord from attack by filling old ships with boulders and sinking them. Not so long ago someone decided to haul out the boulders and drag out the old ships. Five ships of different sizes were found, wrecked but with enough pieces to fit together to form recognizable longboats. They were reconstructed and placed in a huge hall with a picture window looking out onto the sea.
There were also small models of longboats peopled with Vikings either at sea or in settlements. I hadn’t realised what a variety of longboats there were for purposes other than war, for besides attacking Britain, they traded great distances along rivers to the East.
Surprised to find two reed boats, freshly constructed in the Museum by a Bolivian boat builder. A video showed him at work. There was also a section of the Museum showing his photos together with models of similar boats from different parts of the world., most interesting.
Back to today…….We have just visited the castle of Egeskov, a chunky red brick building with two towers rising impressively, in the middle of a lake, surrounded by beautifully manicured lawns and very high clipped hedges dividing formal gardens, roses, herbs etc. The original buildings of a neighbouring farm had been converted into a Motor Museum with a sizable collection of old carriages, plus wood and leather repair shops, and a well-preserved collection of old cars, aeroplanes, fire engines and some unusual bikes. It was pleasant to picnic in the park before driving west.
As I write, we’re currently driving through rolling countryside. Lots of haymaking is taking place, whilst at the roadside there are apples, pears and some vegetables for sale. Wonder where the Danish hop fields are? There must be a lot of them for making all the lager they consume. Wine is all imported and very expensive.
The houses are very pretty. Many are one storey buildings with black and white walls, thatched roofs and windows with many small panes. But gradually, more houses are roofed with tiles or corrugated iron rather than thatch.
We spent our last night in Denmark at Ribe, the oldest town in the country, situated about five miles from the sea. It’s dated from about 800 AD, was one of the most important Viking commercial centres, and one of the first Christian churches in Denmark was built here. There was once a royal palace, and traders left its river to head for England and Germany.
Somehow it’s managed to retain its mediaeval appearance, narrow cobbled streets with doll-like wooden houses, many only one storey high, some with a window in the roof, their walls plastered in different colours. Very many had wall plaques bearing the names of famous Danes who’d lived there.
The Youth Hostel, in contrast, is completely modern, newly built of brick and marble with pine furniture, three four-bedded rooms built off a corridor with shower at one end, toilet at the other. This layout certainly cuts down the noise level as there is yet another boisterous school group in residence. It seems as though August is the month for school visits. Surprised by the number of young people and teachers who smoke.
Returned to the car to drive across very flat land to the sea. We were suddenly met by a tall sloping dyke. Parked the car and climbed to the top of it to find another expanse of grass and marsh land extending to the distant sea. The tide was out and lots of cows and sheep were grazing on the grass, apparently, this gives their meat a distinctive salty flavour. Just wondering whether there is anything similar in England.?
The dyke was broken by the river, trapped between sluice gates and a lock which boats have to pass through before motoring on to the Atlantic. There were lots of little boats moored along the river bank and a few small houses trailing along it, back towards the distant town. A mysterious landscape.
Tourists must come here regularly, a narrow road leads to a large brick bar/restaurant strategically located near the river behind the dyke. Decided to have an early meal in the restaurant at 7.30pm, very Danish style. Chose the set tourist menu, no English translation, too tiring to guess our way through the rest.
The starter, salmon mousse with prawns topped with caviar and dill served with a cream and herb sauce, followed by a veal steak, green beans and chips with the ubiquitous orange Bernaise sauce, followed by ice cream topped with pineapple, whipped cream and chocolate bits. A rather heavy meal.
Drove back to town to window shop, peering through lighted windows, also through the windows of the little houses. Many had open-plan spacious interiors, very cosily furnished.
At 10.00pm we gathered with many others to follow the night watchman on his rounds. He spoke and sang the history of the buildings we passed on his route, rather special.
Guardian recently.
Copenhagen National Museum - Chariot of the Sun, Early Bronze Age , 14th century BCE.
For Further Information:
* BBC iplayer - The Vikings Series with Neil Oliver.
* ITV - Midsomer Murders 100th Episode - The Killings of Copenhagen, filmed around the city.
Next Week : ENFIN! / AT LAST!! Part 6 of the 'Voyage'!
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