Feel free to skip this post- it's just me bitching about a travel snafu. But it may prove useful if you are thinking of bike touring Sweden!
Perhaps I should begin with the Incident That Shall Not Be Spoken of Again. Okay, so trains in Sweden are mainly run through a state-owned enterprise called Statens Jarnvagar, or SJ. Obviously, we American have a gag reflex when it comes to state-run monopolies, since they can be bloated, inefficient, and unresponsive to public pressure. I didn't want to believe that, and for the most part I didn't have to, since, well, the trains pretty much run on time.
But they also have really stupid rules about bikes. Unlike public transport in Norway and Denmark, where bikes can be taken on with just an extra fee (which is relatively affordable), SJ requires you to carry the bike as luggage- that is, broken down so it's more compact and can be stowed more easily. The bus companies have the same rule, though it's more understandable considering a bus has a lot less space than a train. This is a pain, but I have the tools and the knowledge to break the bikes down in about 30 minutes so that's that. But it turns out it's not only SJ has weird rules- the commuter rail, run by another state agency, also has odd rules, like not allowing bikes to board or exit at particular stations, but otherwise you can roll them on and off no problem. All of this is super-confusing, and of course everything is in Swedish and it's not even slightly intuitive, because most of the time you are in bike paradise zipping along on special bike lanes, etc. and then all of a sudden you are hit with this dumb, time-consuming roadblock.
And now here I am eating up lots of blog-space whining about it. Why? Well, the combination of these dumb, inconsistent rules affected us thusly. I, as I had been encouraged to do, had purchased my train tickets to Oslo ahead of time. We should have had plenty of time to cross on the ferry, catch the commuter rail back to Stockholm, break down the bikes in the station, and grab the long-distance train to Oslo. But it turns out you can't get off the commuter train with a bike at the Central station- even though we needed to just go 50 feet down a platform and up an elevator. Nope, we got pounced on by several employees, bundled back on the train, went back a stop, out a station that had 3 slooowww elevators that had space for only 1 bike at a time, then we had to figure out how to navigate back to the station, get the bikes broken down, and long story long, we missed the train!
No big whoop, says I, exasperated as I was, I was smart and bought the refundable tickets! Nope! Not what that means. You miss the train, you eat the tickets- and they are NOT free! Injustice! Tyranny! Inconvenience! As the comic character Cathy might say "AAAACCCKKK!"
Also that was the last train of the day. Infuriated but now steely in resolve, we bought tickets for the night bus to Olso, which left later and at least were pretty cheap (again, relatively). As night bus rides go (say, compared to Vietnam, where you pile all the luggage in the aisle, the bus honks constantly, is partially filled with chickens, and is missing several parts one might think important to being a bus, like mirrors or peices of the floor) it was fine, but it was a groggy honeymoon couple that arrived in Oslo.
But hey, it was a gorgeous day, we got some breakfast, and all was soon back on track. On to the next entry!
Thursday, July 20, 2017
Gotland
Having had difficulty with Swedish Rail and the bikes being on it, we braced ourselves mentally for some issues getting down to the ferry terminal at Nyarshamn, about 30 or 40 miles away from Stockholm. This time there was absolutely no reason to fear- the commuter rail welcomes bicycles, and with a minimal amount of navigation we jumped on one of the frequent, clean, and efficient trains and whizzed right down to the ferry, purchased a ticket, did a couple errands waiting for it to arrive, and then boarded the massive boat. It’s about 3 hours to Gotland, and the ferry is (you guessed it!) clean, comfortable, and a bit more expensive than one would like. By the time we got to Visby, the incredibly scenic and charming town on the island, it was around 6 pm, and we were worried about finding camping nearby, it being reputed to fill up quickly. Fortunately for us, it has proven a pattern in Scandinavia that few people like to camp in little tents, and tent spots are pretty easy to find (though annoyingly spendy for what you get). Anyway, we passed a little medieval fair that was to start soon on the way out, so we threw up the tent quickly, ditched our gear, and scooted back just as the performance started. Sure, it was kind of a corny “Medieval Times” sort of performance, and it was 100 percent in Swedish, but it was fun to watch the knights on horseback joust and archers launch volleys of arrows and so on in the gorgeous loooooongg sunset up here near the Arctic Circle. We went to bed happy.
Though Visby has tons to recommend it, I was particularly eager to get back on the bikes and out in the countryside after being in the city for a while. Plus, it seems like it tends to work out that we have a few hours to kill when it comes to dealing with ferries, and that would provide some time to enjoy the town on the way back out (spoilers- it did). So with our general range on level-ish ground being about 25-30 miles/day with loaded bikes, and the island of Gotland being considerably larger than Bornholm, a complete circuit of the island was out. But having to choose, it seemed to us a northern route looked the most interesting, and so we headed up the coast along a typical nice off-road bike path. Alas, it turned out that Gotland was not nearly so blessed with the idyllic bike path system as Bornholm, and we soon found out that the larger roads out in the country not only lacked the dedicated parallel bike lanes we had thus far enjoyed all over, but also any shoulder to the roads! So after a little while on the recommended bike route having our panniers grazed by sleek overpowered European luxury vehicles, I remembered my MO from the Spain/ Portugal trip, and simply re-routed onto the minor roads. Though not as direct, these roads had a tiny fraction of the traffic, and the smaller of them were pretty much glorified bike paths- a lane and a half wide, toodling by historic farms and livestock, rolly hills where there were any hills at all. It seemed by lunch a reasonable destination was the little beach village of Slite, and it seemed like a mellow cruise to the finish when the recommended bike route failed us a second time. On Bornholm, the route sometimes veered into the many “nature reserves,” which I suppose would be something equivalent to BLM or Forest Service land in the states- natural-seque but also with some logging and grazing, etc. But very unlike Bornholm, when the infrequently signed route led you into the forest, you were on your own to navigate the myriad branching roads that criss-crossed the area, and naturally we got lost. We doubled down on the problem by trying to take a promising “official” single-track trail that seemed to lead to the far side, only to have that dead end at a kiosk explaining in great detail (in Swedish) a bog plant that grew there. Anyway, we did eventually get spit out of the area, but it burned up several hours and the last of our energy (though since it’s never really night, not the the actual day) and we limped a little into Slite and a nice and very welcome little run-down, out of the way campsite on a very nice little beach.
The next day, a certain half of our expedition was very much in favor of a rest day, and a chance to generally catch our breath after what had been a pretty breathless 2 weeks of constant motion. The other half of the expedition felt it was wise to abstain from the formal vote, and besides, it was hard to argue with the proposition of a day enjoying the cozy if somewhat overlooked beach resort on an absolutely gorgeous summer day. We had a leisurely breakfast at camp, enjoyed the beach there for several hours, reading and sunbathing. After lunch, I proposed that we partake in some of the ubiquitous resort activities we had seen around the islands- ice cream and mini-golf- and also I had noticed that the more upscale resort right next door to our more budget accommodations rented windsurfers, something I hadn’t done for nearly a decade. Slite was really well situated for that sport, having a lovely bay with a Long Island with a castle sheltering it and a good stiff wind pretty much constantly blowing.
The resort actually had fairly reasonable rental prices and quality equipment, and so after a few very rusty passes along the shore, I remembered some basic technique and was soon managing to progress from crashing pathetically at low speed to crashing spectacularly at high speed. Which is pretty much windsurfing. Jen seemed pretty content to read and sip wine on a lounge chair through this, though pleasantly beaten up and tired out, I joined her and we spent the rest of the afternoon having a nice late lunch, playing the very classy mini-golf course, and enjoying the sunset back on our beach. Oh, and we also got to the super-inconvenient state liquor store (which is the only place in Sweden you can get anything stronger than 3.2 beer- and of course these are infrequent and only open for something like 4 or 5 hours a day!).
The rest day accomplished, we decided to head up to the smaller island of Faro, as it was reputed to have even nicer beaches and it just seemed neat. It was a little bit of a stretch distance-wise, but keeping to the minor roads, we had a pretty pleasant ride up there, across perhaps the first free thing we have done in Sweden (the short Gotland-Faro ferry) and into a quiet campsite about 5 km up the road from the ferry and 8 miles or so from the most popular beach. The campsite was nice and full of friendly visitors (almost all of the tourists on Gotland are Swedish- it’s apparently THE destination for the country in the summer), and after a little poking around the area, we turned in and rested our weary legs.
It seemed a shame to come all the way out to Faro and then not see the beaches it was best known for, so we decided to stay another night at the same campground and explore the island on our unloaded bikes. Sure enough, the beach at Sudersand, about 8 miles down the road, was superb, and the day excellent, so we spent a very pleasant morning lying around soaking up the sun and even wading a little in the water (it sounds wimpy, sure, but it’s generally hovering around 70 or so in the heat of the day here, and the water, though not frigid, sure isn’t the Caribbean!). The water sure is beautiful though, and throngs of Swedes covered the sand for at least a mile in both directions from our spot. We spent the afternoon checking out another beach and doing some fine picnicking, and then toddled the 10 miles or so back home. Again, it was unfortunate the lack of bike paths or even shoulders on the island- despite the large number of riders- we learned from our neighbor at the campground this is a fluke in Sweden- it’s just Gotland’s remoteness to blame- according to him, the bike route builders that be just “haven’t gotten to Gotland yet”.
What is there are beautifully preserved farms and thatch-roofed buildings with an architectural style that has changed very little from the Middle Ages. Another neighbor familiar with the island explained that is was “basically impossible” to obtain a building permit, which would likely explain how Faro is not currently obliterated with beachfront condos and resorts. You do have to hand it to the Swedes to forego the sure and quick cash development here would bring in favor of retaining the historic character of the place- it’s hard to think of the place in the US so restrained!
The next day had us itching to get the trip moving again, so after poring over maps and weighing our options, we decided to make a big push back to Visby, though it would likely smash our current daily distance record. Supplies had been purchased, loins girded, expectations adjusted to a steely-eyed determination, and though I wasn’t quite sure, I thought I heard a whispered prayer to the old gods and the new issue from Jen’s lips outside the tent around bedtime the previous night. We struck out early the next day, got across the ferry no problem, and, 100 percent ready for the grueling ride ahead… found a convenient regional bus headed straight to Visby waiting at the ferry stop. Did they take bikes? Of course!
It was a very cheerful Jennifer, then, that arrived in Visby in the late morning, and I have to admit, I wasn’t really very disappointed either, seeing that the route backtracked much of what we had done already and included a fair amount of the no-shoulder busy roads we had been avoiding. The ferries back to the mainland on a Sunday, however, were a no-go- booked solid until the next morning. Well, no big deal- this gave us an afternoon to appreciate Visby, which very easily can occupy anyone with even a passing interest in medieval history, architecture, good food, and/or very pleasant walking around. After securing a campsite, we visited the excellent history museum in town- particularly cool were the collection of Viking era rune-stones, the dioramas of the city in it’s middle-ages heyday, and the displays of gold and silver hordes found around the islands ( mainly to keep valuables from marauding Danes.). Apparently one such horde was discovered just a few years ago on a school field trip when a student stuck their arm down a rabbit hole and removed it grasping a handful of 1000-year-old Persian gold coins. Extra credit? Visby is a walled city, once the home of Germanic merchant guilds that controlled most of Scandinavian trade in the Middle Ages. The walls remain, as do several of the medieval era churches (though most are ruins- also scenic however). The meandering streets are as charming to wander as could be imagined, and there are an enormous amount of great places to eat and drink, which we did, and went to sleep happy and ready for our next leg and next country. Little did we know the journey was to be more difficult than we anticipated….
Though Visby has tons to recommend it, I was particularly eager to get back on the bikes and out in the countryside after being in the city for a while. Plus, it seems like it tends to work out that we have a few hours to kill when it comes to dealing with ferries, and that would provide some time to enjoy the town on the way back out (spoilers- it did). So with our general range on level-ish ground being about 25-30 miles/day with loaded bikes, and the island of Gotland being considerably larger than Bornholm, a complete circuit of the island was out. But having to choose, it seemed to us a northern route looked the most interesting, and so we headed up the coast along a typical nice off-road bike path. Alas, it turned out that Gotland was not nearly so blessed with the idyllic bike path system as Bornholm, and we soon found out that the larger roads out in the country not only lacked the dedicated parallel bike lanes we had thus far enjoyed all over, but also any shoulder to the roads! So after a little while on the recommended bike route having our panniers grazed by sleek overpowered European luxury vehicles, I remembered my MO from the Spain/ Portugal trip, and simply re-routed onto the minor roads. Though not as direct, these roads had a tiny fraction of the traffic, and the smaller of them were pretty much glorified bike paths- a lane and a half wide, toodling by historic farms and livestock, rolly hills where there were any hills at all. It seemed by lunch a reasonable destination was the little beach village of Slite, and it seemed like a mellow cruise to the finish when the recommended bike route failed us a second time. On Bornholm, the route sometimes veered into the many “nature reserves,” which I suppose would be something equivalent to BLM or Forest Service land in the states- natural-seque but also with some logging and grazing, etc. But very unlike Bornholm, when the infrequently signed route led you into the forest, you were on your own to navigate the myriad branching roads that criss-crossed the area, and naturally we got lost. We doubled down on the problem by trying to take a promising “official” single-track trail that seemed to lead to the far side, only to have that dead end at a kiosk explaining in great detail (in Swedish) a bog plant that grew there. Anyway, we did eventually get spit out of the area, but it burned up several hours and the last of our energy (though since it’s never really night, not the the actual day) and we limped a little into Slite and a nice and very welcome little run-down, out of the way campsite on a very nice little beach.
The next day, a certain half of our expedition was very much in favor of a rest day, and a chance to generally catch our breath after what had been a pretty breathless 2 weeks of constant motion. The other half of the expedition felt it was wise to abstain from the formal vote, and besides, it was hard to argue with the proposition of a day enjoying the cozy if somewhat overlooked beach resort on an absolutely gorgeous summer day. We had a leisurely breakfast at camp, enjoyed the beach there for several hours, reading and sunbathing. After lunch, I proposed that we partake in some of the ubiquitous resort activities we had seen around the islands- ice cream and mini-golf- and also I had noticed that the more upscale resort right next door to our more budget accommodations rented windsurfers, something I hadn’t done for nearly a decade. Slite was really well situated for that sport, having a lovely bay with a Long Island with a castle sheltering it and a good stiff wind pretty much constantly blowing.
The resort actually had fairly reasonable rental prices and quality equipment, and so after a few very rusty passes along the shore, I remembered some basic technique and was soon managing to progress from crashing pathetically at low speed to crashing spectacularly at high speed. Which is pretty much windsurfing. Jen seemed pretty content to read and sip wine on a lounge chair through this, though pleasantly beaten up and tired out, I joined her and we spent the rest of the afternoon having a nice late lunch, playing the very classy mini-golf course, and enjoying the sunset back on our beach. Oh, and we also got to the super-inconvenient state liquor store (which is the only place in Sweden you can get anything stronger than 3.2 beer- and of course these are infrequent and only open for something like 4 or 5 hours a day!).
The rest day accomplished, we decided to head up to the smaller island of Faro, as it was reputed to have even nicer beaches and it just seemed neat. It was a little bit of a stretch distance-wise, but keeping to the minor roads, we had a pretty pleasant ride up there, across perhaps the first free thing we have done in Sweden (the short Gotland-Faro ferry) and into a quiet campsite about 5 km up the road from the ferry and 8 miles or so from the most popular beach. The campsite was nice and full of friendly visitors (almost all of the tourists on Gotland are Swedish- it’s apparently THE destination for the country in the summer), and after a little poking around the area, we turned in and rested our weary legs.
It seemed a shame to come all the way out to Faro and then not see the beaches it was best known for, so we decided to stay another night at the same campground and explore the island on our unloaded bikes. Sure enough, the beach at Sudersand, about 8 miles down the road, was superb, and the day excellent, so we spent a very pleasant morning lying around soaking up the sun and even wading a little in the water (it sounds wimpy, sure, but it’s generally hovering around 70 or so in the heat of the day here, and the water, though not frigid, sure isn’t the Caribbean!). The water sure is beautiful though, and throngs of Swedes covered the sand for at least a mile in both directions from our spot. We spent the afternoon checking out another beach and doing some fine picnicking, and then toddled the 10 miles or so back home. Again, it was unfortunate the lack of bike paths or even shoulders on the island- despite the large number of riders- we learned from our neighbor at the campground this is a fluke in Sweden- it’s just Gotland’s remoteness to blame- according to him, the bike route builders that be just “haven’t gotten to Gotland yet”.
What is there are beautifully preserved farms and thatch-roofed buildings with an architectural style that has changed very little from the Middle Ages. Another neighbor familiar with the island explained that is was “basically impossible” to obtain a building permit, which would likely explain how Faro is not currently obliterated with beachfront condos and resorts. You do have to hand it to the Swedes to forego the sure and quick cash development here would bring in favor of retaining the historic character of the place- it’s hard to think of the place in the US so restrained!
The next day had us itching to get the trip moving again, so after poring over maps and weighing our options, we decided to make a big push back to Visby, though it would likely smash our current daily distance record. Supplies had been purchased, loins girded, expectations adjusted to a steely-eyed determination, and though I wasn’t quite sure, I thought I heard a whispered prayer to the old gods and the new issue from Jen’s lips outside the tent around bedtime the previous night. We struck out early the next day, got across the ferry no problem, and, 100 percent ready for the grueling ride ahead… found a convenient regional bus headed straight to Visby waiting at the ferry stop. Did they take bikes? Of course!
It was a very cheerful Jennifer, then, that arrived in Visby in the late morning, and I have to admit, I wasn’t really very disappointed either, seeing that the route backtracked much of what we had done already and included a fair amount of the no-shoulder busy roads we had been avoiding. The ferries back to the mainland on a Sunday, however, were a no-go- booked solid until the next morning. Well, no big deal- this gave us an afternoon to appreciate Visby, which very easily can occupy anyone with even a passing interest in medieval history, architecture, good food, and/or very pleasant walking around. After securing a campsite, we visited the excellent history museum in town- particularly cool were the collection of Viking era rune-stones, the dioramas of the city in it’s middle-ages heyday, and the displays of gold and silver hordes found around the islands ( mainly to keep valuables from marauding Danes.). Apparently one such horde was discovered just a few years ago on a school field trip when a student stuck their arm down a rabbit hole and removed it grasping a handful of 1000-year-old Persian gold coins. Extra credit? Visby is a walled city, once the home of Germanic merchant guilds that controlled most of Scandinavian trade in the Middle Ages. The walls remain, as do several of the medieval era churches (though most are ruins- also scenic however). The meandering streets are as charming to wander as could be imagined, and there are an enormous amount of great places to eat and drink, which we did, and went to sleep happy and ready for our next leg and next country. Little did we know the journey was to be more difficult than we anticipated….
Stockholm
Stockholm-
I am way behind on the blog now, so perhaps I will accelerate the narrative and hopefully get caught up.
After traveling up from Jonkoping, we settled into our AirBnB place in Stockholm, which turned out to be just a bit south of the major attractions downtown. This didn’t turn out to be a problem, since with the bikes we could easily jump on the hugely extensive bike path system the city is blessed with and get to most of what we wanted to see in about 15 minutes.
Like Copenhagen, the bike-friendliness of the city is an integral feature as opposed to a well-meaning afterthought as it is in many American cities. Bikes not only have their own lanes, but have a whole intertwined road system that gets riders across bridges, through major intersections, and around most obstacles that can make urban biking a dangerous chore elsewhere. It is no exaggeration to say that (in the summertime anyway) biking would be faster and less of a hassle than venturing into the city in a car (and far cheaper- not only is parking difficult to find and expensive, there is a “congestion fee” drivers must pay even to enter the city!).
Stockholm is a BEAUTIFUL city, built on a huge archipelago- so the entire downtown is criss-crossed with brackish waterways that are in fact the mixture of a large lake to the west and the Baltic Sea to the east, and the water between all the islands. The city is hilly, and bridges go all over the place and at all sorts of different levels, yet the handsome 18th and 19th- century buildings that grace the skyline are showcased and spaced apart attractively by the water and the topography. The city is also well-endowed with extensive parks and green-spaces, and it’s not difficult at all to find some peaceful natural space minutes away from the bustling downtown. It’s huge and complex, yet inviting and friendly, and of course there are approximately 1 jillion places to eat and drink. It’s just a great city.
The first day we went right for the main sights, foremost among which is the royal palace (Kungliga Slottet) on the center-most island in the city, Gamla Stan. The palace actually has several sections you can see, some more museum-like (such as the Treasury, where you can see the bejeweled crowns of immeasurable value), and some more a tour of the parts of the gigantic palace the royal family doesn’t happen to be using at the moment. The guidebook explained that after the previous fort-like castle burnt down in the early 1700’s, the new one was built more in the style of a Versailles- type palace- large castles being of little military value anymore and and apparently gargantuan gaudy Rococo-style palaces being more the thing at the time. So yeah, it’s really fancy, and it takes a while to see, and it really brings home the fact that a powerful monarchy can certainly collect a lot of ornate golden stuff from visiting foreign dignitaries given a few centuries.
The palace was certainly worth seeing, though, and you get some other admission tickets with the ticket cost, like the Riddarholmskyrkan, the church where they buried most of the royalty from the 1300’s onward. The whole church is in fact a tomb, with all the alcoves to either side stuffed with ornate sarcophaguses of expired kings and queens, and the floor beneath your feet the resting places of various prominent church figures, lords and ladies. Dope.
The rest of Gamla Stan is pretty fun to wander around, with its narrow picturesque medieval cobblestone streets and historical buildings and so on, though it is about as touristy as it gets. The Swedes, like the Danes, keep it fairly classy, however, though not cheap!
We finished Day one at the Medieval museum (Medeltidsmuseum) on the little island directly north of Gamla Stan that it shares with the parliament building. Funny story- they were going to put an ugly parking garage there in the 60’s and as a part of that did and archeological survey- oopsie! Turns out the site was loaded with all sorts of medieval artifacts. So they built a museum around the site and left many of the excavated buildings where they lay. It’s an overlooked museum in a city packed with great museums, but we really got a lot out of it. They also have the remains of a boat from the 1500s which would be really super interesting unless you were to go to the much more famous and impressive Vasa museum, like we did the next day. We had dinner and some wine in one of the very many delightful restuarants across the water on the way home.
We targeted the attractively forested Djurgarten Island, which is pretty much all a park. Of course, it has plenty of pleasant paths and gardens and forests, but it also has the Vasa museum, which you may have heard from other people than me is one of the coolest museums you’ll ever see. It’s built around the amazingly-preserved 17th-century ship of the same name, that the King Gustav II Adolph built to amaze and terrify his enemies. With two levels of guns, it was a groundbreaking design, and that’s usually a compliment. But it turns out if you build a ship tall, it’s pretty important to build it wide, too. Oh, and be sure that the gunports are not going to be underwater when the ship leans in the breeze. Oh, and also have a lot of ballast in the hold if the ship is super-tall. Oh, and also maybe have plans for the ship before you build it. But really I shouldn’t be hard on the naval engineers of Gustav II’s court, because if his ship hadn’t sunk almost immediately on its maiden voyage, we wouldn’t be seeing it today! Apparently, it took nearly 20 years to raise it from the goop of the harbor and then pump it full of chemicals to get the water out and preserve it, but it’s just amazing, and the museum does a fantastic job showing it off and having lots of side exhibits explaining the history of its construction, operation, rescue, and restoration.
Next door is Skansen, which apparently what most Stockholmers come to the island to do. It’s sort of an open-air museum/zoo/amusement park, which sounds really cheesy but the Swedes being Swedes, is actually really tastefully done and interesting. The main attractions are the 150 or so transplanted or re-constructed buildings that were place on the grounds that give you examples of the traditional architectural styles from all the various reigons of Sweden. Some of the areas are re-creations of historical townsites, some farmsteads, and some hunting camps. All have interpretive guides dressed in period costume who will tell you all about the building they are in or what activity they might be doing, many times when they are actually doing it- which is really cool with the glassblowers or 19th century furniture shop, etc. Again, it sounds kind of goofy, but the fact that all of the buildings are the real thing (or meticulous imitations) makes it really interesting. A nice touch is that the food sold in the park is on-theme, with reindeer meat-cones for sale, washed down with lingonberry juice. Almost made us sorry we ate at one of the very tasteful and charming restaurants in the park for lunch, if that lunch wasn’t so incredibly good. Anyway, you could spend a whole day here at Skansen easily by itself, and I’d argue you may want to! It was about 7 or so by the time we were done looking at it all, and a beautiful evening, so we rode the long way home, looping out through the park, and of course stumbling on yet another charming place to grab a drink by a marina, so we did that and then wound our way back along the beautiful bike paths through the park and back onto the inner-city system and thus back home. An excellent day.
Our third day we decided to go a little afield, out into the Stockholm archipelago. There are a LOT of island to choose from, but the guide made one named Gallno sound nice, so that’s the one we aimed for. You get there by going downtown to a cluster of passenger ferries all heading out to various islands in this large cluster, and like everything here it’s easy, efficient, and a little more expensive than you would like. But to my delight particularly, the ferry we got was a turn of the century oil-fired steamboat, with beautifully restored woodwork inside and out, and an exposed engine room I really wanted to go down and check out but that, as the Swedes put it bluntly, was not possible. It was a gorgeous day, and though the old steamer wasn’t very fast, the ride was worth it just by itself, chugging along watching the boats and the islands go by in a pleasant procession. We got to our island after about 3 hours, but that was fine. Gallno turned out not to have a whole lot in the way of town on it, but it did have a nice little path to follow, which we did, coming to a lovely little marina and store which made for a nice lunch. We kept walking after that, where the trail then ended at a rowboat crossing to another small island. The rule was you had to leave at least one boat on each side, so by leaving the grain and the dog on one side, and crossing with the chicken for the first ride, we were able to continue. That trail ended at a place where you could flag down a ferry back to Stockholm if you didn’t want to hike back, and you had a little semaphore contraption to signal the boat. This looked like fun, but after messing with the semaphore and puzzling out the schedule, it appeared the next boat would be hours from then, and it wasn’t really all that far back. So back in the rowboat we went and back down the country lane we hiked, and caught a much more modern and quicker ferry back. Though our day out wasn’t quite as action-packed as the last couple, it was very pleasant, and it was very nice to see the islands. We got back home at a reasonable time (helps that there really is no night to speak of), and ready to go for our trip to Gotland the next day!
I am way behind on the blog now, so perhaps I will accelerate the narrative and hopefully get caught up.
After traveling up from Jonkoping, we settled into our AirBnB place in Stockholm, which turned out to be just a bit south of the major attractions downtown. This didn’t turn out to be a problem, since with the bikes we could easily jump on the hugely extensive bike path system the city is blessed with and get to most of what we wanted to see in about 15 minutes.
Like Copenhagen, the bike-friendliness of the city is an integral feature as opposed to a well-meaning afterthought as it is in many American cities. Bikes not only have their own lanes, but have a whole intertwined road system that gets riders across bridges, through major intersections, and around most obstacles that can make urban biking a dangerous chore elsewhere. It is no exaggeration to say that (in the summertime anyway) biking would be faster and less of a hassle than venturing into the city in a car (and far cheaper- not only is parking difficult to find and expensive, there is a “congestion fee” drivers must pay even to enter the city!).
Stockholm is a BEAUTIFUL city, built on a huge archipelago- so the entire downtown is criss-crossed with brackish waterways that are in fact the mixture of a large lake to the west and the Baltic Sea to the east, and the water between all the islands. The city is hilly, and bridges go all over the place and at all sorts of different levels, yet the handsome 18th and 19th- century buildings that grace the skyline are showcased and spaced apart attractively by the water and the topography. The city is also well-endowed with extensive parks and green-spaces, and it’s not difficult at all to find some peaceful natural space minutes away from the bustling downtown. It’s huge and complex, yet inviting and friendly, and of course there are approximately 1 jillion places to eat and drink. It’s just a great city.
The first day we went right for the main sights, foremost among which is the royal palace (Kungliga Slottet) on the center-most island in the city, Gamla Stan. The palace actually has several sections you can see, some more museum-like (such as the Treasury, where you can see the bejeweled crowns of immeasurable value), and some more a tour of the parts of the gigantic palace the royal family doesn’t happen to be using at the moment. The guidebook explained that after the previous fort-like castle burnt down in the early 1700’s, the new one was built more in the style of a Versailles- type palace- large castles being of little military value anymore and and apparently gargantuan gaudy Rococo-style palaces being more the thing at the time. So yeah, it’s really fancy, and it takes a while to see, and it really brings home the fact that a powerful monarchy can certainly collect a lot of ornate golden stuff from visiting foreign dignitaries given a few centuries.
The palace was certainly worth seeing, though, and you get some other admission tickets with the ticket cost, like the Riddarholmskyrkan, the church where they buried most of the royalty from the 1300’s onward. The whole church is in fact a tomb, with all the alcoves to either side stuffed with ornate sarcophaguses of expired kings and queens, and the floor beneath your feet the resting places of various prominent church figures, lords and ladies. Dope.
The rest of Gamla Stan is pretty fun to wander around, with its narrow picturesque medieval cobblestone streets and historical buildings and so on, though it is about as touristy as it gets. The Swedes, like the Danes, keep it fairly classy, however, though not cheap!
We finished Day one at the Medieval museum (Medeltidsmuseum) on the little island directly north of Gamla Stan that it shares with the parliament building. Funny story- they were going to put an ugly parking garage there in the 60’s and as a part of that did and archeological survey- oopsie! Turns out the site was loaded with all sorts of medieval artifacts. So they built a museum around the site and left many of the excavated buildings where they lay. It’s an overlooked museum in a city packed with great museums, but we really got a lot out of it. They also have the remains of a boat from the 1500s which would be really super interesting unless you were to go to the much more famous and impressive Vasa museum, like we did the next day. We had dinner and some wine in one of the very many delightful restuarants across the water on the way home.
We targeted the attractively forested Djurgarten Island, which is pretty much all a park. Of course, it has plenty of pleasant paths and gardens and forests, but it also has the Vasa museum, which you may have heard from other people than me is one of the coolest museums you’ll ever see. It’s built around the amazingly-preserved 17th-century ship of the same name, that the King Gustav II Adolph built to amaze and terrify his enemies. With two levels of guns, it was a groundbreaking design, and that’s usually a compliment. But it turns out if you build a ship tall, it’s pretty important to build it wide, too. Oh, and be sure that the gunports are not going to be underwater when the ship leans in the breeze. Oh, and also have a lot of ballast in the hold if the ship is super-tall. Oh, and also maybe have plans for the ship before you build it. But really I shouldn’t be hard on the naval engineers of Gustav II’s court, because if his ship hadn’t sunk almost immediately on its maiden voyage, we wouldn’t be seeing it today! Apparently, it took nearly 20 years to raise it from the goop of the harbor and then pump it full of chemicals to get the water out and preserve it, but it’s just amazing, and the museum does a fantastic job showing it off and having lots of side exhibits explaining the history of its construction, operation, rescue, and restoration.
Next door is Skansen, which apparently what most Stockholmers come to the island to do. It’s sort of an open-air museum/zoo/amusement park, which sounds really cheesy but the Swedes being Swedes, is actually really tastefully done and interesting. The main attractions are the 150 or so transplanted or re-constructed buildings that were place on the grounds that give you examples of the traditional architectural styles from all the various reigons of Sweden. Some of the areas are re-creations of historical townsites, some farmsteads, and some hunting camps. All have interpretive guides dressed in period costume who will tell you all about the building they are in or what activity they might be doing, many times when they are actually doing it- which is really cool with the glassblowers or 19th century furniture shop, etc. Again, it sounds kind of goofy, but the fact that all of the buildings are the real thing (or meticulous imitations) makes it really interesting. A nice touch is that the food sold in the park is on-theme, with reindeer meat-cones for sale, washed down with lingonberry juice. Almost made us sorry we ate at one of the very tasteful and charming restaurants in the park for lunch, if that lunch wasn’t so incredibly good. Anyway, you could spend a whole day here at Skansen easily by itself, and I’d argue you may want to! It was about 7 or so by the time we were done looking at it all, and a beautiful evening, so we rode the long way home, looping out through the park, and of course stumbling on yet another charming place to grab a drink by a marina, so we did that and then wound our way back along the beautiful bike paths through the park and back onto the inner-city system and thus back home. An excellent day.
Our third day we decided to go a little afield, out into the Stockholm archipelago. There are a LOT of island to choose from, but the guide made one named Gallno sound nice, so that’s the one we aimed for. You get there by going downtown to a cluster of passenger ferries all heading out to various islands in this large cluster, and like everything here it’s easy, efficient, and a little more expensive than you would like. But to my delight particularly, the ferry we got was a turn of the century oil-fired steamboat, with beautifully restored woodwork inside and out, and an exposed engine room I really wanted to go down and check out but that, as the Swedes put it bluntly, was not possible. It was a gorgeous day, and though the old steamer wasn’t very fast, the ride was worth it just by itself, chugging along watching the boats and the islands go by in a pleasant procession. We got to our island after about 3 hours, but that was fine. Gallno turned out not to have a whole lot in the way of town on it, but it did have a nice little path to follow, which we did, coming to a lovely little marina and store which made for a nice lunch. We kept walking after that, where the trail then ended at a rowboat crossing to another small island. The rule was you had to leave at least one boat on each side, so by leaving the grain and the dog on one side, and crossing with the chicken for the first ride, we were able to continue. That trail ended at a place where you could flag down a ferry back to Stockholm if you didn’t want to hike back, and you had a little semaphore contraption to signal the boat. This looked like fun, but after messing with the semaphore and puzzling out the schedule, it appeared the next boat would be hours from then, and it wasn’t really all that far back. So back in the rowboat we went and back down the country lane we hiked, and caught a much more modern and quicker ferry back. Though our day out wasn’t quite as action-packed as the last couple, it was very pleasant, and it was very nice to see the islands. We got back home at a reasonable time (helps that there really is no night to speak of), and ready to go for our trip to Gotland the next day!
Monday, July 10, 2017
Jonkoping
July 6- Jonkoping
Weather- Mid 60s, mixed sun and some showers
Part of the purpose of this whole trip was to visit the places where Jen and my ancestors emigrated from. Jen's people are from south-central Sweden, near a town called Jonkoping (Yurns-kurping). So, on our way up to Stockholm and the planned bike tour on Gotland, we stopped off there. We hopped on the train at Ystad with little difficulty and via a couple transfers, found ourselves in Jonkoping in the afternoon. Turns out, Sweden is a pretty big country relative to Denmark!
Jonkoping was an interesting place to visit in part because it's not particularly a tourist destination. It is situated very scenically on the very large Lake Vattern, and does possess a large and pleasant waterfront, but not, relatively, much in the way of hugely interesting historical buildings, museums, etc. We got an AirBnB place near downtown (this seems a good way to go in Sweden for affordable lodging- you can get a place through this at less than the rate of a room at a hostel, and you generally get privacy, a bathroom, and a kitchen to boot) and then went to walk around the town. It seems to be a growing area, with lots of construction going on in the waterfront area, and a pleasant mix of new construction and a historical district. We tried both for food and drinks, and had a very pleasant evening grazing and walking around.
We woke up the next day hoping to hop on the train on our way over to ferry to Gotland via Oskarshamn, but it was much more complicated than we anticipated. Apparently taking a bike on the train (or bus) was pretty difficult- and if it was possible at all, we would have to pack up the bikes in boxes as if we were flying with them. This was an unpleasant proposition, made more difficult still by the annoying fact that thieves had rummaged through by bike bag I had stupidly left locked outside and taken many of my tools. (My own dumb fault, really). So we decided it would probably be easier to get to Gotland via Stockholm (the ferry also leaves from near Stockholm). Well, it's also apparently impossible to do the unpacked bike to Stockholm, so we took a breath, looked at some options, and found that it was about the same price just to rent a car and go up that way.
This turned out to be kind of fun, in that apparently when you rent a car in Sweden you don't get a factory-basic Taurus, you get an Audi Quattro TDI. The wagon fit our bikes perfectly, and we zipped up to Stockholm in near luxury. After an odd lunch at the roadside chain "Eat" (a Swedish/ Japanese/ Italian buffet, that of course is actually pretty good), we arrived in Stockholm in the late afternoon. AirBnB came through again, and we secured a pleasant apartment not far from the downtown area. Making sure to part with the Audi before we put a scratch on the immaculate vehicle, we navigated the wonderful bike path system through the stunningly beautiful downtown to our home for the next 4 days. We dumped our gear, and hunted out a grocery store around the area we were staying, got a drink at a pleasant pub, and then back to the apartment for a much-needed slumber.
Weather- Mid 60s, mixed sun and some showers
Part of the purpose of this whole trip was to visit the places where Jen and my ancestors emigrated from. Jen's people are from south-central Sweden, near a town called Jonkoping (Yurns-kurping). So, on our way up to Stockholm and the planned bike tour on Gotland, we stopped off there. We hopped on the train at Ystad with little difficulty and via a couple transfers, found ourselves in Jonkoping in the afternoon. Turns out, Sweden is a pretty big country relative to Denmark!
Jonkoping was an interesting place to visit in part because it's not particularly a tourist destination. It is situated very scenically on the very large Lake Vattern, and does possess a large and pleasant waterfront, but not, relatively, much in the way of hugely interesting historical buildings, museums, etc. We got an AirBnB place near downtown (this seems a good way to go in Sweden for affordable lodging- you can get a place through this at less than the rate of a room at a hostel, and you generally get privacy, a bathroom, and a kitchen to boot) and then went to walk around the town. It seems to be a growing area, with lots of construction going on in the waterfront area, and a pleasant mix of new construction and a historical district. We tried both for food and drinks, and had a very pleasant evening grazing and walking around.
We woke up the next day hoping to hop on the train on our way over to ferry to Gotland via Oskarshamn, but it was much more complicated than we anticipated. Apparently taking a bike on the train (or bus) was pretty difficult- and if it was possible at all, we would have to pack up the bikes in boxes as if we were flying with them. This was an unpleasant proposition, made more difficult still by the annoying fact that thieves had rummaged through by bike bag I had stupidly left locked outside and taken many of my tools. (My own dumb fault, really). So we decided it would probably be easier to get to Gotland via Stockholm (the ferry also leaves from near Stockholm). Well, it's also apparently impossible to do the unpacked bike to Stockholm, so we took a breath, looked at some options, and found that it was about the same price just to rent a car and go up that way.
This turned out to be kind of fun, in that apparently when you rent a car in Sweden you don't get a factory-basic Taurus, you get an Audi Quattro TDI. The wagon fit our bikes perfectly, and we zipped up to Stockholm in near luxury. After an odd lunch at the roadside chain "Eat" (a Swedish/ Japanese/ Italian buffet, that of course is actually pretty good), we arrived in Stockholm in the late afternoon. AirBnB came through again, and we secured a pleasant apartment not far from the downtown area. Making sure to part with the Audi before we put a scratch on the immaculate vehicle, we navigated the wonderful bike path system through the stunningly beautiful downtown to our home for the next 4 days. We dumped our gear, and hunted out a grocery store around the area we were staying, got a drink at a pleasant pub, and then back to the apartment for a much-needed slumber.
Bornholm II
July 4- Svaneke to Dueodde
Weather: Mostly sunny, windy, mid 60s
Writing this a few days after the fact, so some of the details aren't as fresh in my mind, but the last 2 days of the bike tour went really well. We woke up on Day 3 of the trip at a pleasant pay campground on the northeast corner of the island after a long but pleasant push over the north end of the island. The campgrounds in Denmark are kinda like KOAs but considerably classier. Interestingly, what seems to be the standard RV here is more of a tow-behind camper with a really elaborate porch-tent thing off the side complete with heavy-duty clear vinyl sides, tasteful dining table set, sometimes a TV, couch, and but of course stylish minimalist interior design. Campers eat their herring and meatballs by candlelight in comfort and elegance. Perhaps they miss the marshmallows over the campfire, but they seem to get by.
Day 3 was a short mileage day, but we wanted to end up on the northwest end of the island near the town of Dueodde. This was an attractive destination not only because it was the only camping between the end point and where we were, but also because it was on by far the best beach on the island, and by many accounts, Denmark. It didn't take us long to get down the 12 miles or so down the coast, so we had a pleasant lunch in Snogebaek, then set up camp on a dune and proceeded to sit on the beach drinking terrible wine and akakvit for 7 hours or so and loving it. The sand is so white and fine there that the area historically was a source for hourglasses! Perhaps a strange way to spend the 4th of July, but we certainly were willing to take it.
July 5
Dueodde to Ronnie, then over to Ystad, Sweeden
Weather- Windy with mixed clouds and sun, mid 60s
Since there had been a strong wind from the west pretty much the entire time we have been on Bornholm, we were really worried that we would have a nasty headwind for the entire 20 mile stretch back along the southern shore of the island. Plus, there was no guarantee that the south side wouldn't have the same tricks in store that the western and northern shore did- with sections more suited to mountain bikes and steep hills. So we got up early and left as early as we could check out from the camping area. Well, I suppose fortune favors the prepared, because the winds never really kicked up until the early afternoon, and the trail was smooth and relatively hill-free. It was pretty much all farm country, open, beautiful, and with a sweeping view of the Baltic Sea stretching out to the horizon. We sailed across the section, making it to our starting point in Ronne by lunchtime. Picnicking in a pleasant forest on the edge of town, we looked at our books and our options, and decided to make the push back over to Sweden that day instead of the next, as we had originally planned. We went into town, got to the ferry station, bought the tickets that would have us leave in a few hours. We then went back into town, which was nice because we hadn't seen much of it before. We checked out a museum in town which had a pretty nice exhibit on Viking artifacts, and had a pleasant drink in the town square. We then caught the ferry across, located a campground on the other side, and then rode out, ate some very strange pizza in the campground, and fell asleep exhausted from the long day and many miles traveled!
The Bornholm trip was fantastic as a whole. The trail system is incredibly well marked, the variety of terrain and trail surface keeps things interesting, and the mix of nature and culture a delight. Camping is ample and pleasant, supplies available at each little town, and delightful rest stops and points of interest abound. It was, in a few words, pretty much ideal from a bike touring perspective.
Weather: Mostly sunny, windy, mid 60s
Writing this a few days after the fact, so some of the details aren't as fresh in my mind, but the last 2 days of the bike tour went really well. We woke up on Day 3 of the trip at a pleasant pay campground on the northeast corner of the island after a long but pleasant push over the north end of the island. The campgrounds in Denmark are kinda like KOAs but considerably classier. Interestingly, what seems to be the standard RV here is more of a tow-behind camper with a really elaborate porch-tent thing off the side complete with heavy-duty clear vinyl sides, tasteful dining table set, sometimes a TV, couch, and but of course stylish minimalist interior design. Campers eat their herring and meatballs by candlelight in comfort and elegance. Perhaps they miss the marshmallows over the campfire, but they seem to get by.
Day 3 was a short mileage day, but we wanted to end up on the northwest end of the island near the town of Dueodde. This was an attractive destination not only because it was the only camping between the end point and where we were, but also because it was on by far the best beach on the island, and by many accounts, Denmark. It didn't take us long to get down the 12 miles or so down the coast, so we had a pleasant lunch in Snogebaek, then set up camp on a dune and proceeded to sit on the beach drinking terrible wine and akakvit for 7 hours or so and loving it. The sand is so white and fine there that the area historically was a source for hourglasses! Perhaps a strange way to spend the 4th of July, but we certainly were willing to take it.
July 5
Dueodde to Ronnie, then over to Ystad, Sweeden
Weather- Windy with mixed clouds and sun, mid 60s
Since there had been a strong wind from the west pretty much the entire time we have been on Bornholm, we were really worried that we would have a nasty headwind for the entire 20 mile stretch back along the southern shore of the island. Plus, there was no guarantee that the south side wouldn't have the same tricks in store that the western and northern shore did- with sections more suited to mountain bikes and steep hills. So we got up early and left as early as we could check out from the camping area. Well, I suppose fortune favors the prepared, because the winds never really kicked up until the early afternoon, and the trail was smooth and relatively hill-free. It was pretty much all farm country, open, beautiful, and with a sweeping view of the Baltic Sea stretching out to the horizon. We sailed across the section, making it to our starting point in Ronne by lunchtime. Picnicking in a pleasant forest on the edge of town, we looked at our books and our options, and decided to make the push back over to Sweden that day instead of the next, as we had originally planned. We went into town, got to the ferry station, bought the tickets that would have us leave in a few hours. We then went back into town, which was nice because we hadn't seen much of it before. We checked out a museum in town which had a pretty nice exhibit on Viking artifacts, and had a pleasant drink in the town square. We then caught the ferry across, located a campground on the other side, and then rode out, ate some very strange pizza in the campground, and fell asleep exhausted from the long day and many miles traveled!
The Bornholm trip was fantastic as a whole. The trail system is incredibly well marked, the variety of terrain and trail surface keeps things interesting, and the mix of nature and culture a delight. Camping is ample and pleasant, supplies available at each little town, and delightful rest stops and points of interest abound. It was, in a few words, pretty much ideal from a bike touring perspective.
Monday, July 3, 2017
Bornholm I
Hey Gang-
I'll try to keep this short tonight- I am on a wi-fi signal in the common room of a Danish campground- in the background on the TV is a Nicolodeon show dubbed into Danish on high volume with rapt blonde children soaking it in. (Die flooden nich Twittershlabben! Nien! Eat mien shoorts!*)
Anyway, we are here after Day 2 of our bike tour of Bornholm, an island off the Swedish coast, but actually part of Denmark. It was highly recommended by our guidebook and pretty much every Dane we talked to. You should have seen the misty eyes of a desk clerk when we recalled the smoked herring he had eaten there... (this is not a joke, btw. I have learned there is pretty much an entire tourist campaign based on the Danish love of smoked herring-more on this in a bit).
You know when people build something up as this totally amazing thing and then you try it and you find out it is just okay, and you have no idea what the fuss was all about? Well, Bornholm wasn't like that at all. It was built up as really cool, and in fact it is (for bike touring and smoked fish enthusiasts anyway), nothing short of heaven. A well-marked and maintained trail system, gorgeous scenery, a ridiculously bike-friendly culture, and all kinds of things to do and see along the route. I just really can't overstate how great this is on a bike.
Due to the extreme popularity of this destination with Danes, Swedes, Poles, and Germans, particularly in July, it can be a challenge even to get passage here, particularly with our bikes. But by booking the 6:30 am train from Copenhagen to Ystad, and then catching the catamaran ferry to Roone on Bornholm (arriving at 9:30am), you can do it. The wake up was rough, to be sure, though it is made easier by the 3:30 am sunrise. We made our train groggily, and the passage over was pretty flawless (aside from our not having coffee until the ferry- though never fear, we got that and some really excellent pastries on the very clean and tastefully appointed boat ride- Denmark keeps it classy at all times). We hit Roone, and found everything we needed within meters of the station- a tourist office full of great advice and an excellent bike touring map perfect for our purpose, and a grocery store where we could provision for a few days. This we did, and in less than an hour we were fully informed, supplied, and rolling off on our new 4-day journey to circumnavigate the island.
National Trail 10 turned out to be our destiny, and the rapidly clearing skies revealed a wonderful rolling countryside with the Baltic Sea crashing against the rocky shore to our left. The trail took us on a great variety of surfaces- from wide shoulders on roads, to designated bike lanes, to bucolic country lanes, to graded gravel trails plunging through rolling forests. Most of the time, the hills were gentle and short, though occasionally we had to push our bikes up a steep, muddy track. The vast majority of the route rolled us through idyllic countryside- to call the fishing villages "quaint" is to do them a disservice- and the waving fields of rye we wound through we hypnotizingly beautiful. Any and all of the little villages afforded opportunity to take a break, munch on any variety of preserved fish product you could imagine, and wash it down with a Tuborg or perhaps a bit of Akvavit.
Okay, you could call this a paradise for Scandanavians, but both Jennifer and I felt so instantly at home here that it was as if we were living the "Borne Identity"- except that instead of learning we were brainwashed super spies we were just secret Danes.
Last night, after exploring the stunning castle "Hammerhus", we stumbled upon a "Naturkamp" (primitive camping area) that in fact was on the World's Most Picturesque Farm, and offered, for a few kroner, a lovely little camp spot with firewood, access to the basement of the the anicient farmhouse with hot showers and toilet, and sublime view of the Baltic stretching beyond a sun drenched field of rye and perhaps the happiest cows I have ever seen.
Today was less woods and more idyllic villages and paved bike trails, but we also worked in a visit to a medieval "round church" and an art museum between the pedaling and the munching on fish. We rolled into camp only minutes before another rainstorm, but the entire day before that has been absolutely perfect weather- 60's, sunny, with a stiff tailwind.
Anyway, looks like Jen would like to catch up on the computer, so I will cut this short, but I hope I have impressed upon you the awesomeness of this gem of an island.
Except the "Sun Over Gudhjem". This is the legendary, must have dish of Bornholm. It's a smoked herring on Danish Rye bread with raw egg yolk drizzled on it. I mean, it's fine. The smoked fish is smoked fish, which is great, but the egg yolk doesn't really taste like much, except for potential intestinal disease. Oh, there is rough salt too. Net zero gain. Don't get it.
But everything else is as good as they say. Catch you next time!
*This is mock Danish. Mock Danish to me somewhere between mock Swedish and mock German.
I'll try to keep this short tonight- I am on a wi-fi signal in the common room of a Danish campground- in the background on the TV is a Nicolodeon show dubbed into Danish on high volume with rapt blonde children soaking it in. (Die flooden nich Twittershlabben! Nien! Eat mien shoorts!*)
Anyway, we are here after Day 2 of our bike tour of Bornholm, an island off the Swedish coast, but actually part of Denmark. It was highly recommended by our guidebook and pretty much every Dane we talked to. You should have seen the misty eyes of a desk clerk when we recalled the smoked herring he had eaten there... (this is not a joke, btw. I have learned there is pretty much an entire tourist campaign based on the Danish love of smoked herring-more on this in a bit).
You know when people build something up as this totally amazing thing and then you try it and you find out it is just okay, and you have no idea what the fuss was all about? Well, Bornholm wasn't like that at all. It was built up as really cool, and in fact it is (for bike touring and smoked fish enthusiasts anyway), nothing short of heaven. A well-marked and maintained trail system, gorgeous scenery, a ridiculously bike-friendly culture, and all kinds of things to do and see along the route. I just really can't overstate how great this is on a bike.
Due to the extreme popularity of this destination with Danes, Swedes, Poles, and Germans, particularly in July, it can be a challenge even to get passage here, particularly with our bikes. But by booking the 6:30 am train from Copenhagen to Ystad, and then catching the catamaran ferry to Roone on Bornholm (arriving at 9:30am), you can do it. The wake up was rough, to be sure, though it is made easier by the 3:30 am sunrise. We made our train groggily, and the passage over was pretty flawless (aside from our not having coffee until the ferry- though never fear, we got that and some really excellent pastries on the very clean and tastefully appointed boat ride- Denmark keeps it classy at all times). We hit Roone, and found everything we needed within meters of the station- a tourist office full of great advice and an excellent bike touring map perfect for our purpose, and a grocery store where we could provision for a few days. This we did, and in less than an hour we were fully informed, supplied, and rolling off on our new 4-day journey to circumnavigate the island.
National Trail 10 turned out to be our destiny, and the rapidly clearing skies revealed a wonderful rolling countryside with the Baltic Sea crashing against the rocky shore to our left. The trail took us on a great variety of surfaces- from wide shoulders on roads, to designated bike lanes, to bucolic country lanes, to graded gravel trails plunging through rolling forests. Most of the time, the hills were gentle and short, though occasionally we had to push our bikes up a steep, muddy track. The vast majority of the route rolled us through idyllic countryside- to call the fishing villages "quaint" is to do them a disservice- and the waving fields of rye we wound through we hypnotizingly beautiful. Any and all of the little villages afforded opportunity to take a break, munch on any variety of preserved fish product you could imagine, and wash it down with a Tuborg or perhaps a bit of Akvavit.
Okay, you could call this a paradise for Scandanavians, but both Jennifer and I felt so instantly at home here that it was as if we were living the "Borne Identity"- except that instead of learning we were brainwashed super spies we were just secret Danes.
Last night, after exploring the stunning castle "Hammerhus", we stumbled upon a "Naturkamp" (primitive camping area) that in fact was on the World's Most Picturesque Farm, and offered, for a few kroner, a lovely little camp spot with firewood, access to the basement of the the anicient farmhouse with hot showers and toilet, and sublime view of the Baltic stretching beyond a sun drenched field of rye and perhaps the happiest cows I have ever seen.
Today was less woods and more idyllic villages and paved bike trails, but we also worked in a visit to a medieval "round church" and an art museum between the pedaling and the munching on fish. We rolled into camp only minutes before another rainstorm, but the entire day before that has been absolutely perfect weather- 60's, sunny, with a stiff tailwind.
Anyway, looks like Jen would like to catch up on the computer, so I will cut this short, but I hope I have impressed upon you the awesomeness of this gem of an island.
Except the "Sun Over Gudhjem". This is the legendary, must have dish of Bornholm. It's a smoked herring on Danish Rye bread with raw egg yolk drizzled on it. I mean, it's fine. The smoked fish is smoked fish, which is great, but the egg yolk doesn't really taste like much, except for potential intestinal disease. Oh, there is rough salt too. Net zero gain. Don't get it.
But everything else is as good as they say. Catch you next time!
*This is mock Danish. Mock Danish to me somewhere between mock Swedish and mock German.
Saturday, July 1, 2017
Helsingor
Though we have not, and will not, give Copenhagen anything like the attention it deserves on this trip, we decided to spend the one day we had left here on a side trip to Helisingor, a short train ride away. Why do this?
Well, there is a castle there, which was high on Jen's list of priorities. And not just any castle, it's the Konborgslot, otherwise known as Elsinore, the immortal backdrop of "Hamlet." Yup, that meloncholy Dane got us on a (exactly on time) train early in the morning and zipping across the still-rainy countryside. Was this a pain? Well, not really. Was it worth it. Totally.
Elsinore didn't make a lot of practical sense when it was built in the late 1500's, since the invention of the cannon made tall vertical walls more like fun target practice than unassailable defense. And this castle also has several mismatched towers, and while they look awesome, and were probably useful for brooding about murdering one's uncle in cold blood, they were probably not the most practical to build, maintain, patrol, or defend. The Renaissance castle is surrounded, however, with much more modern 19th century moats and breastworks, laid out in a star- pattern in the bay, and commanded such an intimidating artillery position that it allowed the Danes to demand a tax to all trade coming anywhere neare the port for a couple centuries. The fancy castle also was really impressive for guests, with its enormous ballrooms and banquet halls, where we learned diners were offered 24 courses at a sitting and their own personal vomit bucket for their very own Renaissance "boot and rally" experience. The castle is (surprise!) wonderfully maintained and curated, and there are all sorts of friendly guides to tell you all you'd want to know about it, in addition to multi-lingual interprative signs, and even a troupe of actors who wander around the castle doing scenes from Hamlet. (Is it churlish to quibble that they were doing it in plain English for the benefit of the multi-national crowd instead of the Bard's original verse? Hmm... having just written that, answer=yes.).
The castle is totally great, and made even better by the addition by the legend of Holger the Dane, the legendary giant who, the old ones tell us, will rise up and protect the people if the country is in crisis. They put a big (and super-cool) statue of him in the catacombs beneath the castle, and I can tell you, woe be it to the next enemy of Denmark. Also there is a lovely cafe on the grounds where we had a delightful Danish lunch (I meatballs- whoop whoop Teledudes!- and she a salad). Expensive, high quality, and tasteful!
After lunch, we headed to the new maritime museum next door. Similar to the amusement park in Copenhagen, it seemed to have its primary function come as a bit of an afterthought to the stunningly innovative interior design. The site used to be a large dry dock for a defunct shipyard, but through a heroic effort, they hollowed out the area around it, put in a dam around it, and somehow created an underground museum that funnels in so much natural light from above it is perfectly lit, all while restoring the sight line from the charming village of Hellsingor to the castle that the shipyard had blocked for a century. Okay, so maybe some of the exhibits are so classy they are somewhat incomprehensible, but they are gorgeous, and the space, with it's insanely elegant design, is worth the price of admission just to walk around in. Not sure it's super-great for kids, despite the Lego shipbuilding exhibit (since it's right next to the "Sex and the Sea" exhibit which was all about foriegn prostitutes, VD, and saucy postcards), but it's distinctly possible the Scandanavians are way more sex-positive than Americans. Anyway, great museum for the most part, but I would maybe add a little more about boats and stuff in the maritime museum.
We decided we wanted to see a little more of Helsingor before we got back on the train, so we wandered to the village square, where it turned out they were wrapping up a farmer's market and ramping up the crowd at the biergarten that occupied much of the square. The sun had made its first appearance since we had been in country, so we plunked down at a table and took advantage of the special, which turned out to be a large beer, 2 weird orange hot dog things, 1 tiny bun, and a shot of Jagermeister. We were assured this was what we must have, and they were right. A rowdy group of guys a table down from us sang American pop tunes in Danish loudly, accompanied by a guitarist in leopard print tights and fairy wings. All drank beer and laughed and enjoyed a respite in what we had heard a local call Denmark's "green winter." Just a great end to an awesome day.
Off to start the bike tour in earnest tomorrow. Up at 5 am to catch a train, and then a boat, to the island of Bornholm, where we will camp for a few days and see the bucolic sights. The weather is predicted to stay nice, and hopefully that will happen, but we will probably be offline for a bit. Bet from both of us, and rest of assured we are both well and have gone from good to great spirits during our brief time in this wonderful country.
Well, there is a castle there, which was high on Jen's list of priorities. And not just any castle, it's the Konborgslot, otherwise known as Elsinore, the immortal backdrop of "Hamlet." Yup, that meloncholy Dane got us on a (exactly on time) train early in the morning and zipping across the still-rainy countryside. Was this a pain? Well, not really. Was it worth it. Totally.
Elsinore didn't make a lot of practical sense when it was built in the late 1500's, since the invention of the cannon made tall vertical walls more like fun target practice than unassailable defense. And this castle also has several mismatched towers, and while they look awesome, and were probably useful for brooding about murdering one's uncle in cold blood, they were probably not the most practical to build, maintain, patrol, or defend. The Renaissance castle is surrounded, however, with much more modern 19th century moats and breastworks, laid out in a star- pattern in the bay, and commanded such an intimidating artillery position that it allowed the Danes to demand a tax to all trade coming anywhere neare the port for a couple centuries. The fancy castle also was really impressive for guests, with its enormous ballrooms and banquet halls, where we learned diners were offered 24 courses at a sitting and their own personal vomit bucket for their very own Renaissance "boot and rally" experience. The castle is (surprise!) wonderfully maintained and curated, and there are all sorts of friendly guides to tell you all you'd want to know about it, in addition to multi-lingual interprative signs, and even a troupe of actors who wander around the castle doing scenes from Hamlet. (Is it churlish to quibble that they were doing it in plain English for the benefit of the multi-national crowd instead of the Bard's original verse? Hmm... having just written that, answer=yes.).
The castle is totally great, and made even better by the addition by the legend of Holger the Dane, the legendary giant who, the old ones tell us, will rise up and protect the people if the country is in crisis. They put a big (and super-cool) statue of him in the catacombs beneath the castle, and I can tell you, woe be it to the next enemy of Denmark. Also there is a lovely cafe on the grounds where we had a delightful Danish lunch (I meatballs- whoop whoop Teledudes!- and she a salad). Expensive, high quality, and tasteful!
After lunch, we headed to the new maritime museum next door. Similar to the amusement park in Copenhagen, it seemed to have its primary function come as a bit of an afterthought to the stunningly innovative interior design. The site used to be a large dry dock for a defunct shipyard, but through a heroic effort, they hollowed out the area around it, put in a dam around it, and somehow created an underground museum that funnels in so much natural light from above it is perfectly lit, all while restoring the sight line from the charming village of Hellsingor to the castle that the shipyard had blocked for a century. Okay, so maybe some of the exhibits are so classy they are somewhat incomprehensible, but they are gorgeous, and the space, with it's insanely elegant design, is worth the price of admission just to walk around in. Not sure it's super-great for kids, despite the Lego shipbuilding exhibit (since it's right next to the "Sex and the Sea" exhibit which was all about foriegn prostitutes, VD, and saucy postcards), but it's distinctly possible the Scandanavians are way more sex-positive than Americans. Anyway, great museum for the most part, but I would maybe add a little more about boats and stuff in the maritime museum.
We decided we wanted to see a little more of Helsingor before we got back on the train, so we wandered to the village square, where it turned out they were wrapping up a farmer's market and ramping up the crowd at the biergarten that occupied much of the square. The sun had made its first appearance since we had been in country, so we plunked down at a table and took advantage of the special, which turned out to be a large beer, 2 weird orange hot dog things, 1 tiny bun, and a shot of Jagermeister. We were assured this was what we must have, and they were right. A rowdy group of guys a table down from us sang American pop tunes in Danish loudly, accompanied by a guitarist in leopard print tights and fairy wings. All drank beer and laughed and enjoyed a respite in what we had heard a local call Denmark's "green winter." Just a great end to an awesome day.
Off to start the bike tour in earnest tomorrow. Up at 5 am to catch a train, and then a boat, to the island of Bornholm, where we will camp for a few days and see the bucolic sights. The weather is predicted to stay nice, and hopefully that will happen, but we will probably be offline for a bit. Bet from both of us, and rest of assured we are both well and have gone from good to great spirits during our brief time in this wonderful country.
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