Month: August 2018

Fredericia to Thyholm – 11 August, 2018

When we left Fredericia we headed northwest to the North Sea coast of Jutland. Going directly it would have taken us a couple of hours but we took back roads and took about six hours. It was a beautiful drive.

We learned a bit of trivia today that totally surprised me. The Bluetooth we have on our phones is named after a tenth century King of Denmark, Harald Bluetooth who is known for having unified warring tribes of Denmark and Norway. Who knew!?

Not long after leaving Fredericia we stopped at Jelling. According to our guidebook the town is the birthplace of the country of Denmark. It was the Royal seat of King Gorm the Old and his son Harald Bluetooth. They were the first in a long line of Danish monarchs that still continues today.

We visited the Jelling Kirk built around 1100 and saw the two rune stones erected by King Gorm and his son. On either side of the church are two big burial mounds. Back when it was a Viking settlement it was surrounded by a huge palisade.

The museum across the street from the church gave an excellent summary of Viking history and the archaeology of the area.

We spent the night in a wonderful small hotel on Thyholm island. There was a wedding party going on when we arrived.

The area and the hotel reminded me of the Northern California coast. After dinner we had a lovely walk along the water.

Nykøbing to Fredericia

The breakfast at our B and B this morning included scones, cold cuts, cheese, yogurt and cereal.

After checking out we left the island of Falster, drove across the island of Lolland, and then took the ferry to the island of Langeland. We shared the ferry with a truck full of hogs.

On Langeland we visited Tranekær. Tranekær has a beautiful moat encircled castle.

Next to the castle is Tickon a forest full of a wide variety of big and beautiful trees and some outdoor sculptures including a cornucopia and a unicorn horn.

We had a picnic lunch and walked around the lake.

Just up the road from the castle we stopped at a windmill and climbed to the top. We have seen a lot of old windmills on this trip.

From The island of Langeland we headed north to Fredericia where we are staying tonight. We had a great dinner at a restaurant called Cafe Mairs. Valerie chose grasshoppers as the meat on her stir fry.

Copenhagen to Nykøbing

This morning Duke and I took the shuttle to Copenhagen Airport and rented a car. Then we picked up Vicky and Valerie and all our luggage and headed south.

We stopped at the village of Vallø where we saw a beautiful castle complete with a moat and gardens.

Later we stopped and bought groceries then had a late picnic lunch.

Tonight we are staying on the island of Falster at a bed and breakfast in the town of Nykøbing

For dinner we ate at Czarens Hus. It is supposed to be the oldest restaurant on Denmark. It has been very hot here today and there is no air conditioning. We ate outside.

Stockholm to near Copengan, Denmark Airport

Today we took the train to Denmark. Our train left at around eleven am. Before the train, first thing this morning Duke and I walked to a neighborhood restaurant and had coffee and pastries.

The train ride was smooth, clean, comfortable and all electric.

We are staying near Copenhagen Airport because tomorrow we will pick up our rental car at the airport. Our hotel is right next to the largest shopping mall in Denmark. We had a very good steak dinner at a restaurant in the mall.