A day at the museum

It was an uneventful flight from Bornholm into Copenhagen this morning, and since I had eight hours or so to kill before my bus left for Berlin (the cheap connections are not always the fastest), I thought I'd give myself a little walking tour of the city.

So once I'd made my way from the airport to the city center, I started out heading down Strøget, the long pedestrian shopping area that stems off of the central town square. By the time I got to the castle island downtown, I couldn't really feel my toes anymore, so I figured I'd better keep moving. I made it for one pass up Nyhavn, the picturesque harbor front street featured in many postcards from Copenhagen, and at this point my camera was freezing up, not to mention my fingers. I don't think it was too much below freezing outside, but with the wind blowing off of the water, well, it was uncomfortable.

Still, I saw plenty of people whizzing by on bicycles; the looks on their faces made me feel even colder. While I'd wanted to stop and look at the famous statue of The Little Mermaid (of Hans Christian Andersen fame, not Disney), I decided to leave that for another visit to Copenhagen, one with less wind, if not higher temperatures.

After a quick lunch I still had a couple of hours to kill, so I spent the rest of my spare time at the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, an art museum devoted mostly to sculptures donated by the beer baron of the same name. Part of the exhibit dedicated to French Impressionism was unfortunately closed for renovation, but there was plenty there to see, including a huge exhibit of ancient Mediterranean art. And as I mentioned many, many sculptures, the vast majority of them being from the late Greek/early Roman era (i.e., lots of male nudes), or from late 19th century France (such as the works of August Rodin and disciples, i.e., lots of female nudes.) It's the kind of place that you can spend hours and hours visiting, but alas, there is never enough time to see it all.

Well, I need to run along to catch my bus back to Germany. So for now, I suppose that's it from Denmark!

Churches and the woods

The church at Aakirkeby, an inland city in the south-central part of the Danish island Bornholm.

Today it was back onto my bicycle. I made my goal the south-central town of Aakirkeby, 15 kilometers or so from Rønne, and I figured I'd stop along the way at Nylers to see the "rundkirke" there, one of the four round shaped church-fortresses on the island. Historians think (although there is a little bit of debate about it) that Bornholmers of the 12th century built these unique structures to protect themselves and their valuables from raiding parties that would sail up from the European mainland. The bottom floor of these buildings seem to be designed to be working churches (the one at Nylers is still in use), and the top floors were defensive, with peepholes, lookouts, and the like.

A lot has already been written about these buildings in other travel and historical literature; I'd read various arguments about the purpose of the buildings, one suggestion being that the situation of the four round churches were making up part of some kind of calendar system. The defensive theory seems more likely to me; supposedly you can see to the sea from the top of each of these churches. I wanted to confirm that myself. Unfortunately, this wasn't possible. I was the only one visiting the church at Nylers today, which was eerie in itself. But secondly, the leaflet I picked up about the church said that the top levels of the church were off limits to the public, and I couldn't even find the narrow staircase that supposedly led upward. Maybe the Bornholmers are still not interested in showing the world all their secrets...

Anyway, after that I completed the last ten kilometers or so of the way to Aakirkeby, which is home to the largest church on Bornholm. (But it is not round.) After a peek inside, I bought a sausage at a small grill nearby, which I washed down with some coffee to warm me up. It had been a hard ride there, fairly flat but directly into the wind which seemed to be blowing from the northeast. At times I had some protection from the gusts thanks to a few patches of birch and evergreen trees, but for a good part of the ride I was exposed.

It wasn't yet too late (not even noon) so I thought I'd ride up to Almindingen, the thickly wooded area in the center of the island. I had to ride uphill for about four or five kilometers to get there, but it paid off. While the paths weren't as well maintained as the bike paths from Rønne, the trees blocked the wind, and along the south edge of the woods I could see the island's southern coast and beyond. From there it was another 15 kilometers or so back to Rønne, mostly alongside small, scenic dairy farms, where the cows and horses gave me puzzled looks.

So tonight will be my last night on Bornholm. Early tomorrow morning I'll fly back to Copenhagen, which I'll explore (by foot) for a few hours before starting back to Berlin.

An excursion to Christiansø; the castle ruins

Above: Former officers quarters on the tiny and sparsely inhabited island of Christiansø.

It's hardly been more than 24 hours since I last posted, but it's been a pretty busy day for me. I'll start with my most recent excursion and then catch you up with what I did yesterday afternoon...

Crossing the sea (again)

As I think I eluded to yesterday, the plan for this morning was to make it to Gudhjem, on Bornholm's northern coast, and from there catch a ferry to the tiny island of Christiansø. There was about an inch of snow on the ground when I woke up, and then considering the nearly two hours it would take me to make it to get there by bicycle (about 25 kilometers), I decided to play it safe and take the bus. So after a quick breakfast with my host and a trot into the center of Rønne, I caught the bus, got off at the Gudhjem harbor and was onboard the Peter before I knew it.

We set off for Christiansø, the largest of three tiny outcroppings that make up the Ertholmenes, about 12 miles north of Bornholm, at about 10:00. As if on queue, the sun came out and warmed my face and hands as I sat on deck. The only entertainment I needed was watching the water and our progress out to the islands.

Christiansø today is populated by about 100 permanent residents, but is visited by approximately 80,000 visitors each summer. The reason it is populated at all is because about 400 years ago, the Danish king decided to make the tiny islands a forward base for monitoring Swedish shipping lines. Today it is militarily useless, but the fortifications have been beautifully preserved, and there are numerous eider ducks, puffins, smews, and of course gulls that live there alongside the human population. There are no cats or dogs, and apparently the largest non-human mammals living there are hedgehogs. (Rats and mice have been eradicated, thankfully.)

As it's not a popular winter tourist destination, I'm pretty sure that I was the only visitor there today. But that of course didn't bother me at all. I had the grounds to myself for strolling and taking pictures, and I also got the chance to talk to a very nice couple, who were excited to tell me about the eider ducks and their nesting habits.

Yesterday at Hammershus Sløt

After catching you up on my arrival yesterday, I took off north by bicycle to Hammershus Sløt, the ruins of an old castle on the northeast coast of the island here. Eager to try out my rented bike, I hit the bike paths that run from Rønne, on the southwestern tip of the island, to the northwestern tip, a ride of about 20 kilometers. The weather remained kind for most of the trip, snowing lightly at times, but also providing a lot of sun. While some of the bike paths were flat and paved or at least hard-packed, part of the stretch was muddy, and at one point, I encountered some steep inclines (the steepest at a grade of 23%) that required pushing the bike.

The pot of gold at the end of that trek is Hammershus Slot, the ruins of an ancient castle. It took me about two hours to make it up there, stopping regularly for breaks and to take pictures. From there, even on a not-so-perfectly clear day like yesterday, you can make out the southern tip of Sweden across the sea, which I’m sure is exactly why the Danes of centuries past selected this location on the island for a defensive fortress above others.

For the ride home I took that “highway,” which is really just a two lane road with an extra-wide shoulder. It wasn’t nearly as pretty as the ride up, but I was getting tired at that point and wanted to keep to the relatively flat, paved automobile road. In the end it it took me only an hour to get back, which is good because it was starting to get dark. By the time I made it back to Rønne I’d logged 40 kilometers on my bike – admittedly at a leisurely pace, but I felt good about that anyway.

Tomorrow is my last full day here on the island... I'm going to play it by ear, but I'm thinking about taking my bike up to some of the "round churches" they have here, some of which are over 800 years old. I'll have to see how the weather is first...

Below: part of the ruins at Hammershus Sløt, near the northwestern tip of Bornholm in Denmark.

Morning in Rønne

Swans explore Rønne harbor.

It's always a bit odd when you arrive in a new place after the sun has gone down. You have no idea where you are, how to get where you're going, or what you might come across. Last night was no different for me; once I landed at the Bornholm airport, the cluelessness set in until just before I was admitted into the room I'm renting in Rønne, the largest town here on Bornholm.

However, the situation always looks better in the morning. And true to form, I woke up with a view of the harbor, where I could make out large numbers of ducks, swans and smews afloat in the harbor. My host, Mr. Norby, had arranged an enormous breakfast for me with coffee, tea, meats and cheeses, and a variety of breads. His English is somewhat limited (although not nearly as limited as my Danish) but he made a good effort as we talked a bit about Denmark and Bornholm. He's originally from Copenhagen, but had the opportunity to move here a couple of years ago for retirement, making some extra money by letting out rooms of this home as a bed and breakfast.

After I ate my fill, I made my way into the town center to pay for my room and to rent a bicycle, which I'm intended to make my main mode of transit for my stay. That said, the lady at the visitor's center gave me a strange look when I suggested I'd be trying to make it up to the island's north side tomorrow. It is indeed cold and somewhat windy here, but I am stubborn.

Anyway, the bike I rented, while a little goofy looking perhaps, seems to be perfectly adequate, and in my opinion is a bargain at roughly $25 for three days. Later this morning and this afternoon I'm intending to ride up the island's west coast, where I've read there are ruins of an ancient castle called Hammershus Slot. It'll be a good test for separating what's possible here with the bicycle and what simply isn't advised by the visitors center.


Below: My preferred mode of transit for the next three days.

En route to Bornholm

A view of the Baltic Sea while crossing from Rostock to Gedser.

Kind of like Steve Martin and John Candy, I've found it necessary to use a stunning array of transportation choices to get where I'm going. I started on my way to Bornholm this morning at 7:30 when I boarded a bus in Berlin. We changed onto a ferry at Rostock, which brought us to Gedser. Two more hours on the bus and I'd reached Copenhagen, where I'm planning to hop a train to the airport. After a 30 minute flight east, I'll land 5 kilometers from Rønne, the largest town on Bornholm, which I plan to reach either by walking, thumbing, or taxi, which ever means seems most prudent at that time.


The scenery on the way here was subtle and appealing, although it is certainly not the kind of landscape that reaches out and grabs you. (Signs pointing to a "Trakktormuseum" north of Gedser are an indicator of that.) Much of Denmark is fertile farmland, and the fields of Falster south of the capital seemingly changed colors with the sort of crop each farmer had elected; there were shades of bright green blending into yellows as well as muddy browns and beige. The two-hour Baltic Sea crossing was memorable as well, the wake of our boat combining with gusting winds to kick up the surrounding waves. The sun made the water behind us glow, a bright, hot yellow-white that contrasted significantly with the red faces of the wind-blown passengers on the observation platforms.


Anyway, it's a slow haul getting to Bornholm this time of year, but I hope to be well-rewarded with an intimate visit to what I expect to be more or less empty resort island. But from what I understand, Bornholm is well-worn with tourists from Denmark proper, Germany, and elsewhere in Scandinavia during the summer, but this time of year it is normally very quiet. And personally, I'm not one to get worked-up over a few extra hours on the way there, although I felt pretty bad for the English tourist I saw on the ferry who was throwing up before we'd even left the harbor. That's been me before.


Once I finally arrive, I'm planning to get around the small island by bicycle. The wisdom of this seemed questionable when considering the weather forecasts for the last couple of days -- chance of rain and snow and near freezing temperatures. But today in Copenhagen the weather is mostly sunny and mild for this time of year, so I'm optimistic. Furthermore, I've already seen a massive number of Danes riding their bicycles around Copenhagen; I figure it's mostly a question of willpower.


Anyway, I'll check in again in early tomorrow morning, hopefully with some of the photos I've taken along the way.


Below: Dozens of bicycles line the exterior of Copenhagen's main train station.

Upcoming journeys

This past month I spent a good bit of time making travel plans -- in February, I've got travels to Denmark and Italy lined up, and then in late April I'll be heading to China for the first time. It's always a little frustrating -- but then of course also extremely exciting -- being forced to sit at a computer, dreaming about traveling but not getting anywhere. Finally, the departure day for the first of several planned trips is almost here...

I'll be visiting the island of Bornholm from Monday to Friday next week, with cozy stopovers in Copenhagen planned for the way there and back. Unlike most of the other Danish islands, which are congregated in a large group somewhat to the north and east of Hamburg, Bornholm is further east, almost directly north of the Germany-Poland border. It's an island that's too small to drive around but too big for walking, so I'm hoping the weather will cooperate so that I can get around by mountain bike.

I've got some preparations to make this weekend before I leave, so more later when I have much more to share.