So how was your Denmark bike trip?

“So how was your trip?” are the first words out of most people’s mouths when one returns from a vacation. The answer, I suppose, is one that I should be formulating as I actually travel, not when I get back and am forced to compress a couple weeks worth of activity, joys, and errors into a sentence of two. So I do like to blog a bit about my adventures, mostly help me remember where I’ve gone, what I’ve done. If the post amuses others, so much the better.

I spent the last week of May and the first week in June in Denmark and Sweden. My usual travel companion was “traveled out" having been on a weeks-long cruise earlier in May. So I was left unsupervised. The bulk of my time was spent on a BoatBike tour - sailing on the Atlantis to ports up and down the Oresund Strait between the two countries. Bike rides were modest distances each day, the weather cooperated, the fellow cruisers (nearly all from the US) were enjoyable, and the countryside was beautiful. We visited castles, cathedrals, and museums, stopping for coffee at least once each guided ride. This was a new tour for the BoatBike company, so the guides did not seem to have as much background knowledge of the areas we visited to share as on other trips I’ve taken with them. One planned stop had to be canceled due to rough weather prohibiting the use of an inflatable dinghy taking us to shore. 

I added a few days at the end of the eight day cruise to spend in Copenhagen where I took a city bike tour, a hop-on, hop off bus tour, an hour-long canal boat tour, and a day-long small group tour to Rosekilde to visit the Viking Museum among other sites. 

While I found the city a bit confusing at first to navigate (no phone internet - see below*), I did come to appreciate its beauty - a complex blend of historic buildings and modern architecture. The place rivals Amsterdam as a cyclists’ paradise with bike lanes and bike paths on nearly every street. And thousands of aggressive riders on them. 

Denmark and Sweden have some amazing museums, palaces, castles, and art displays. Among the ones I enjoyed were:

• Lund Cathedral with its astrological (not astronomical) clock
• Namndemansgarden Farm Museum and Tycho Brache museum on the small island of Ven
• Kronberg Castle - inspiration for Shakespears’s Hamlet
• Frederksborg Castle built by one of mad kings of Denmark
• The Round Tower with its Library Hall and spiral path to the observatory on top
• Thorvaldsens Museum of sculptures, many based on Greek and Roman mythology
• Rosekilde Cathedral where 40 kings and queens are buried/entombed
• National Museum in Copenhagen - great historical introduction to Denmark
• Rosenborg Castle with its display of the Crown Jewels and beautiful gardens
• Viking Museum with its salvaged ships

Whew. I’m getting exhausted just listing all these places. And I may have left a couple out.

It was high school graduation day when we were in the city of Lund, Sweden. Hundreds of beautiful young men in dark suits and young women in white dresses were walking throughout the city. 

A history lesson was given at nearly every site. Each guide expressed pride in their country, in their current monarchy (especially the new Australian born queen), and the economic vitality of this small country. Copenhagen was safe, clean, and friendly (and expensive). I am glad I went.

A link to all my photos can be found here.

*A week or so prior to this trip, I upgraded my phone at my local TMobile store in order to have a device that would use an eSIM so I would no longer have to swap out the physical SIM when I travel overseas. What I did not remember to do (duh) was to make sure the phone was unlocked prior to leaving. A phone locked by its US service provider will not accept a SIM from any other source. One of those situation when it make me question whether I should be allowed to travel without supervision… And yes, I got my phone unlocked when I got home.

Comments

[Kenn Gorman]

...little bit green with envy...

[Doug Johnson]

Yeah, Kenn, we old retired guys have it made! I am sure you will make it there yourself one day.

Doug

[Tim Stahmer]

I've been to Denmark twice and Sweden once, and enjoyed every minute. I never biked anywhere but I do remember almost being run over several times in Copenhagen when I wandered into the bike lanes. But overall, the people were friendly and the scenery wonderful. Would love to return at some point.

Your photos are wonderful. It looks like you had good weather and a great time.

[Doug Johnson]

Thanks, Tim. I consider it high praise to get compliments about my photos from you.

Doug