Denmark

This rapid visit of Denmark includes one day exploring Copenhagen, one day traveling to Hirtshal, and a day to explore Hirtshal and board the ferry.

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The Polish Airlines flight left Istanbul late. They served a choice of sweet or vegetarian buns wrapped in plastic. Landing in Warsaw for the transfer flight, light rain and darkness prevailed instantly signally a change from Turkiye. A family of four Middle Eastern Muslims required extra processing by the customs agent who appeared increasingly stressed as the line of anxious transfer travelers grew longer and agitated at the prospect of missing their connecting flights. Upon handing her my passport, she barely looked at it and rapidly stamped it. I was prepared for a grilling on my days against the Schengen Area limit which she was indifferent to. The flight to Copenhagen from Warsaw took just over an hour. A reported baggage system technical issue caused delayed baggage. Thankfully it arrived intact. I'd planned to take the metro but was directed to a train which actually dropped me off closer to my accommodation.

I'm stayed at a place called 'Next House' - a five story hostel! I shared the room with 3 other males. We each have a bed in a 'pod' sharing a very tiny bath/shower. I tip toed in and went to bed as it approached 1AM.

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I enjoyed the little light creeping into the room despite being about 6AM with barely over 5 hours rest. I decided to avoid competition for the bathroom I'd get up. Downstairs in the hostel they offer a very nice breakfast for $10. I opted to look elsewhere, jumped on a bus, and ended up paying $30. Yes, Copenhagen is perhaps more expensive than London!

Copenhagen is very walkable. It's not that big at 2.5 million unlike Istanbul at 14 million. The key places of interest are close. Toward mid-morning I joined a walking tour. My take-away is that the city burned at least twice. Actually had beaches once upon a time. Has a number of palaces with most repurposed. Has a chain-smoking queen in her 80's. Don't cross the streets agains the green walk light as it's a $150 fine. Bicycles have priority over cars and ... pedestrians - you MUST look both ways before stepping onto a bike path or you could get clobbered. Major roads have well laid out bicycle lanes and lights (unlike Strasbourg). Cars? What are those? Most people seem to ride bicycles so that one can almost cross a street without looking except for the aggressive bicyclists who stop for nothing!

It almost felt like fall weather here today. It rained briefly several times. I wore my jacket for the first time in maybe a month.

Tivoli gardens occupies a big section of the city. Apparently starting in the 1800's, it is the second oldest amusement park in the world and Walt Disney patterned Disney Land after it. Screams of ride induced excitement emanated from it as I walked past.

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Copenhagen spelled Kobenhavn in Danish means 'market harbor'. Good were passing through and being exchanged at the harbor several centuries ago. The locals decided it would be beneficial to tax them. The benefits of being a middle man in trade.

Travel involves travel days and this one requires going from Copenhagen to Hirtshals, Denmark. It will take most of the day on three trains and one bus with some short walks thrown in. The journey traverses most of Denmark. The crossing of the Storebaeltsbroen Suspension Bridge over the Great Belt water way west of Copenhagen was quite spectacular. The countryside is mostly rolling flat land under agriculture separated by patches of forest. Wheat is the predominate crop along with rape seed, but unusually there some small pine trees. Windmills for electricity generation are frequently visible as are solar panels. The Danish don't seem to care for high rise buildings as I haven't seen one over about fifteen stories; most are four stories or less. The final train from Aalborg to Hirtshals took place on a short train with the interior set up more like a bus. Space for bikes existed. The train passed through gently rolling farmland with slightly windswept trees. Today is calm and sunny, but I can image other times the weather threatens. After about three stations I realized that, like a bus, one must request a stop! The stations are merely a raised concrete platform next to the track. One almost feels like the train will pull up next to a farm house. The experience is peaceful, calm, and almost joyful. I exited the train at its last stop, Hirtshals, and later learn that the previous stop would have deposited me a block from my hotel.

The fifteen minute walk from the Hirtshals train station to the Skaga Hotel took me down sleepy roads of 1-2 story buildings and homes. The place is immaculate and orderly. Very few cars traveled the roads. After checking in I headed out to purchase some food for the ferry. I ordered a couple of meals on the 1-1/2 day ferry journey, but they are very expensive so I'll bring some food.

I reached the SPAR grocery store, but spying a spire nearby with a clock decided to walk over to take a closer look. The store doesn't close for another five hours so a little exploration seems in order. The church had a most unusual cemetery; each grave had permanent neatly trimmed plants, stone ground cover, and often natural stones with the engravings. The next couple hours turned into a 'oh, look over there, let's have a closer look.' A couple of blocks from the church I reach the town center. I could see the ocean down one street so walked that way passing small restaurants with people enjoying a Friday evening night out. An open square overlooked the harbor.

Down an interesting stair monument was another restaurant and a tent filled with people listening to a live band. People danced to the loud music sung in a combination of Danish and English with stage lights and artificial smoke creating a very festive atmosphere. I drifted away and listened to myself saying, 'what's down that street?'

I found myself at the dune beach head. Further down the beach a lighthouse stood tall on a high point. As I drew closer I could see a WWII German pill box so climbed up to it. Behind it was a maze of trenches neatly maintained which I could not resist wandering through a bit along with another couple. Turning my attention back to the lighthouse and walked to it. Shockingly at 7PM the small museum was still open! For about $4 one could climb to the top of the beautifully maintained lighthouse. I declined and instead found myself in a conversation with a man and his family cycling from north to south through Denmark. He is Malaysian immigrating to Australia and his wife is Danish and the instigator of the ride that he reluctantly participates in. They are bike camping and that is how our conversation started. We parted and I found the German bunker museum. Very unique and informative it's almost worth the trip to this part of the world to see.

I learned that the Danish during WWII decided it was in their interest to work for the Germans. Unemployment was high and to avoid more Germans or prisoners of war coming into Denmark, the Danes decided to help the Germans in building defenses. The Danish built the bunkers. I have the impression their collaboration with the Germans caused some friction with the allies during and after the war.

Watching the sunset would be delightful, but my walk back to the hotel had become long and I still needed to stop at the store so off I went. There were hints of the town I grew up in, Leadville, Colorado, as I walked with flattop homes, simple yards, and a community indoors during the winter months.

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The hotel served a nice breakfast. I packed leaving luggage at the hotel then walked across the street to the aquarium.

The Hirtshals Aquarium pitches itself as the largest in northern Europe. At $30 it wasn't the cheapest I'll say that much! The tanks felt like they reflected the local sea with sunken vessels and bottles. The diversity of fish was good with more types of flounders than I had any idea existed. The whale bones that could be entered made one feel like Jonah. Most of the displays included English.

Luggage in hand I decided to take the bus. The extra weight of the groceries I'd purchased along with being tired of perspiring after Turkiye contributed to that choice I think. Standing at the designated bus stop boulder was a young man. We struck up a conversation. He's Swiss catching up with his folks and younger brother already in the Faroe Islands. I learned a lot talking with him about Switzerland: mandatory 5 months military service at 18 and 3 weeks each year for 8 years thereafter, universal healthcare, strict immigration policy, and must learn 3 languages (French, German, English) in grade school. He'd lived in San Diego when under 10 for 6 months so was familiar with the U.S.

And so ends my time in Denmark.