Bicycling in Denmark

We wake up this morning at different times. I wake up with the ringing of the 0700 church bells. Carol snoozes on. I was sleeping good and not hearing the church bells until sometime during the night, I was awoken by the sound of knocking on my door. Carol went to use the bathroom, which is in the hall, and locked herself out of the room. She was trying to wake me without disturbing the neighbors, but I did not hear anything until she knocked. My sound sleep was disturbed and that was enough for me to be restless the remainder of the night.
When Carol finally stirs, we walk around the corner to the bakery. Fresh pastries and coffee in the room. The pastries, kind of an almond, cinnamon combo was phenomenal. We also had an extra cinnamon looking square that we bought to have as lunch.

Training for Tour de Denmark

We take two bikes from the front of our place. I think maybe they are from just after the last fire in 1700. They are free, so we can’t complain too much. We leave town on our new transportation and wind through the countryside. We ride past an earthen dike built in 1856 to add more farmland to the island. We are riding next to it about 8 feet below the sea level above. We come to a junction and spot our first straw house. Actually, it is the roof that is made of straw hay. I guess it works. We reach the high point of the island which is 2700 inches high and we feel every inch in our legs. From there, a mostly downhill ride leads us to the Bregninge Church. From the 12th century, it has an interesting interior.

Fools Head in Church

Rumor has it that the painter wasn’t happy with his pay so painted a fools head on the ceiling. It’s mouth had an opening from which the church bell rope went through. The alter is a masterpiece from Claus Berg of Lubeck,Germany.
From here we bike on to Vodrup Klint which is a bluff sitting high above the sea. Our phone sends us an alert that we are in Germany. While not quite true, Germany is only 9 miles across the water, and this island was owned by Germany more than once. We sit at a picnic table overlooking the bluffs and have our cinnamon square. Very tasty.

Vodrup Klint

We ride on to the next stop, the Stone Rise Prehistoric Tomb. It is a mound in the shape of a ship and was used as a Neolithic tomb 6000 years ago. There is also evidence that a Viking ship was burned and buried here. Only 13 of 200 tombs that were on this island have survived. It starts to rain as we ride on for our final leg back to town. Contrary to our rule, we did not carry any jackets on this journey, so biking in the rain is what we do. Luckily, it is a light intermittent rain and we do not get too wet. We pull into our establishment 4 hours and 15 miles from our start. I have a feeling our buts are going to hurt tomorrow.

Waiting for Another Beer

We bring a beer we bought yesterday out to the square and enjoy the well earned beverage. Fortunately, we bought two so after the first, I go and grab the other. After that we shower and relax a bit before heading for dinner. Same place, same menu, but different choices. Carol has smoked salmon and I get a fish cake with my smoked trout. Excellent once again. We then take a self guided walk through town because my legs just aren’t sore enough. Along the way, we find the oldest buildings here, and also notice the spy mirrors on several homes.

Spy Mirror

They are placed so that the women inside can keep an eye on what is going on outside, all from the comfort of their home. The walk ends conveniently at our door step, but we go check out the Aeroskobing church around the corner. After that, back to the room for a glass of wine, and relaxation. We have now biked in Denmark like many locals do.
Expenses
Hotel Bed and Coffee 500 DKK
Morning Pastries 29 DKK
Smoked Fish Dinner 162 DKK
Biked 15 Miles
Walked 4.25 Miles