DANISH MEMORIES

                                 Interesting Denmark
                             

When biking in Denmark, almost without exception, all of our rest/pit stops were at churches. The restrooms were well stocked and very clean. This seemed a bit unusual to me, but the guide knew where all the facilities were located and there was no rigmarole in searching for a key or roaming the grounds to find the common room. It was really nice and much appreciated!

            We ferried among many islands and biked on the islands of Sealand, Fuen, Areo, Langland, Lolland, and Falster over paved paths, streets, gravel, through forest, through many wheat fields, along the sea, and  up and down lots of hills. 

            We rode many kinds of ferries. The largest carried big trucks as well as trains. There were four train tracks on the loading deck. The ferry berthed where the land tracks ended at the end of the pier and the trains just rolled onto the ferry. It was an interesting operation to watch. The smallest ferry was a hand pulled one and an interesting one was the postal ferry.

Kirke means church. We visited many centuries-old churches. Many had frescos hundreds of years old. We saw the oldest fresco in the country, painted in 1120, over the altar at LyngeKirke. Most of the churches were originally Catholic. Reformation came to Denmark in 1530, and now most of the churches are Lutheran. In Texas we look for water towers; in Denmark one looks for the church tower which is always on the highest part of the church grounds. Chevrons in alternating colors are common from floor to ceiling in the graceful arches in gothic churches.

We stopped at Hesnaes, a quaint, charming and uniquely Danish village, to view all the thatched roof houses. Some of the homes even had thatched sides. The thatching was very thick but needs to be replaced fairly often and really is quite a fire hazard.

            We biked through the forest along the Baltic Sea. We stopped at the General’s teahouse. A couple of kilometers inland  there was a manor house. The owner, a munitions manufacturer,  made a lot of money and built the teahouse so each day he could visit it  and have afternoon tea while gazing out over the Baltic Sea.

            The Little Mermaid statue, a gift to the city in 1913 by brewer Carl Jacobsen, is quite small and sits on a stone in shallow water a few feet off shore. She is about a quarter mile from the palace.

            It is always fun to watch the changing of the guard at a palace. I’ve been fortunate to observe the one at Amelienborg Palace in Copenhagen on each of two visits.

           

ONE FANTASTIC CAMPING VACATION

 Loafing on an Uninhabited Island-----No Way

In case you think we sunned on the beach all day, think again. We did new and fun things every day. Our homeport was the island of Espiritu Santo, in the Sea of Cortez. About  25 miles off the coast of La Paz, Mexico, it was a two and half hour boat ride from the mainland. We camped on a lovely large sandy beach.

Los Islotes is a large barren rock island that is actually a bird rookery and a roosting area for pelicans, blue footed boobies, frigate birds, and terns. A large colony of California sea lions also inhabit the island. The sea lions were so curious—they had a great time circling around, over, and under us. They often got close enough to touch if one’s reflexes were quick enough. They were all sizes and ages ranging in color from a light tan to almost black. And all the while it was like  swimming in an aquarium full of beautiful tropical fish including large schools of sergeant majors and king angle fish. We also saw several varieties of starfish, sea urchins, other sea animals and coral.  While we dried off in the boat we watched sally light-foot crabs scampering across the rocks entertaining us.

            We watched a huge school of dolphins playing at sea. We walked and studied tidal pools. The islands exhibit a typical southern Sonoran desert ecosystem, but the region is surprisingly rich in plant and animal abundance and diversity.

We hiked and had botany lessons on local plants. The Cardon cactus grew everywhere. A relative to the Saguaro cactus, it has many more arms (up to 40) which are more clustered at the base. Jojoba grew wild and has an interesting history. The long nose bat pollinates it.

Evidence of prehistoric Indian occupation is abundant throughout the larger islands. We swam in a salt pond. Another day we made an excursion a couple of gorges over and hiked inland about a quarter of a mile to a fresh-water well fully equipped with bucket and rope. What a treat to be able to shampoo our hair!

At dawn one morning a couple of fellows went fishing. Lucky for us they returned with a 25 pound Dorado, known as Mahi Mahi in other parts of the world. It was fascinating to watch the men fillet the fish. It was so quick! Sea gulls circled waiting for the fellow to finish. Sure enough, as soon as the guide walked up to the kitchen with the filets the gulls swooped in and in no time there was nothing left on the beach but bones. They too were fast!

We flew in and out of La Paz for a night on each end of the time spent on the island. Even though we had had a wonderful time in the middle of nowhere, on return it was wonderful to have a long  hot fresh water shower!