Jeff: Denmark

Next morning we went for a run around the park before heading back over the Oresundsbron bridge leaving Sweden behind us and saying hello to Denmark where we plan to check out the bustling city of Copenhagen.

By chance we had landed in Copenhagen on culture night, a one night annual event that they have been doing for 30 years. We decided to try and make the most of it but there was literally hundreds of different activities going on throughout the city so we spent a couple of hours marking out our plan of attack. The events didn’t kick off until 6pm so we decided to visit a park nearby (Vallensbaek Mose) which featured a couple of giant wooden trolls. There was also a rope pull boat across the lake which was harder work then we bargained for especially as we had to first pull the boat towards us before pulling ourselves over the lake. The culture night pass including free public transport so we gave the bikes a rest and got the train into town. We firstly headed to Freetown Christiania which like a lot of these free town communities, had a homeless and druggie undertone. However it felt safe enough and we grabbed some caramel roasted almonds while we looked around. First on our culture tour at 6pm was to climb a nearby church tower (vor frelsers krike) which had a crazy looking spire where the staircase was on the outside. Unfortunately due to the winds and rain it was closed for safety. We therefore made our way over to firstly check out the library which was known as the black diamond. It was a good mix of old and new with classic reading rooms, murals and little cafes.

As 6pm was approaching we decided to get to Borsen which was the former stock exchange. Normally a building that you cannot enter, it was open to the public as part of the culture night. This building also had a striking spire but not one you could climb. Instead we headed to Rundetaarn (Round tower) which was one we could climb. It was a long climb but you got some great views from the top. On our way back down there was an offshoot where an exhibition on wolves was being held. Wolves returned back to Norway in the 2000’s and there was now about 50 in total. The exhibition explained how the sheep farmers struggled to cope and the how the locals were not to keen. There was also a striking display of taxidermy with around 20 very life like dogs showing the evolution of wolves into huskies, into handbag dogs!

On our way to city hall we came across the courts so we decided to have a quick peek. The police museum was also close by and they were letting kids practice there baton work against the police riot shields. When we got to city hall we were greeted with free popcorn and Jens Olsen’s world clock. The clock was impressively housed within a glass container where you could see all the integral workings at the rear. It was a real work of art and one of the cogs was set up to take 26,000 years to turn one full rotation!

With no time to spare we decided to go watch some improv comedy. We had a 30 minute wait to get in and in that time we discovered one of Denmark’s great pastimes, drinking a beer in the street. After seeing can after can arriving in the queue, I decided it was time to find the source of these beers which I found in a little underground convenience store. The beer is much cheaper in Denmark and the Danes seem far more relaxed when it comes to drinking. You can buy alcohol under 16% at the age of 16. The beer went down well before we got into the comedy club. The 30 minute act was all in English and consisted of 5 comedians playing out different scenes all based on the audience suggestions. They were quite good but I can imagine they get pretty tired by the end of the night!

Feeling a little peckish we thought we would check out what Max Burger had to offer as we had spent the last 4/5 months avoiding it. The Vegan chicken nuggets were ok but only really palatable due to the buffalo sauce. We weren’t that impressed but it was relatively cheap fast food. We still had a couple of hours before all the events finished so we decided to go to a little café which specialised in Legumes (Lentils, peas etc). We turned up not sure what to expect and was given the chance to roll out our own flatbreads which was a dough with black lentils in them. We then handed them over to be baked and got to eat them (much better than Max Burger).

We had one final stop we could squeeze in which was the university centre for nutrition and sports. It was a random little set up where they had various activities to test things like your grip strength, fine motor skills and how high you could jump. They also had some ‘trick your brain’ activities which included wearing goggles which messed with your hand eye coordination which was tested by throwing a ball repeatedly at a target. After a couple of minutes with the glasses you were calibrated to throw a foot to the left of where your eyes saw the target and then with the glasses off, you had to recalibrate to avoid throwing too far to the left. It’s a very strange feeling and it just goes to show how easy it is for your brain to adapt.

Midnight was upon us so jumped onto the train and back to Jeff, absolutely shattered, we got some much needed rest knowing we were back in the city tomorrow to see the rest in the daylight.

The next morning we got up and got on the bikes and headed into the city. It was a 16km cycle but as the country is very flat it was quite an easy ride. Once there we headed to a little bistro for some well earned brunch. We got a huge brunch plate to share, which had vegan sausages, tofu, pancakes, toast and yogurt/fruit, and a Danish pastry (well when in Denmark!). Once we were stuffed we headed out into the fresh but very breezy city and decided to walk around some of the city before getting back on the bikes. First we headed to Amalienborg castle in the centre of the city which is made up of 4 buildings surrounding a square official residence for the Danish royal family. Next we headed to Kastellet which is a large star shaped fortress just outside the city centre with a windmill. We walked around the fortress before heading to the docks to find the little mermaid sitting on the rocks and then we followed the harbour back into the city centre to see the marble church and the famous Nyhavn which is two streets which sandwich a small canal and have lovely bright colourful buildings on either side. The issue is that it is famous and therefore very busy no matter what the time of day. We wandered down and back up before deciding that was enough hanging out with tourists for us and we headed off to see some of the other old buildings including the palace. We had seen many of these buildings last night but in the dark so it was nice to see them in their full glory. At the palace we watched the guards on horses who did some official looking stuff that involved two different people coming over to check the horses over before allowing the horses and their guards to walk off. They then collected some other guards on horses before walking off into the city. We didn’t follow them so I’m not sure where they went or what was going on but it was interesting to watch these huge beasts in action. We then headed across the town to Rosenborg Slot which is a large palace with gardens. After walking around the lovely gardens (and seeing some very greedy fish who were being fed) we decided it was getting too cold and we needed some dinner. We headed to a vegan pizza place for dinner before heading back to the van and having an well deserved early night as the late one had finally hit us.

We got up the next morning and decided to go for a run around the nature reserve which went mostly without incident even as we jogged/walked past the highland cows who were not keen to move off the path for us. After showering and getting some breakfast we headed to the supermarket and got some food before going to Jægersborg Dyrehave which is a large park with deer which we went for a long walk around. We plan to spend the night here to chill out for the evening and plan the next couple of days.

The next day we get up and head to put some LPG in the van as its got colder so the heating is on at night which means we are using more and we don’t want to run out as there aren’t that many places in Denmark which sell it. We then headed into Roskilde which is a large city west of Copenhagen for an explore. We walked to the cathedral and then to INSP! which is set up as a community centre and non-profit foundation. However it was closed so we didn’t get to see inside at the cultural and community centre/events. We continued on and headed to the fabulous building which houses Ragnarock – the rock museum. We decided after the last couple of days we didn’t want to visit inside the museum but the building was worth a look as it is gold prisms making up a large building which defies gravity. Next up we headed to the van and down south to the island of Mon where we stopped at a forest for a BBQ as it is actually a little warmer tonight.

The next day we headed to Mons Klint which are large white cliffs along the coast of beautifully clear azure waters. We had planned to cycle around the area but when we got there we decided to complete the kings walk instead which was a 14.6km walk along the coast and through the woods with a 400 metre climb. It was a lovely walk, although there were lots of climbs and descents, and took us around 3.5hours. We started the walk with lots of layers including hats and fleeces but by the end we were both in just light tops as it got warmer throughout the day and due to all the climbing we had to do.

Afterwards we headed to our stop for the evening which is on another island called Lolland and the next morning we headed to an art installation which was a 1.5 km walk from the parking lot. It was called Dodekalitten and (when fully finished in 2025) will be 12 stone heads in a circle under which a range of speakers produce sound produced by AI and reflective of the tides, position of the sun in the sky and the phase of the moon. It was really eerie but also calming which was strange. We were there on our own and there was no other noise apart from the sounds under the statues, until a military fighter jet flew over head which made the whole experience even more eerie and mysterious. We left after awhile to let some other people who had just arrived have the experience by themselves and headed back to the van before driving north towards the bridge over to the main land. We stopped at Naestved city to do some admin and sort out a few bits, including the pass for the Storebealt bridge which we plan to cross tomorrow. We managed to service the van before finding a beach place to park for the night but the weather is definitely turning on us and while its been grey all day its getting windy and wet now so its going to be an interesting few days.

The next morning we get up and head over to the main land via the bridge which is probably as impressive as the Oresund bridge. It was a long drive and we headed across Odense and up to Aarhus which is the second largest city in Denmark. We decided to park close to the city and walk in as its far too windy to ride. We walked in, while being buffeted by the wind, and headed to see the library, the cathedral, the old town, the botanical garden and the art museum while also having a break for some hot lunch. The city was really nice but we were starting to get cold so after all the exploring we headed to the van and drove just south of the city for the evening. It was windy all night with 25 mile an hour winds which has been pretty much the same all day and it looks like they will be here for a few days so we might need to change some of our loosely made plans to account for this.

After a very windy night with winds of up to 25 miles an hour we got up and headed to the nearby deer park for a brisk walk in the cold blustery wind. We didn’t know what to expect fully but were on the look out for deer and wild boar. We weren’t in the park for long before we came across the first herd of deer who were not that afraid of us but were quite interested, especially when Rich threw them a carrot (feeding is allowed, although it wasn’t until we were in the park that we read that its not recommended at this time of year as the males are rutting and they can get aggressive). We carried on around the park and spotted a lot of deer including some fawns which were very cute but we didn’t spot any wild boar. We then headed out of the park and over the road to the very rough sea to look at a bridge called the infinity bridge which is a circular bridge which you should be able to walk around, however there were two sections missing and given that the waves were ferocious and were coming over the bridge at times so we decided that we would enjoy the bridge from the shallow and safe end. After a short time we decided we should head back to van before get freeze or get blown away so we heading back to the van and headed south to Billund where Lego is developed and headed to the Lego house (we decided given the wind we would miss Legoland). The house is made to look like its built out of Lego and inside there is lots of Lego statues, including a very large tree which sneaks up the centre of the staircase. We explored for a while before heading to the roof to see the grey views and the play areas (stopping for a quick go on swings) before continuing south and fighting the wind which we could feel hitting the van. We parked up for the night just north of the German border, in the woods (where wild boar are known to be - although we didn’t get to see any) for a hopefully quiet night. The wind continued all night but we were somewhat protected in the forest and by the morning the wind was starting to subside.