A visit to Hamlet's Castle (Kronborg) in Helsingor, the Danish riviera at Hornbaek, and dinner in the shadow of Fredericksberg Slot in Hillerod.The Casements were the scariest and most arduous parts of the castle - very dark and spooky, rough cobble floors and dank damp cold walls - a terrible duty assignment... this is where Hamlet was imagined to encounter his father ghost. We saw no ghosts, but were still happy to emerge into the sunlight.
A totally perfect day cycling and enjoying the sights of the beautiful Copenhagen - the world's most bike-friendly city. We pedaled from Ganlose to Vaerlose and caught the S-tog to Osterport to begin our exploration. It was a Sunday so the bike-traffic was not as fast-paced as on a working day when nearly 40% of workers commute by bike. First to Amalienberg (royal residence) where we lucked into witnessing the changing of the guard, then on to Nyhavn (New Harbor) for lunch and watching the boat traffic, then on to Christiania (Denmark's time-warp Haight-Ashbury-like free society only muc
From Lubeck we had a choice of ferry (about $150) or long drive. We chose the long drive. there was a long jam at the Danish border as they searched vehicles including ours for immigrants. They are very serious about not letting illegal immigrants sneak into their country and very happy they did not join the EU where so many problems abound. From the border there were gorgeous long bridges as we crossed from Jutland (the peninsula) to Funen (middle island) to Zealand the main islands.
Once inside the main city gate (the Holsten Tor) there is much to explore around Lubeck - with plenty of bike trails and parks surrounding it. The fascinating Schiffergesellschaft (seamans guild) is both a museum and restaurant. We planned to have a late lunch there but found a more enticing spot on the river. Lubeck is a small roundish island with the remains of the defensive walls and battlements still much in evidence - in addition to the iconic Holsten Tor on the west, the north Bergtor (Castle Gate) is still prominent.
Did you know there was a Common Market in Europe that lasted 600 years starting in the 1100s? Neither did we! But we are learning all about the Hanseatic League here in Luebeck (sorry this keyboard has no umlaut) - the seat of the League controlling both the Baltic and North Seas all the way from Russia to London. We had an idylic day exploring Luebeck.
Groningen is an amazing city... totally full of bikes and boats! We had a lovely BnB right near the park and downtown and enjoyed cycling all around the city...
Friday and Saturday were great days, with many high points (and a few low points). We spent most of Friday trying to solve the cash problem (usually we bring a pile of euros, but this time for some reason the financial planner under-estimated and didn't bring the right card setup-no reasonably priced solution... so a low point) but the rest was highpoints with a delightful ride around the Zee-Loop all on scenic trails (Haarlem to Bloemendaal aan Zee to Zandvoort aan Zee and back through the beautiful dunes). Dinner in the Botermarkt.
There is no better place to be on a bike. And no better time - the weather is perfect - cool, crisp and clear.
So far all has gone like clockwork... it SHOULD since this is our 4th time doing more or less the same routine. But after 3 years away it feels like the first time! We made it to Schiphol on time at 6:00 AM on July 4 - not a bad flight as these things go but glad that part is over. Luggage arrived no problem. Took the trusty 300 bus to Haarlem Centrum and walked to our Airbnb at the Garden House on Oranjestraat.
Why would anyone want to leave this cozy little corner of "South Heaven" to go off wandering the world with only what they can carry in their panniers? Good question.. maybe it's a question of balance, maybe the pictures below will shed some light. or maybe the answer will emerge in the next couple of weeks.... stay tuned to find out.
This is the website where we'll be posting our blog entries. We are packing for another summer cycling in Europe. This will be our fourth trip - so far each has been different but wonderful in its own way. You can keep up with our adventures by checking this site.
First a little background on how we got where we are. If you followed our previous posts on this website you know there was a massive amount of information and you will notice that most of that information is now gone. This website is a revised version of our original cycle-touring website that had a complete chronicle of all our cycling adventures. In order to make the website secure and up to date, it had to be converted to Drupal 8. There is no automatic or easy way to migrate all the data, so we will be filling in previous years slowly. So this is a brief overview of the last 5 years of cycling adventures. Eventually this summary will be replaced by the migrated pages - hundreds of pages and thousands of photos. For now this paltry summary and handful of photos must suffice.
