Man, we’ve been talking about getting away up to Scandinavia for eons. You know how it is though—there’s the garden work, the migratory bird protection and the bees. There just seemed never to be enough time in the year to take time off to do that. This year however, the growing season ended early, the freezer was full, I winterized the bees a tad early and, hey presto—we had some time. The preparation was stressful and wild--there was so much to do. Well, slowly but surely the ducks began to fall into a row. I shan’t dwell on the preparation and the myriad of elements involved. We decided to take off and instead of ploughing through and reaching the Danish border as soon as possible, we instead decided to leave home and go to a hotel that we had bid on and gotten for 16 euro’s including brekkie. The idea being that we would have a restful departure the first day, rest-up over night and then begin travelling in earnest the following day at our leisure. It was a good plan and it worked for us. The next day after a lazy breakfast we began our journey. We sort of shot through Germany and wound up in the small town of Møgeltønder. It was raining and late in the afternoon but they had a little hut for us. We unloaded our sleeping and eating gear, put the water on for tea and sort of collapsed…it had been a long drive. My bride is proud of her new rubber shoes to go to the WC in. She knew it would be a wet vacation, so that’s why the rubber shoes. When we went through an intersection outside of town; very close to the camping, I noticed some bee hives sitting there. We spent a couple of days here to recuperate from the marathon drive. Whilst there we discovered the area on foot and by taking some drives. The old town of Møgeltønder is a short, one-street village. It is very picturesque with its quaint dwellings and the cobbled street. I could just imagine that it would have an even more remarkable appearance during the summer months when it would be sunnier and more flowery. I wonder if it was a “monument village”… you know, the kind where the external appearance of the houses may not be changed for historical preservation reasons. I will show a few views now: The old city church, outside and inside: When we left Møgeltønder we had seen some small, square signs with a daisy on them. (This foto comes from the Wikipedia page) We wondered what they were and after an internet investigation, we discovered that they were symbols of a thing called the “Marguerite Route”. http://www.visitdenmark.com/denmark/attractions/marguerite-route We drove on parts of it every day that we were in Denmark. This route takes one along the most attractive landscape vista’s as well as archeological sites of interest. We drove northwards through the eastern portion of Denmark, which meant that there were ferries, bridges, sand dunes and wins-swept churches built on terps, or man-made hills. We took our time travelling through the lovely rolling-hill landscape of Denmark. I really like it, and of course there were areas along the sea, as well as through areas of heather. This area had lots of heather and the golden grass plants with their shiny seed heads looked magical as the wind caused them to sway in the sunlight. The dunes were remarkable and so nice to walk in without the restriction that we have here…and the beaches…oh my word, what a wonderful site they were! You can look kilometers in either direction and not see any strand pavilions or unsightly man-made structures. Try that here. It was time for wheat harvesting and on the dry days, the farmers were busy from sun up to sunset trying to get it all in before it began raining again. The overall feel there was, “rural”. One would see lots of horses, cattle and sheep. I could also notice that they had grown crops back in the summer, and the corn was nearly ready for harvest now, but not quite. We stopped for tea at a rest stop bench along the M-route and saw these docile ponies. There were many bee hives scattered over the landscape as well as honey for sale along side the road. This place was remote and the hives were standing there so the bees would gather the heather nectar, no doubt.
That beach is a real surprise Sjoerd, I never expected that in Denmark for some reason. Great to see an unspoiled beach. The Marguerite route is a fantastic idea for visitors. In Ireland we recently got something similar named the Wild Atlantic Way which has proven to be a great success. What a beautiful village. Thanks for posting the first batch of your photos Sjoerd!
I agree ... the beach sure is beautiful! I just love the old town of Møgeltønder ... it so reminds me of a visit to my Mothers home town of Letschin, Germany as a child. I still remember the cobblestone roads that looked just like that. That is a very fond memory for me. Great photos Sjoerd.
It sounds like you had a great vacation to a beautiful location. The town alone would be worth the long drive but combined with the scenery and beach it definitely made it great. Thank you for posting your photos. I enjoyed them a lot and am looking forward to seeing the more.
FRANK--I can imagine that you thought that, but if you look at the map you can see that Denmark has a lot of coastline, as it is made up of a peninsula of land jutting northwards and then there are islands and their coastline counts as well. There is 8,750 km (5,437 miles) of tidal coastline! That verb that I just used, "jutting". I wonder if it comes from the name of that peninsular land of Denmark called "Jutland"? Interesting eh. I was interested to hear that Ireland now has a scenic route as well. Maybe one of these days........ Glad that you liked the posting. Ahhhh, NETTY--I am so glad that the foto's re-kindled such good memories for you. I have never been to Letschin but if it looks anything like Møgeltønder it must gorgeous. 2OF--I am delighted that you enjoyed the foto's so much. I am working on The next bit now. That is good to hear, DONNA--I get the same feeling just BEING in Denmark...especially in weststern Denmark. It is less populated than the east and some of the eastern islands.
