Well, right off the bat, Denmark was good to us. We recieved some intel from one of our hosts in Germany, that camping can be free in Denmark. Just look for this sights on this website- http://udinaturen.naturstyrelsen.dk/udinaturen/ - only issue is that it is all in Danish. So most of the time we just marked our maps and did a nightly search for the "primitive campingsites". Night one, as I mentioned in my previous post, we were lucky, we found a perfect little dry cabin. But, unfortunately, that was the last of the comfortable nights. One night we came upon this wonderful sight that seemed quiet and comfortable (see pic below). Looks nice right?! It was...until midnight when a bunch of drunk teenagers showed up to party. I lost my cool on these kids so we had to relocate, in the rain. It was awful because neither of us got any sleep. So, even though there is "free" camping, what cost is it to have a flat ground to sleep on and silence during the night? But with a full week in Denmark, we still only paid for one night of sleeping!
It rained virtually every day we were cycling in Denmark. To make it worse, our bike bags leaked, and at one point everything we owned was wet. Not a fun feeling when its raining and 50 degrees. But our tent and sleeping bags were dry. Thank god the tent didn't leak. So, I'm not sure the weather contributes to what makes people happy in Denmark.
Denmark also has terrible food. As my one friend's put it "I don't see a lot of Denmark cookbooks at Barnes & Noble....". For some reason we had a difficult time buying food in Denmark. Not only was everything realy expensive, it was mostly terrible. Granted, we did find a few bakeries that had wonderful pastries, specifically the "danish". Since we didin't bring a stove, we eat food that is on-the-go, so our go-to meal is bread, cheese, some kind of spread, sometimes a tomato, and of course, chocolate. We judge countries how well the bread and cheese is made. Denmark scored pretty low in this category. Their cheese was awful and the bread was okaaaay, but Germany does it better, hands down.
The cycling in Denmark was pretty boring, so I didn't take many pictures. Once we got to the smaller islands, it seemed a lot more populated and easier to bike. A lot of people told us that Denmark was wonderful for biking. I didn't see the appeal. I think when people are talking about Denmark, they mostly are referring to Copenhagen.
Copenhagen was a wonderful city, however. We had a great time exploring the city for a day. We went to the National Museum, which was amazing. The "special exhibit" was about the rescue mission of Danish prisors in concentration camps during WWII. I had no idea that this mission had even existed, and learned alot about the Danish culture through this very large museum. The National Museum was in more than one building, and we stumbled upon an exhibit dedicated to the Tolkien books.
Lord of the Rings Exhibit.
Copenhagen Palace, clearly he loves his picture taken....
Happy in Copenhagen!
Prior to visiting Copenhagen, we went to the Viking Museum in Roskilde, which is about 35 km outside of Copenhagen. This museum had multiple wooden ship replicas and it was interesting to learn more about the Viking history.
When we first arrived in Denmark we were greeted with the kindest people. Martin fixed his bike for free at one bike shop, parts and all. A campground gave us two nights for free just because we are from America. But, other times we had less positive experiences with people in Denmark. After visiting Denmark, I'm not sure we fully understand the culture and what makes it the happiest country. But we enjoyed meeting some of the people, learning about the Danish lifestyle and especially cycling the streets of Copenhagen.
We are now back in Poland. After a 9 hour over-night ferry from Sweden to Poland, we arrived and cycled to Szszecin, Poland, a beautiful historic port city. We will be making our way back to Wroclaw by bicycle, which will probably take about a week. More to come!
On the train from Denmark to Sweden
Casting off!
Goodbye Sweden!
The cycling in Denmark was pretty boring, so I didn't take many pictures. Once we got to the smaller islands, it seemed a lot more populated and easier to bike. A lot of people told us that Denmark was wonderful for biking. I didn't see the appeal. I think when people are talking about Denmark, they mostly are referring to Copenhagen.
Copenhagen was a wonderful city, however. We had a great time exploring the city for a day. We went to the National Museum, which was amazing. The "special exhibit" was about the rescue mission of Danish prisors in concentration camps during WWII. I had no idea that this mission had even existed, and learned alot about the Danish culture through this very large museum. The National Museum was in more than one building, and we stumbled upon an exhibit dedicated to the Tolkien books.
Prior to visiting Copenhagen, we went to the Viking Museum in Roskilde, which is about 35 km outside of Copenhagen. This museum had multiple wooden ship replicas and it was interesting to learn more about the Viking history.
When we first arrived in Denmark we were greeted with the kindest people. Martin fixed his bike for free at one bike shop, parts and all. A campground gave us two nights for free just because we are from America. But, other times we had less positive experiences with people in Denmark. After visiting Denmark, I'm not sure we fully understand the culture and what makes it the happiest country. But we enjoyed meeting some of the people, learning about the Danish lifestyle and especially cycling the streets of Copenhagen.
We are now back in Poland. After a 9 hour over-night ferry from Sweden to Poland, we arrived and cycled to Szszecin, Poland, a beautiful historic port city. We will be making our way back to Wroclaw by bicycle, which will probably take about a week. More to come!
Biking in a rain at50 will lower my happiness in any place
ReplyDeleteExactly the opposite of what you tell me, Boris. You always say you love cycling in the rain!
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