Off to Roskilde for Viking Ships (made in Ireland)

one of the 5 Viking boats found in the waters off Roskilde

Approximately a thousand years ago some Viking decided to overload 5 of their old ships with stones and deliberately sink them to block a shipping channel. This was part of the defence system for the port of Roskilde. The remains of these boats form the main impressive exhibit in the Viking ship museum. We were surprised to discover that the Vikings built the largest of the 5 boats in Dublin. It’s an interesting place with exhibits of ropemaking, blacksmithing, jewellery making and rides on replica Viking ships.

viking cargo ship

probably one for a royal person

Roskilde was once the capital of Denmark hence the very large brick built church stuffed with royal memorials and works of art. It felt, to us, more like a gigantic mausoleum than a cathedral. Despite the extravagant carvings, paintings and the organ music etc the church was devoid of atmosphere – it felt dead. Interestingly there is a large standing stone in front of the building so it must have been a sacred site well before it was a cathedral. There are also a couple of healing springs nearby.

cathedral with standing stone

Copenhagen

We had a couple of days in a very warm Copenhagen staying at CityCamp.co.uk. Mr Fluffy named the campsite’s manager the Fuhrer as he was very officious and precise but he was also very friendly if you towed the line and followed his rules. It was a short walk into the city and on Day One we visited Christiania the Free City. I had been here several years ago with my friend Julie Polkes and we had met one of the guys who was on the running committee and it seemed all very interesting. Maybe I am a bit older but it seemed a lot seedier and dirty this time around. Day Two we pretty much walked the whole of the city. After a lunch in Ny Havn (Graham had pickled herring and raw egg yolk – yucch) we did a canal boat tour with a fairly disinterested guide giving a mixture of Danish, German and English commentary on the city. It was a good excuse to sit down and, despite the massive heat, was a pleasant way to while away an hour.

Ny Havn from canal boat

Our visit to the modern kunst museum left Mr Fluffy cold so we continued on our walk back to Dickie hoping for a beverage by the waterside, which was absolutely packed with nubile Danish youngsters variously sunning themselves and jumping into the canal for a quick dip. After being totally ignored by the waiter at our chosen bar we wizzed back to Dickie to consume a much cheaper beverage purchased at the local supermarket. Not as glamorous, but better than getting annoyed at the inattentive waiter. And we were serenaded by a German Van playing extremely loud rock and roll music while displaying a vibrant green lighting strip on the exterior of the van, presumably to enhance the musical extravaganza playing in their Dickie.

The Little Mermaid surrounded by tourists - and my nostrils

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Farewell Sweden

Farewell Sweden, we loved your varied scenery, swimming in your lakes, staying in your woods, walking on your beaches, not hitting your elks on the roads, and enjoying your beautiful weather.

Dickie in the Woods

But the time has come to return to Denmark and visit some of the places on the East of the country that we did not see on our outbound visit. Today we drove over the long and elegant bridge that turns into a tunnel in the middle of the sea between Sweden and Denmark. It cost around 45 SKr but was well worth it for the hassle-free trip to the outskirts of Copenhagen.click to watch short video of crossing .

We were soon parked up in City Camp a couple of kilometres from the town centre. This is the first proper campsite we have been on in a long time and the first time we have had a mains electricity supply for weeks. Dickie has performed very well ‘off grid’ thanks to the solar panel on his roof keeping his batteries topped up when we are parked but as the power is included in the campsite price we might as well us it and save a little gas.

checking out the kunst

We thought it was the stifling heat from the sun that was making us feel a little strange as we walked around the 70s ‘hippy’ commune of Christiania until it dawned on us that the cloud of cannabis smoke that looms over the place may well be having some effect. Graham’s beard blended in well with the locals and the ambience of the place took him back to his youth (a very long time ago).

the bridge

Copenhagen is enjoying the hot weather (36 deg C when we last looked) and hundreds of youngsters are lying about on the river banks showing off their bronzed bodies and jumping in the river to cool off. Mr Fluffy has even purchased a new pair of swimmers (to get his upper legs brown) so he may be joining the youth of Denmark tomorrow and diving into the harbour.

new swimmers

Viking Stone Ship

Ales Stenar (Ale’s Stones) is our first Viking Stone Ship – an amazing construction of 59 standing stones laid out in the shape a ship. It is thought that these ancient monuments were erected between 500 and 1000 CE although it is also thought that the construction incorporates stones from earlier Stone and Bronze Age monuments previously on the site. It seems that the stones are aligned on the winter and summer solstice sun rises and, rather like Stone Henge it can be used as an astrological calendar. Located high on the cliffs above the Baltic Sea it is simply beautiful in the afternoon sun - even with people climbing all over the stones.

a quartz stone at each end

port side

rather a big one

we saw a face in this one

Tonight we are in Ystad, a port town with an interesting medieval old town section. The official aire was packed, dusty and near a factory so we headed on up the road and found a beachside carpark with a few vans parked up so here we are at yet another free site.

Pine Trees and Rocky Outcrops

The campsites in the South of Sweden are packed to the gunnels with motorhomes, caravans and tents of all shapes and sizes which make them less than appealing to us but we had thought this would be the case during the summer holidays especially as the weather is so lovely. Luckily Scandinavia has a wonderful, friendly attitude to motorhoming which means that there is always somewhere nice to stay and usually at no charge. We can get water from churchyards or at the latrine emptying sites along the motorways.

excuse the shoes

Last night we stayed in a small grove of tall pine trees that is the official car park for a nature reserve called Tosteberga ängar near Langdon on the South West coast of Sweden. This is one of the many official, listed, motorhome aires in which visitors are welcome to ‘wild camp’.

cows cut off by the tide

lovely stones

There was only one other van over-nighting on the site. A marked trail from our lovely, temporary home took us over beautiful meadows and fields that were slowly being claimed by the sea. Rock boulders formed islands on which some cattle had been cut of by the spring tide. This delighted Kerriann who thinks that all farm animals are potential killers who will stalk and attack her as revenge for her carnivorous diet, but with the cattle safely contained on the island we could witness the amazing birdlife and nature’s displays of wild flowers unhindered.

This was one of our favourite motorhome stopovers and all free of charge.

Baltic Song Contest

When the otherwise staid Swedish audience leapt from their seats to dance to Stashka's fantastic song 'Chce kochac / I Want To Love' I had a feeling she would be the winner. She cleverly enlisted the assistance of some of the local schoolboys to add their rousing marching band drums to the song - inspired! If you haven't heard it - give it a listen on this link.

Strangely, second and third place were taken by Sweden who had two entries Alien (3rd) - and Caroline Wennergren (2nd). They were both excellent but our favourites were Miss 600 from the UK who received a somewhat frosty reaction from the audience (she followed Stashka) and Lithuania's 'The Ball and Chain' who had a very upbeat dance number. It's a shame England is not massively popular in Europe as we hoped Miss 600 would be in with a chance.

Here is link if you'd like to check out the line up.

The whole thing was being televised in Poland so we're hoping we appeared on Polish television - we were just underneath the swinging camera and smiled excitedly every time it pointed in our direction so we can only hope that fame will follow.

We had a great time in Karlshamn and would recommend the Baltic Festival if you're in the area in mid July.

Bandaloca - German drummers - fantastiche!!

We're currently in the middle of a nature reserve and I'm most surprised that we can get wee fee as we are near nothing except trees and a beach. Mr Fluffy has just returned from a walk where he forgot to spray on his 'Man-So-Hard' and is covered in midge bites. I elected to stay in and do the blog....hurrah for bite-free me.

Rune stone

Rokstenen

it's quite a big one

On our way down to Jonkoping we stopped off at a rather massive rune stone in the grounds of a church. It's known as Rokstenen and has the world's longest rune inscription. It's located between Granna and Motala near Lake Vatten and for more information click on this link .

Heda church wall

in Heda church wall

Nearby was the lovely Heda Church which has a beautiful Madonna statue and two massive rune stones placed in the external walls.

bit of a dark photo but she really is lovely