Wednesday July 26, 2017 – Skagen, Denmark. – A charming windswept (250 days a year) Jutland town of 8,000 swelling to 50,000 during the summer with holiday makers lying at the junction between the North and Baltic seas. It is pronounced SKEIN (like in Spain), with a silent ‘g’. It is part of the Frederikshaven (the nearest @45 Km town) Municipality and with it’s well developed harbour, is Denmark’s main fishing port as well as the thriving (2 million people a year) tourist industry. It started as a small fishing village in the Middle Ages and still processes over a million tons a year of fish, mainly herring and boasts as having the largest fish oil processing facility in the world. In the late 1800’s it became very popular, due to the light and available maritime / fishing related subjects, to a group of impressionist painters known as the “Skagen Painters” the most famous of which is arguably Michael Anchers. The old port on the North Sea was treacherous, so the “new” port on the Baltic (much calmer as it is less exposed) was opened on the 20th November 1907. At the same period the first railway connecting Skagen with Frederikshaven was opened and thus communication with the rest of the country. Prior to that, the horse and buggy along the beach was the only way to get to Skagen. We wandered off the ship briefly as there was a small shop and tourist info place on the dock. Our tour (#22) “The Top of Denmark” started after noon with a good guide – Anders and with 44 passengers. Our first sight was of the Royal summer house established by King Christian X, but now used as a place for writers and artists to gather and create. Our first stop was at the sand-buried church (Den Tilsandede Kirk) which was the mediaeval Catholic church of St. Lawrence, with a capacity of 1,000 worshippers, built in the late 14th century that over time, the drifting sands began to cover, beginning in 1600. By 1775 the local inhabitants had to dig away the sand from the entrance to enter the building, but by 1795 it became impossible and was officially closed by Royal decree. Some of the interior furnishings can be seen in the new (1824) cathedral in town and some of the building blocks were used in the construction of the new church and homes in the new town. All that can be seen is the whitewashed tower with it’s traditional stepped red roof, with the church remains 6-7 meters under the sands.
Our drive then took us through the old fishing port of Old Skagen, now an exclusive residential area for summer holiday homes (mostly closed from November to April). There were three main periods of construction – the early wooden houses painted black, the the red brick buildings and finally the stucco, “Skagen Yellow” painted houses which predominate with their red tiled roofs (the outer two courses joined by visible white cement). Many of the homes and the Landscape Museum were designed by the Danish Architect known mostly for his design of the Sydney Opera House.
Our next stop was Gregen, after passing three lighthouses – one that looked like a catapult with a barrel hung from a chain which held a lit fire, another tower which also was lit by a fire pot and finally the “Grey” lighthouse a modern, functioning lighthouse. This is the last Northern tip of Jutland in Europe with the Baltic to our right and North Sea to our left. Due to the constant winds and the ocean movement this area is constantly changing shape with sand flowing more from the Baltic side to the North Sea side. We took a tractor driven carriage / bus style vehicle (sandormen), as due to the soft sand, vehicles are not permitted, to the end tip exactly where the two oceans meet. Diana and Anita decided to remove shoes and paddle in both the Baltic as well as North seas and were duly photographed on both sides. Massive sand dunes and a large white sandy beach on the brilliantly sunny and warm day, many sun bathers and visitors, thronged the area. Over time this point edges ever more towards Sweden and it is entirely possible that in a few centuries, there will be “land” between the two countries.
Our final stop was the “Open Air Museum”. We drove past the area of town where the artists lived and gathered, past the Art museum originally financed by the Hotel owner, for the 19th century artists that gathered there and as of this year a new expansion modern building was opened (funded by the State) which collectively have some 8,000 paintings of the so called “Skagen Artists”. The outdoor museum consisted of a wealthy fisherman’s cottage, a poor fisherman’s cottage, a windmill and two rooms with artifact exhibits each with a fishing boat, dedicated to the history of the fishing village. The poor fisherman home was one room with beds, tables etc and at the entrance an area for cooking. The wealthy one had various rooms and was quite luxurious. The windmill inside is on two levels and one can also see above the upper level to the gear mechanism transferring the vertical wind on the external sail to the horizontal grinding mechanism. The upper level is dedicated to the grinding and the lower level to the filling of sacks with the ground grain. In the artifact rooms apart from the open row boat vessels, one was dedicated to those who had lost their lives and the other to fishing artifacts. in the central external area they were constructing a stage for performances. We then made our way back to the Ship and then took the shuttle into town to wander the streets and partake of the local delicious ice cream, which was very welcome given the warm sunny day. So ended our day in Denmark and the land portion of the trip
Thursday July 27, 2017 – At Sea on route to Southampton – A day mainly dedicated to packing up and getting ready to go ashore tomorrow. Although the ladies enjoyed a massage and the men attended a lecture by a pilot who took us through a flight, as if one were the captain, aboard a 747 from London Heathrow to JFK airport in New York. The ship captain also gave an interesting lecture, he was an airline pilot before being the ship captain.
Roger & Anne Travels 