And Back to the Nethetlands

At a hotspot in Copenhagen airport now, waiting for the jont back to Amsterdam. Our chariot awaits- 

The 50th celebration week has come to and end, but not before Kyle and I soaked up every minute. 

Our last wifi update was from the cliffs of Kullaberg, Sweden which was followed by dinner in the nearby, seaside village of Molle (note to insert two dots over the O there). After dinner, Kyle struck up a conversation with a local fisherman down at the dock.

But in Sweden the days are so long that it is never truly dark, so there was no need for the day to end yet. Which means that our next stop was to a nearby beach that our kayak guide, Tina had recommended. To quote Tina, "If you go to Kullaberg, you MUST make the hike out to see this totally unbelievable driftwood.... Ah.... What would you call it....sculpture? Maze? Castle? You just have to see it to understand, but it was built on the beach by this crazy art professor named Nimis, all by himself! But he had no authority to build this on the beach so the Swedish government told him he had to take it down. But the people love it and protested to keep it up. But since it is not supposed to be there, there are no official signs to find it. So ask about it at Kullaberg and then follow the path that is marked with yellow letters "N". Let's just say that our interest was piqued. If yours is, learn more https://www.ladonia.org/

Kyle came around the corner first and all I could hear ahead was "HOLY SH....!" Unbelievable doesn't begin to describe this, I will call it CREATION and my photos will not begin to capture it. It IS made of driftwood, nailed together into interconnected, elevated tunnels and towers -seemingly endless, tunnels and towers.

But maybe Nimis is running out of driftwood in the area at this point because he's more recently moved on to stone.

By now it was about 2100 (9 pm) and we still needed to hike out from Nimis and drive 3 hours back to Mon. WELL worth a late night. 

Tuesday was our last full day in Denmark, so we stayed closer to home with a visit to the weekly market festival on the island that included artists, flea market, music...

And a chance to try medieval games (stilts, jousting) at the old gate to the city where the moat is still visible. For more on Stege https://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g189539-Stege_Moen_Vordingborg_Municipality_South_Zealand_Zealand-Vacations.html

And performances by musicians playing ancient instruments - who at Kyle's request were gracious enough to pose with the Anerican tourist.

But I haven't mention a church yet, right? Here it is, the frescos of Stege church where we heard the organ being played. And like all the churches we've seen in Denmark, the Viking ship that hangs from the ceiling.

But Denmark doesn't really have night either, so there's always time for more. This time the "more" was a bike ride to visit the multitude of Stone Aged burial mounds that dot the landscape on the west side of Mon. These are essentially -5000 year old crypts made of stone and earth that are the resting places of farmers and later, of kings. In some cases the stone remains covered with earth so that they appear as mounds with stone entrance ways. More on burial mounds https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%B8n

And in other cases, the earth has eroded way, exposing the circle of stones that delineate where the outer wall of the mound would have been, as well as the supporting stones and capstone.

And in one case, the mound renowned as the most impressive in Denmark, the mound is more like the mesas we know in the US southwest - this one is -200 feet long, -40 feet wide, has 3 burial chambers, and is delineated by -75 massive boulders.

All this I think is worth another exclamation of "HOLY SH...!"

Our last morning and we stuffed ourselves with as many of the remaining groceries from the fridge as we could eat and then headed out for a walk to the Baltic Sea. Not tropical but warmer than the Gulf of Maine.

Time for a last "is"

And back off the bridge to the mainland highway that will take us to the airport.

Tomorrow, we say "Tot ziens" (see you later in Dutch) to Kyle and Jane who will cross the pond back to the US and Caleb, Ben and I head on to the German border village of Bad Nieuweschans for our last 2 weeks.