Scandinavia

After we had packed everything and cleaned the cabin we left for Bogense on the island of Funen. This is a short drive, about 80 km (50 miles) from Randboldal. We arrived so early at the Bogense hotel that our room was not ready yet. It had to be cleaned first before we could enter it. It was a very spacious room with even 2 extra beds. After we had put all our stuff in the room we went out to explore the 'roaring' town of Bogense. It is not very large, but is has some nice streets with rather old houses. We also walked along the harbour, not far from our hotel. Near the harbour we had a spot of lunch on a terrace. After lunch we walked towards the jetty with a nice view over the Cattegat. Unfortunately there was no beach or something like that. Only a few landing piers which you could use to get into the water. We walked along the small, beautiful white church of Bogense and across the market square. Via a few narrow streets with some pretty old houses we walked back to the hotel. We needed less than an afternoon to see the whole town of Bogense. Rather peculiar is that the town has a copy of the Brussels "Manneke Pis".

The next day we planned to make a tour across the island of Funen. After breakfast we drove towards Egeskov castle, about one hours drive from Bogense. First we visited the castle itself. The castle is not very big, but the gardens surrounding it are. In the castle you can visit a number of rooms with furniture from the past. Ciska was especially interested in the room and hallway with all the hunting trophies. Here you can see all kinds of game among which a large number of deer, the skins of a lion and a panther, the trunks of an elephant and a lot more. Nowadays this wouldn't be allowed anymore, but in the past those kinds of trophies were not a problem. In the attic of the castle was a small photo exhibition about the Castle's renovation. In the attic there lies a wooden doll. History tells that the doll should never be moved from its place, whenever that might occur, the castle would sink in the swamp on the next Christmas eve. For this reason the family, that still lives in the castle, is never at home during Christmas. During the renovation the doll was protected from moving by a large wooden box. After visiting the castle we went to see the gardens. First we went to the treetop walk. This attraction allows you to climb to a height of about 15 meters using a spiralling ladder. Then via a number of suspension-bridges you walk through the crowns of the trees. Ciska really liked it. Back down she wanted to play in the very large playground. In the meantime Arjan went to see the veteran museums. The first one had quite a large collection of antique cars and a few planes. In the second one there is a very large collection of 20th century motorcycles. Rather nice in the latter one is the possibility with some of the bikes to hear the sound of it by pressing a button. Ciska and Hilleke also visited both museums in a hurry, as well as the third one, with a collection of old carriages and sledges. Before we left the castle grounds we did the Piet Hein maze and Ciska wanted to do the treetop walk once again. From the castle we drove towards Odense to visit the open-air museum 'Den Fynske Landsby'. This museum has a number of historic buildings from Funen. Mainly farms, houses and some workshops. There also is a school and a windmill. Next to the buildings there are some farm animals like cows, horses, goats and sheep. At the time we reach the end of the walking tour it started to drizzle and when we were back at the souvenir shop it really started to pour down. The first rain this holiday. From the museum we drove to the centre of the city to have something to eat. We decided on a restaurant called 'Den gamle Kro', which is supposed to be one of the oldest restaurants in Denmark. After a very good dinner we went back to our hotel. Tomorrow we have to leave early as we have a long drive ahead of us to Sweden.