Friday, May 27, 2022
Bornholm, Denmark
The weather is treacherous, and the incredible winds (40
mph plus) created waves and swells which precluded our going ashore this
morning. We had sailed overnight to the
islands of Christianso and Bornholm, but we never got to visit
Christianso. I spent some time in the
nicely appointed “wellness” area where I used the elliptical machine and the
stationary bicycle. During lunch the
ship motored to a sheltered cove at the town of Nexo, where we were able to
take the Zodiacs to the wharf and visit Bornholm. The island is home to about 45,000 people,
and, although part of Denmark, is closer to Sweden and Poland than it is to
Denmark. It is the somewhat rectangular shaped island way east of the rest of Denmark:
We drove over lush farmland with newly planted fields,
many of which were yellow (canola or, interestingly, mustard which looks the
same). We stopped at the Osterlars round
church which dates to the 12th century. There are four such churches on the island,
and they are fascinating.
Here’s the entrance:
The pulpit:
There’s a large mural on a circular wall above the pews,
in two parts. The first is of God and
the worthy dead on the way to heaven:
Attached is this representation of a monster’s mouth wide
open, with the Devil, horns and all, as a sun figure. The dead people below are on the way to hell,
and, remarkably, the Devil’s legs are raised and we are told that what we see is that he is defecating on the poor
dead folks. Amazing! This needs some research!
The other stop we had was at a farm and farm museum where
we had a talk on the agriculture of the island, much of which has become
small-farm organic.
We sampled some local schnapps and had a small herring
sandwich with fish and produce of the island:
We then had time to visit the farm museum where there are
displays of farm life in the 18th and 19th centuries, as
well as people using old techniques to make things. Here is a woman crushing mustard seed in a
bowl, using a cannonball and rolling it around on the seeds:
This is the home of St. Clemens blue cheese which is
widely available in the USA. We went
back to the ship and had dinner, after which there was a wonderful lecture by
one of the two National Geographic photographers who are traveling with
us. Great stuff. Tomorrow, Kalmar, Sweden!
Fascinating, Victor! You and Joyce are getting to see and experience things that are "off the beaten track" but no less intriguing than better-known ones. I find it fascinating that the Bornholm folks have tended to go back to pre-industrial techniques, and thereby no doubt found a niche in the market. How strange that Poland is so close. I got a sense of this also from watching the detective series Wallander (the English-language version, starring Kenneth Branagh). I recommend it, once you're back in the USA.....
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ralph, will look for it!
DeleteI was wondering how everyone did with the rough seas. At first I thought your reference to the wellness center was for seasickness! The church is very interesting, was it Lutheran? It immediately looked like a rocket ship!
ReplyDeleteThe seas were rough for the Zodiacs but not at all rough for the big ship. No trouble with sea sickness. Yes, the church was Lutheran. Not quite ordinary, though, was it?
DeleteThe trip so far appears to be a wonderful exploration far beyond what one would normally experience all due to creative planning by the tour managers coping with exigencies far beyond their control.
ReplyDeleteThey are very creative. Much of this trip is new for them, and they're learning on the fly!
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