The Sahara in Denmark

Thursday we left the Skjern area and this would be a crazy day - one in which we would try to use the public transportation system in a country we weren’t familiar with, to reach a remote area where part of Babette’s Feast was filmed. The day began well enough, with Jørn being able to give us a ride into the train station (rather than take a taxi), he was heading in to the last day of school (he is a science teacher) and so his work schedule worked out perfectly with our travel schedule.

We boarded a train in Skern armed with my list of what station we had to transfer to a different train in order to get to Hjørring. At our first transfer point a train arrived earlier than we expected, but it was going to Frederikshavn, so we hopped on. Turns out this was a train that was late, and thus we were able to catch a train that would take us straight to Hjørring without anymore transfers, and as it was a bit of an express route, with fewer stops along the way.

This was great as it would allow us a bit more time to visit the Mårup Kirke and the Rubjerg Knude Lighthouse. When we got to Hjørring we loaded our luggage into some lockers, then walked a block away to the bus terminal. It was going to be almost an hour before the next bus left to Lønstrup so we wandered about Hjørring a bit. I managed to find a photo store that had Velvia film, so I bought some more rolls (because I am on the last couple of rolls of the ones I brought from home).

The bus, once we got on it, took us to Lønstrup, which is a bit of a resort town, with lots of camping and cabins available. We figured it was because of the beautiful sand beaches that we could see when we were at the coast. We were dropped off at the local tourist bureau which was just closing but we were able to get a map and directions (and a few postcards) then it was off on our own two feet.

We first walked to the Mårup Kirke. This church on the sandy cliffs by the sea is in danger of falling into the ocean soon, so most of the church has been moved (the interior furnishings and the roof). Still at the site is the large anchor (salvaged from a shipwreck a few centuries back) and the walls of the building. While we were there a tour group came, and while we were taking pictures we suddenly heard singing, and to our surprise the tour group was holding some kind of the service on the grounds of Mårup Kirke. Their singing reminded me of little section in Babette’s Feast with the sect members singing before and after the meal.

Off a little way away we saw the huge sand dune and the top of the Rubjerg Knude Lighthouse. There was a path along the shoreline which we took. Sometimes we were led through areas filled with a thorny type plants, and Beth’s bare legs (below the knees) were paying the price. When we finally got to the dune it was enormous, and made of very fine sand. We climbed to the top where you could see the wind blowing the sand around. We both thought that it felt a bit like being in the Sahara Desert - the huge dune, the sand getting in our shoes, and the heat beating down on us (it was quite a warm day).

The lighthouse was not covered by sand (I think it has been dug out) but sand dunes surrounding it were half way up the structure. We both took lots of pictures hoping that some of them will give a sense of the size of this dune. All along this section of the coast you could see the power of nature at work, especially the force of erosion.

We walked back into town and we figure it was a good 5 - 8 kilometre round trip. We certainly got our exercise that day! We managed to catch the bus back to Hjørring about 10 mintues after getting into town. From there we picked up tickets and waited on the platform for the next train to Frederikshavn. Right on the platform we had a bit of a picnic lunch eating left over bread and cheese from yesterday’s supper.

The train arrived, we headed east - I was looking out the windows to the north where the area where Bindslev is, this is the region where my ancestors on my Danish Grandmother’s side come from. More trees than I expected, and obviously not hand planted, it seemed like a pretty area - though perhaps when the winter winds blew it would not seem like such a nice place to be.

We got to Frederikshavn, where we took a taxi to the hotel (and got ripped off - the hotel was close enough that we could of walked had we had a map). The cab that was next in line at the taxi stand was a wheelchair accessible one, and I think we paid extra for it (this morning we paid almost half to get to the ferry which was three times as far!) Oh well, I’ll let it go - most of the time we have done quite well with doing things for a decent price, and I should be grateful for that.

So we did a crazy thing - we got out to the Mårup Kirke and the Rubjerg Knude Lighthouse without renting a car, and dealing with a pile of luggage to boot. So pretty well everything I have hoped to do in Europe I have now done (and Beth has been gracious enough to go along with me on these crazy jaunts). Now we are sailing to Norway (as I write this entry) and there family will take care of us, a nice change from the past couple of weeks.