A couple of weeks ago, Tony and I were in Denmark on holiday. First a couple of days in Copenhagen so I could celebrate my birthday (in April) with my friends. We had a lovely day together, chatting, eating delicious food, and even more delicious cake. It was a wonderful start to our holiday. :-)
The photo above is the view from our holiday let, in the small town of Svaneke, on the Danish island Bornholm. We actually went to Bornholm a couple of years ago, with my family, but both Tony and I got Covid on that trip so we didn’t enjoy it a much as we would have liked. I thought I had written a post about that trip but I guess I never got round to it…
Anyway, we went back to Bornholm and we were determined to enjoy it, make up for last time, but also take it easy. I think we succeeded. :-)
Svaneke is a very picturesque town and therefor popular with (bus loads of) tourists. But most of the tourists don’t tend to wander too far from the main harbour and the surrounding streets. I had seen on the map that there is a smaller harbour a few minutes from where we were staying so one morning we went there. This photo was taken on the way there. I love the rocky landscape…
From the same hill where I took the previous photo, I suddenly spotted the archipelago called Ertholmene, the most easterly point in Denmark. Not the best photo but I thought it was worth documenting. It is possible to visit the the largest of the islands but we didn’t do that. I have been there, many years ago, on a school trip. I think I would probably appreciate it more now than I did then.
And here is the little harbour, Vige Havn. There was a handful of people around at most. We had a nice time sitting there, listening to the waves and the birds. I had of course brought my sketchbook and Tony was reading. A really lovely memory.
When you are on holiday of course ice cream must happen at some point! This place was just a few minutes walk from our apartment and frankly it’s a surprise that we only went there once! They had lots of different flavours and they even had vegan, gluten free waffle cones. Which was very nice. I usually have to go for the non waffle option.
One day we went to see Rønne, the largest town on Bornholm. There are lots of pretty half timbered houses but of course I had to seek out this one which was painted like this a few years ago. I think it caused quite a stir at the time, it’s not exactly traditional! I like it. Of course. It is currently for sale for the sum of 2.1 million kroner, about £241,000.
Something a bit more traditional. That corner house with the blue door is the smallest house in the town. I think I read somewhere that it’s around 22 square metres. Equivalent to something like 237 sq feet.
Danish churches are usually painted white but the Svaneke church is this wonderful red colour. We didn’t go inside because we were only passing on the way to the light house.
This is looking towards Svaneke on the path to the light house. I am really fascinated with the rocks, especially the ones with yellow lichen.
The light house! It is possible to rent the light house and the adjoining house. But it is probably quite expensive! So I made do with making a sketch of it. Tony stayed on the bench with his book while I tried to get comfortable on a flat-ish rock. :-)
At sunset, looking towards the light house. Isn’t the light beautiful? It is like a painting. Bornholm is beautiful in general and the light really is something else and no wonder that it has attracted painters and other artists.
When I was researching Bornholm for our previous trip, I came across the work of Ben Woodhams, an English artist who lives and works on Bornholm. You can check out his work here.
And like the sunset wasn’t beautiful enough in itself, then a sail boat came into the harbour just as the almost full Moon became visible. I love this photo Tony took.
Whenever we go to Denmark, we have to have rundstykker for breakfast at least once. Old skool rundstykker are round crusty rolls topped with shite poppy seeds and they are really nice. There are also other types of rundstykker with different names. I know, it’s a bit confusing. Of course I had my rundstykker with pålægschokolade.
Tony had found the holiday apartment we stayed in. I was a bit sceptical to start with. The old merchant’s yard, where it is situated, also includes a pub type place and it’s in the middle of town so I was worried that there might be a lot of noise. But it was all fine. Apart from a few happy drunk people one evening all was quiet.
On the previous Bornholm trip, everyone but me had gone to the Hammershus castle ruin. I was really keen to go there and draw it. Hammershus is the largest castle ruin in northern Europe and it is quite spectacular with its position high on the northern point of the island. The views are quite something.
It was quite windy on the day we visited so I only manged this very quick watercolour sketch. But I am quite happy with it.
One morning we both woke up around five AM. It wasn’t planned or anything. So we decided to get dressed and go see the sunrise. If you have the chance to watch a sunrise, I think you should take it. Whether you are on holiday or at home.
When the sun had officially risen, but was still hidden behind that low bank of clouds, I think Tony was a bit disappointed and ready to go back to the apartment. But I persuaded him to wait and what a spectacular view we were treated to! It was simply gorgeous. And then that sail boat slowly moved across the water. Just magic. And now I am wondering if it is the same boat that showed up at the sunset in the other photo…
From sunrise to something scatological. Chicken poop.
This numbered grid is painted on the path that goes past our apartment to the harbour and we were wondering what it was all about. Then we noticed the sign, which says that there is hønseskidning (chicken pooping) twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Sure enough, on Wednesday afternoon a large cage was placed over the grid. We didn’t go and see it but I guess that they let a chicken (perhaps more than one) loose in the cage and then they bet on where it will poop.
Time for another church. Bornholm is famous for its round churches. I think there are four of them. This is the Østerlars one, the largest on the island. We didn’t go inside. Mainly because we didn’t want to pay to see it. And to be honest, my interest in this, and other churches, is mainly to draw them.
So instead we popped across the road to this old farm house which has a nice cafe, with benches and tables to sit in the garden with a view of the church. So we sat in the shadow of a tree and had cake and a drink while I sketched the church. It was a very hyggelig time.
On the way back from Østerlars, we stopped by Gudhjem which is another picturesque town with colourful houses spilling down a rocky hill towards the harbour. Gudhjem is also the location of the Oluf Høst Museum. Høst is Bornholm’s most famous painter and I can very much recommend a visit to the museum which is located in his home.
After four lovely days on Bornholm, it was home time much too soon. And much too early! We had been hearing about long times to get through border control at Copenhagen airport so we decided to take an earlier ferry than planned. That earlier ferry left at 6:30 AM, hence the pretty skies above the ferry!
I hope you enjoyed this little peek at my holiday photos. I took a lot more, like, we are barely scratching the surface here. I could easily fill a couple of post just with photos of rocks. But I’ll spare you for that. :-D