We headed up the coast today to Skagen and beyond. This is the most northerly tip of Denmark and if you drive just a few kms north of the town, and then a twenty minute walk along the beach you can stand on the little sand spit with a foot in both seas, the North and the Baltic seas (that is if you can do so long enough without getting frozen toes). Of course you could take the bus from town and then hop onto the tractor tour which will take you right to the point, so that you only have to walk about 10 meters, but we preferred the walk, except it wasn’t long enough.
The walk along the beach is quite interesting, as there are some very large bunkers amongst the sand dunes, we imagine from one of the many wars that they lost. One of these bunkers is sitting just a few meters out in the water, and that makes you wonder how it got there, as it seems unconceivable that that either a bulldozer or a crane would be able to shift it there, and if in fact it did, why. It doesn’t seem to be damaged enough for it to be accidental, or the victim of the weather, so it makes you wonder … why.
On the road between Skagen and the spit there is a lighthouse (complete with the lighthouse keepers hut) and also a reconstruction of the original lighthouse that you can climb. After climbing what is effectively a ladder up the inside of this brick construction you find a brazier on the top, in which they used to light the flame. Very cool.
But back in Skagen itself, this is another cool town, although they have become very accustomed to the tourists and cater for them very well. From what we observed, this seems to be the place to go if you want to get a team together and do a pub crawl via bicycle. By the end of the day you see some very loud and wobbly riders, who we are sure have had a ball. Consequently the town is crammed with eateries, drinkeries, souvenir shops and bike hirage.
We had a bit of a browse through town, but we quickly decided that we wanted an indoor pursuit as, despite the sunshine (they boast the most sunshine hours in Denmark, which doesn’t seem to say much) the wind here is freezing. So we headed to the Skagen Museum, which wasn’t actually a museum, but what we would call a gallery.
They had a large exhibition on for Anna Ancher (a local artist of international repute) celebrating 150 years since here birth. The majority of the work on show was hers, but there was also work of other artists of her time (mid 1800s to early 1900s) including PS Krøyer, and her husband Michael Ancher. They call that the ‘Golden Age’ of Skagen art. At that time there were a lot of artists coming here from all over Europe to paint the special light that exists here. Even now Skagen has an artists feel, it feels very much like Nelson, only much smaller, being the home to many artists and craftsmen.
On the way back to Strandby from Skagen, we decided to take a detour and head to the west coast just to see what it was like. We came across a small village by the sea with an unpronounceable name, with a collection of small thatched cottages scattered amongst the sand dunes. This place is certainly a lot more rugged and more of a functional fishing village, compared to what we have seen. The coast itself is very much like our west coast, very wild and rough, with an unruly attractive quality. I imagine that in rough weather the shutters on the cottages get put to good use.
The walk along the beach is quite interesting, as there are some very large bunkers amongst the sand dunes, we imagine from one of the many wars that they lost. One of these bunkers is sitting just a few meters out in the water, and that makes you wonder how it got there, as it seems unconceivable that that either a bulldozer or a crane would be able to shift it there, and if in fact it did, why. It doesn’t seem to be damaged enough for it to be accidental, or the victim of the weather, so it makes you wonder … why.
On the road between Skagen and the spit there is a lighthouse (complete with the lighthouse keepers hut) and also a reconstruction of the original lighthouse that you can climb. After climbing what is effectively a ladder up the inside of this brick construction you find a brazier on the top, in which they used to light the flame. Very cool.
But back in Skagen itself, this is another cool town, although they have become very accustomed to the tourists and cater for them very well. From what we observed, this seems to be the place to go if you want to get a team together and do a pub crawl via bicycle. By the end of the day you see some very loud and wobbly riders, who we are sure have had a ball. Consequently the town is crammed with eateries, drinkeries, souvenir shops and bike hirage.
We had a bit of a browse through town, but we quickly decided that we wanted an indoor pursuit as, despite the sunshine (they boast the most sunshine hours in Denmark, which doesn’t seem to say much) the wind here is freezing. So we headed to the Skagen Museum, which wasn’t actually a museum, but what we would call a gallery.
They had a large exhibition on for Anna Ancher (a local artist of international repute) celebrating 150 years since here birth. The majority of the work on show was hers, but there was also work of other artists of her time (mid 1800s to early 1900s) including PS Krøyer, and her husband Michael Ancher. They call that the ‘Golden Age’ of Skagen art. At that time there were a lot of artists coming here from all over Europe to paint the special light that exists here. Even now Skagen has an artists feel, it feels very much like Nelson, only much smaller, being the home to many artists and craftsmen.
On the way back to Strandby from Skagen, we decided to take a detour and head to the west coast just to see what it was like. We came across a small village by the sea with an unpronounceable name, with a collection of small thatched cottages scattered amongst the sand dunes. This place is certainly a lot more rugged and more of a functional fishing village, compared to what we have seen. The coast itself is very much like our west coast, very wild and rough, with an unruly attractive quality. I imagine that in rough weather the shutters on the cottages get put to good use.
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