Ærø

I forgot to mention yesterday that one of the highlights of the day was the lunch I had when I arrived at Ærøskøbing.  (I’m at Odense Central Library as I write this, waiting for my train to Copenhagen and, from there, to Kalmar.  So I have all the quaint characters in the Danish alphabet at my disposal again.)  I had what might have been the best salmon I ever ate, and that’s a pretty audacious statement coming from someone who lives in Seattle.  It was lightly smoked, but it tasted incredibly fresh.  I also had a frikadelle, which is a sort of fish fritter.  It was yummy too.

Dinner last night was okay: Wiener Schnitzel with potatoes and peas, only the potatoes were really good, but I had a dessert that consisted of vanilla ice cream and black currant sorbet with a warm chocolate sauce, and that was so delicious!  My mouth is still watering.

After dinner I went for a walk to the beach, where there is a row of tiny cottages all lined up.  Nice place to watch the sun set.

Ærø bike tour

I woke up at the crack of dawn this morning and did the bike tour Rick Steves outlines in his book on Scandinavia.  It was a long ride, almost 3 hours, covering 15 miles, including both the north and south shores of the island.  From the south shore I could see Germany across about 9 miles of water.  It was scenic and enjoyable when it wasn’t uphill, which of course it was much more than it was downhill.  It started out chilly and overcast, but I warmed up and the sun came out. It is a beautiful day!

Breakfast

When I got back and showered, I went down for a really nice breakfast. Susanna, the owner of the B&B, brought me some plastic bags so I could pack a lunch with what was leftover: some meat and cheese and bread.

Then I went for a walk and bought some danish pastries at a bakery with my last remaining kroner.

(Susanna is in Rick Steves’ guidebook. She told me he comes and stays there every two years to do research for new editions of the book.  And his tours stay there as well.)

I sat outside for the ferry ride, enjoying the warm sun.  It’s probably the nicest day since my trip started. It’s a shame since I’ll be spending the next six hours on a train.

I’m really looking forward to seeing Kalmar and Öland.