Aalborg, Denmark

This morning, I went off on my own to explore the older parts of Aalborg. Our radar died of old age a couple days ago, Peter having determined after some tests of voltage and current and that sort of thing that it was irreparable.. He stayed on the boat to work on getting a new unit. Luckily, Skudehavnen is surrounded by businesses serving boats large and small, and he found a dealer nearby who had replacement options as well as a man who was willing to come on short notice to install in the new Garmin radar on the mast this afternoon.

My first stop was Sct. Mariæ Kirk (St. Mary's Catholic Church) on the west side of downtown. The parish was established in 1898 and the octagonal red-brick building, based on Charlemagne's Chapel in Aachen, was built in 1925 in the Renaissance Revival style. The interior is spacious and welcoming with modest decorative aspects.

Interior, Sct. Mariæ Kirk (St. Mary's Catholic Church)

I roamed around rather aimlessly and came upon the Aalborg Monastery, founded by Denmark's oldest social order, the Order of the Holy Ghost. Built from 1431 to 1500, the complex was the hospital of Aalborg until 1953. The Hospital of the Holy Ghost was dissolved in the Reformation of 1636, but it continued to function as a secular hospital. The buildings have been converted into 26 private apartments for the elderly, but some of the courtyards are open to the public. 

Aalborg Monastery

Fountain Courtyard, Aalborg Monastery

Strolling along pedestrian shopping streets, I found the Gothic style, red-brick Budolfi Church, the cathedral of the Lutheran Diocese of Aalborg. The original church on this site, a smaller parish church, was constructed in the early 12th century, and some of the large stones used for this can be seen in the crypt. The existing Budolfi Church was built at the end of the 14th century. The church is entered through the vestibule and tower room, renowned for the intricately painted Gothic vault ceilings depicting biblical motifs and historical coats of arms. In the sanctuary is more richly decorated than other churches we have visited in Denmark. The main altar piece and the elaborately carved and painted pulpit were gifts of parishioners in the 17th century. 

Pedestrian street in Aalborg

Budolfi Church vestibule ceiling

Decorative ends of pews, Renaissance artwork and pulpit, Budolfi Church

I had read about a couple places to get birds-eye views of the city and chose to ascend to the top level of Salling Department Store. From there, I could see red roofs all around as well as rooftop gardens. It is easy to observe that the streets do not follow a grid pattern. 

View of the rooftops of Aalborg

Continuing my exploration, I wandered along cobbled streets past brightly colored and bare brick homes.  They are enchanting and the lanes are peaceful. I walked past the Church of Our Lady, another red brick edifice which, unfortunately for me, is closed for renovations.

Half-timbered bowing building

Hjelmerstald

Hjelmerstald

Entrance to Church of Our Lady

Church of Our Lady

Back near the water, I admired the bright yellow Old Town Hall. Across the street is the five-story Jens Bang's House, built in 1624 in the Dutch Renaissance style. Noted for its gables and its sculpted auricular window decor, it is considered the finest privately owned Renaissance building in Denmark. There are gargoyles above the windows and a sculpture of Bang's face, with his tongue sticking out. (Pugnacious and opinionated, the burgher was disliked by most of his contemporaries.) Jens Bang was one of Denmark's richest citizens at the time, a leading trader and merchant.

Old Town Hall, Aalborg

Jens Bang's House

Svane Apoteket (the Swan Pharmacy) operated on the ground floor from 1666 to 2014. It is now a shop and museum. The original wooden ceiling, painted with plants and animals used for curing illness and disease, is intact as are some of the cabinets, counters and furniture from its early days. 

Entrance to the Swan Pharmacy

Cabinets, Swan Pharmacy

Ceiling decorations in Swan Pharmacy

Next to Jens Bang's house is an older, three story residence, built in 1616 by Bang's older half-brother and mayor at the time, Jørgen Olufsen. Constructed mainly of sandstone, it also has a striking half-timbered section. 

Jørgen Olufsen's House

Although it was nippy and the sky was totally gray when I left Mantra at 9:30, by early afternoon, the sun had appeared, and I returned to the boat to do laundry. By the time the first load was hung on the life lines, the clouds had clumped up and obscured the golden, warm orb once again. Within ten minutes of hanging out the second load, it started to rain! How did people here dry clothes before the advent of dryers? Did they just put on damp clothes and hope their body heat would dry them? Quickly before the downpour, I gathered all the clothing, which held about the same amount of moisture as the when they came out of the washing machine, even the ones that had been blowing in the wind for over an hour.

The cities operate the harbors where we have stayed. There is an easy and efficient payment system accessed with a smart phone. There are very clean restroom and showers (free at this place) and laundry facilities. We looked around yesterday evening and could not find the laundry. Peter has now found out it is in the adjacent marina a short walk away. As soon as the load of sheets finishes washing, we will haul all the wet things over there. I walked through that marina on my way back from the city and discovered there are many restaurants by it, so we may have dinner out again while we wait for dry clothes. 

Meanwhile, Peter had tested the new Garmin radar before installation and it is working properly. A young technician with a cherry picker arrived a couple of hours ago, after we had moved Mantra to a better spot for his access, and easily took down the dead radar and put up the new one--before the rain. This problem actually was solved with much more ease than anticipated. 

Removal of the old Garmin radar

Although I have been mildly complaining about the lack of sunshine and the cold, we are not having to endure the condensation, dampness and frigidity inside the boat that we did last year during what is called summer in Maritime Canada, Greenland, Iceland and Scotland. For that I am truly grateful--although I would still prefer a warmer, sunnier climate for sailing. Some days we don't use any heating at all, and on the days we do, it is only for brief periods of time. We only have the two small, portable heaters now as the heating and A/C unit died earlier this year. Fortunately, they are sufficient.

Lazy Times on the Limfjord

As usual, it was a partially sunny day in Denmark on Sunday, June 14. (I have read that average hours of sunshine per day is only a paltry six hours. How do people live like that?) After breakfast, Peter and I visited the remaining structures of Dueholm Monastery, a former holy site and then manor house which is now a museum about ancient cultures, fishing, seafaring,,and development of the market town Nykøbing Mors. 

Dueholm Monastery

Dueholm Monastery was founded in the late 14th century by the Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitailer, the sixth to be established in Denmark. The order was founded in connection with the Crusades, and its monasteries were created across Europe to raise funds for defending Christianity in the Holy Land. The hospital services provided a lucartive source of income. During the Reformation in Denmark in 1536, the monasteries' estates were confiscated by the Crown. The monks were allowed to stay but could accept no new members. The last prior of Dueholm died in 1559.

The monastery was converted into a royal fief and was leased to wealthy landlords, and there were  periods of time in the 17th century it was also occupied by Imperial German troops and later by Swedish soldiers. The Crown sold Dueholm in 1664, and subsequently the estate changed hands frequently. Beginning in 1752, a family named Tøttrup expanded and improved the property over four generations. After 1845, however, the estate was subdivided and sold off; by 1898, only the courtyard, the garden and a small meadow remained. Plans were made to demolish the remaining buildings. Morsland's Historical Museum, established in 1901, raised funds and purchased the main building, opening in 1909. The museum acquired the surrounding buildings during the 29\0th century, and they are now also used for exhibitions.

We enjoyed the various rooms with exhibits and recreations of rooms throughout the museum, including one which had samples of and explained the production of local faience in factories on Mors. In an outbuilding was the best stuff, prehistoric artifacts found on the island from the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages and the Viking era, including the remains of a Stone Age dug out canoe, burial items, including the tibia bone of an Iron Age man with clear evidence of a severe and untreated fracture which must have made one leg shorter than the other. There are also a large collection of flint axe heads and spear points, swords, pottery fragments and gorgeous large-stone amber jewelry. 

Seafaring exhibits

Kitchen as it would have been when the monastery was an estate mansion

Flint tools and pottery

Amber necklaces 

Bronze Age swords

Stone Age dugout canoe

After spending time at the museum, we stopped at a nearby supermarket for a few provisions and returned to the boat. After lunch, we cast off the dock around 3 p.m. and mostly motored the short distance to the island of Fur. The island is linked to the mainland by a 24-hour ferry that takes about 3 minutes to cross and runs every 15 minutes during most of the daylight hours. 

We walked along the waterfront, past open fields with views of the Limfjord, toward the small village of Nederby, passing small, colorful metal sculpted and painted fish. These fish--there are about 70 throughout the island--have been arriving every year in May since 2008 and are created by local artists. This outdoor art exhibit fosters hunts by both islands (about 700 people) and tourists to find the most.

Fish sculpture

Fish sculpture made of beer cans

Danish themed fish

Fish by the pedestrian pathway

We stopped at Fur Church, a Romanesque structure originally built in the early 12th century. Later, we learned from a man on the next boat in the harbor that the church is unlocked and we could have walked in. It did not matter, because we were so impressed by the meticulous maintenance, colorful flowers, trimmed shrubbery and partially polished memorial stones arranged in small plots with gravel pathways in a grid pattern dividing them. We had never seen such a beautiful cemetery. (The next day a Danish friend told us that the Fur churchyard is typical of Danish burial grounds.)

Icelandic horses on Fur

Wildflowers along the bike and pedestrian trail to Nederby

Fur Church

Fur Cemetery

The island of Fur consists of a unique geological formation and is renowned for its deposits of moler, which is one-third clay and two-thirds diatomite. It is quarried and two factories on the island process the moler. Fossil hunting is a popular activity on the island, with some dating back more than 55 million years. We planned to visit them on Monday morning. Unfortunately for us, the sites were not within walking distance of the harbor, the bike rental place was closed, and the bus we hoped to catch drove by in the opposite direction. Since it was Monday, the fossil museum in Nederby was closed. 

Thwarted in our desire to see and possibly collect fossils, we were nonetheless happy because we had just received an email from a couple whom we had contacted earlier in the day. In 2019, we met Karl and Agnieszka in the Guna Yala in Panama. They were on a steel boat and getting ready to go through the Panama Canal and continue on their planned around-the-world cruise. After making the passage, COVID and problems with their boat compelled them to abandon their plans, sell their boat and return to Denmark, where they have now settled in a lovely late-19th century brick house in the country side near Thyholm, which we had passed a couple days previously. Anyway, they were available to get together with us after 3 p.m., so we quickly returned to Mantra, cast off at 11 a.m. and headed west. 

In terms of sailing, it was excellent day to be out. The sun was shining and it was relatively warm. Within 20 minutes of leaving Fur, we were sailing on a close reach in 15-20 knot southwest winds, making fast progress on the calm water for four hours, reaching Oddesund Nord Havn just as our friends arrived to take our lines. 

They came on board for afternoon drinks, cheese and crackers, and we exchanged stories of what we have doing for the last six and a half years. After that, we toured a little around the beautiful countryside in their car and then went to their house, which is a lovely place which they have made their own. In addition to the bright living spaces, the house includes a gallery and their workshops. Karl is a woodturner and Agnieszka is a chainsaw artist and painter. Their gallery also includes paintings by a former resident who was an artist. Stretching to the horizon from their patio and backyard are views of woods and wheat fields. It is the epitome of bucolic. 

Agnieskza, Karl, Sherri and Peter by Mantra

View from Karl and Agnieszka's patio

We went to the city of Struer on the south side of the Limfjord for a pleasant dinner at the only restaurant they could find that was open on a Monday. After our meal, we walked a bit on the pedestrian streets lined with modern buildings and shops before they dropped us off at the harbor. What a delight it was for all of us to get together!

This morning, we cast off while wearing multiple layers of clothing to fend off the cold, with pearly gray-bottomed cumulous clouds allowing sunlight to peek through for a minute or two once or twice an hour. For hours, the sailing was great. We did not use the engine until we approached Logstør, where there is a bridge and the Limfjord narrows. The sun had come out! We had to wait almost an hour for a bridge opening. 

After we passed through at 2:30 p.m., I took watch. I had stayed below for the hours of bleak coldness. Peter took a brief nap as I maneuvered our boat along the marked channel leading to Aalborg, where we docked at Skudenhavnen at 6 p.m., right in front of a former furniture factory that is now a huge eatery with 16 street food vendors and outdoor seating. Two preschoolers enjoyed watching us dock and we invited them on board. They were so excited. The little boy was not sure he wanted to leave.

Visiting children with Peter

Visiting children disembarking

We bought Italian food at Street Food and ate inside (because we are not Scandinavian!). In addition to the vendors and a bar, there is setting for 600 people, arcade games, comfortable lounging areas and music on some nights.  Tomorrow we explore Aalborg, Denmark's fourth largest city.

Street Food interior

Nykøbing Mors, North Jutland, Denmark

After lying in bed enjoying the warmth, followed by a great breakfast of mushroom omelet and avocado with toast, we set a route to Nykøbing Mors from Lem Vig and pulled up anchor at 11:25 a.m. this morning. In the shelter of the anchorage, it was chilly and overcast, but the west wind was only blowing at 8 knots. As soon as we got out on the open water of the Limfjord, it picked up to 22 knots, and there were 1 to 2 foot choppy waves. We set the genoa with the engine but then cut the engine at noon because the sailing conditions were excellent and we were moving at 6.5 knots with just the foresail. 

Sherri at the wheel dressed for the weather

Around 1 p.m., we arrived at the Oodesund Bridge, having read it opens twice an hour at 15 after the hour and 15 before. This may be true in the high season, which has not started yet, but, unfortunately, it only opens at 15 before the hour right now, so the bridge tender told us we had plenty of time for a cup of coffee! Not being coffee drinkers, we had a lunch of crackers, cheese and fruit while we waited for 40 minutes and drifted to the west of the bridge. 

After we were to the east of the bridge, we raised the main sail with three reefs. Along with the genoa, we sailed at a speed of 5.5 knots on a broad reach. The wind had dropped to 12-16 knots, but there were still gusts over 20.

At 4:30, we arrived at Nykøbing Mors Marina and Yacht Club, where some people on the wharf helped us tie up. The docking fees here in Denmark are fairly inexpensive (about $20 a day plus additional fees for showers or laundry). 

After Peter had a cup of tea and we tidied up the boat, we walked into town. First, we walked along part of the waterfront, past boats of the Limfjord fishing fleet. In front of them is a granite sculpture carved by local artists from a single piece of granite, with the negative space shaped like an anchor. Then we strolled up the wide pedestrian street running perpendicular to the harbor and found it entirely deserted at 6 p.m. on a Saturday evening. The usual dinner hour for Danes is 5:30 to 6:30, so maybe everyone was home eating?

Part of the fishing fleet

Anchor sculpture on the wharf

We walked by through Kirketorvet Square, where there was an interesting sculpture entitled "Drinking Horse." On the far side of the plaza was Nykøbing Mors Kirke (also known as Sankt Clemens Kirke), which was constructed in 1891 on the site of a previous church. A sign outside in Danish we interpreted to mean that the church was open; we were able to figure that out because there were mostly numbers and I figured that "åben" in Danish was close enough to "abierto" in Spanish. We walked into a light-filled sanctuary with a distinctively painted wooden ceiling and a lovely altar. As we were leaving we noticed a strange wooden sculpture of Christ shaped like a seat against a wall just inside the doors to the sanctuary. It was created and placed there in 2001. We found it particularly weird as everything else in the sanctuary was elegant and serene.

Drinking Horse

Nykøbing Mors Kirke

Interior, Nykøbing Mors Kirke

Detail of ceiling over the altar

Strange sculpture of Christ

Our next stop was a restaurant called Cafe Sult, where Peter enjoyed a quite large pot of steamed mussels with dill and green onion. (I had an acceptable veggie burger and fries.)

Peter with his meal

We then strolled for about an hour through Sønderherreds Plantage (Plantation), which includes a landscaped area with ponds and flower beds but mostly consists of open fields and wooded areas crisscrossed by several paths. The forest blocked the west wind. The deciduous trees, still leafed in spring shades of green, provided shelter and quietude. 

Flower bed in Sønderherreds Plantage

Oyster Girl sculpture

Peter walking through the woods

Around 10 p.m., before sunset, we returned to the dock, checked out the nice marina facilities and returned to Mantra for the night. Tomorrow morning we will visit a museum here in Nykøbing Mors and then sail the short distance to a smaller island, Fur.