More about Skagen; Valön island, Öckerö island and Gothenburg, Sweden

On Monday, June 22, our first stop was the Swedish church in Skagen, built in 1925. In the first half of the 20th century, Skagen Harbor was widely used by Swedish fishermen, and the church was built so that the fishermen could have a place to stay when they were away from their homeland. It also was intended to deter them from mischief.

The Swedish Church in Skagen

The interior and the chatty minister, Swedish Church

We rented bikes at the Skagen Harbour Hotel and received a lot of helpful information, maps and guides from the receptionist. We out of town and cycled north. On the way, we passed the conical stack of dead trees and branches for the bonfire later that evening. On top, human-sized, was an effigy of a witch with a red cloak, representing evil. We arrived at the Grey Lighthouse, built in 1858 to replace the White Lighthouse (1747) in Skagen, which is 1.6 kilometers southwest of the new one, due to the ever-growing length of the peninsula.

The Grey Lighthouse

Peddling onward, we passed the ruins of German bunkers from WWII, part of the Atlantic Wall, an extensive system of coastal fortifications built by Nazi Germany between 1942 and 1944 along the coast of continental Europe and Scandinavia, from the Spanish border up to Norway, as a defense against an anticipated Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe. The defensive wall was never fully completed, but about 15,000 steel-reinforced concrete structures were constructed, including machine gun emplacements, anti-tank casemates, heavy artillery fire control posts, munitions stores, observation posts, troop shelters and communications bunkers. Although some were destroyed after the war, many are still visible as derelict structures all along the coast, and we have encountered many. In Skagen, there is a Bunker Museum, but we did not take the time to visit since it was so nice outside.

Ruins of a German bunker

We parked out bikes at the end of the road and joined a few hundred other tourists walking along the beach on the east side of the peninsula, encountering beached jellies in many colors and a European viper, squiggling through the sand. The peninsula narrows to a sharp point where the more calm Kattegat Sea (part of the Baltic) meets the Skagerrak Sea (part of the North Sea). A swirl of waves extends out from the end of the land at Gremen. Many people waded out along the line of two bodies of water connecting. We continued on, walking along the Skagerrak, where there were many fewer people and eventually returned across the vegetated dunes to the Kattegat, where we took to our bikes again.

Gremen beach on Kattegat side

Jellies washed to the shore

European viper

Where the seas meet

Skagerrat Sea shore

Brush and grass covered dunes on the peninsula

Gremen is the tip of Denmark, but it is not the northernmost point. That is Nordstrand. We cycled there and set on a large piece of weathered-to-white driftwood for a snack while listening to the little waves dissipating on the shore.

Nordstrand 

Near Nordstrand is Skagen Odde Naturecenter. We arrived about 45 minutes before it closed but had enough time to watch the film and see some of the exhibits, which include not just natural history but local Scandinavian architecture and design. 

As we cycled and walked throughout the day, we were often surrounded by bird song and occasionally saw the animals producing the melodies and calls. Most of them hid among the grasses and brush. At Gremen, we were lucky to have close encounter with a species in bunting family, the yellowhammer, a lovely yellow and brown bird; it was a new lifer for us!

Yellowhammer

We spent a couple hours resting on the boat and then walked along the wharf and past the yellow houses to reach Vippefyret, the bascule light originally constructed in 1627 as a navigational aid, serving until 1747 when the White Lighthouse was put into operation. (The current structure is a copy on the original site.) It was Denmark's first bascule light with an open fire basket. The basket was lowered to ground level and filled with combustible material which is then ignited. When the light was raised again, it could be seen for 26 kilometers (14 nautical miles). No longer in use for navigation, it is lighted and raised once a year as part of the local midsummer festivities on St. John's Eve. These festivities were the main reason we chose to visit Skagen.

Vippefyret and people out for St. John's Eve festivities

Vippefyret was already lit when we arrived shortly after 8 p.m. There was a program of events including speeches and songs that was scheduled to begin then. About 20 minutes later, from a stage near the Vippefyret dune, a woman with a sweet voice began to sing melodic and peaceful tunes, which we could hear from the spot we chose on the dune in front of the bonfire site, looking out to sea. There were poems and speeches and more songs, almost like traditional hymns in style. People continued to gather until there was a couple thousand. I was surprised that there was no line in the sand or any kind of indication of how far away from the dry wood and the witch the people should be; everyone seemed to keep a safe distance without instruction or enforcement. People were mingling and chatting but not partying. It was a low-key event. Five firefights in gear arrived about 9:15 but it was another 20 minutes before the pile was ignited. There was no roar from the crowd, no "Oooh's" or "Aaah's" No one was inebriated; few people were even drinking. We were quite surprised; we had anticipated rowdy partying. However, we liked the quiet ambience of a community coming together to watch evil dispelled with the smoke as the witch's clothes, and then her cross structure and and finally all of her burned away.

People waiting patiently on the beach. Can you spot Peter?

The witch

The firefighters arriving

Igniting the fire

The bonfire reaches the witch

The witch reduced to a skeleton

The bonfire continues

The next day, Wednesday, June 24, it was good-bye to Denmark and hello to Sweden. We were getting ready for departure when John and his 13 young students came by. It was the last week of school, and they were on an outing and had come to see his boat. They all came aboard for a short time, and we cast off the dock at noon. 

Sherri and Peter with John's class on Mantra

With wind at 7-10 knots, we tried and failed to sail northeast, but the engine carried us to the island of Valön, part of the Bohuslän archipelago, a stunning group of about 8,000 islands and skerries stretching along Sweden's picturesque west coast from Gothenburg to the Norwegian border. It would have been wonderful to spend some time exploring this area, but the Schengen Agreement limits us to 90 days in continental Europe. We dropped anchor for the night around 6 p.m., enjoyed the tranquility, watched the sunset at 10:30, and went to bed, enjoying the subtle swaying of the boat at anchor.

Anchorage at Valön

Sunset at Valön

The next morning (Thursday, June 25), we weighed anchor at 10:40 and sailed south among the numerous little islands for three hours; the channel narrowed and was criss-crossed with yellow ferries, and we furled the sails and turned on the engine. We arrived on the island of Öckerö at 2 p.m. Waiting to catch our lines on the municipal dock were Leif and Marie Anderson, parents of the wife (Louise) of the son (Ian) of our very good friend (Paula in San Francisco). We had met them before in San Francisco, so they were not total strangers. After coming aboard briefly, they left to do errands. Lief returned around 4 p.m. to pick us up and drive us the short distance to their remarkably lovely house, surrounded by a colorful garden and with great views of the water. Marie had laid out an array of hors d'oeuvre, which we enjoyed with conversation. Then she presented dinner, with baked cod for the carnivores and homemade and delicious veggie patties for me, accompanied by several well-prepared vegetables. This was followed by a rich dessert of chocolate cake with cream and strawberries. Leif and Marie are extremely nice people, and we so appreciate their arranging docking for us and entertaining and feeding us in the lovely home.

Yellow ferry crossing in front of Mantra

We were off again the next morning (Friday, June 26), destination Gothenberg, which we reached in under three hours, arriving at 12:45 p.m. We only had a day to explore, so after lunch we went ashore. 

Peter was still exasperated with Garmin and the fact that charts would not download. He talked with a representative, who fortunately seemed knowledgeable; he advised Peter to buy new storage cards, so our first stop in the city was the enormous and popular mall directly across from the city marina. Then we went to the visitors center, where we obtained a map and guidebook and a lot of advise. Before setting off to the suggested places, we had ice cream by the equestrian statue of King Charles (Karl) IX, who reigned from 1604 to 1611. He established the original fortified town at the strategic location at the mouth of the Göta River for trade and defense.

Peter by equestrian statue of King Charles (Karl) IX

We walked the short distance to Trädgårdsföreningen, a park and horticultural center. The park was founded in 1842 by King Carl XIV Johan and includes an acclaimed rose garden with about 4,000 roses of 1,900 species. There is also a 19th-century palm house as well as greenhouses and sculptures. There were many delightful things to see, including the giant water lilies the size and shape of kiddie wading pools. 

Peter in the greenhouse by the giant water lilies

The greenhouse at Trädgårdsföreningen

Rose and other flowers

Statue in the rose garden

Lilies and other plants by a small pond and waterfall

Roses and trellises

Flowers and woods

After visting the ⁨Trädgårdsföreningen, we strolled past the university. We stopped to see the Haga Kyrka from the outside. (It was closed.) In the open area around the church we found a memorial to the hero Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who saved thousands of Jews and others in German-occupied Hungary during the Holocaust from the Nazis and Hungarian fascists during WWII.

Haga Kyrka

Memorial to Raoul Wallenberg

From there we walked to Haga, the oldest suburb of Gothenburg, established in the 17th century. It is famous for its well-preserved 19th-century wooden houses and cobblestone streets. The neighborhood features a distinctive architectural style known as landshövdingehus, with the ground floor made of brick or stone and the two upper floors made of wood, as required by 19th-century fire regulations. We found a restaurant with high ratings and at al fresco. Luckily for me, it was one of those places where the chef puts as much effort into creating delicious and different vegetarian entrees as the meat and fish main courses.

Haga neighborhood

After dinner, we climbed the hill Risåsberget to the redoubt Skansen Kronan, which was built to protect the city from possible Danish attack. Construction started in 1687 and the fortification was commissioned in 1698 and equipped with 23 guns. Huge stones of granite, gneiss and diabase were used to create the 4-5 meter thick walls. The redoubt was never attacked and the guns were never fired for military use. There are great views from the top of the hill.

Skansen Kronan

View from Risåsberget

We took a tram to the Gothenbrug Botanical Gardens, one of the largest botanical gardens in Europe. It was started in the early 20th century and opened to the public inn 1923. We visited various areas, including the greenhouse, the herb garden, the bamboo thicket, the fern hollow, and the perennial garden. The garden is always open; we left, after many hours of sight-seeing, at 10 p.m., making it back to Mantra, after some confusion about the location of the bus stop, at 11 p.m., where we dropped into bed.

Peter ran some errands the next morning, Saturday, June 27, and we both used the shower facilities of the marina. Peter ran onto the boat at 11:25 and asked if we could make the opening of the bridge just upstream of the marina at 11:35. We scampered around quickly and made it! Thus began our trip across Sweden via the Trollhättan and Göta Canals, with lakes in between large enough for whole days of sailing.

And that's where we are now, on Lake Vanern. Tomorrow I will continue.