The tour hit the road again today and our first destination was Roskilde to visit a Viking Ship Museum and a cathedral. The ship museum houses 5 Viking ships that were excavated from the sea near Roskilde. There are also replicas of the ships outside in the harbor. It’s amazing to realize that these small ships were built well enough around 1000 AD to sail the high seas of the Baltic, North Sea and even the Atlantic.

We walked from the museum into town to get lunch. We didn’t have a lot of time so Dick and I decided to get some lunch items at the grocery store and we ate in the square next to the cathedral. The streak of fantastic weather continues! The cathedral is where the kings and queens of Denmark are buried (most of them) and a sepulcher has already been designed for a space there.

The next destination was a ferry that took us to the island of Ærø. It was a beautiful day to be on the water. After about an hour, the bus rolled off the ferry and we got off to take our luggage into town. We split into smaller groups to stay at two inns. Six of us stayed at an inn that includes a movie theatre in the bottom floor, a cafe in the back and a bike rental also in the back. The owner is British and has travelled all over the world. The decor is very eclectic and there are a lot of interesting photos, paintings and objects throughout the building. I loved it!

The group met up again for a tour given by a local who told us how this island has come back to life over the past ten years. His wife started a thriving wedding business that’s been written about by major newspapers and has become quite famous. It’s prospered because it’s relatively easy to be legally married in Denmark and the island is so pretty and relatively easy to get to. They also renovated a space for a cafe that was volunteer run for three years. Other businesses have sprung up and tourism has become a major part of the local economy.

One of the restaurants prepared a traditional Danish holiday meal for us which consisted of roast pork, warm cabbage, potatoes and pickles followed by a dessert of berry compote with cream. So good!