Day 6 – North Bornholm, Hammerhus ruins

Last day on Bornholm, so off to see Hammerhus – the oldest medieval castle ruins or is it the largest??  It's up on the north end of Bornholm and yes another wonderful blue sky warm day, 

the west coast along a cycle track that goes thru a variety of forests – maybe sycamore trees just opening pale green leaves, there were dark pines plus the common lime green-leafed trees (oak?) with their carpet of last year’s golden leaves… 

An old gardener (from a resort along the way) came over to talk to me in Danish (or was it Bornholm ? – they do have their own language!) & with a bit of sign language, he shoosed me off to another smaller path/track to Hasle – walking track actually but I took his word for it and away I went.  I thought of Karina along this path – "but we’re in the middle of nowhere and it’s just a tiny track" :P but it was fine and eventually I re-joined the main drag just on the edge of Hasle.

Hasle has been long known for its fish smokehouses and there was a sign saying coffee too, so I went and ordered a cappuccino…  I don’t think many do, so the machine wasn’t on – but they didn’t bother to tell me this….  So I waited for abso ages, just hanging out for a coffee. 

It was at this point that the wind started up, but as I was riding in mostly protected areas, it wasn’t bothering me and I had my light jumper so all was fine.  The path was right along the edge of the coast going in and out of forests, crop land and back thru fishing villages.  Actually, there were hills and a couple of places really steep, one with stairs alongside the path, making it easier to push the bike up…

Found a great little thatched waterwheel house and a seat so stopped for lunch.  but when I headed off around the corner and out of the forest – I witnessed winter arriving!  Wah????  Did I bring my jacket??  Of course not?  Any winter clothes? Nup, they were still at the B&B!!  yoikes…  the sky was grey and very low clouds looking like mist, but not quite were being blasted over the island….  Yep the gods are cranky now! 

But eventually, struggling against the bitter cold wind!!  I arrived at Hammerhus…  check it out on Google – it’s quite impressive and the ominous weather definitely added some atmosphere.  The biggest downfall was 3 busloads of high-school kids that must shout, and crowd the kiosk and café with their ice-cream orders or hot chocolate (grumpy old woman).  But I was able to buy one of those light plastic raincoats (and a hot chocolate as well!) so at least, if it started to rain, it might help a little!

Anyways braved the blasting wind – and I mean blasting, it was difficult to stand upright – I checked out the ruins – they are being renovated/repaired/conserved etc so there was some scaffolding but the ruins made one wonder how anyone could live in such a wild windswept place.  Sure – a great vantage point to keep the marauding Vikings at bay – and I am sure they would have had doors and shutters on the window, but on this day – it was fierce!

So to get back to Rønne – as the wind would be mostly from behind, I opted to be blown back along the road instead of the winding up and down bike path – at least to Hasle.  And in next to no time, but with some hassles I arrived in Hasle.  The cross winds were the worst and a couple of times I had to gently hit the brakes to get control, to avoid being blown off the road.  I could feel the bike being zinked sideways for a few centimetres.  Totally scary, but at least it wasn’t raining and the raincoat did keep some of the bitter cold wind at bay, even tho it flapped and rustled rather loudly!

So I cruised back into Rønne, wobbled around the old town with its cobblestones, where once again the sun was shining and the sky was blue, but the wind was still blowing a gale and bitter cold still!!  checked out the church as one does and cussed when the wind blew old Maggie over and shattered the rear-vision mirror…  grrrr.. 

Went to several eating establishments looking for something vegetarian that wasn’t green leaves and a slice of tomato, but nothing here nothing there.  Texas was full, but I ended up in a steak bistro where I had asparagus soup and mushrooms sautéed in butter – both entrees but along with a Svaneke beer hit the spot just perfectly.  Obviously Bornholm doesn’t do vegetarian….  But I survived.

It was time to collect my panniers from Den Lilla Hotel and head off to the ferry to go back to Sweden again.  Loved Bornholm, beautiful always, but the freezing cold wind reminded me that spring in Scandinavia can be quite variable.

Do you want to see some pics??  again, you might have to wait for captions - I have to check my route to Kristianstad - (btw just for fun - do a google translate on the name Kristianstad and listen to how they say it - explains why they all smile when we say it sensible way !!)