AUGUST 19, 2023 - SATURDAY - SKAGAN, DENMARK
This is a bittersweet day for us. Skagan is our last port to visit. Tomorrow we disembark in Copenhagen.
As we approached Skagan we could see where the Baltic and North Seas meet. Due to their different densities, the waters do not co-mingle. As a result, there is a visible line where the two meet.
The light line is the meeting of the waters
We found it fascinating, but not fascinating enough to make the trip from town out to walk the beach at the land’s end to see it up close. We could view the waters meeting as we cruised toward the port. We decided to spend time walking around the town, visit the old church, and then walk to the buried church outside of town.
Our walk began at 9:30. The vendors around the square were just starting to open their shops. Many of them push racks down metal ramps over the steps from the streets into the shops. Restaurants were busy serving coffee to some brave souls willing to sit outside on this cool morning.
The shops seemed very nice, but we were not lured in. That is until we found one shop selling canvas bags with delightful expressions printed on them. We did go in and spend some time reading the bags and giggling. “Sorry I’m Late I Didn’t Want to Come” was one of those. As you might guess there were others that were very funny but the language was not suitable for this blog. No, we did not buy any.
We left this shop and headed toward the old church. When we arrived we were the only tourists around. We entered and found the church to be quite lovely. There was a woman and a piano tuner working near the altar. Alice and I had taken only a few pictures when the lady approached us and told us we would have to leave because they were preparing for a wedding. As we spoke the florist arrived and started bringing in flowers for the wedding. We asked if we could take a few more pictures. She was adamant in denying the request. We thanked her and walked out. She followed us and changed the visiting hours sign to Closed.
We made our way toward the harbor through a very nice neighborhood. These were very well kept. We have come to expect that in Europe, so this was no exception. Our goal was to visit the tourist information office. The signs we followed took us past city hall and a block later to the waterfront. We marveled at the size of the fishing vessels docked here. They were huge. We turned away from the water and there was the tourist office, directly behind us.
A young man greeted us. After learning that we wanted to visit the buried church he marked the way on the map and assured us that it would be a pleasant walk. He said he had seen us looking at the fishing boats and told us that they were the largest in the world. While we have no way to confirm that, we have no reason to doubt it. He explained that he was from a town quite far away and that this was a summer job for him. He was a senior in high school and his English was very good. He did not know what college he might go to, and he had not decided what he wanted to study. We thanked him, wished him well, and went on our way.
We deviated slightly from the prescribed route by walking a block closer to the harbor. This kept us in sight of the boats and we made our way past a number of marine servicing businesses. The size of the pumps, motors, and tools displayed in the windows was commensurate with the size of the vessels. Alice and I decided that a stop at a WC would be prudent before leaving the town for the mile-and-a-half walk to the church. There were WC’s marked on the map but none were obviously on our path. It turned out that the closest one was inside a locked area of the harbor. We moved over to the route marked on our map. After a short walk, we saw a man outside a shop. We asked him about a WC and found that his English was not so good. He took us to a woman inside. She understood our needs quite well and directed us to their restrooms. We had entered an ice cream shop/restaurant. As we were preparing to leave we noticed a sign thanking visitors for coming to the Swedish Seamen’s Church. We were in the basement of the church set on the hill above the street. We had not even noticed the church. What a fortunate turn of events. We spent some time visiting the church then we walked on.
In town, the walk was paved and easy to walk. On the edge of town, the path turned to sand and gravel. This was remarkably easy to negotiate but we were happy that it was not raining. That would have made for a muddy trek. St. Lawrence Church was built in the mid-1300s. In the mid-1700s, the dunes surrounding the church overwhelmed it and blocked the entrance with sand. After twenty years of the congregation shoveling sand away from the entrance the church was demolished and only the bell tower was left standing. Today it is a mile and a half walk from the town to visit the church. You can enter the church and even climb the steeple. That climb is not for the fait of heart. It is many steps up a staircase so narrow that it is one way in many spots. The ground level today is considerably higher than the original. The remains of the stairway that would have led to the original ground floor is filled with sand.
We followed the path back to town and made our way to the shuttle stop for our ride back to the ship. About halfway back we admired but did not enter a good-looking windmill museum. Fortunately, there was a shuttle waiting and we boarded right away. As we waited for the bus to depart we talked about what a lovely visit this had been. We also talked about the last minute packing we would have to do. The heavy lifting was done yesterday so there really were only a few things left to add.
Our remaining time onboard today was spent bidding farewell to new friends, staff, and crew. In the morning we have a 9:00 AM transfer to the Copenhagen airport. It was great to be able to spend this time at leisure because we had been so productive yesterday at sea.
1 comment:
What a lovely town and Church!I enjoyed learning about the buried church as well. The pix are great and as you can see, I started with your last day first so there is much more for me to enjoy. Thanks Pat.
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