The Summer House on Kegnæs Island

On Saturday, June 27th, we went out early to the island of Kegnæs to stay at Dennis' family's summer house. This place is for relaxing and enjoying the weather and sea. When we arrived, we were told that the small cabin would be where Dennis and I would be staying. This "Little Mosebo" or "little moor" as they call it was a quite spacious little cabin, and we were very excited to be saying in it. The remaining Kristensens: Erik, Anni and Anette, went into the house to unload their belongings.
The weather was getting warm, so Dennis and I decided to take a walk down to the shore to see if the water was warm enough for swimming. The breeze was a bit strong and cool at times, so it was important for us to check the temperature of the water first. We soon discovered that it wasn't quite right for swimming, so we walked a bit before returning back to the house. Our path up to the house was grassy in between fields of wild flowers, grains and other summer houses. Many of them were occupied by renters from Germany, who had families and children. Since the nationality was primarily Danish, you could see many Danish flags at each house.

As we returned to the house, we all sat down to a typical Danish lunch, which consisted of sliced or spreadable meats and cheeses, a few fresh fruits and vegetables and remoulade, which is like mayo but made of cabbage. Our lunch also had mackerel in tomato sauce as well as hard boiled eggs. We placed the item of choice on a piece of multi-grain bread and ate them as open-faced sandwiches. It was very tasty and very appropriate for such a warm day. A warmer, bigger meal would have been too much for such a day. After lunch, we all decided to play a game of crocket, which I have not played since I was a very young girl. It was fun, since my competitors are very easy-going, but I would have to say that after playing two games, I was the last to finish both times. It was quite comical, but the day was so pleasant that I didn't really seem to mind. After crocket came nap time. We all laid out in the sun, but instead of just bathing, we all fell asleep. We all got some sort of sunburn, but I would say that Anette and my sunburns were the worst. Hers was on the face, and mine was on my chest and shoulders. Ouch!!! It just hurts sitting here doing nothing.

After the nap, we had a light snack of koldskål, which looks like cereal, but doesn't taste like it. You have some type of cream or lemony-milky stuff, which is poured into a bowl. Then you put little shortbread cookies on top. The cookies were delicious, but the milk must be an acquired taste. We then decided to get a bit of exercise after dinner and took a walk along the beach and through another part of the area. It was getting a bit cooler outside with the sun behind the clouds, but it was a great night for a walk. We also took time for photos and to look for sea shells. The shore was covered with little white shells, some blue muscle shells, parts of crabs and lots of seaweed.

Small Bike Ride in Fynshav (June 26, 2009)

Today, Dennis and I woke a bit later than usual, 10am...well not for Dennis...and we tried out his parents' bikes. We are planning to take a long, bike trip across a few different islands in a few days, and we wanted to make sure that they bikes worked okay for us. Dennis' dad gave us a route to take, and we started off going south to Blommeskobbel. Fynshav is a very small, coastal town on the island of Als, so it wasn't difficult to reach the nature path that lead south. The path was called Alsstien, which began grassy, cutting through wheat fields. The day was breezy but sunny and about 75 degrees. We had great views of Lillebaelt, which is "little straight" a water way that connects the North Sea with the Baltic. It was a perfect day for cycling.

We shortly approached a forested area which had very tall trees. There were also parts of the path that ran along the water's edge, where we stopped many times to take pictures. Though the temperature was cooler in the forest, there was considerably less wind, which made biking easier. The areas around the sea; however, where much more windy and cold. We stopped long enough to take pictures and to enjoy the scenery! The forest didn't last long, and we were soon out of it and back into the fielded areas. They seemed to stretch to the sea and for as far as the eye could see. The strong wind caused large waves that pounded the sea, but it only lightly touched the tops of the grain as we rode by. We then approached another forested area which was much more impressive.

As we entered the Bloomeskobbel Forest , I noticed an area with rather large rocks. Dennis remember that it was an old Viking graveyard. We saw that there was a sign and went up to read it. Dennis translated since it was all in Danish. He had remembered the site from when he was younger, but he still read to me from the sign. Two huge long barrows measuring 53 and 34 metres, each with 2 burial chambers, lie side by side in the northern part of the forest. We went up to these barrows, or stones place on top of burial sites, to have a look. It was quite interesting to me, since I don't know much about Vikings and since Dennis is so proud of Danish history. I took his picture on top of the site because I wanted a picture of my "viking." We walked around a bit more before getting back on our bikes and continuing on the trail. At this point, we had traveled 4km from Fynshav, and we didn't have much more to go before we finished the trail.

We saw many different farm animals, like cows, horses and goats. It was nice to be in nature on the first part of the ride, but we decided to take the much-faster way back, which was the bike path along the main roads. It saved us some time, and I was surprised that it only took us about 15 minutes to return to Fynshav when it took us a little over an hour the other way. Of course, we did stop quite a few times to look around and take pictures, but all in all, it was a nice little ride! The island is a great place to find peace with the surroundings and slower way of living, and it was a nice activity for our first full day in Fynshav.