Top of Denmark

October 5, 2012

If you head west from copenhagen you will cross a bridge onto Fyn. 

And if you go west from Fyn, you'll hit Jutland. 

And if you go north in Jutland, you'll hit Aalborg, denmarks 2nd largest city.

And if you go further north, you'll hit a little down called Skagen.

And if you take a bus and tractor trip even further north, you will hit Grenen.

Grenen is the most northerly point of Denmark and represents the point where the Baltic Sea collides with the North Sea in a fairly spectacular fashion. Since Grenen is little more than a lighthouse, however, the main town in the area is called Skagen.

So the photo doesn't do it justice, but there is a really distinct line where the two oceans meet. 

I wandered a little too far out into the oceans!

Since Grenen is little more than a lighthouse, however, the main town in the area is called Skagen.

Skagen is so picturesque it hurts. It is nestled among a vast plain of sandy dunes and wild grasses - a result of desertification which has affected the region. The desertification is so bad, that there is actually a roving sand dune (the Rabjerg Mile) which traipses around the north at a rate of 10-20m a year. In fact, there are plans underway to make a new highway because the sand dune is expected to cover the current road into Skagen in the not too distant future. Because that seems like a reasonable and proportionate response to sand. 

All of the houses in Skagen follow one simple formula - pale yellow, with white beams. It makes for an adorable wander around the tiny town centre. Down by the harbour, there are distinct red-and-white sheds (for lack of a better word), with red-bottomed boats (when we were there there was a boat with a grey bottom, which, quote "just isn't right").

The harbour huts.

There isn't too much more to write. The entire town fits on a handful of pixels in Google maps, even when zoomed in, however this town, the most northerly point in Denmark is still an easy 6-8 hour drive from Copenhagen. It really brings it home how completely tiny Denmark really is.

Houses in Skagen

Noticing the theme?

Autumn in Copenhagen means pumpkins. 

Everywhere.

 As we were wandering around the town, the most amazing lolly smells kept on wafting around, and after a *lot* of hopefully sniffing the air, we managed to find the source, where we watched the confectioners hand-making delicious, delicious rock candy!