Hi Hi (Goodbye)

There's the plane, our ride home. Flying here from Chicago on SAS was
a pleasure and the flight went quick. Hopefully going home will be
the same.

Besides the pickpocket, my trip was great. Denmark and Sweden are
great countries and I would love to come back. But if I plan to ride
my bike or camp I will wait till summer. We were super lucky and
experienced the warmest, sunniest and driest weather Denmark and
Sweden have seen in 100 years. And today as we prepare to leave the
weather is cool and overcast for the first time in a week.

The lack of useless gift shops is ironic and maybe a fitting
farewell. I don't know if it was hard to find gift shops and tshirt
shops because summer wasn't yet here or because it's something the
Danes and Swedes don't do compared to Americans. I think it's the
latter but either way I hit the airport hoping to find a tshirt and
some other gifts. But to my surprise I couldn't even find a gift
store at the airport.

Instead the international departure terminal was full of alcohol,
perfume, clothes and even a nice lingere display. Why worry about
worthless junk when you can look and feel good with good drinks and
nice clothes.

Hi Hi, Maan Tak (goodbye, thank you very much)

Copenhagen street tax

My last day in Copenhagen ended with a canal tour of Copenhagen. It
was suggested by my friend Katrine who I met several years ago
skiing. She now lives in Copenhagen and joined me on the tour. While
on the tour, Katrine and the boat guide both provided city histories.
I prefered Katrines rendition but we both learned something new from
the boat guide. In old Copenhagen, the buildings are very narrow
because they were taxed by the length if city street they occupied.
It doesn't matter when or where, people always try to avoid being
taxed it seems.

Thanks Katrine for the tour and worlds best hot dog.

Train life

Time was running out so I hopped on the train from Arhus to
Copenhagen. It took 3 hours which would of been 3 days on the bike.
Good thing for trains.

Happy birthday

Travelling just to see the sights is always fun but I enjoy it even
more when I get to meet some locals. So after a great day at
Legoland, Rasmus and Mette let me join them at a friends birthday
party. It was a great party with lots of nice people, delicous food
and nonstop drinks.

World Lego tour

If you never played with Legos you might not understand the interest
in going to Legoland. However, I think most people would love it if
they only went. I know I sure did!!!

I didn't know what Legoland would be like for an adult but I thought
it was awesome and so did many other people of all ages. Legoland
itself is a combination theme park and model brick heaven. Everything
is based on Legos and if possible made from Legos, including life size
people and minature cities.

My favorite part was the minature cities. Using cities from around
the world, the Lego engineers would reproduce cityscapes in Legos.
Just that in itself was awesome because some of the cityscapes were
huge and included millions of Legos. But the Lego engineers even
brought the cities alive by incorporating sound and moving Lego
trains, ships, cars... One of the most impressive things was a series
of ship locks in which ships were raised or lowered as they moved
between cities.

So what's my conclusion. Legoland is a MUST SEE!!!

White Lightning

Many Danes don't have cars thus all the great bicycles and trains.
However Rasmus and Mette do have a car and they fondly refer to it as
"White Lightning" because of it's agressive looks and superb driving
characteristics. Not because it's a white Ford Escape esque station
wagon with 180k plus miles.

They offered me the chance to borrow WL and take her to Legoland. I
didn't want to impose but I said yes because Legoland would take two
days via bike and I only had half a day. After a quick test drive
around the block Rasmus handed me the reins and I was off with White
Lightning.

I love driving and I love biking but each has it's place and time.
White Lightning ran like a champ and without her Legoland would have
been impossible. Thanks Rasmus and Mette.

OK ESN:0-7341053

Bike touring Denmark and Sweden from 240409 thru 030509.
ESN:0-7341053
Latitude:55.4497
Longitude:11.8906
Nearest Location:not known
Distance:not known
Time:05/02/2009 04:54:19 (US/Mountain)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=55.4497,11.8906&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

OK ESN:0-7341053

Bike touring Denmark and Sweden from 240409 thru 030509.
ESN:0-7341053
Latitude:55.3319
Longitude:10.7614
Nearest Location:not known
Distance:not known
Time:05/02/2009 04:35:14 (US/Mountain)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=55.3319,10.7614&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

OK ESN:0-7341053

Bike touring Denmark and Sweden from 240409 thru 030509.
ESN:0-7341053
Latitude:55.7367
Longitude:9.1296
Nearest Location:not known
Distance:not known
Time:05/01/2009 03:41:14 (US/Mountain)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=55.7367,9.1296&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

Arhus - Our House

Last night I arrived in Arhus, home to Rasmus, Mette, Christian and
Han-Henrik who I met in Colorado Springs. They treated me to a great
picnic and have even given me a place to sleep.

I'm so jealous of all my Danish friends because all of them bike to
work in under 10 minutes.

I have picture on my camera-camera that I will post.

Now it's time to go visit the land of plastic blocks :-). Know what I
mean? Wish me lucky, I resting the bike today and driving Rasmus's car.

So lush

I could not have better weather, roads or scenery. Everywhere I go is
gorgeous with either lush fields or forests. It may rain here most of
the winter but it does a good job helping things grow and stay green.

6000km of pedaling

The first thing I saw when riding off the ferry in Grenna, DK was a
map of the North Sea Cycle Route. Some might call it a dream and
others might call it a nightmare but I think all would call it F...ING
LONG!!!

The North Sea route is 6000kms and follows the coasts of Scotland,
England, Netherland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. Yesterday I
rode 60km in the afternoon so at that pace I would need 100 days to
complete the route. I better start saving my vacation and get some
well padded shorts.

Just incase you want to do any route planning here's the website.

http://www.northsea-cycle.com

Cruising the high seas

Was it a cruise ship or ferry?

The ferry from Varberg was many times larger then my last ferry from
Helsingor. On the ferry there were 2 levels for vehicles, a level
with sleeping cabins, a general level with shops, restaurants, casinos
then a top level with outside deck.

It was only 4 hours from Varberg, SE to Grenna, DK but in that time I
imagined what it might of been like for my Swedish grandfather. He
left home and the farm at 15 to become a sailor and then sailed for 12
years.

While we cruised the seas were calm but there was a steady brisk
wind. For most of our crossing you could not see any land. I can
only imagine how scary it might have been on a small wooden ship, in
rough seas and in the middle of a large unforgiving sea.

OK ESN:0-7341053

Bike touring Denmark and Sweden from 240409 thru 030509.
ESN:0-7341053
Latitude:56.1407
Longitude:10.1808
Nearest Location:not known
Distance:not known
Time:04/30/2009 11:03:39 (US/Mountain)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=56.1407,10.1808&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

OK ESN:0-7341053

Bike touring Denmark and Sweden from 240409 thru 030509.
ESN:0-7341053
Latitude:56.1972
Longitude:10.2511
Nearest Location:not known
Distance:not known
Time:04/30/2009 09:54:56 (US/Mountain)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=56.1972,10.2511&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

OK ESN:0-7341053

Bike touring Denmark and Sweden from 240409 thru 030509.
ESN:0-7341053
Latitude:56.367
Longitude:10.5861
Nearest Location:not known
Distance:not known
Time:04/30/2009 08:11:28 (US/Mountain)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=56.367,10.5861&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

OK ESN:0-7341053

Bike touring Denmark and Sweden from 240409 thru 030509.
ESN:0-7341053
Latitude:56.4083
Longitude:10.9252
Nearest Location:not known
Distance:not known
Time:04/30/2009 05:26:09 (US/Mountain)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=56.4083,10.9252&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

OK ESN:0-7341053

Bike touring Denmark and Sweden from 240409 thru 030509.
ESN:0-7341053
Latitude:56.5462
Longitude:11.28
Nearest Location:not known
Distance:not known
Time:04/30/2009 04:11:21 (US/Mountain)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=56.5462,11.28&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

OK ESN:0-7341053

Bike touring Denmark and Sweden from 240409 thru 030509.
ESN:0-7341053
Latitude:56.7633
Longitude:11.8486
Nearest Location:not known
Distance:not known
Time:04/30/2009 02:38:13 (US/Mountain)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=56.7633,11.8486&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

Swedish Firewater

Not much to say besides sunsets are pretty.