Skagen Denmark 14 July 2017

We docked here this morning.  It produces the most catch of any fishing village in Denmark.  It only has a population of 9,000, but it welcomes over two million visitors a year.  We were able to walk into town from the port, most ports are secure and we have to be shuttled or tour bussed out, but not today.  We were the only ship in port today.  Skagen is the most northerly town in Denmark at the tip of the Jutland Peninsula, just where the North Sea meets the Baltic Sea.  At the tip you can stand in the sea with one foot in the Baltic and the other in the North Sea.  It was founded in medieval times as a settlement and grew into the important fishing town it is today.  In the 1870’s the area became famous for attracting artists intent on capturing the beauty of the seascapes and landscapes bathed in the peninsula’s spectacular natural light. We wandered through the town, very pretty, all the buildings are painted yellow and have a red roof.  Once we all got back on board that was the last of our ports of call and now we are heading back to Southampton.

This whole cruise has far exceeded our expectations, all the cities we have visited have been beautiful and all different.  The weather has been spectacular and the sea has been as flat as a millpond the whole way, not the image one would expect of the Baltic.  This part of the world is not on the usual tourist destination list but it should be. All of the cities are worth longer stays in. The passengers on this ship are mostly British but very few of them have visited these cities even though they are literally on their doorstep.  We have met some lovely people on the ship, there are a few Australians and New Zealanders on board.

Once we get back to England we have a couple of days in London before we fly to Edinburgh and start our train journeys, so the next blog will be from somewhere in sunny(?) Scotland.