Where Two Seas Meet

A not uncommon sight in Denmark, but always beautiful!

Nearly 15 years ago, my uncle took me to the meeting point of the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic and tried to use the "Mayer sense of humour" to convince me that I should be able to see the different shades of blue, and that is precisely where the oceans meet.

After being in Denmark for nearly a year, I figured it was time to go to the place the Danes refer to so lovingly as the where the North Sea and the Baltic Sea meet. Many think (or so they say) that you can see the oceans meet. People say that you can see the oceans meeting because of the way the 2 currents meet - now I'm not oceanographic expert, but basic laws of physics tell me that it doesn't really make sense for there to permanently be 2 opposing currents which happen to meet up at a certain location in the ocean - the tides alone should put an end to that. Lastly, there is the famed light of Skagen. The special luminous effects which have brought many Danish painters and photographers to the location to capture the special lights. Now given that this isn't the only location with a beach at the given latitude, I was a bit sceptical about this too. None-the-less, I'll use anything as an excuse to travel and see something new...

 

The three day trip started with a 4.5 hour train ride (considered unbearably long by many in this tiny country) to the northern city of Aalborg. At least I figured with a long train ride through the countryside, there would be some great views. Unfortunately, I was mistaken. It's not that the Danish countryside isn't pretty, it's just that it is not particularly dramatic. So while the countryside is generally green and clean, apart from being amazed at the wind turbines, bridges over and tunnels under the ocean (which amaze me purely from an engineering point of view), there really isn't a heck of a lot to see. Thankfully, I had good company.

Jomfru Ane Gade by day

Aalborg is a university town which was surprisingly more interesting than I had expected (my expectations were set very low). We spent a few hours walking around town and seeing all the important sites, followed by a fun evening out in the town. The ironically named Jomfru Ane Gade (Virgin Ane Street) has an air of student culture on the one hand, as well as a feeling of some South East Asian city street with cheap bars, populated by loud and drunken Westerners. This street is packed with bars and clubs - and apart from a donor kebab shop, there is nothing else there. Despite feeling like I was way too old to be out (but thankfully, the odd 50+ person in the club made me feel a bit better), we had a great night out.

Near the cemetery, the moss on the tree trunks gives the whole
place a bit of an eerie feeling.

The next day we picked up our hire car (or rather, I picked up the hire car while the other 3 travellers slept) and we headed north. First stop was Lindholm Høje - and old Viking burial ground. Whilst the rich Vikings were sent out to see in their burning boats, the plebs were buried in the ground just like the Danes today. During different periods of time, they were either buried whole, or they were cremated - interestingly, the cremation took place on top of the grave which was marked on the ground by stones either shaped like a triangle, a circle, or a boat. These Vikings also had their dogs buried with them - a tradition I think we should reinstitute, but only if we wait until the dog dies of natural causes first....

Voergaard Slot housed prisoners in the cellars - I can't imagine how
horrible and cold it must have been there!

Further along the road up to Skagen we stopped at Voergaard Slot. A once private castle owned by a smart guy who worked for a count in France, waited for him to die, and then married the widow. He then returned to Denmark with his new wife and a whole bunch of fancy stuff from France (I may be simplifying the story slightly). Inside the castle there is some fancy art, as well as various things that belonged to French Royalty - furniture and more. Even one of Napoleon's dinner sets is there. All very nice, and in a beautiful location. The castle even once housed General D. Eisenhower for a couple of days!

Skagen is the northernmost 'real' town. It's not quite on the tip of Jutland, but at a few kilometres away it's as good as it gets. The place apparently gets packed during summer, and as we arrived 2 weeks after the 'end of summer', the town was rather dead. The miserable weather didn't help either. Still, it was nice to be away, somewhere quiet and with good friends... The purpose of the stay in Skagen was not the town though, but to see three things: the buried church, the 'tip of Denmark, and the famous moving sand dunes.

The buried church was supposedly first built in the 13th century. In the 18th century the sands started to drift and by the end of the century, every time the parish wanted to have a service, they would have to dig their way into the church! In 1795 the church was eventually abandoned. Today, the tower still sticks out of the sand as a memorial to what was once there. It's one of those 'cool to see' things.

Grenen is the Northern most tip of Denmark. Well, so they say. Technically though, it isn't. Greenland is further North. Some would then say it's the Northern most tip of Jutland, but according to my map, even that's not the case. The tip sticks out to the East, and is slightly further South of the bit of land directly to the West. But let's not split hairs... This is where the light is supposed to be very special and the two oceans meet. From the car park it is a pleasant walk out to the tip. The water is practically ice cold, but the beach is beautiful. There are a few German bunkers around this part of Denmark, left overs from WWII, but otherwise, there is nothing but nature. It's a pretty walk, and it's definitely fascinating watching so many humans walk to an arbitrary point on the earth purely due to the fact that some marketing guru said we should - for a place which really has nothing unique or special to offer, they tourist office has done pretty well. I'm not saying you shouldn't go there, I'm just saying, it's no more beautiful than 500m down the coast.

Above: What looked like a sick seal pup found on the beach near Grenen.
Below: "It was this big" - one foot in each sea

The last stop before our 5 hour train ride home was Råbjerg Mile. This is a migrating sand dune on the North West tip of Jutland. Although I had very low expectations here, I was quite pleasantly surprised. The vast amount of sand, which you can literally see moving due to the strong Westerlies which continuously batter Jutland, has a feel of desert about it. Were it not for the surrounding forest, one might feel as though one is 20km from Birdsville! Well, that and the fact that it was cold.... In around 200 years time the dune is expected to make it to the East coast, quite an amazing feat for a supposedly inanimate object. The dunes provided us with plenty of amusement and really made us feel like we were on a different planet, at least for a short while.

My attempt at art...