Saturday 15th July 2107 – Soro, Denmark

A glorious summer’s day, sun, blue sky and no wind. We headed for Vordingborg where there is a temporary Viking exhibition in the castle museum. Using the satnav, I had found a car park next to the harbour and it turned out to be ideally placed just below the walls of the ruined castle. We walked up into the castle grounds where the museum is located. There was lots of action in the grounds as it was the Vordingborg Festival with bars and food stalls everywhere – not open at this time as it was 10:00.

Hedeby is at the southern end of Jutland, once the Viking town of Haithabu and once in Denmark but now part of Germany. We had been told that the Hedeby museum has been closed for renovation and much of their collection has been lent to the Vordingborg museum. The exhibition was very modern – we were handed an iPad on the way in and given instructions for its use. As we walked into the first room, smoke (dry ice) drifted over the floor and we sat in the mist to watch a 20 minute video on the iPad telling us about the history of Hedeby. There weren’t a huge number of exhibits but they were very well displayed and lit and there were many places were you could enter a code on the iPad for further information. This was often told in the voice of a Viking character from Hedeby, which made it more interesting. Hedeby was a very important international trading town and many of the finds reflected that status with some very precious jewellery.

We were able to take the iPads out into the castle grounds, which was very trusting of them and would never have happened in England. The device then operated on GPS and when you approached an area you could listen to information about it. The admission also covered the Goose Tower, the only remaining intact tower of the original castle. This contained more exhibitions including a computer generated film of a siege of the castle with lots of missiles being thrown and walls collapsing. The views from the top of the tower were fantastic and well worth the climb.

By now the drinking and eating stalls were in full swing and we walked passed into the town and down the long shopping street. Here we found a youngsters marching band performing in their very smart uniforms. Returning to castle, a live band was performing something that sounded suspiciously like Bavarian Beer Festival music but it was in Danish and the audience all new the words. Whole tables of people stood on their benches and swayed to the music – a bit surreal at this time of day.

We had not tried any of the typical Danish street food of hot dogs, so we patronised the kiosk at the car park. Jane had a Danish hot dog and I had mixed sausages with chips and we sat outside in the shade looking out over the harbour and lovely view.

Heading north we stopped for a cup of tea at a viewpoint overlooking the Dybso Fjord before paying a brief visit to the island of Gavno. As you drive over the bridge onto the island, you are greeted by the sight of the beautiful Gavno Castle, originally a00 convent that was set up in the 14^th century by Queen Margrethe I for unmarried women of noble rank. They have a famously beautiful garden but it closes at 16:00 and it was almost that time so we had to give it a miss.

Continuing past Naestved, we turned west following a Marguerite Route through lovely countryside until we came to the Tystrup Lake. Close to the tiny village of Vinstrup there is a viewpoint with a car park and picnic tables. We stopped and had an ice cream in the peaceful spot looking down over the lake to the countryside beyond.

It was just a few kilometres further on to Soro and Camping Soro. This is situated on another lake and our pitch gave us views of it through the trees. It was a lovely evening and we sat outside to eat our kebabs and drink some wine whilst admiring the view. Being a Saturday in high season, the campsite had entertainment. They had a singer (Jane described him as a cross between Barry Manilow and Rod Stewart) who sang at high volume and often in English. It wasn’t our scene but the large crowd loved it.

Photos: The leaving of Sakskobing – its famous smiling water tower; Jane watching the video in the mists of the Vordingborg Museum; A beautiful dragon-headed pin lost in Hedeby’s harbour; The occupants of Hedeby produced many decorated bone combs; The view from Vordingborg’s Goose Tower, looking over the moat, keep and the harbour; Gavno Castle.