Skagen

I have to mention one mix up. I told you I was going to the highest point in Denmark. But that was a mis-translation, when the highest point was meant it meant the most northern place, called Grenen. I did go there on this trip as you will see below.

On Saturday I participated in an ICS (international cultural studies) trip to Skagen as part of my ISCAN course and because I was interested in visiting the northern most tip of Denmark. Skagen is a small little fishing town that is inhabited my few year round residents all of which are either fishermen or artists. However in the summer it is inhabited by throngs of tourists and beach goers. It sounds quite familiar to another place that I am quite familiar with, Cape Cod. In fact, it is, to a point it is almost scary. There were more similarities between Skagen, Dk and Truro, MA then I ever could have imagined. Between the shifting dunes covered in sea grass, to the cold sting of the ocean water, Skagen brought me back to the my annual summer retreat. However, it had its own danish twists that made it a unique location that was very fun to visit.

Maybe there is something to be said about remote sand covered places, but they sure seem to attract two types of people, artists and fisherman. Like the outer Cape, Skagen is more or less deserted in the off season with only a tad over 8,000 year round residents. As you will see, the fishing industry in Skagen is quite substantial, and despite the small town feel Skagen had a harbor that looked as if it could rival major Massachusetts fishing ports like Gloucester or Rockport. As we arrived in the morning we were traveling through terrain similar to the border of Truro and Provincetown. The ground was covered in small scraggly trees and sandy dunes broke up the otherwise flat terrain. The dunes were smaller and more grass covered than at home. I am guessing that is due to the much windier climate in Skagen, only the sand held down by grass can remain.

The road to Grenan the northern most point if Denmark

Two of many huge fishing trawlers (on is directly behind the other), These boats look like they could catch a serious amount of fish. The "little" boats in the front are about the size of the big clamming boats found in Wellfleet harbor (40 -50 footers)

In the town there was a nice walking street with small little shops much like one would see in downtown Wellfleet. However instead of the small wood covered houses turned to a tanish brown from the sea salt, the houses were all painted yellow bricks with red clay roofs. Many of the roofs had a white outline so that the houses could be seen from far out at sea. However more so than any other place in Denmark that I have seen there were wood houses. Almost all of them were painted red and were close together almost as if they made a little community of fisherman's shacks.

Classic Denmark: a man on a bicycle, but this time in front of the small village made of wooden fisherman's shacks that are all painted red.

Fiske (fish) restaurants, right on the pier where the fishing boats pull in, can 't get more fresh caught than that

One thing that was unique about Skagen was pretty much only noticeable in town but it was the smell. It smelled like fish, sometimes really bad fish. This was due to the giant fish factories in the harbor but wow it really did smell there. However that did not take away from the charm of the little harbor side fish restaurants that were serving up the best fresh catches of the day.

We went to the Skagen musuem to learn more about the artists and the history of Skagen. The museum was full of interesting paintings many of them I recognized from other Danish things because they are quite famous here in Denmark. A few of the more famous painter have world-wide recognition. Below is a classic by P. S. Krøyer.

We also briefly peeked in at the Teddy Bear museum before heading out to Grenen, the northern most point in Denmark. I was told that the light in Grenan is very unique and it is always bright there. This is true and is most likely due to the reflection from the sand and ocean that is on both sides. At Grenen the Baltic and North Seas meet on  a little spit of sand that juts out into the sea. As I quickly determined they are surrounded by sandbars which explains the need for the rescue crew that was made up of fisherman which we learned about at the museum. Additionally there was a very tall but perhaps not the most beautiful light house protecting the point. Additionally Skagen was protected by many Nazi bunkers constructed in WWII when the Germans occupied Denmark.

Standing in the water a Grenen

The lighthouse at Grenen

One of the well hidden Nazi bunkers that is slowly being swallowed by the dunes

The "sandworm" which drove us out onto the beach

Overall Skagen was a really neat place to visit. If you ever come to Denmark I would highly recommend it. It felt so much like cape cod it was almost surreal yet at the same time it was completely different. For instance the buildings at the beach at Grenen (the tip of Denmark) had the same design and roof top as the ones at Race Point (the tip of Massachusetts).

Ok, Lyndsay is in the air flying to visit me and I have less than a day and a half to finish my project so it is time to work. I will write more after all my stress has been released...