We’ve had a busy and very enjoyable day, exploring some of Denmark. We woke early, thankfully, before the tractors arrived to work on the new car park. We left the aire and stopped for fuel, encountering a new type of pay by pump, which John managed to operate without any problems. 1189 krona to fill Molly looked alarming, but we worked out it’s a little lower than the price of diesel at home. Phew!
We then had a 2-hour hour drive to Nyborg where we planned to park at the marina. The scenery has been more interesting today… still largely agricultural, but more undulating, with red roofs peeping from the hollows, and lines of trees dividing the fields and marking the horizon.
Having crossed the bridge to Funen Island, we stopped at the services to use the toilets and bought Danish pastries for breakfast… well… when in Rome!
Nyborg is a coastal town with a centre that dates back to the Middle Ages. It was a lovely place to wander around, with lots of green spaces, waterways and pretty buildings. A lot of the shops were closed today and we discovered that it’s a national day called Grundlovsdag (constitution day).
Nyborg Castle is the oldest remaining royal castle in Scandinavia, where the country’s first democratic parliament met in 1204. Unfortunately, it’s currently being renovated and is surrounded by scaffolding. The other building of note was a red half-timbered merchant’s house from 1601, which is now the city’s museum.
Our next stop was the parking and viewpoint for the 18 kilometre Great Belt Bridge between Funen and Zealand islands. After eating our lunch, we walked to stand under the bridge with traffic and trains thundering above us. It’s very impressive.
Then it was time to drive over the bridge, which is in two sections that meet at an island in the middle of the sea. The second half is a long suspension bridge and… wow! It was high in the middle and huge ships appeared tiny below us. Coming to the end of the bridge, toll tag anxiety set in. John had bought the Scandinavian toll tag and this would be the first time we’d used it, passing through the barrier at 30 mph. Yay! Relieved, we heard a bip, the traffic light turned green, the barrier raised and we were through without stopping!
It’s been a day of sunshine and showers. The rain was torrential as we drove around Copenhagen to our overnight stop, Hillerod Campsite. We’re now sitting outside relaxing, making plans for the next couple of days and looking forward to a band playing this evening. It’s good to stop sometimes!
Ramblings 
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