Heading to Denmark

The next morning we were up at the break of dawn (oh, wait .... it really never gets completely dark, so that statement does not apply) or 4:30 a.m. in order to get the bus to the ferry to the trolley and finally to the train station. Wow, that sounds tiring just typing it!

Our train for Copenhagen, Denmark leaves the station this morning at 7:00 and this time we will be carrying all of our baggage with us. One word of advice for those traveling to many different locations and using public transportation. PACK LIGHTLY!!! It will come back to haunt you if you do not. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to lug a duffel bag of suitcase up the steps to the train along with a carry-on bag and backpack as well. Today will be a major travel day with our first stop being in Gothenburg, Sweden to change trains and then head to Copenhagen Airport where we will be renting a car to get us across to the places in Denmark we want to visit that are not easily accessible by public transportation. We notice a difference between today's trains and the ones we took to Bergen and back. These are a lot more crowded and not nearly as comfortable and with less amenities as before.

 It is interesting to watch the people come and go at the various stops and it makes you curious about how their lives are similar and different than ours. On the train, we meet a young man named Adam who is traveling to Malmo (the stop before ours) to visit friends. He tells us that at his apartment (which is quite a bit smaller than our homes and apartment at 300 square feel, his electricity is produced mainly by biogass. This is one of the energies we are hoping to explore as we visit Denmark over the next few days. He tells us that the average cost of his electricity is about $400 per year. Of course it would be interesting to see what that would be when you factor in the size of the home. Of course coolig is what drives the cost and usage up in our area and that is not needed here. They focus on the heating aspect since they have a much milder temperature here in the summer. In fact, today we are bundled up in sweaters, scarfs and jackets and it is June 15th.

 After we arrive at the airport around 3:30 in the afternoon and secure our vehicle we are off across Denmark towards the small town of Hostelbro. Our drive to the farm will take us about 4 hours.

Here we will be staying at the home of Jenn Peter Sonne, who is a horse farmer and raises Icelandic horses. We know what farming life was like in the 10th century and now we will investigate 21st century farming techniques. It will be interesting to see how energy needs and consumption changes in the rural areas of the country compared to Copenhagen, which we will visit at the beginning of next week.

 

One difference we noticed when looking out the window. What do you think it was?