Today is Friday the 13th. We were eating breakfast this morning in the building where Reception was (there was a coffee machine, and some tables). The gal working in the office brought us each a chocolate lady bug for good luck. I think it half worked. We had a mix of good luck and bad luck. First, as we were making our way to Puttgarden, the bungee that I use for my clothesline somehow came unhooked. I was following Christian, and I didn't notice it. Only when I got ahead of him did he see it and told me to stop. I had a t-shirt, dish towel, and a pair of shorts drying. The shirt and dish towel were there, but the shorts were gone. I turned around and went back. Fortunately, I found them on the path. I reattached the bungee, and we set off again. Then, as we were headed toward the bridge to go over to Fehmarn Island, Christian's computer came off. I saw it come off, and picked it up.
When we got closer to the bridge, Christian said we needed to decide if we stayed on the path on the left side, or we rode on the shoulder on the right side. I opted for the path. It was a very good thing because the wind was absolutely howling going over the bridge! I had to stop and take the Da Brim off my helmet because it was making the chinstrap of my helmet choke me (which, of course, made me gag). Even then, the wind was so strong we couldn't ride. We had to walk our bikes the whole way over the bridge. There was one short bit where I was able to ride, but then I had to walk again. It wasn't a headwind, it was a crosswind. Even walking, I kept getting blown into the guardrail. Imagine if we had been on the shoulder instead of the sidewalk!
We finally made it across the bridge. We went down the other side and followed the bike route signs. Not long after we came off the bridge, we passed a guy on a three-wheeled recumbent going the other way. The only place he could have been going was over the bridge. If we had met him on the bridge, there wouldn't have been room for us to pass. Someone (and it wouldn't have been us!) would have had to turn around (not that there was room to do that either). So, some good luck and some bad luck. It seemed to come out even.
We made it to Puttgarden and the Scandlines Ferry Terminal. It was a little confusing to figure out where to buy the tickets. Turns out we had to go through the same way as the cars. We got our tickets (15€ for each of us--including the bikes), and rode up to our designated line to wait. We were with the motorcycles, but before long they motioned for Christian and I to go further down and wait. The ferry was unloading. There was even a train on the ferry! Once the train offloaded, then the big trucks and camper rigs drove on while we waited. We were last to load on the lower deck.
We just bungee corded the bikes to the fence.
Der Zug auf das Boot!
We were on Deck 3. We took the elevator to Deck 7 (yeah, a BIG ferry) and went outside.
Tschüss, Germany!
Since the wind was really blowing, the ferry was rocking side to side. We were doing a bit of the drunken sailor walk. They had a large duty free shop on board as well as three different places you could get very expensive food! We just ate our own snacks.
The crossing was only 45 minutes, so before we knew it, it was time to go back to Deck 3 and the bikes. We rode off the ferry into rain. Welcome to Denmark!
We headed to Rødby, but didn't go all the way because we found a bike route. Then we did our usual route finding via a map and the Garmin. My first impression of Denmark is that it looks a lot like Germany! Same crops growing, flat land, etc. We did see this unusual fella.
This water tower was in the town where we ate lunch.
I don't know if he could see us.
We made it to a town that had a restaurant so Christian could get some lunch. He had a big calzone filled with spaghetti--very interesting!
We stopped at a bank to get Kroner, but they didn't have cash to exchange. Christian just got cash from the ATM. I'll do that tomorrow if I can't find a place to exchange money (which will be likely, since tomorrow is Saturday).
So far, the language is different, but has some similarity with German (for example, Kartoffel and Kartofel--German and Danish for potato). However, Christian can not understand everything. Fortunately for me, most seem to have some English.
After another hairy bridge crossing (at least we could ride this one, but I still took the Da Brim off), we had just a few kilometers to Vorbingdung. I saw a camping sign, so we followed it to Ore Strand Camping. It's on the water (a part of the Baltic--we think). It is quite homey here (and free wifi--another new thing!). They have a kitchen (don't have to use fuel), and an interesting shower/toilet building. They have decorated with various statues (especially around the men's side). The guy showed us to our site, and told Christian where the shower was. He told me, in Danish, I could have a swim in the sea (like I said, close enough to German that I knew what he meant)! I told him I prefer the Duche!
Outside the Men's side.
In the Women's.
We cooked our dinner and ate at a real table inside. However, our campsite also has a picnic table!
Oh, and one other thing we didn't see in Germany. Rest stops with toilets!
Tomorrow we head on to Kobenhavn (Copenhagen). It's a big city, so....who knows how long it will take us to find our way out!
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