Day 16 – 25 July 2023 – Skagen, Denmark

The skill of the Captain & crew is again on show as they squeeze into the very tight port at Skagen on the tip of Denmark where the Baltic Sea meets the North Sea.  The sand spit at Grenen is constantly growing & moving, over the centuries it has been the site of many shipwrecks. Skagen is a busy port & there are 20 cargo ships of varying sizes at anchor off the port, with various other ships in port, some being repaired on slipways. There is a large amount of fuel storage at this port as well.

We drive through old Skagen & the town has a lot of old fishing cottages, plus a little out of town the summer Palace of a former King of Denmark. Skagen is built on sand & shifting sand dunes have buried many houses over the years, as well as a church, all you can see of it is the church tower.

Our destination today is nearly an hour away, a pleasant drive through the Danish countryside with green pastures, wheat fields & farm buildings. Voergaard Manor House is an amazingly large brick two story building surrounded by a large moat. It was built in 1510 & lived in by a succession of wealthy owners, the stories told to us by our guide was very interesting. The last Voergaard owner was a wealthy Danish business man, Ejnar Oberbech-Clausen who inherited by marriage some French wineries & on his return to Denmark brought back an unbelievable amount of mainly French treasures & filled the house with amazingly beautiful historic artefacts & furniture, including personal effects from Marie Antoinette & Napoleon Bonaparte. There is a collection of brandy glasses & carafes labelled with Bonaparte’s emblem plus a collection of China plates with gold bees & Bonaparte’s emblem.  Some of the paintings are valued at over 100 million Danish Kroner & are originals by artists such as Goya. We are guided through room after room furnished beautifully with amazing furniture, Murano glass light chandeliers, artwork & personal effects. The experience is truly extraordinary, we are so blessed to be able to enjoy this amazing collection.

The bus ride back to Skagen was just as pleasurable & all too soon we were back on the ship. The wind had really got up & was blowing over 40 knots this afternoon so we decided not to go out for another walk, we watched a movie instead. The ship had a tugboat tied to the bow to assist with getting out of port in this very strong wind & again the boat handling skills displayed by the captain & crew were

 amazingly good. The sunset was beautiful, we are back to sunsets again. Another great day.