Start: Puttgarden, Germany
Finish: Sakskobing, Denmark
Distance: 17
Total: 1845
Today’s walk was filled with some anticipation and anxiety, mostly due to the unknown situation I would encounter in Denmark. I had traveled in Greece, Italy, Austria and Germany before, but I have never been to Denmark. I am curious about their language, currency, road conditions, and how I’d be received by the locals. I’ve started to get some of those questions answered, but there is still much to learn.
The day started on the Baltic Coast of Germany. I got to breakfast early and then walked next door to the ferry terminal. The ferry company, Scandlines, runs a ferry ship between Puttgarden, Germany and Rodbyhavn, Denmark, every 30 minutes, 24 hours a day. The ferry’s carry mostly trucks going back and forth between the Scandinavian countries and mainland Europe. There were also a few cars onboard. I was the only pedestrian. I got on the ferry departing at 8:15 and arrived in Rodbyhavn at 9:00.
As I mentioned a few days ago, priority one after gettin off the ferry was to find a place to exchange my leftover Euros for Danish Krone. However, the ferry terminal had absolutely zero services. No currency exchange, no cafe, no nothing. I didn’t see one single individual when I walked through the terminal; not even someone to check my passport. So off I set, following the map on my iPhone, keeping my eyes pealed for a place to get some money. Unfortunately, the actual town of Rodbyhavn is not near the port terminal so I didn’t see any place around there.
I was quickly out in the countryside with the next town a few miles away. Once I got there, I saw a grocery store so I went in to buy a soft drink and while checking out, I asked the checker about a place to exchange money. She had no idea. She said banks in Denmark “DON’T HAVE MONEY.” I thought in my mind “Oh come on now. All banks have money.” But I didn’t question her on it. She wouldn’t take my Euros so I used my credit card to buy a coke. On down the road, I came to another town; this one larger than the first. I saw a bank so I went in and inquired about exchanging currency. The gentleman that helped me said most banks in Denmark DON’T HAVE MONEY. He said only a few have actual cash on hand, and the ones that do only have access to it late in the work day. Hum!!! Banks with no money? So I went outside to their ATM and got some Danish Krone the easy way; with my debit card. Maybe Swedish banks have money to exchange. I’ll be there next week.
I made it to my hotel here in Sakskobing at about 3:00. The town is small, population 4,500, and has one hotel. However, the owners really like their hotel because it’s expensive to stay here. That’s to be expected though. Denmark is the third most expensive place in Europe for tourists; right behind Switzerland and Morocco.
Tomorrow I have a 20 mile day to another one-hotel town. There’s also a chance of rain tomorrow, but later in the day so I’ll get up and hit the road early; relatively speaking. So that’s about it for day one in the Scandinavian country of Denmark. Thanks for reading. JB.
