Day 48 Ronne (Bornholm), Denmark

 The lovely Danish island of Bornholm has a population of around 42,000 and if you drove right around the island it would be a distance of 158km.  60% of the island is allocated to agriculture and around 20% is forest.  Two thirds of the island is granite based.  The main industries on Bornholm are agriculture followed closely by tourism.  It is a very picturesque island and Ronne, with all its red roofed buildings is a lovely sight to behold as we make our way to the dock.

Philip and I are again on different tours.  Philip had a cycling tour and I mine was "The best of Bornholm".  My first stop was at the Østerlars Round Church, one of four round churches on Bornholm and the oldest, being built around 1150.  It is a lovely church that has remarkably stood the test of time.  The gardens surrounding the complex were beautifully maintained.  The cemetery is within these gardens and if a cemetery can be attractive, this one was.

We were only allocated twenty minutes at the round church but that was probably enough time, so back on the bus and we are heading to Gudhjem.  This is a gorgeous seaside village that was alive with tourists.  There is a large Viking cruise ship docked alongside of us so that accounts for a lot of the tourists.  I counted seven tourist buses parked beside ours.  Our guide took us for a short walk around the village and then we were given 30 minutes to explore by ourselves.  I had spotted a walkway leading up the side of the hill towards a church so I decided to do that so I could get an overall view of Gudhjem before making my way back to the bus. There are some very colourful houses on my walking route that gives the village a happy feel.

And….I also found a viking…...

Next up we visited the Hammershus Castle ruins.  It is the largest castle ruins in Northern Europe and was built in 1200 by the arch bishop of Lund.  It was deserted in 1745 and fell into decay. The people of Bornholme were allowed to collect materials from the ruins up until 1855.  It has been partially restored but you are only allowed to walk to certain areas of the ruins.

We are now on the west coast of Bornholme and head south to our next destination, Hasle.  It is here that there is a traditional smokehouse that still uses open chimneys and alderwood to smoke the herring.  Our guide leads us inside to our tables where we have waiting for us a plate of smoked herring on rye bread sprinkled with radish and red onion.  Accompanying the herring is a small tub of egg yolk and salt.  I left that untouched.  The herring was delicious except for the fine bones.  I know that they are entirely edible but they kept getting caught in my teeth!  

Back on the bus and we were almost back to our starting point. There was nothing to do but sit back and watch the passing scenery for the last few kilometres of coastline and what lovely scenery it was.