Day 5 – at Snekkeled

I’m on a piece of land sandwiched between Odense fjord and Kerteminde fjord on the island of Funen, an area that is particularly susceptible to flood risk. In the event of the predicted 1.2 metre rise in sea level, 10% of Denmark will be submerged. Some sources say that the rise will be more like 2 metres.

Unlike other neighbouring countries Denmark has no general laws or regulations regarding protection from flood risk since individual landowners are responsible for protecting themselves from flooding.

Much of the area I am in is home to many rare species of bird, which means that in some sections dogs are not allowed, and in most, they must be kept on a lead.

I’d put together a route though that took in some higher ground.. rising to a peak at 39 metres. The ‘peak’ is actually a Bronze Age burial mound, called Svanehojen or Swan Hill, discovered and excavated in 1864.

Not a huge hill, but it does give me the chance to quote one of my favourite lines,

“’When you say “hill,”’ the Queen interrupted, ‘I could show you hills, in comparison with which you’d call that a valley.’”

As to its source, I’ll enable the reader to hazard a guess.. and print it at the bottom of this page.

The owner here at the farm I am staying was very proud of their hill. She promised me excellent views from the top, but it was a hazy day, and the highlight, the Great Belt Fixed Link, or the Zealand Bridge was not clear, and doesn’t show very clearly on the photo below (first one). It’s just short of 7 kilometre long and was opened in 1998. It’s more famous younger sister, the Øresund Bridge, is a kilometre longer and was opened two years later – not long after, 2011, was the body found in the middle of it.

So it was a route of burial mounds, tiny hills, a circuit of the Jack Nicklaus designed Great Northern Golf Course and hotel, and an illegal cut through crossing a dyke between two farms. Photo 5.

Ideal variation during which to consider the words of the Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, ‘Solvitur Ambulando’, or, ‘It is solved by walking’.

I was back for a late lunch as the temperature snuck into the mid-twenties, and an afternoon to catch up on writing a few reviews for recent books I’ve read. Link for those interested, as ever.. https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/313206-andy-weston.

Link for maps and routes taken on hike and bike, as ever, at https://www.strava.com/athletes/3150409.

Quote from Alice Through The Looking Glass