VoM2: Coming Soon To A Gas Pump Near You!

Here’s some more math from The Voyage for you:

12.62 DKK per liter / 5.13 DKK per USD = $2.46 per liter

$2.46 per liter x 3.78 liters per gallon = $9.29 per gallon

Coming soon to a gas pump near you!

VoM2: Hirtshals, Denmark

I had my doubts about Hirtshals the moments I stepped off the train. The station is quite literally attached to a huge, sprawling ferry terminal and industrial port complex. At least, I figured, it couldn’t be any worse than my recent experiences at Holyhead and Harwich.

A couple of blocks down the road toward my hotel, I passed a nice little fishing boat harbor and thought maybe the town had some charm after all. I then strolled through the requisite, tidy little shopping block and found myself situated on a charming town square.

It turns out that Hirtshals is a really nice little town on the North Sea. It is visually dominated by a large lighthouse that has a very well preserved WWII coastal battery bunker right next to it. The beach is handsomely rugged, strewn with other remnants of the war era, and offered me an excellent, windy walk by the sea.

There is an adorable little maritime museum, but the town itself is kind of an outdoor museum with sculptures of seafaring life and people pretty much everywhere. Plus, I made friends with a really great dog… and that always brightens my day!

The moral of the story? Don’t judge a town by its train station!

VoM2: Trains To Hirtshals

I took four trains to get from Esbjerg to Hirtshals yesterday, each one getting progressively smaller and with more stops along the way: A posh “Inter-City” express, a comfortable “Regional” line, a no-frills “Local” and finally this tiny — but brand-spanking new! — little one that’s pretty much the equivalent of the local bus.

I’m always impressed and a bit envious about European trains. They seem to go everywhere, run right on time and have schedules that perfectly inter-connect. I don’t know much about the high-speed rail line I’ve heard is being planned in California, but I sure wish the US had more and better train service!

VoM2: Esbjerg, Denmark

Esbjerg is a nice, fairly typical little Euro-Scandia city. It’s got a tidy, compact downtown core with a sprawling port facility on one side and a mix of residential, university and green spaces on the other. There is also a hodgepodge of cultural establishments, including a small but very interesting wartime occupation museum and a pretty extensive maritime museum that has an adjoining aquarium and seal tank.

The city is most famous, however, for it’s massive “Man Meets The Sea” sculpture and it’s reasonable proximity to Legoland. I feel like I’ve pretty much covered Esbjerg in two full days, and am ready for another all-day train ride tomorrow to reach Hirtshals at the northern tip of the peninsula.

VoM2: Ireland To Denmark Transit

I’ve had a few days of pretty fast moving! Here’s a quick recap:

On Thursday, I took the ferry from Dublin to Holyhead, Wales, where I did some laundry, confirmed my trains going forward and overnighted. Holyhead isn’t much of a town in my opinion, and except for the ferry connection I can’t really recommend it as a place to visit.

On Friday I traveled all day via five rail legs: Holyhead-Chester-London(Eustus)-London(Liverpool)-Manningtree-Harwich. Although I passed through London on the day of The Royal Wedding (see, even I capitalize it!) there were no problems besides eight hours of seat time.

I spent Saturday in Harwich checking out the small old town, which is a little nicer than Holyhead but also mostly useful only as a ferry port.

Yesterday (Sunday) I boarded the DFDS ferry to Esbjerg, Denmark, and immediately enjoyed the many signals — with which I’m so familiar — that I was changing countries: Different language, food, alcohol, bedding, etc. Plus, of course, natural Scandinavian blondes who were happy to help me remember my 12-word Danish vocabulary! The ferry was pretty typical, with decent accommodations, food and drink, all of which were horribly over-priced to a captive market. The sunset on the North Sea, however, was priceless.

I arrived in Esbjerg mid-day today (Monday) and have made my way to a reasonable little downtown hotel. I’ll be here for a couple of days to check out the town, make my arrangements going north to my next ferry port and generally catching up with myself.

I’m about a third of the way to where I’m going in the Faroe Islands… Stay tuned!

VoM2: Farewell To Ireland

As I pack up to leave Ireland in the morning — and begin my 10-day transit to the Faroe Islands! — I thought I’d share this photo from a lovely walk I had in the woods yesterday. Enjoy, and stay tuned!

VoM2: Belfast, Northern Ireland

I readily admit to knowing practically nothing about Belfast before I came here. I’ve now crammed three different tours of the city into my day — and learned a ton! — but somehow feel like I know less than I did before. I can’t remember the last time I was so fascinated by a city. I hardly know what to write about it.

Once one of the wealthiest and most prominent places in the world, Belfast has suffered through decades — centuries, even — from just about every kind of difficulty there can be, both external and internal.

The downtown core is very lively and architecturally striking, surrounded on one side by a run-down industrial zone that is showing some signs of rejuvenation, and on the other by devastated neighborhoods — many still divided by immensely high walls — that are showing signs of tense yet hopeful coexistence.

Belfast is famous for its murals — large paintings on all different kinds of buildings — largely of a political nature. Many have been painted over with more “neutral” historical or artistic themes, but enough polarized murals remain to remind one that the conflict is not far under the surface.

I hope the peace process continues, and that I will be able to return soon to explore much more of this astonishing city. Meanwhile, I will take a train back to Dublin tomorrow and be in position for the ferry that will be the first leg of my crazy transit to the Faroe Islands. Stay tuned!

VoM2: Northern Ireland

I wrapped up my tour of Ireland’s west coast by catching the last train back to Dublin on Friday night. After a very short night in town, I caught the earliest train north to Belfast, Northern Ireland — back in the UK! — yesterday morning, then immediately got on a bus going further north along the Antrim Coast. It was a pretty fast-paced, rigorous haul, but I’m really glad I did it.

The drive up through “The Glens” was simply stunning, one of the most beautiful areas I’ve ever seen. It is at least on par with the the coasts of Cornwall and Wales that I’ve recently visited, and even rivals my beloved Scotland! It is also an area that has immediately shot to the top of my “gotta come back here and spend some quality time” list.

Two highlights of the day were an astonishing geologic formation on the north coast called “The Giant’s Causeway” and an area famous for its salmon fishing and limestone quarry called “Carrick-A-Rede.” I could have sat on the bluffs all day, just looking out at the North Atlantic and watching the waves crash on the rugged shores. A coastal walk would be fantastic!

Considering how beautiful Northern Ireland is, I’m a bit surprised that it isn’t as heavily developed for tourism as it could be. My guess is that its history of conflict has hindered both its development and its reputation in the tourism industry. The recent peace process seems to be working and the general sense I get is that “things are continuing to get better.” I certainly hope so for the sake of the people here, but I also hope it doesn’t get too touristy before I come back!

VoM2: Aran Islands

I continued my current theme of north Atlantic islands with a day-trip to Inis Mor, the largest of the three Aran Islands just off Galway on Ireland’s west coast. A visit there has long been on my list, and though I’m not sure what I might have expected, it took me by complete surprise.

The Aran Islands are essentially big slabs of rock, scraped clear by the last ice age some 10,000 or so years ago. About 1500 years ago, the Vikings landed there and decided to set up shop. I can’t imagine what they might have been thinking, because the place had to be completely inhospitable with no arable land. In fact, I learned that virtually every usable plot on the island has been man-made by dragging sand and seaweed up from the beaches over the course of centuries. There is no shortage of rocks, however, and these have been used in abundance to create a ubiquitous network of irregularly shaped, mostly tiny plots. Almost all the walls are dry-stacked, many quite solid but as many more with gaps, allegedly to allow the wind to blow through them so they aren’t knocked down.

One of the island’s main features is the fortress of Dun Aonghusa, an immense circular stone structure perched on the edge of some very high, very sheer cliffs. It’s obviously impregnable, should any other crazy folks of old have thought about inhabiting the island. It is also one of the oldest, best preserved ancient forts in the world.

Tourism is the main — almost only — industry in the Aran Islands, and the locals assured me the place is crazy nuts during the high season. I don’t know that I can see much value in spending a lot of time there — a long day felt like enough — but I’m very glad I was finally able to visit and see yet another example of how people have adapted to high-latitude coastal life.

VoM2: Cliffs of Moher

Further up the coast, we stopped at the Cliffs of Moher, claimed to be the highest sea cliffs in Western Europe. The weather wasn’t perfect, but still good enough to appreciate some fantastic geology!