Travels with V

Bornholm

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Island in the sun

Bornholm part one

We made this journey a couple of years ago, and naturally some things have changed since. There seems to be a lot more good restaurants now, for instance.  But I did some fact checking and surprisingly most of what we experienced back then is still there. Which is typical for this island, where time moves in it’s own pace. 

HAMMERSHUS

Bornholm is an island in the Baltic sea just south of the southern tip of Sweden. So even if it’s a Danish island the quickest and best way to get there is by fast ferry from Swedish Ystad. The journey takes ca 80 minutes and You can bring the car, which is necessary if you want to roam the whole island.

MODERN CATAMARAN (NOW REPLACED)
FIRST MATE (PROBABLY ALSO REPLACED)

On Bornholm the ferry arrives in the “capital” Rønne. But we didn’t see much of this town except the juice factory that delivers fresh drink all over Denmark.

Just outside Rønne there’s an airfield that has daily flights from Copenhagen. And note that bicycle is a fantastic means to travel on this relatively flat island!

For a short period in history this island was Swedish. We got it in a peace treaty with our arcenemies the Danes in 1658. But we lost interest in it when the islanders revolted and overtook the swedish garrison later that same year. An Bornholm has remained Danish ever since.

STAMMERSHALLE

This i where we stay, the Stammershalle bath hotel on the road between Gudhjem and Allinge on the north coast. This combination of Gourmet restaurant and hotel is a prime example of a trend in Denmark where skilled entrepreneurs from famous restaurants take over old establishments by the coast. You can read about it here.  

Bornholm has for a number of years suffered from decline in year-round inhabitants because young people  move to the mainland and the houses are turned into summer residences. So the island is today a true summer paradise. But there are forces to turn this around. In most of the towns and larger villages you can’t buy a house unless you become a year-round resident. This has led to more activities in off-season, and a town like Svaneke is now filled with productive people, artists, gem makers, glass blowers and brewers. And restaurants, art galleries and shops are selling their products. 

Bornholm is a lot about food.  Everywhere on the island you find local products like cheese, beer, sweets, meat and fish, most often smoked fish. A successful enterprise is  Hammershus lamb, a company that raises sheep and lets them graze out on the islands greens (keeping the landscape open) and selling the meat directly to local restaurants and private consumers via their own farm shop. To keep the heards together a couple of clever sheep dogs are at work, and it’s great to see them running around doing their job. 

FINE DINING AT LE PORT
BEER TASTING AT SVANEKE BREWERY
Resebloggar finns det gott om men vi har en lite annan tanke med våra berättelser. Vi vill främst beskriva våra upplevelser av udda platser, människorna vi möter och miljöer som är rätt annorlunda mot vad vi möter hemma.

Därför hamnar vi ibland i avlägsna indianbyar i Guatemalas berg eller bland andetroende bybor på en ö i Indonesien. Men också på mer kända platser som Machu Picchu i Peru eller sandstränderna i Goa. Allt sett genom våra ögon och kameror.

Den som vill ha restips får också sitt - varje resmål har en avdelning med sånt vi kan rekommendera. Eller undvika. Vårt fokus är framför allt att sporra er läsare att göra som vi - resa rätt ut i den vida världen.