ReDiscovery Tour 2008
Prologue - Day 10 - Ærø - 36 km - 556 km total
While most of Denmark enjoyed a day away from work in the Easter holidays Ambassador Cain and family along with Ærø mayor Jørgen Otto Jørgensen toured the island in the cold March winds. Ambassador Cain saw most of the island, including its impressive solar power plant. Read about the trip to Ærø in Ambassador Cain's own words below. Also make sure you check back for photos.
Day Ten of our ReDiscovery Tour took us to the
lovely Danish Island of Ærø, located south of
Fyn. Mayor Jørgen Otto Jørgensen was our host
for this scenic 36 km trek along the beautiful
rolling hills of Ærø. While the ride was
scenic, it also reminded me of the risks of
launching the second leg of the ReDiscovery Tour
in March. It was freezing! While Copenhagen was
getting blanketed with snow, Ærø was suffering
through high winds and temperatures that
approached zero degrees. (Why did it always seem
like we were riding up hill and into the wind??)
With daughter Laura at my side, we started our
Tour with a ride to Marstal, to the Solar Energy
Facility. This remarkable facility, covering
18,000 square meters of solar panels, is the
largest solar array in the world. During summer
months, this facility provides the electricity
needs of all 7000 inhabitants of the island of
Aero. On an annual basis it provides over 30% of
Marstal's requirement for District heating. The
Facility Manager Leo was a delightful host and
proudly showed us around the impressive facility.
Ærø has committed itself to the goal of being
the world's first energy independent island. With
this facility, they are well on their way, and
there are many things that communities in America
could learn from this facility.
Leaving the District Heating facility, we then
headed to the town center and the historic
waterfront of Marstal. This beautiful waterfront,
at one time home to more than 350 sailing vessels,
now boasts the famed Marstal Maritime Museum, and
one of the more picturesque walking streets of
any we have seen in Denmark. We rode around the
town, waving to the residents we passed, all of
whom seemed to know the Mayor (and all of whom
seem to have heard that we missed the Ferry over
from Svendborg; I learned only later that day
that the local paper had a large photo on the
front page of our cars at the Ferry landing with
the headline "Sorry Mr. Ambassador, the Ferry has
left !" It made for great conversation and joking
during the three days of our trip!)
We then headed into the teeth of the wind,
cycling southwest around the beautiful island. We
rode past the three giant 100 meter tall wind
turbines situated on the Western side of the
island at Rise Mark (near the great antique shop
that Helen and I would return to visit the next
day), past the old Town Mill, a preserved
windmill which dates from 1848, and past the
ancient Church at the crossroads at Store Rise.
This Church dates back to the twelfth century,
and is the oldest on the island. We passed the
beautiful small colorful houses that stretch east
to west along the beach called Erikshale, which
Helen and the girls and I would return to later
on the trip for pictures.
We ended our tour back in the town of
Æroskøbing, one of the finest medieval jewels
remaining on the planet. The efforts at
preserving the charm and beauty of the homes and
buildings are remarkable. We rode past some of
the most beautiful and quaint homes I have ever
seen, many with brightly colored and uniquely
decorated doors. One of the more unique features
we saw was the number of houses that had twin
porcelain dogs in the window. In times of old,
the dogs signaled when the fishermen were away at
sea. When the fisherman who lived in the home was
away, the dogs faced outward to the street. When
he had returned home, they faced inwards. In
2002 the people of Æroskøbing were awarded the
prestigious "Europa Nostra" prize for their
preservation efforts. If I had a vote,
Æroskøbing would be on the list of the UN
"World Heritage Sites".
While in Æroskøbing we toured the many historic
sites including the Æroskøbing Church (1750's)
and the Museum of "Bottle Peter", the famed
artist who produced hundreds of amazing "ship
bottles" during his lifetime. Over 200 of the
models are preserved here in the lovely museum.
The Museum has recently purchased another 200
bottles that Peter had sold several decades ago
to an American who put them on tour. Reportedly,
one of the bottles was given to President
Eisenhower for display at the White House. I
promised my friends at the Museum that I would
find out if it was still there.
We also visited with two dozen young students at
the "Æroskøbing Højskole", which focuses on
Theatre and Music. Here young people from Denmark
and other areas focus on a five-month curriculum
in theatre and music to determine whether they
want to pursue these careers. This particular day
was "Challenge Day" where each student was given
24 hours to do something they had never done
before, but always wanted to do. We met one young
lady who held a spider, another who flew a
home-made kite, a third who gave a speech in
public, and a young man who performed for us a
song he had written for the piano. We were
delighted to join them for lunch, and to discuss
with them their impressions of America, and what
I had learned on my ReDiscovery Tour.
Our day in Ærøskøbing was completed with a
tour of the Ærø Museum, preserving the
heritage, costumes and livelihood of this ancient
island, and a walk around the several
interconnecting streets to see the hundreds of
beautiful and charming homes that make this place
so unique.
Our stay in Ærø was made particularly
comfortable by the hospitality of our hosts at
our hotel "Pension Vestergade 44". Susanna Greve
and her husband were a joy to be with for three
days, and helped to make sure that we saw all of
the important sites of this beautiful island.
While in Ærøskøbing, we had two wonderful
dinners at Hotel Ærøhus and Restaurant Mumm .
Laura and "The boys" and I also had a delicious
traditional Danish Lunch at Restaurant
Landbogaarden, a block from our hotel.
While the biking was somewhat arduous, the visit
to Ærø will be a highlight of our time in
Denmark, and a highlight of my ReDiscovery Tour.
Among other things, I learned that Ærø will be
a great place to showcase the innovative advances
in alternative energy when the world comes to
Denmark for the UN Climate Conference next year.
I learned that there is remarkable beauty on this
small island of 7000 people just three hours from
Copenhagen, and I learned that I really have to
get some warmer clothes before I start biking in
Jutland in two weeks time!