Lal and I had thoroughly enjoyed
the company of Fr Xavior so much so that it was past midnight when Lal took
leave of the kindly soul with a deep philosophical bend of mind. I got up early
in the morning and completed all the documentation that was left. I had to now
only find an Internet connection to upload the blog posts. Fr Xavior spread out
cheese, ham, cold cuts and toasts for breakfast. He had wanted us to carry some
sandwiches to be had on the way. Instead we took apples and bananas. Prior to
taking leave of Fr Xavior we got him to affix the green sticker on Germany,
sign the campaign poster and testify in the log sheets.
Just after we left the Church
Street, where we had lived, the road to the highway was closed for repair work.
However, ‘clever’ recalculation of the route by the Navigator led us to the
highway after about 6 kms of diversion. Thereafter, in bright sunshine, despite
many temporary diversions for road works, the going was good. The Puttgarden
ferry was about 150 kms from Benefeld. I had researched to know that there are
more than 45 sailings a day between Puttgarden in Germany to Rodbyhavn in
Denmark, with four ferries operating round the clock, back and forth non-stop.
Amost every half hour a ferry crossing happens from either side. It is the most
used ferry connection between Germany and Scandinavia. Initially I parked away
from the ferry entrance thinking that one has to buy tickets before joining the
queue to get to the ferry vessel. Later we learnt that the ticket could be
bought in the designated lane and accordingly, I joined one of the many lanes –
15, I think. When I got to the automatic barrier of the lane the kind man at
the counter asked me to pay Euro 92 for the car with two passengers, which I
did using the travel card. The ticket also mentioned the lane I was to join
after the barrier, which was controlled by signals. In a short while the ferry
started loading, lane by lane. I drove into the ferry smoothly and was the
first vehicle parked in the last lane on that deck. We disembarked and went to
the upper deck. The duty free shops on board are visibly advertised. We walked
around the 5 deck vessel till we decided to park in a café for a cup of coffee.
The view of the coastlines and the windmills dotting them was an enjoyable
sight. After about 40 minutes at sea announcements were made that we could get
back to our vehicles. Lal wanted some more time for photography and hence, I
walked down to Deck2 and opened the door. I was too stunned for words. Parked
in there was a train! I walked to the other side and discovered another train
parked there. DSB, the Denmark based train company, does trans-country
journeys, part of them by ferry!
Soon I located the deck where I
had parked the car. In a while Lal too reached huffing and puffing for he too
had missed the deck and discovered the train! I enjoyed the docking process and
how the rail tracks were aligned first against the lower deck and then the road
ramp was adjusted for the deck holding cars and commercial vehicles. It did
take a while before we drove off the deck. However, everything was done in an
orderly manner. Out on to the highway once again, and in Denmark – the 20th
country – we set our sights for Copenhagen. just after the journey had started
from India Fr Eldhose had connected with me by mail about hospitality in
Copenhagen. Over a period of weeks the dates in Copenhagen also got firmed up,
which I reconfirmed with Fr. I had tried to get in touch with him over phone in
Benefeld and was unsuccessful. When I could not get him in the morning either I
felt a bit of panic. We were to reach in a few hours and accommodation was
still in balance, or so I thought. I mailed Fr Eldhose for an immediate
response and he did that confirming that he had made arrangements for the stay
in Copenhagen. The Navigator could not locate the address Fr had given me and
hence, while nearing Copenhagen I was in constant telephonic contact with Fr.
Despite the clear directions from him I still managed to take the wrong lane
quite close to the residential block and continued on the highway. Fortunately,
the Guardian Angel, in the form of Fr Eldhose, appeared on the highway and
without much ado piloted us to Vaerbrovej, where he stayed with his wife, Liya.
There was ample free parking space in the complex of residential blocks. We
were both shown into our rooms and made comfortable. Fr Eldhose, who hailed
from Kothamangalam, has almost the entire North Europe as part of his spiritual
jurisdiction while Liya, who hailed from Muvattupuzha, worked in a nearby
hospital.
After a rather heavy Kerala meal
that had all the ingredients of a wedding feast – rice, fish curry, fish fry,
thoran, chicken fry, etc (the list will go on if I do not truncate it) - Fr
Eldhose drove us to the Charlottenlund Fort which was built between 1883-86 as
a coastal battery to guard against raids from Sweden, the shores of which is
clearly seen at a short distance from the fort. The fort was decommissioned in
1932 and now houses a museum. The Howitzers and cannons are on open display.
The site is also a popular camping site these days. Campers and tents of all
shapes and sizes can be seen in the designated areas. I understood that camping
in the premises is free; one has only to register at the site office to use the
facilities.
Just north of Copenhagen is where
we went to next, to the Dyrehavsbakken, or simply Bakkens. It is the world’s
oldest amusement park, aged as it is at 431 years. It was in 1583 that the
springs with almost magical healing powers were discovered at the site. There
are 33 roller coasters, Ferris Wheels, drop towers and extreme adventure rides.
The wooden roller coaster in the Bakkens was set up in 1900. The Bakkens is one
of the most visited sites in Scandinavia. It has many places to eat, snack or
enjoy a drink; even an old London bus has been converted into a pub. The
evening entertainment has an old fashioned cabaret where the singing girls sing
frivolous songs that have been on for over 130 years!
The Bakkens is situated in the
lush woodlands of the Jaegersborg Dyrehaven, a beautiful green area, which has
trees that are over 400 years old. It covers over 11 square kms and is home to
over 200 red and fallow deer. The rear portion of the Bakkens is where the
outdoor loving Danes gravitate to for a robust run, bicycling and training of
horses. If you own a horse it can be stabled in the premises or even trained by
expert hands. Dyrehaven is still maintained as a natural forest.
After the sightseeing and walk
through the Dyrehaven Park we reached home to a superb dinner which Liya laid
out in the cozy dining area in the covered balcony of the house. We spent a
long time over dinner catching up on news from India, the journey, Denmark, et
al. Soon I took leave of them and stretched out on the bed for a peaceful night
of rest.
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