Blog 18 Oresund, Sweden and Denmark

The Oresund is the stretch of water between Denmark and Sweden, being only three miles across at its narrowest it was the key to Denmark's historic wealth and control of the Baltic Trade for hundreds of years It was at this location in Kronborg Castle at Helsingor that Shakespeare set "Hamlet," slightly changing the name to Elsinor. Not to put too fine a point on it, Denmark charged a levy on all ships and cargo passing in or out of the Baltic with no alternative other than to have the cargo confiscated or the ship sunk by canon fire. Having said that, the attraction of Copenhagen as a trading post and shopping centre - the name means Shopping Harbour - was clearly popular in those days as the extent of magnificent harbour front warehouses shows today.

With an area of just over 3 sq miles, one of our all time favourite stops is a delightful Swedish Island named Ven in the Oresund between Helsingor and Copenhagen where the larger of two small harbours Kirkbaken fills with yachts moored in every possible way, stern anchor bows to, box mooring, alongside, bows to & stern to a post and finally rafted in several directions - I may have missed one. Here it seems almost compulsory for visitors to hire one of the thousands of yellow bicycles, offered in a wide variety of compositions. The tiny hilltop church above the harbour is wonderful in its simplicity - three or four beautiful models of sailing ships remind us of the sea, the pews in pastel blue are plainly carved and painted with decorations echoing the earlier floral work on the ceiling arches. There is an aura of peace which remained with me outside where windblown trees stand against whitewashed walls overlooking the Sund to Denmark.

Perhaps the most extraordinary aspect of Ven is the observatory and site of a large house which was the home of Tycho Brahe, the 16th C astronomer who's work and discoveries with naked eye instruments was so exceptional that they later enabled Keppler to formulate his three laws of planetary motion.

Sailing not far from Ven we were visited again by dolphins

TO BE FINISHED LATER