Denmark Trip - Day 18 - Tonder, DK to Svendborg, DK

Tonder, Denmark – Weather partly cloudy, 54-65 deg F. Woke at 6:30 AM. Slept well.

We all walked down to our favorite Tonder bakery/café, Vor Bager Café/Bakery and got our usual rolls, cheese and coffee. Today’s plan was to drive to Svendborg where we would stay two nights at Lotte’s friends B&B, LisesBreadAndBreakfast.

We left Tonder and drove to Mogeltonder which is an old, picturesque Danish town with a castle (Shackenborg Castle) and one of the largest village churches in southern Jutland (Mogeltonder Church). According to Wikipedia, the Shackenborg Castle was originally the property of the Roman Catholic bishops of Ribe but during the reformation, was taken by the Danish crown and given to Count Hans von Schack whose family owned it until 1978 when it reverted back to the Danish Royal Family.

We walked around the castle grounds where Lotte ran into one of her school colleagues who was on a walking trip with her sister. Lotte and her colleague were surprised at how strange it was to run into each other at such an unlikely place.

We continued our walk through the town and towards the Mogeltonder Church where we again ran into her colleague. This time I felt obliged to document the unlikely meeting by taking their pictures.

The inside of the church was very elaborate. The wood pews were beautifully carved, and, except for the Sistine Chapel. the walls and ceiling were painted with the most colorful images I’ve ever seen in a church. 

We continued our road trip to Svendborg. Carol asked to stop at a nearby LEGO shop where she wanted to shop for gifts.

Carol ended up buying a few LEGO Mandalorian and Child BrickHeadz sets and Lotte got a LEGO Star Wars Darth Vader Meditation Chamber set for Erik and two Ninjago LEGO sets for her neighbor, Sevastian. 

We then drove to Augustenborg where we were scheduled to take a ferry to Funen Island where Svendborg is located. While waiting for the 3 PM ferry, we had a little picnic out of the back of Lotte’s car. The ferry arrived on time and vehicles were quickly loaded.

We managed to be one of the first vehicles, so we were able to get a table towards the front to the ferry that had a good view. I got coffees for everyone, and we hung out. We arrived at Lise’s Bread and Breakfast around 5 PM and were warmly greeted by Lise as we drove up.

Lotte and Lise originally met through work about 40 years ago which meant they’ve been friends about as long as we’ve been friends with Lotte.

Lise showed us our rooms and we all went out to her garden where we sipped wine and talked. Later, Lise gave us a tour of her house.

She said it was a lifelong dream to have a bed and breakfast in a place like Svendborg. So, after retiring from teaching, she bought the house and worked to make it into a place suitable for a bed and breakfast.

Her house exuded charm and hygge (Danish for cozy) and, with a host like Lise, our two nights there were a highlight of our Denmark trip. Later, Lotte, Carol and I walked down to the harbor. Svendborg is a somewhat laid-back resort town. According to VisitSvendborg.com, around 30 festivals are held every year. According to Lise, there was a big gymnastic event last week. This week, there was the Dansk BridgeFestival 2022 which several of Lise’s guests were attending. 

The harbor front had an area that looked like it was setup for large groups of people to drink and party. So, we went there and got our favorite food (hot dogs) and drinks (beer) and found a table with shade where we could eat and enjoy the evening.

We then walked back to the B&B where we crashed for the night.

Things I Learned On This Day (#TILOTD) –

• There is a custom in Denmark of placing flowers around a bride’s door on her wedding day.