Denmark Trip - Day 19 - Svendborg, DK to Aero Island, DK

Lise’s Bread and Breakfast, Svendborg, Denmark – 

Weather: Partly cloudy, 53—65 deg. F. Lise prepared an amazing breakfast of chicken sausage, spinach omelet, crepes, bread, cheese, fruit (cherries, watermelon, grapefruit), orange juice and coffee. One of Lise’s other guests was at breakfast and talked about the Bridge Festival she was attending. She said she was playing bridge on a team but didn’t really say how they were doing.

Lise’s house was full of art, and she talked about some of her favorite pieces including the dog painting in the room we were staying in. She also had several nicely painted rocks

with inspirational messages she said were done by a young girl down the street who paints and sells rocks for money. Today’s plan was to take the ferry to the Ærø Island at 10 AM. Lise walked with us to the ferry which left right on time.

We boarded the ferry and found some nice seats upstairs in the cafeteria. Carol was feeling a little queasy, so I only bought coffee for Lotte and me (25 DKK each). We arrived Ærø Island around 11:30 AM and walked around the town of Aeroskobing. 

The town was very quaint with classic old Danish houses and cobblestone streets. I enjoy quirky things and when we saw a museum of ships-in-bottles, I couldn’t resist.

The Bottle-Peter Museum (Flaske-Peters Samling) has the oldest collection of bottled ships in the world. The museum houses over 700 model ships in bottles built by Peter Jacobson, AKA Flaske-Peter, or Bottle-Peter.

Bottle-Peter built his first bottled ship at the age of 16 and managed to build more than 1700 in his lifetime (1873-1960).

We continued walking around Aeroskobing and stopped at a gift shop (with a beer garden in back) where Carol bought some handmade soap for folks back home.

The beer garden looked inviting, but I decided it was a bit early in the day, LOL. We continued walking through town and I bought some painted rocks for Lise, Lotte, and Carol.

Something that continued to surprise me was how people in Denmark would put things for sale in front of their house with a cash box where people would pay for whatever they take on the honor system. For example, the rocks I bought were just sitting on someone’s front steps with a jar where you would put money. Needless to say, this system would never work in the U.S., 😂 Lotte mentioned there was a brewery on the island (Ærø Brewery) that might be fun to visit but we’d have to take a bus to get there.

The bus route covered most of the island and appeared to have a stop near the brewery. So, we walked to the bus stop and waited for the next bus which didn’t take long. The bus was crowded but we were able to find seats.

Thankfully, Lotte seemed to know where to get off the bus because it wasn’t obvious. Once we got off the bus, we found a small sign that pointed to the brewery 400 meters away.

The brewery was located on an old farm where they converted buildings into a brewery, restaurant, and outdoor garden. We sat out in the garden, and I had a “flight sampler” of three beers (Walnut, IPA, and Pilsner).

Carol and Lotte had the Walnut beer. We all agreed, the Walnut beer was the best. So, I bought several bottles of Walnut and several bottles of the IPA to share when we got back to Lotte’s house.

We then decided we also needed to sample their ice cream. So, we ordered ice cream and sat outside until it was time to catch the next bus back to town. 

The bus was packed to the point where I wasn’t sure we could get on. Luckily, a few people got off and there was barely enough room to get on. I ended up standing on the bottom step by the back door and almost had my legs crushed by the bar that pulled the door closed. I admit I was curious about how good the Danish health care system is but not that curious, 😂  We got back to town and waited for about 40 minutes for the next ferry back to Svendborg.

Lise met us at the dock and said she made reservations for dinner at the Hotel Aero restaurant. Lotte and Lise recommended we try the Tarteletter (Danish Chicken Asparagus Tartlets). So, Carol and shared an order of Tarteletter and each had a Caesar salad. The Tarteletter was delicious and if you’re ever in Denmark, I highly recommend it. The Caesar salad was also delicious and would have been plenty just by itself. 

After dinner, Lise took us on the scenic route back to her house. We walked under the Svendborgsund Bridge that connects Funen to the island of Tasinge and past where Lise swims in the bay every morning.

We climbed a hill to a nice vista point where we took some group selfies and continued on past the Sorup Church where Lise showed us graves where members of the Maersk family are buried.

Things I Learned On This Day (#TILOTD) –

• The Bottle-Peter Museum has the oldest bottle ship and ship model collection in the world.
• Ærø Brewery Walnut beer and Tarteletter are delicious