Goodbye Denmark...Hellooooooo Sweden!

 Warning: It's 7.21pm on Sunday, and today I did the biggest day so far - 60km, and the most hill climbing so far.  I'm knackered.  BUT IT WAS THE BEST DAY EVER!!!!  But I'm tired, and not sure the creative juices are flowing.  BUT I REALLY WANTED TO GET THIS DOWN.  

So.  You know how much I've loved Denmark right, LOVE LOVE LOVED Denmark.  After we left you last time, we headed to Copenhagen for two nights in a hipster apartment hotel thing in a pretty cool suburb - and had a very cool time!  Pictures below.  But that's not the big news, the big news is, after we left Copenhagen, and took the road north to Helsingor to get our ferry to Sweden (which, btw, was a gorgeous route of old fashioned Danish beach houses as we followed the coast almost the whole way, except for some crazy bike paths that were so freaking steep I nearly freaked out - going up and down), and we had to cut the 43km down to 30km and hitch a night in a trekking hut at a campground because the rain hit, we woke up early this morning, packed ourselves up, raced against the rain that was ahead to make the 9am ferry (bloody gorgeous ride).  And I realise that was a really long sentence, sorry, knackered.  

So, we get to the ferry at Helsingor, get herded on, one of the staff sees we're Aussies as he's telling us where to put the bikes, so he takes us for a grand tour of the ferry right up to the sun deck up top and then tells us that the building next us is the famous castle in Hamlet!  Everyone's checking us out thinking we must be superstars or something - what a hoot!  And the thing is, I was so sad about leaving Denmark and we were both feeling more than a little overwhelmed by the 700km cycle across Sweden (with BIG hills), we were freaking out a little bit to be honest, and then this lovely experience made me even sadder to be leaving Denmark.  Would we be ok in that next Scandinavian country? Would I cope with the hills? Would people be as nice as they were in Denmark?  Would I have to use Norsca deodorant?  All of these questions were on my mind, percolating. 

And then we hit Sweden.  We rode off the ferry into the gorgeous old streets of Helsingborg.  SO GORGEOUS.  It was 9.30am Sunday morning and no-one was around, we had the place to ourselves.  We stumbled upon a bakery/cafe that was open and OMG - the local delicacies are FANTASTIC.  We were shocked at the prices, so much cheaper than Denmark (we found food and drink incredibly expensive in Demark), and OMG AGAIN, so so so so delicious.  The woman who served us is the owner, and she talked me through my selection - Mike and I sat and enjoyed our little Swedish feast and WHAMMO - massive Swedish connection.  I had spent 5 weeks in Sweden 15 years ago and came away LOVING the food - but Mike had had his reservations - the pastries blew him away - they look a bit dull, but boy oh boy do they deliver on flavour and texture.  

After our brekkie, we hit the road - and ride we did.  We took Route 1, Mike had done his research and everyone raves about the beauty of this route from Helsingborg to Gothenburg, and we understand why.  Just WOW.  No words.  An exhilarating and majestic ride of coastline, some big climbs (well, big for me), fantastic bike paths and bike lanes, and such polite cars.  We stopped at two more places for food - one a little cafe by the water for a baked potato with creme fraiche and fish roe - Mike was a bit dubious (and still in on the fish roe) - but YUM YUM!  We rode another 25km and cycled right past the cutest cafe/restaurant ever.  Just check out the pics below - there must have been 60 tables spread all through the garden and the conservatory - we nabbed one of the last ones outside in the garden, on the fringe.  We had roast beef open sandwiches and a strawberry waffle washed down with homemade rhubarb lemonade.  "HOME MADE RHUBARB LEMONADE?" I hear you ask.  Yes, homemade rhubarb lemonade.  A revelation.  We sat for an hour, looked out at the view, marvelled at our great day riding (and that miraculously no rain had fallen), and our new love for Sweden.  All fear has gone.  We are no longer overwhelmed, just excited to explore more and see what this country in stall for us on our bikes.  

We are now happily ensconced in a hostel in a big old house, we are full of the pasta we made for dinner, and looking forward to see what tomorrow brings.  Good night, Sportsfans.

Wonderful, Wonderful Copenhagen

Having a locally made gelato near our hipster hotel - YUM YUM!

In our hipster hotel, every room has a yoga mat if you need it, cables for charging electronic kit, a polaroid camera to take some snaps, stickers, and of course a tote bag to take home with you.  Crikey.  We took it home with us.

Check out this cutie pie - our lunch stop on the road from Copenhagen to Helsingor - a little bit after this we passed the Karen Blixen museum (of Out of Africa fame)

We sat on this cute sofa for lunch - and Mike went out to check on the bikes, you can see him through the bottom left pane of glass

TODAY!

Leaving our little hut - it rained all night so Sally stayed tucked away.

With a tail wind we made great time, and beat the rain, to grab the 9am ferry to Helsingborg - her's Mike buying our tickets

the ferry next to us was named Hamlet - cause he was right next to the famous castle...

it looks pretty creepy

Already loving Sweden...the cute brekkie spot in Helsingborg

One of the cute streets in Helsingborg

On the bike...and all this...

Our lunch stop

And could the day get any better?  Well yes, Mike found Guld Korn in Sweden - except it's Kalas Puffer - look how happy he is!

And this is our home tonight - we were worried about rain again tonight, so took the hostel option - looks a bit spooky now I look at it, but it's warm and friendly and beautifully decorated.  And we met a young American, Roy, who's cycling on his own around Europe.

Night night, Sportsfans.  And thanks again for your comments and emails.  I love them.