I am writing this while sitting in this pleasant AirBnB in the small village of Ærøskøbing, Denmark. The rain, the cold rain, has been pouring down almost since we first arrived here. My shoes, socks, jacket and pants are hanging in the front foyer drying out after my afternoon walk though these cobblestoned streets. Ærøskøbing is on the small island of Ærø which sits in the Baltic Sea, squeezed between Denmark and Germany (only 9 miles from the German shore). And, today a storm has swept across the Baltic and left this little island, and us upon it, to deal with the wind, cold and rain. Still with all the weather, this island is not to be missed when visiting Denmark. Especially, following our hectic days in Copenhagen we find this a comforting place and look forward to our next few days here. In the summer this island is a vacation destination for both Danes and Germans, a nice marina full of sailboats, and plenty of restaurants and boutique shops. We have missed that season and the island is mostly closed down. All that are here now are the permanent residents, a few restaurants, a bar, and a bakery. This is about as peaceful as it can get in Europe. The town oozes Danish quaintness with it multicolored buildings and cobblestones streets.
Getting here was the culmination of two trains and a 1.5 hour ferry ride. When the trains and ferries run on schedule, and in Northern Europe they do, traveling is a thing of logistical beauty. Ah. but in Europe there is a flaw in the system. The rail strikes. While we were cooking dinner Sandy picked up a message stating that the trains in the Netherlands were striking the day that we were scheduled to go into Amsterdam. One of my travel axioms is "there is never a problem that you can't buy your way out of". I don't know how we used to travel without our iPhones, but with it I rebooked train travel to a non-strike day and used some Diamond Points to make sure we had a place to stay.
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