20 years ago today - Day 152

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Friday, August 2nd - Falkenberg to Copenhagen, 8336 km

I slept like a log last night. I am a little stiff and achy this morning but nothing feels injured. I stretch and shake out my muscles before I eat breakfast at the hostel, and then stretch again before I head off. I have a long ride again today. I have 120 km to cover, perhaps a bit more, to reach Helsingborg. I have booked a space on the ferry for 4pm and a space at the Copenhagen youth hostel for tonight. I need to reach there by 6 pm so need an early start. I stop at the office to thank Henry Johnson for all he did for me last night. Maybe what I need to learn is to celebrate all the good things around me, I tell him.

The forested roads are quite cool shade as the morning hasn't reached them. The sky is sunny and promising. It begin to warm significantly when I reach the outskirts of Falkenberg. Friday morning traffic is fairly light as I pass through. I follow an inland secondary highway out of town until I can take an unnumbered road to the coast at Sloinge. Even it stays a kilometre in from the shore as it winds through forests and fields and the occasional village until it brings me into the town of Halmstad, where I stop for an early lunch.

From here, I am forced onto an inland route, Hwy 117, while the expressway follows the coast. When 117 turns eastward, I take a side road into Laholm and back to towards the coast. I follow service roads beside the expressway for an hour until I reach Angelholm. There hasn't been much scenery of note but I am glad to say I've seen a small part of this coast of Sweden. At Angelholm, I rest for a few minutes while munching on a sandwich.


I follow the expressway for the last few kilometres in Sweden, until I get to the outskirts of Helsingborg. I ride through the centre of the historic city to the ferry docks, which make themselves obvious to me as I approach them. I have missed the 4 pm ferry but there's one every half hour so I catch the 4:30. It's only a 4 km crossing at this point. On the west side of the strait is the Danish city of Helsingor. The two Helsings, once both Danish, controlled ship access to the Baltic Sea for centuries, acting rather like a toll booth and providing much of the income for the Danish crown. There is a fortress called Kronborg Castle on the present Danish side and one called the Karnan on the Swedish side.

My search for side roads to get to Helsingborg without using the expressway has cost me time and distance. I have covered 145 km to make it this far. It is still another
30 km into Copenhagen from Helsingor. An American couple, Jacob and Anne, I meet on the ferry have their bicycles with them. They and suggest I take the commuter train the rest of the way into the city as they will do. It's a smart idea, given my reservation at the hostel for 6 pm. The American couple are pleasant company. They have been summering in Denmark and really enjoy it.

I get to the hostel ten minutes before 6, but I am kept waiting until the office opens for another 20 minutes. I call Kersten. He was released from hospital yesterday. He is still pretty shaky so I won't go over to visit him later. I eat at the hostel after my shower and rest in the lounge talking with other travelers when I can. I seem to be the only one traveling alone.

Later in the evening I go out to PAN to check out the Friday night disco. Where I find the energy to dance I don't know. I have covered 800 km in the past six days, more than 300 in the past two days. I am tired though, and not as eager to hunt for interesting men as I was last time I was here. While I pause for a rest on the sidelines of the dance floor, I make eye contact with a rather cute blond American who comes over to meet me. His name is John Long. He seems to lose interest when he hears my accent, but when he learns I am from Canada he perks up again.

John is from Massachusetts. I was awarded a scholarship last fall to teach tennis while studying for his Masters here in Copenhagen last fall. He has been living here for a little over eight months. I ask him how he likes it and he responds with enthusiasm. After two beers together, he invites me walk around the area with him. I ask if we can sleep together, which means at his place. He can't he says, explaining that because accommodation is so expensive here he has been sleeping on the couch in a one-bedroom apartment he shares with a local university student named Jorgen.

Eventually, it is time for me to return to the youth hostel as my eyelids are beginning to droop. I ask if he would like to meet me for coffee tomorrow morning. He does, and he suggests a café near where we are standing at the moment, so that it will be easy for me to find. We say good night and he lets me kiss him on the cheek before we separate.

The room is already dark at the hostel. I am not sure how many others are sleeping in the dorm room. I do my best to undress quietly and slip into my sleeping bag without disturbing the others.


PHOTO 1: bridge in Falkenberg
PHOTO 2: main street in Halmstad
PHOTO 3: Helsingborg
PHOTO 4: Helsingborg and Castle Rarnan
PHOTO 5: ferry to Helsingor, Denmark
PHOTO 6: Kronborg Castle, at Helsingor
PHOTO 7: street in Helsingor
PHOTO 8: Jacob and Anne