This was one of the most eagerly anticipated segments of my trip - a cycling holiday on the island of Bornholm, a tiny Danish island in the Baltic Sea, only 40 kms wide and 20 kms long, known for its gently rolling hills, good food and breweries, beaches and sunshine.
Its true, we had a false start when the hyperbolically-named airline, 'Wings of Bornholm', went into voluntary administration a few weeks after we reserved tickets.
But we quickly found a replacement in Cimber Sterling who very ably conveyed us on a 30 minute flight to Rønne airport. Well, its not really an airport. More of a warehouse, really, with signs like this one.
Hung-over and mopey about leaving Copenhagen, again, I started to have real doubts about whether Bornholm was such a great idea. Our taxi driver, perhaps Bornholm's only taxi driver, reinforced this when he announced that 'Copenhagen is shit. Bornholm is special'. Um, exqueeze me? What the hell do you know? Actually he was super sweet and helpful, so I forgive him for his blasphemous ways.
Then there was our accommodation at the Danhostel Gudhjem. Now that was shit. Literally, in fact, as the toilet cubicles were made for ants and the seats were smeared in shit, probably as a consequence of having to ride side saddle. Yeah ok - you had to read that, but I had to see it. Next time, we'll book our own holiday cottage.
But it got better. Much better. We hired bikes and rode 40 kms over 2 days, in sunshine and rain, past rolling fields of hay, windmills and picturesque inlets and bays on segregated, 2-way bike lanes. God bless Denmark.
Our favourite town by far was Gudhjem, followed by Svaneke. Allinge was unimpressive, so save your legs and give that one a miss.
Pretty Gudhjem harbour
Gudhjem Rogeri (smokehouse) is Bornholm's best. They serve Bornholm's speciality, whole smoked herring served with heavy rye bread, chopped radish, chives, lettuce and a raw egg yolk, but its an acquired taste, I think. You're better off with the Varmt Røget Laks (a warm, crispy-skinned fillet of smoked salmon with none of the sliminess you usually associate smoked salmon) served with remoulade and a side salad yum yum.
The Østerlars round church with 2 metre thick stone walls dating from the 12th century was well-worth visiting - and showed that the Danes nailed design long, long ago.
A more recent example of Danes killing it is Bornholm Art Museum, a great stop even just to wander around the sculpture gardens.
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