Exploring Æro Island

The next morning, we had a few hours to explore the town. We used our Rick Steves Scandinavia guidebook, selecting highlights for our stroll through the town. Colorful flowers decorated the yards of the brightly painted wooden cottages that faced the cobbled streets. Workmen were busy with local improvement projects. We found Molestien Lane, a gravel path with a beach on one side and beautiful homes on the other. As we strolled along the lane, we looked over fences and admired the gorgeous gardens, amazed that it was still only June and everything was flourishing!

We also visited the Bottle Peter Museum. The museum displays 750 different bottled ships of the more than 1700 ships made by Peter Jacobsen, an Æro resident from 1873 to 1960.

After our morning walk about the town, we joined our group for an afternoon bus tour of the island. We had a traditional smørrebrød lunch at a lakeside country cafe and visited the nearby 12th-century Bregninge church. Ylva sat us in pews to describe the Gothic interior – men on the right and women on the left, following church tradition.

Next, we stopped for three group hikes:

Climbing a hill for a look out over the fields toward the nearby ocean
Taking stairs to a beach filled with obsidian and chipping rocks to make flint stones
Walking out to a prehistoric burial site

Returning to the town, we had afternoon tea in the garden – provided to our group by Susanna, local B & B owner. Some of us had dinner at Café Aroma, and then we met our California friends, Barbie and Rich, for an evening stroll on the beach. Cozy and colorful privately-owned cottages line the shore. Each one is unique and none are extravagant – just another way for Danish families to gather, picnic, and swim in true hygge style!

Day 8 – Copenhagen