Ronne, Bornholm Island

 

An 11am arrival at the port in Ronne, so we can have a lazy morning. Overcast and much cooler than yesterday, possibility of rain but it stays dry. The port is quite close to downtown, but very industrial so there is a shuttle that runs every 1/2 hour into the center of town.

Karen, Aaron and I did a Shore Excursion called Smokehouse and Round Churches. These are 2 things that Bornholm is known for.  About a 30 minute drive to the little village of Hasle. It used to be a fishing village, but there aren't large herring left in the Baltic. A combination of over-fishing and pollution. Instead the herring come from the North Sea and they smoke it here. There are many smokehouses with their tall chimneys. We didn't see the herring being smoked, as they do it early in the morning, but we did get to eat one. The 3 of us really enjoyed the dish, Sol over Gudhjem. Rye bread, smoked herring, raw egg yolk, radish and onion. There were a few people on the tour that were not enthused!

Afterwards we drove through the countryside to see the round churches. This end of the island is flat with lots of farms. Two of the crops are canola and mustard. No one is sure about the reason for the round churches, but they think it may be because it's harder to break the walls with a battering ram. The first church was closed but we went into the 2nd one. Very simple inside. Both churches had well kept graveyards with lovely flowers.

Because this was a shorter tour (3 hours) Karen and I caught the shuttle into town afterwards. Being Saturday afternoon many of the shops weren't open, but there were a few ceramic studios as well as the grocery store. I bought some local canned fish. The sun came out intermittently, and it was quite warm. We walked through some of the pretty streets with little cafes and along the waterfront to the information center to catch the bus back.

We went up to the pool deck for a gin and tonic, but the wind had really picked up and it was a bit cool. We had decided on the Patio for dinner as they were doing Ronne fish & chips. I dressed warmly but the patio was sheltered and they had the heaters on so it was lovely. We were looking at the narrow harbour entrance and wondering if it might be a problem with the wind, but we got out safely. And the fish & chips were terrific!

Afterwards I headed back to the cabin to do some work, then popped down to the Den for the jazz night. Ian had already gone to bed, and I thought I might not stay for long. But the band was so good I ended up staying for the whole show.