It was a nice sunny day during Easter, and many of my club mates were out enjoying the good weather. Anders was leaving just before me in his beautiful Zephyr:
I was going to Langeland, an island southeast of Funnen. I had planned my sightseeing, but wanted to have a look at some of the places from air first, like The Tranekær Castle, a private residence with its 1,800 m2 and 70 rooms:
The Tranekær Castle was presumably built in the 12th century as a fortress, but the first mentioning of it was found in the 13th century. Built on a 20-metre-high embankment, with a moat and drawbridge, it had a very advantageous location. Once it was possible to sail to the foot of the castle from both east and west sides of Langeland. If you were to travel the length of Langeland, it was necessary to pass the castle. Today, it is the oldest inhabited house in Denmark.
I landed on a private airstrip, and a very kind dog came out to greet me. He waited patiently till I stopped the engine, before coming closer – very intelligent, indeed.
I headed on the road towards Tranekær, with so many cars, probably because it was a holiday. There wasn’t any path for pedestrians, and I had to walk on the approx. 20 cm side of the road, designated for bikes and walks. Most of the cars took it into the account, and passed by slower. But there were suprisingly many, who didn’t slow down, and drove very close by. Often it felt daunting, because as a pedestrian, I didn’t have any other choice, with a ditch by the road side. Very strange drivers’ behaviour…
The trees of Langeland were blooming, and it helped to focus on the right things in life:
My first sightseeing stop was the Tranekær Mill. Built in 1846, later restored, today it is a museum with cafe:
I continued to Tranekær village, and could soon see its impressive castle on the hill:
During summer months, it is possible to go on a guided tour of the Tranekær Castle. The castle’s park, with remarkable trees and art pieces around the lake, is open all year around. I had a different agenda, and made my way to the cafe Orangeriet and De Gyldne Gemakker jewellery shop. The cafe was very nice and light, and the menu looked good, too. There were also tables in the garden. It was a cozy place:
The jewellery shop, besides jewellery, sold other pieces of art, some of them quite interesting, like those small pigs:
Over time, a beautiful village emerged around the Tranekær castle, inspired by Central-European well-planned castle towns. The same as the castle, it is very well preserved to this day:
I saw roadside stands several places. One of them, at the village, with ceramic cups:
I found them way too expensive… Recently, I bought some ceramic and porcelain cups for a gift in a jewellery shop called Wøn, located on Frederiksberg Alle, close to my home in Copenhagen – they were much nicer and cheaper!
One place I really loved, was Galakse – a sculptural work by Jan Axel Starup, the resident of Tranekær. The monument consists of 27 boulders of varying sizes, with the largest one weights 10 tons and was found in Tranekær. The intention was to create a galaxy centered in Tranekær:
The work winds like a spiral and contains many symbols with references to both the past and the present. In the center of the spiral stands a bowl-shaped stone that can be interpreted as an eye facing the universe. 27 boulders, 7000 cobblestones and 1000 beach stones in total were used for the installation, and it took Jan Axel Starup half a year to create this magnificent piece of art.
Another interesting building I wanted to see was Sukkerfabrikken, which is a former sugar factory, built in 1804:
It looked more like an office building, not really a factory. Today it is a B&B with a restaurant, place for courses and other activities. They didn’t want any curious visitors – a sign said “no trespassing”, but I walked by anyway.
The nature of Langeland is beautiful. There are forests, hills, fields, lakes, enormous amounts of birds…
Chances you meet a herd of deer are high:
I walked to the Tranekær lighthouse – a 9 metres tower by the east coast that was built in 1897:
The lighthouse was taken out of service in 1977; today it belongs to a private residence.
The Aviator and The Blue Bear were screaming for food, and I found a nice spot by the sea on Botofte beach. They told me, chorizo and manchego were not good enough without semi-dried black olives, but I argued all those extra calories from gourmet food could end up on their bellies!
We had a longer break there, enjoying the views and the gentle sound of waves:
Langeland is known for its interesting concept of exhibiting art in the island’s former transformer stations. You need to look for the tall red brick towers:
Those art towers are open all year around, and there are 12 of them on the island. The one I wanted to visit this time was an artwork of Lauge Voigt, called “Man skal ikke skue hunden på hårene” (English: Don’t judge a dog by its breed”):
A hyena looks out of this art tower – a stranger in the otherwise idyllic landscape. The hyena is an analogy for the ideas that we humans have about other people sometimes. The hyena is often perceived as a dog, despite the fact that it is descended from a cat. In addition, the hyena is often a symbol of a disgusting animal, although in reality they are very social animals with strong females leading their herds! With this sculpture, Lauge Voigt tells us that not everybody is as we sometimes assume, that we need to be open for stranges in order to understand them, and our perception of things can be wrong.
That artwork reminded me of the D&I (Diversity & Inclusion) initiatives we have at my work. We often discuss different D&I topics, and find new and better ways of showing to each other our geniune interest and appreciation of who we truly are. Outside work, I sometimes experienced being invited to a company where nobody showed any interest to me as a person. And when I refused to meet again, people got offended! I feel really blessed having my colleagues, not ony in my team, but department and beyond.
I walked around 20 km that day, and was quite tired when I got back to my Aeroprakt.
The flight back home was easy – there was almost no wind, and the air was smooth.
I loved the views where the sea met the sky:
It was a great day on the island. I hope to get back to Langeland soon, and to spend several days there.
