Today I tried to work from a vacation spot for the very first time. It went fine – I’ve been working from home since March last year anyway!
Henrik and I are renting a house for 8 people on Bornholm, so there is plenty of room, and it is almost as comfortable as at home. The weather was nice and sunny, but it was tough to be back at work, though I did prepared the day before. During my lunch break, I went down to “our” Hammerhavn beach – it is only a couple of minutes walk – and enjoyed fresh air, a walk by the sea, watching the waves… And I could see the rain was on its way:
After my working day finished, Henrik and I went to see Røverborgen (English: The Robber Castle) – one of the hidden gems of the island, in Gudhjem area. It was raining from time to time, and lots of heavy clouds were over Bornholm:
We did a stop in Tejn, a fishing village with a large harbour:
In Gudhjem, I always wanted to get a photo of this cute house, called “Nyelandshytten”, and its fences, but there were either people or cars on the street. Now the street was empty, and I had a good chance:
Later I learned a bit about this house and one of its owners.
One of Gudhjem’s many colourful summer guests was Stephan Nyeland (1854 – 1922). He founded Denmark’s first horticultural college Vilvorde in Charlottenlund, Zealand. The school was named after a Belgian town that Nyeland had visited in connection with his studies there, and where his wife Marie Isabelle Caroline Willems Raman came from. She was from a “good family” and a close friend of princess Marie d’Orléans, who was married to the King’s Christians IX youngest son Valdemar.
Nyeland loved Gudhjem and came there regularly in the summer. In 1903 he bought a house in Gudhjem, which today is named after him “Nyelandshytten”.
We parked our car near the Gudhjem Smoke House, and from there – approx. 1 km spectacular walk to Røverborgen by the sea and cliffs:
Røverborgen was easy to spot – it looked exactly as on the pictures we’ve seen. The name Røverborgen was reportedly invented by the tourist association in Gudhjem. The association was founded in 1907 and one of its tasks was to make the nature around the town more attractive and easily accessible to tourists. Bathhouses were built, and paths were laid out in the forest. In 1917, Nordisk Film filmed “The Sicilian Robber’s Wedding” and one of the scenes was filmed by The Robber Castle.
I asked Henrik to pose for me on the top:
Remember the “Nyelandshytten” I mentioned earlier? Stephan Nyeland also bought two natural plots on Nørresand in 1904, where he laid out gardens and built a small log cabin up on the hill. He also laid out Princessehaven (English: the Princess Garden) with rare plants and trees. The garden was named after the Princess Marie d’Orléans and she in turn gave Nyeland a white bulldog. The Princess garden still exists today, and has long been in decay, but the views from there are marvellous:
Nyeland moved to Christiansø later in life where he lived in a house he called “Bella Vista”, full of exotic things, among others – furniture he got from the Russian Emperor Alexander III. Stephan Nyeland was a quite special person. Many royals visited him on Christiansø, and they had to find their way to “Bella Vista” themselves. Nyeland did not show up at the harbour, because there he could meet the family With, which he could not stand and therefore bothered as best he could. For instance, he cut the steering feathers of Ms. With’s doves. Stephan Nyeland died on Bornholm, and was buried at Gentofte Cemetery on Zealand, where grateful students and staff from the horticultural college Vilvorde he founded, decorated the grave with a memorial stone.
Another house in the area, I liked very much and photographed on several occasions, with a great view over the sea:
At home, I sat in our living room and spent the rest of my evening knitting:
