Denmark

      Moving on to Angelholm, we found a Tourist info, and they steered us to a B&B. Walking back to our car, We saw a couple of officers placing a ticket on our car. I ran to them as they walked away.

“Oh sir! O sir! Did we do something wrong?” And we both started giving our very best “Clueless American” impressions. Didn't have to fake it much. He stepped over and removed the ticket. “Welcome to Sweden,” he said, and smiled. Or maybe it was a laugh. I told him they were a very nice welcoming committee. But just yesterday, five months after we got home, we got a ticket from Norway for failing to pay a road toll three times, and we don't even remember a toll road. $15, and Barbara paid it today. We didn't want an extradition committee showing up at our front door!

      The B&B was over a garage, and nice, but the bad news was, we would have to walk into the house to the toilet. More good news. She insisted upon washing, ironing, drying, and folding two loads of clothes for us, and was extremely meticulous about it. She saw us hauling in Barbara's thin back pad, and when we returned later, she had brought us a heating pad. Along with a chamber pot.

We had a wonderful breakfast, along with many extras. She had a true servant's heart, a wonderful lady.

      We drove to the Sea. When we got out, I saw a couple of fishermen loading fish into their trunk. I walked over to look. They were anxiously measuring the length of two large Salmon, and I sorta made them nervous.

After walking the beach a long way, we almost never found our way back to our car. It seems no matter where we go in Sweden, It's clean, They're good people, and trusting and friendly. They have lots of very old things, and take care of them. Goodbye Sweden!

 DENMARK

      We first came into Sweden over a very long bridge. This time we decided to take the ferry back. The crossing was uneventful, except once I accidentally led Barbara into the Captain's area. The stern Captain looked at me hard, pointed to the door sign, and said “No!” Barbara put her hands on her hips and said, “Well OK. But you don't have to hurt my feelings!” His sternness disappeared, and he laughed.

The ferry ride connected to a very large city, the signs were different, it was crowded, and we began to think we would never get out. Once we did, we headed south along the coast. Then we headed inland. The B&B was sufficient, but isolated from the house. The operator was young, new at it, and had not learned to be a great host, like we had gotten used to.

      We drove around a bit, aimlessly, trying to get a feel for Denmark. Everything was different, and they drove faster. We ran onto what we thought must be the most beautiful cemetery we had ever seen. Each grave was surrounded by perfectly trimmed hedges, at least four feet tall. There was a very beautiful, freshly painted, red church behind. We saw many more like that as we traveled on, but none as beautiful. We were seeing many homes with their roof made of a thickly thatched reeds. We learned later that most of the reeds were becoming scarce, and to redo them, they had to be imported. A new roof cost about $100,000. But it was tradition. We drove down to a harbor at seaside (I guess they all are) and found a tiny building that served very good fish and chips. Out in the bay, a small houseboat made to look like a space ship bobbed about. No bigger than half a bus, a family had been living in it for eight years. It was obviously fiberglass, very light, and it was just tossed about. How could they do that?

      At a tourist Info, a lady drew us a map to two castles. She said it was OK to walk the grounds. The first castle was great, complete with moat, drawbridge, and sharp prongs above to drop down on intruders. We parked, walked across the drawbridge, and had just started walking the grounds when an angry woman came running out at us, telling us it was private, turn around and get out! I tried to apologize, and explain what we had been told, but nothing would please her except our immediate absence. We hurried across the drawbridge, before she dropped the sharp prongs on us. The old hag. She deserved to be destined to live in a drafty old castle! Having seen all the castles we wanted, we drove to a big park that advertised great white cliffs over the ocean. But it was so foggy, all the white we ever saw was white fog. Oh, well. We've seen the White Cliffs of Dover, and anything else would be second rate, anyway.