Did anyone see 1864, the Danish 8 part historical drama on BBC a couple of years ago? Recommended.
It recounts the tale of two brothers caught up in the doomed battle for Schleswig, when the Danish government refused to split the region down the middle and share half and half with Prussia.
The centrepiece of the drama, and the war, is an old windmill at Dybbøl, a few km from our harbour. The Danes were trounced in days with heavy casualties and lost the lot to Prussia.
It took the Treaty of Versailles and a referendum in 1920 to restore the top half to Denmark, and the bottom half to Germany, as we discovered on our cycle trip there today.
The sun was shining, and the wind was light, so we decided to get some exercise and ride out for some history. It didn’t take long to be reminded that windmills are built on hills, and we were warm enough by the time we arrived.
Of course our resident miller was intrigued by the inner workings of the old mill, pointing out various parts using technical milling terms.
Once we had explored the battle trenches and the interpretive centre we freewheeled in the biting cold air back to base.
Summer is coming; just not sure when.
No we don’t know the TV drama but your photos are great and you have whetted our appetite! Cycling uphill is a good warming-up ploy. Wonder where you will get to tomorrow. It’s none too warm here either and brisk walks and tackling piles of ironing are other, less exciting, ways of coping with the late Spring chill factor.. But we guess you would still rather be in the Baltic. Looking forward to your next blog! Rx
Happy to see you are taking time to enjoy the environs; we just hope the weather warms up by the time we join you in July, warm-blooded creatures that we have become.
We hope so! We were thinking it’s all very like Maine. Looking forward to it.
Lovely to hear about you and pleased to hear that you are cruising again.
I did follow some of your last year epic. I found that I was getting green with envy.
I intend to follow this years cruise.
If you find that you are short of crew. You know where to find me.
Cold in London but expected to get warmer
David