16-Feb-2025
Yesterday I bought a "Kringel" for breakfast. That thing is actually huge, so it'll easily last me for two days.
Here's the backyard view from my Airbnb:
And some stylish details inside that I didn't notice yesterday.
And then I'm out, on the northern Odense exploration stray. That's about 22km in a little over 6 hours, at sub-zero temperatures (
stray map on bikerouter).
Since it's so cold, I bundle up with my warm fox hat, and a little cloak to wear above my jacket. Still, it's pretty cold.
First, I make my way through a bit of city.
There, I find out that apparently the local pet food store chain from which I buy my cat food from in Germany also exists here, but under a different name: Here, it's called Maxi Zoo, while in Germany it's called Fressnapf ("Feeding Bowl").
Eventually, I leave the urban parts behind, and head out into the woods near town.
There, I find myself making my way across a frozen pond by means of a boardwalk. Now there's a new experience!
Next, I come across a quite epic statue. If I had to wager a guess, I'd say this is the Norse gods fighting some sort of monster, possibly the great sea serpent Jormungandr. Did I mention that Denmark is the origin country of the Vikings? Or that my stay place is in the Odinsgade ("Odin's Street")?
Moving on, I pass by a marshy meadow called the Næsbyhoved Sø.
Returning back to civilization afterwards, I come across a Netto, which may or may not be the same as the supermarket chain that exists in Germany. But if it is, the Danish chain has a cuter logo.
Denmark also has "press to cross" pedestrians' crossings. I like this variant, because the buttongives clear, haptic feedback, and the light is bright, so you can also see if somone on the other side of the road already pressed the button.
Moving, on, I proceed through some more rural areas by means of one of Odense's many, many joined bike and pedestrian paths.
And then, I cross the Odense Kanal bymeans of the Odins Bro, which is a double swing bridge, with two rotating segments. That's right! Although Odense is located almost in the center of the island of Fyn, it still has a harbor. The fact that a nearby fjord cuts almost all the way to the city at this point certainly helps in that regard, so the channel only coves the last 8km or so.
On the far side, I come across a gas station that doesn't only sell gas, but also electric fuel. I wonder if that one is also charged by liter?
After that, I find myself on a strip of land between the Odense Å on the right and the Odense Kanal on the left.
From here, my original plan was following the peninsula between the two all the way to its end, and with it the Odense Fjord, but by now it's already 11:20, and there's no food place anywhere near me. Furthermore, it's still cold, and my feet a tiring, and walking to the end of this very elongated peninsula and back would add another 8km to this already long stray, so I decide to turn around at the bottleneck where the land between the Odense Å on and the Odense Kanal is little more than the width of the road.
After turning back, I reach a place where I get a great look on the estuary of the Odense Å.
And before long, I cross it at a place where the river is half-frozen (I still take the bridge, though).
On the other side, I pass through the village of Skibhusene, where I come across whatever in Lerra this is.
In this village, I come across a number of old-style reed-thatched houses.
Noon occurs just as I cross the field between this suburb and Odense. I take note how low the sun is standing in the sky at its zenith this far north. It ha been in my eyes a lot today, and it doesn't look like that's gonna change.
As I enter the outer streets of the city again, I take note that they have artful manhole covers here.
Hover, since I'm also still at the outskirts, I still pass through some semi-wintery woods.
And then I'm back in the streets of Odense, where I note plenty of speed bumps, and some roads with funny names.
Shout-out to the Familien Gronborg, Kristensen & Jones, who impress with their creative mailbox deisgn!
As I approach then center of Odense, I take note of some super flat traffic lights. There aren't many of those around, but they do look very modern.
Right now, I am quite hungry, and since I didn't come across any food place yet, I am now making a beeline for central station, where I know there's some food places. That beeline takes me through a park near the railway line, where I come across a cat balancing on my fence. I wonder what my two cats are doing back home right now.
As I approach the station, I encounter a bus that's wishing me a good weekend.
Once inside of the station, it doesn't take me long until I find another "I don't care what they're serving in there, I'm going in!"-place. And no, they don't actually serve giraffes. But they have some nice African-style decor. More importantly, however, it's warm! I get to be warm for the first time in 5 hours!
The fact that I order a nice warm tea in there is a given. And to go with it, I order a Giraffen Mix plate, which turns out to be a bowl of all sorts of fried goods, on top of some salad.
After lunch, I feel somewhat invigorated, and although I feel the many kilometers I've already walked today in my legs, I decide to take a roundabout way home. As a result, I come across this Geocache that is very extremely WHAT?!?!? Congratulations on winning the Cache-of-the-day award, even If I couldn't figure out how to open it. For scale, that thing is the size of a public trash bin.
Next up is the H.C. Andersen Haven, which by necessity I traverse in a very roundabout way.
And here's another weird spiral thing in the immediate area (but one square over).
Then, there's the Odense museum, which also looks like a very interesting place to visit.
And I wonder what the secret behind those foot prints is. I've seen them in a couple of places in central Odense now.
After that comes the park mile, starting with the Eventyrhaven at the side of the Odense Å
There, I find a boat sculpture stuck in the frozen river.
And this, which turns out is exactly what you wouldn't believe if I just told you exists: An open-air pissoir.
Also, there's the wall of fish.
Next, there's the Munke Mose, which features quite a of lakes, and a fort-themed playground on an island.
It is near there that I find the most interesting Geocaching logbook yet: Why waste money on a blank book if you can just log in a regular book?
The last park for today is the Ansgar Anlaeg, the silhouette of which kinda looks like an anime sword. Someone please make an anime sword out of that, and have a character named Ansgar wield it!
On my way back home I take note that Odense has underground recycling bins.
After that, all that's left is the way back home to my Airbnb, walking past colorful houses, several of which are actually just pure brick houses. But since the bricks are red, I'm okay with that.
Come evening, I head out again in search for some food. That search should lead me through some cold but colorful backyards. I especially like those trees that somehow cast shadows of light.
Tonight, I'm going to the Cafe Cuckoo's Nest, which is a nice an cozy place.
In there, I order a sandwich. Now this is what I get. It's very tasty, but eating it is a challenge in more ways than one. So I have to wonder: Is this dinner... or vengeance?
On the way back home, I come across this neat mural on a house wall.
And that's it for today. I wonder what exciting things I'll encounter tomorrow. Until then, stay tuned, and be of great cheer! =^,^=
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