Ishøj to Roskilde, 20Km
The Danish Pilgrim Trail circumnavigates Ishøj. It’s hardly surprising because the town planners have built a fortress. The outer defenses are a ring of logistics and light industrial units. Inside these are found the retail units, massive temples of consumption. Future archaeologists who stumble upon Ishøj will dig away at these structures and unearth their treasures. When and if they manage to thread their way into the heart of Ishøj, they will uncover a Turkish enclave which will be a mystery to the future civilization. Were these Turks the traders who brought the merchandise along the Silk Road from distant civilizations like China or were they the slaves who maintained it all?
I pondered the question this morning as I sat in the Turkish cafe in the heart of the citadel, attempting to find a route out of town. The young Turkish woman, who made me a good cappuccino and who found me a plain croissant among all the Baklava and Turkish delight, came to help. “Take a bus” she said. But it’s not that simple. You can’t offer the driver a 50 DKK note or touch your bank card on the machine. You need the official app but it’s so complicated because they’ve divided the whole country into hundreds of zones and you have to know them all. It then asks where you want to go but you can’t tell it because most of the towns can’t be typed without downloading a Danish keyboard. I found it quicker in Copenhagen (København) to walk everywhere. My new friend grabbed my iPhone and downloaded another app. “Check in at the bus stop and check out when you arrive”, she said.
So I took the bus back to the trail which saved me 8.8Km while the magic app sorted the ticket.
I can’t tell you much about the walk except it was a lot of agriculture. I was tired from staying up too late to watch the football. But I saw an amazing long straight path lined with poppies and a richness of wild flowers and thousands of manic butterflies. There was also the remains of an enormous quarry which had been nicely landscaped with hills and lakes. And of course there were churches, all locked. And no cafes.
I had to sleep for 2 hours this afternoon which was a shame because Roskilde is an interesting place with much to see. I just had time for the cathedral before it closed. It’s the Westminster Abbey of Denmark with the graves of royalty through the ages including the Royal Children’s Crypt. So much Danish history in this UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was King Harald Bluetooth who first built a church here and is buried somewhere in the cathedral. He was the 10th century king who united Denmark. When the Swedes (with some help from the Dutch) invented the wireless technology, they gave it to the world (very Swedish) and named it Bluetooth after King Harald to symbolise its ability to join disparate devices.
Pilgrimage 
It’s true, when future archaeologists excavate IKEA they will discover the cunning Scandanavians designed a more complex labyrinth to the tills than the Egyptians built inside the pyramids to reach the pharaohs tombs.
I’ve only been to IKEA once and swore never to return
Loving your photography.
I’m glad! Feel free to paint another one. Thanks
Ah Tim…your sense of humour & dry wit is always a delight!
I empathise with the frustration of this app-driven world…whatever happened to ‘simple is best’?!
Gorgeous wildflowers. What colours were the coy butterflies?
I hope you’re recovering from the flu. The butterflies were nearly all white but a few black ones too. I was expecting a dull couple of kilometres straight through the barley fields but it was gorgeous
fun fact about Bluetooth naming 😀
King Harald would have been delighted to know his legacy continues to unite our world through our ears and wrists
Love the flowers & butterflies! And Peter would like a smorrebrod. However, if we have to wait as long for Danish cuisine to become popular in NZ as it’s taken IKEA to reach us he may never have a chance to try it. IKEA has been building a massive blue retail store in Auckland forever which we drive past on the motorway from time to time. Supposedly to be opened later this year ….
Danish cuisine is fab and they have excellent bakeries. I’m sure IKEA will open soon but it takes a long time to layout the maze all through the building to reach the exit
Sorry Tim, I have a problem with the comment and to follow your blog. I’ m really in late reading your pilgrimage. We were also in pilgrimage from Lisieux to Alençon and after to Strasbourg for the end of Hugues’ studies.. Thanks for the information about Bluetooth and photos of the salmon’s plates. I share with our sons, especially thé plates for Hugues.
Thanks for the information and photos 👍.
Bonjour Huguette, I hope you enjoyed your pilgrimage and I’m sure we will visit Strasbourg one day. It looks so beautiful