By Marina Aagaard, MFT. Photos: Henrik Elstrup and Marina Aagaard
A north German island and – since 2003 – a town on the island located in the Baltic Sea off the eastern coast of Schleswig-Holstein and only about 18 km south of the Danish island of Lolland. Fehmarn has been connected to the German mainland since 1963 with a car, railway (and bike) bridge crossing the Fehmarn sound. The bridge is 963.40 m long (3160.76 ft.) And 69 m high. The Danish and German authorities have furthermore agreed (29.6.2007) to build a much, much bigger bridge from Fehmarn to Lolland.
On a trip – by car, by foot and by bicycle
Today’s program is a four-hour car journey starting just north of Aarhus and arriving at lunchtime on Fehmarn.
We arrive at Hotel Bene on the south coast, more specifically Am Südstrand; our base for the next four days. In fact, it is a beach hotel, a medium-sized, modern one of the sort, with direct access to the beach – across the boardwalk.
When we get into the room, there is a super surprise: Sauna in the bathroom. Yes!
(I love ‘wellness’, an optimal supplement to fitness; first activity, then recovery).
The good news is that Fehmarn has lots of small and large resorts, hotels, pensions, holiday apartments, campsites and holiday houseboats.
The bad news is that many accommodations are fully booked, so you have to be out early, when you want to go on holiday in a special location on Fehmarn.
Quick unpacking and then a small tour of the neighborhood. 2 Rad MARQUARDT has kindly provided bicycles, so we can get around the healthy way.
First we go for a walk along the impressive beach to the end of the promenade, where there is a trendy cafe, Café Sorgenfrei, with coffee, cakes, cookies and cocktails. The sun is shining and no rain, so there are full of guests on the outside terrace and scattered in the dunes outside.
Then we go to have a light lunch in a small cafe, Kussmann; quite basic; a beef burger and a salmon ditto … no frills or haute cuisine surprises.
Outside the hotel: I photograph the photographer … overlooking the huge gray-white sandy beaches, dark blue sea and light blue sky.
Then we drive – yes we should have gone by bike but sat for too long over lunch – to: Beltbude , a cafe and meeting place at Grüner Brink, a large green area on the north coast near Puttgarten. Here we meet with our instructor Gerda Stau, ready for Nordic walking.
This walking group meets at different places on the island to go for varied tours. The group members have been walking together for 10 years, and tourists, guests on the island, are welcome to participate; you may opt for a shorter or longer route e.g. 4-6 or 8-10 km.
Today a 6 km hike in the area. The day started in Denmark with rain, but after we arrived in Fehmarn, the weather offered blue sky and sun – and a breeze.
The rather constant wind is the reason why the ocean around Fehmarn is filled with windsurfers and kitesurfers; There are 10 popular hotspots around the coast, the horizon is full of colorful kites – also small kites in the hands of children and adults alike.
Grüner Brink, is a special nature area, so motorized vehicles and even bikes are prohibited. Everywhere there are birds … and ornithologists with oversized zoom lenses.
After about an hour we are back at the parking lot and after a short stretching session we say goodbye to our fellow walkers and drive south again. A short 10 minute drive.
Then we get on the bicycles for a short tour along the south coast to get a look at the area, the very long seafront. It is a very nice bike ride in the evening sun.
Fehmarn nature and more
Is Fehmarn “only” nature? No, obviously also culture. Today, Georg Schroeter & Marc Breitfelder, two top blues musicians, plays a concert at Café Liebevoll Burg. We’ll have to hear that. We drive to the city center, park the car and walk around the venue to find a place to eat.
There is an amazing number of restaurants and cafes, when you take this city’s limited size into consideration. There are many small restaurants, especially burger, salad and pizza-pasta restaurants side by side. We choose one in the last category, Borgo Antico, a place that looks popular, full of guests of all ages.
A simple but satisfying meal: Bruschetta (fresh tomato and olive oil is always good …) and as a main course, respectively vegetable pasta, penne, and ham pasta, tagliatelle, with truffle oil. In addition, spring water and house red wine.
Then we walk to Liebevoll, KULTurlabor, café slash culture center; a tiny front room, walkway and tiny central room with podium, old-fashioned upright piano, microphone stands, amplifiers, mixing console and monitors.
We arrive early, and get good seats. Just before the concert, the room is filled with seated and standing guests. There is a relaxed atmosphere and the audience sits with beer, wine and coffee in charmingly different glasses.
The concert is great; live music is special and the two musicians play with intensity and high spirits. The room is alive with clapping and at the end also some singing … boogie, shake, rattle and roll …
After two hours the concert is over. The time is 23:00. Our stomachs and heads are full, so we walk past the lounge bar Loop and drive directly back to the hotel and head straight into bed.
Over 19,000 steps and then some today; not too bad.
Read more:
Luftfoto Staberhuk: Ost-Schleswig-Holstein.de
Invited by Natura (Interreg Deutschland – Danmark)
fitness wellness world 