July 7, 2023
Rodvig to Koge (July 7, 2023)
Including a Visit to Stevnsfort Cold War Site
We were able to enjoy our cool Rodvig Hotel this morning because we had scheduled a 2:15 afternoon tour of a Cold War site just down the road. That was the only time I could get a tour of the underground part of the facility. I used the extra time in the morning to catch up on the journal and Dave took his camera down the road to Stevns Klimt, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Its claim to fame is that it is one of the most visibly exposed examples of the K-T boundary layer which provides evidence for the theory that much of life, including non-flying dinosaurs, became extinct due to an asteroidal impact about 66 million year ago. Dave hiked down the cliffs and took some great pics.
After checking out we made our way to Stevnsfort. This is a Cold War facility, built in 1953 and decommissioned in the late 1980s. It was constructed by the US, but operated by Danish Air Force personnel who trained in the US.
Denmark is a country you don’t hear a lot about in the international realm but it really was on the front lines of the Cold War. The site never had nuclear warheads, which was a deliberate choice by the Danish government to avoid antagonizing of the USSR. However, the nuclear warheads were just across the border and could have been easily hauled in if necessary.
The tour was long - over two hours - but really fascinating - and we learned a lot about the on-the-ground consequences of the Cold War. Above ground we saw Nike and HAWK anti-aircraft missiles and even some Nazi WW2 era guns, originally used on a German destroyer, that had fallen into the hands of the British at the end of the war and that had been reinstalled at the fort to provide defense against an invasion. Below ground was a large bunker with a command and radar station and also facilities for allowing a a crew to live there in an emergency. The wire bunks those servicemen had to use looked awful. The bunker could support up to 250 personnel for up to three months. Fortunately, the only time they had a lockdown was for three frightening weeks during the Cuban missile crisis (1962) during which military personnel were completely shut off from the world, with no idea if they were about to be the front line for WW3.
The tour was in Danish and we followed along with an English audio guide; this kind of sucked, but it was interesting enough we were glad to have done it. (Dave: I, in my absentmindedness, forgot to download the audio guide and given we were underground had no WiFi. Ever resourceful, Jill offered up one of her ear buds so I could listen along with her. It would have been a very long tour for me, only being able to hear our Danish guide's lectures!)
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We didn’t get out of Stevnsfort until almost 5 pm which was a stress as we still had the full days ride of 30 km ahead of us. I made it worse by pre-booking a table for dinner for 7:30 pm. Danes, at least in the rural parts, don’t eat late. The upshot, we rode as hard as we could and arrived in time to check in, take a quick shower and then off to Bossa Nova, a Brazilian spot on the harbor in Koge which was lovely. We had beautiful weather and a great relaxed meal. We are thoroughly enjoying Denmark.
Our hotel, Comwell Strand, was a conference hotel, a little dated but still okay and we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast. Air conditioning is apparently not common, even in nicer business hotels.
We have been watching the Tour de France via streaming but Dave has not had any success yet at casting up to the room tv. He will keep trying.
Today's ride: 32 km (20 miles)
Total: 375 km (233 miles)
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