The last of Aero

So, the day draws to a close. It’s been fun. Not so much ‘relaxing’, but a different flavour than when we’re mucking about international cities. Aero is about ‘Hygge’ -pronounced Heugge. It’s a Danish philosophy of happiness. It makes the most out of situations...adds a chocolate or something special. It’s like ‘cozy yourself’ , be in the moment, relax, recharge. My moment came when we stopped along out bus tour and hiked down to the beach across from Germany. While everyone else was hunting for rocks with holes in them, I simply took my shoes off, peeled off a couple of layers, and sat proped up against a clay cliff. With my eyes closed, the sun warming me, and the waves pounding against the shore, I found my hygge. Not even any pictures. Pure hygge. 

Aero is famous for producing very good sailors. There’s a renouned sailing school here. Given the location, this comes as no surprise given the history of this area.

Aero is also known as the wedding island. Many are between couples with different nationalities that for some reason have paperwork problems marrying in either of their countries. Picture a bride from Saudi Arabia and a groom from China. In 2017, there were 4800 weddings here! Here’s a couple we passed on the road!

Aero is also at the forefront of sustainable energy. It’s 6 wind turbines produce more energy than the island consumes (the wind seems to blow constantly, but I assume there are some calm days once in awhile)! It also has one of the largest solar arrays in Denmark, which breaks down to just under 7 square meters of panels per person! I once again wish we in the states would get on board with this...a sustainable future!

So, I’ve got my hygge tank filled up, laundry done, ready for round 2 of this (3rd) part of our vacation. We’re just over 1/2 way through our entire vacation. This vacation has by far more variety than any we’ve had so far. I say...bring it on! 

Oh, here’s some just for fun pics. Here’s the biggest dog I’ve ever seen...I think he’s a Newfoundland...completely destroying a pillow! By the time we moved on, fluff was spread over the lawn! It was so funny watching him tear into it! 

And here’s the smallest cat 

See it? 😉

And, here’s how the square riggers tie up their bow and stern lines...

We watched a German triple mast ship dock. It was quite a production, as it was clear it was a student crew. I later spoke with one of the German crew. She said they came  a week ago from Germany, somewhere towards the Eastern side. It took two long days at sea to get here. They’re spending a year on this boat, learning. They take on more student crew, which is who we watched earlier. I didn’t get a pic of this boat, but here’s a similar one that was docked next to it. Beautiful! 

Ok, tomorrow is an early one, so we’re going to bed in full daylight so we can get up. So weird how long the days are here! Mornings feel surprisingly warm because the sun has been up since 4:30!