We rose early and took the train to Nyborg. While Copenhagen is on the island of Zealand, or 'Seeland', Nyborg is on Funen, or 'Fyn', so the train journey required crossing water via a land bridge. At Nyborg, we were collected by an old Danish friend of ours from our London days. We hadn't seen Pia in 28 years.
For a few hours, Pia took us to Egeskov Castle, not far from Faaborg. In the grounds of the castle is an assortment of different amusements: a maze, a short 10-metre high wobbly bridge walk through the tree tops, well established gardens with both mature trees and the flowers of late spring, and a Segway track. It also boasts a very large - Jeremy Clarkson eat your heart out - collection of old cars.
Egeskov Castle hidden behind the rhododendrons
There are many old vintage cars and cars from the mid-20th century, and later too. There are the earliest push-bikes from the 1880s like Penny Farthings. There are many old emergency vehicles, old planes, jets, and cars that became really popular and cars that flopped. Also, ancient caravans are here which you wouldn't want to sleep in anymore. The bus in the above photo drove one million kilometres around Bristol, UK, before driving to its permanent location at Egeskov.
Above is a Rolls Royce from the 1920s. Looks shiny on the outside but the seats are tired and worn.
Display vehicles come in all odd shapes and sizes.
Here is a DeLorean DMC like the one used in the 1985 film Back to the Future, starring Michael J Fox. They even play a short scene of the film for passers by.
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The display of 19th and 20th century manual and motorised vehicles here is vast.
And some of the stories you hear are very interesting. One Harley Davidson was rescued from inside the house of an eccentric hoarder, being 'buried' for many years under piles of papers and rubbish. Or, there's the story of this old Henderson in the above photo. For decades, a rumour existed that a motorcycle had been buried outside a shop at the beginning of 1940 here on the island of Funen. Finally, in 1998, someone decided to test the rumour and began digging. Sure enough, the rumour was true, and the Henderson saw daylight for the first time in 58 years. Yes, they got it going again.
I climbed to the wobbly bridge for a short walk through the trees to see some birds.
We took a look inside the Egeskov Castle. This is the Hunting Room. The room contains various 'trophies' from the animal world....
...and this tiger. The room also had a cheetah and a leopard, we presume shot before it became politically incorrect to hunt animals.
In the castle are displays of women's clothes from former times. It is said that the attachments on this dress once belonged to Marie Antoinette, wife of King Louis XVI of France. Written advice to the reader here suggested she was not a good queen, was very young, naive and unhappily married and thus led a wayward life.
Written advice informed the reader that Marie Antoinette was beheaded in 1793, following the French Revolution. She was charged with '
crimes against the French state and for organising orgies at the Palace of Versailles'.Pia and Jean strolling through the gardens of Egeskov Castle.
After a couple of hours at Egeskov, we spent an excellent few hours at Pia's home in Ulbolle, meeting her family.
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