The ship docks in Roenne which is the main port and main city on the island of Bornholm. Bornholm has been an important location for trade among the various countries in the Baltic. Ferries can take you to Germany, Poland, Denmark and Sweden. The people believe there has been people settled here since before 1000 AD/CE.

We take a bus ride on the road that goes all the way around the island approximately 126 km. You can bicycle as well because there is a path for bikes. The trip takes us through the town of Roenne and through other smaller villages scattered around the island. The people work in shipping, farming, fishing, at a granite quarry and there are famously known glassblowing and making the long-case grandfather clocks. We didn’t see any of this happening.

Of course, there are regular shops and business like any other city of 13,000.

There are small wooden houses built by the Swedes for people to live in after WW2 and now the people who live in these historic houses must preserve their architecture and character. I was not able to get a front facing photo. 😦

An interesting fact was that they use wood chips that they burn instead of coal for energy when the large windmills, located offshore are not able to provide their electricity. When they have excess electricity, they sell it to Sweden – guess there must be an underwater cable? Have to research this further.

We stop at a medieval fortress dating back to the late 800s called Hammershus. This is the oldest remaining structure of its kind in all of Northern Europe and Scandinavia. Located high on the coastline, it has a rich history – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammershus. Unfortunately, we only spend 10 minutes here so no time to climb up to explore.

School children were at the estate of Hammershus learning about the history of their island.

As we continue a drive around the island, we see an old style windmill, a round church, forests, fields and the quarry.

I have also provided a picture of our young Danish tour guide. He grew up on the island and had stories about his great, great grandfather who survived WW2 occupation by the Nazis and bombings by the Soviets. He said he is a social media person. He probably wouldn’t survive what his grandfather did.

Back on the ship we learn that due to weather we will not be going to Karlskrona, Sweden on Friday, because there is a Baltic storm coming. The plan now is to be in Gdańsk, Poland for two days instead of one. Delightful – more time to explore. Visiting Poland will be a new country in Europe for me and my sister.