Frederiksø, Christiansø & Bornholm, Denmark
A flash of color caught our eyes, a splash of orange and black. Not that the granite blocks of the dry stone walls were lacking in interesting shades. Pink feldspar crystals randomly united with sparkling quartz. Lichens painted the surfaces everywhere either closely clinging like a second skin or extruding delicate gray-green fingers like a ragged old shag carpet. This flash was different. It moved. In the blink of an eye it reappeared on the blossoms of red valerian (Centranthus ruber) and there it stayed. The long proboscis probed each flower of the cluster seeking a nectar reward. Then it flitted away, across the waterway from Frederiksø to Christiansø.
Color surrounded us. Swallows whorled about a circular tower, dove beneath the eaves and disappeared into hidden perches. The shingles on its conical roof quivered with the wing beats of martins. Sunlight twinkled on the skerries where gulls gathered to digest their morning meal. Terracotta tiles furrowed the roof tops of mustard colored buildings edged in ox-blood red. Black cannons lined battlements once guarding the harbor but now silent witness of the past.
A painted lady fluttered across the church in the tiny town of Svaneke on the larger island of Bornholm. Its graceful presence seemed to be a message to us, uniting the tiny islands of morning with the larger of the afternoon.
Just as the butterfly undergoes metamorphosis, from egg to caterpillar, to chrysalis and adult, this island archipelago has changed not just through the millennia with geological processes but in historic times too. Viking runic writings held hints of civilizations now gone by. The ruins of an ancient castle perched high on a hillside marked progress along the way. Caught in a tug-of-war between Denmark and Sweden, the citizens of the islands decided their own fate. In 1658 the solution was easy. Just shoot the Swedish commander and tell Denmark you were back within their fold! A brief interlude during WWII saw first German occupation and then the Russians came until today Denmark reigns again.
Change is underway for us. Tonight we bid goodbye to Denmark and proceed to country hop, continuing to explore the Baltic States.
