Stevns Klint

My Mom wanted to show us Stevns Klint. Stevns Klint extends over approximately 15 km of coastline and is up to 41 meters in height. Its known for its white chalk cliffs, which are rare in Denmark. You can see millions of years of geology exposed by the unstoppable sea. Fossil hunters, like Stella, loves Stevns Klint. Mom also wanted to show me the annual "Gjorslev Hunt", where a lot of riders in red jackets hunt a "fox" through the forest. The hunt takes place every year in May, in the birch forest by Gjorslev Slot, in Stevns. Mom packed the car with a picnic basket, a thermos with coffee, Mormor, Moster Lone, Stella and me. We drove for over an hour through the beautiful Danish landscape and arrived at Gjorslev Slot. Gjorslev Castle is 600 years old and is build of limestone from Stevns Klint.

My mom, by accident, ran into the owner of the castle and they started talking. Before we knew it, we were following him, in our car, through his private forest, out to where the hunt was taking place. FUN! He and his friend always play classical music before the hunt starts. There were horse trailers still arriving when we got there. All of the horses were strong and very beautiful. The riders were all wearing red jackets and there were a few with fox tails pinned on to their shoulders. Everyone seemed excited, and I felt just that way. Stella went down to the beach until it started. They started off with trotting around in a big circle, then the lady in charge explained what was going to happen. The riders all had a small glass of port and then rode off. A while later, the first group came back, jumped and rode off again. The same thing happened with the second group, and the third. after that, we went on to our next adventure.

We visit the old Højerup Church, which partly collapsed from erosion in 1928. Højerup Church was built of chalk ashlar in 1250. Back then, it stood at a safe distance from the cliff. There was a beautiful view over Stevns Klint from the church. Later, we went down all the stairs to the beach to hang out and play for a bit.

We also went to Stevns two lighthouses, which are at the highest point along Stevns Klint. The first of the two lighthouses were built in 1818 to guide ships through the shallow waters, and was one of the most modern lighthouses in Europe. During the next decades there was a massive increase of traffic through the Sound. So in 1878 the second lighthouse, a 27 meter tall lighthouse, was built and it is still one of the most powerful lighthouses in Denmark today.

Our last stop was the harbor of Rødvig. The harbor has a 100 year old boat building and the landmark of Stevns - a flint oven. The kiln was used from 1870 - 1910 to produce flint powder for faience and glaze from flint stones found on the beach. We sat for a while and enjoyed the great views and talked about a wonderful day it had been before driving back home.

More pictures from a wonderful day here.