Exploring the Island of Ven

"The Jewel of the Oresund"--sounds intriguing.  We were visiting my husband's relatives in Sweden.  Sitting in the living room, we looked through a pile of brochures they were translating for us.  That tempting title kept calling to us and pretty soon everyone decided that it would be fun to go biking around the tiny island of Ven.

Ven (also spelled Hven) is a Swedish island located between Sweden and Denmark.  The only way out to it is a ferry.  Although Ven does have permanent residents, it's tiny streets are almost exclusively used by cheery yellow bicycles that the tourists rent for a small fee from bike rental lots.  I was a bit concerned since I haven't ridden a bike in at least five years but luckily everyone who says that it comes back to you was right. 

We pumped up hills and coasted down, letting the wind sing into our ears. As we explored the island, we found out that astronomer Tycho Brahe had an obsevatory here.  I should say "has" since it is still standing or, um, still sunken.   Tycho Brahe lived and worked on the island in the 16th century and built an underground observatory that is still open to the public on certain days.  Unfortunately, it was not open on the day we visited but it was still fun to explore and clamber around on the roof and imagine a man with a full blonde mustache huddled in his warm cavelike observatory thinking deeply about the universe.

 Most of the island is the blue green or yellow green of cultivated land with a fair amount of the space going toward growing wheat from which a fragrant bread and pasta is made.  After a couple of hours of biking up and down hills, we stopped at a lovely little Swedish/Italian restaurant which boasted some quite unique pizza toppings.  It was unusual but the food was good.  No playscapes here but there was a big trampoline in the back garden for the more adventurous children.

One of the standouts on the tiny but beautiful island is the medieval church of St. Ibb.  It stands white clad like a bride in it's simple but lovely Skane architecture.  (Skane is a region of southern Sweden that has several times in it's history been part of Denmark.)  This medieval church is perched on a brow of the highest hill on the island with a commanding view of Sweden and Denmark.  It is apparently a popular site for weddings.  I was fascinated by the unusual collection of grave markers--some ancient and some contemporary.  I was particularly intrigued by the one shaped like a sailing ship.  Since I could not read the inscriptions,

I wondered about the erstwhile mariner whose passing it marks.

We stopped at a local artist shop to enjoy the lighthearted bouquets he created in ceramics.  His gate was crowded at the base with white flowers and by the building a solemn toad in a picturesque pond tried to remain dignified while being chased by a small blond hunter.

Since it is an island, it has beaches although they are nothing like the warm Caribbean shores that we have become used to.  The beach is rocky with pebbles and remnants of clams consumed.  The water is chill and murky but the light from the sun flashing on the waves calls to children as it does all over the world.  Disregarding the cold, two boys strip to their boxers and wade into the surf accompanied by a dog who dashed in and out, unsure of whether it liked the brisk lap of water on its inquisitive nose.

Of course it also called to some adults.  Some of the women we saw stripped to the waist with the carefree European disregard for modestly.  They lay on the rough bank to enjoy the sun.  Even the splash of the curious dog elicited only a partly open eye and a slightly raised eyebrow.    

As the day drew to a close, we stopped at an ice cream shop which was only a few feet from the ferry landing area.  Scandinavians like their ice cream.  We wiped our sticky chins and palms just in time to get in line for the last ferry. The moment we were standing in the long shadows on the boat, we felt chill that waits in Northern Europe on even the warmest day. 

We watched the white boats bobbing on the glassy water and the squat cozy looking houses until the ferry turned and pointed it's nose back to the Swedish mainland and a long comfortable evening in the neverending twilight of a Scandinavian summer.