The North Sea forms the western coast of Jylland (Jutland) and we drove out one day to see the coast. The water is cold and very rough. Danish and German tourists seldom venture into the waves, but on the few sunny, warm days sunbath on the beach. The high dunes that border the sea have a wild, natural appearance. Small towns cluster on higher ground; summer cottages fill on the land side of the dunes.
The first jetties were built to protect the shore line in 1875...currently beach replenishment takes place every fall and spring to keep the sea from flooding the low lands just behind the dunes. I had always associated this kind of long term struggle with the sea with the Netherlands' dikes. But it has taken place all along the Dutch, German, Danish coast...the North Sea is a dangerous part of the Atlantic.
Yet here we found small museums, art galleries, sculpture gardens. A festival was coming to an historic lighthouse which now serves those purposes. Tourists were being given a chance for a fee to rappel down the light house tower while a folk song and dance troup were rehearsing for the circus that was to take place the next day. The light house museum cafe had superb open face sandwiches and a good wine list (excellent cafes are standard in almost all Danish museums). It is as if a line of culture presents a brave face to the wilds of the ocean.
