A Weekend on Sustainable Samsø.

Friday evening after studio, about 30 students and our tour leader Mikael Koch, Chief Adviser on Sustainability, took a regional train to Kalundborg and then a ferry to this island where they produce more than enough wind energy to sustain themselves. Early Saturday morning, we hopped on bicycles and headed to The Energy Academy where we got a lecture on the history and future of Samsø. We then rode to the harbor where I ran into a couple that were natives of none other than Madison, Wisconsin. (!!!) They told me that they moved to Copenhagen when their children were ages 10 and 13 and then retired on the island.

We spent the afternoon on Jørgen Tranberg’s farm where we had some pretty unique experiences. Before our day was over, we had all climbed to the top of the 60 meter tall wind turbine that Jørgen had built on his property, half of us had witnessed the live birth of a calf and the other half had seen what is believed to be the oldest windmill in the country. Yep. After all of this, we biked a hilly 7 miles back to the hostel for the evening.



Sunday, we hiked the hills on the northern part of the island and ate our lunches in Nordby, one the most preserved villages in Denmark. Before venturing back to Copenhagen, we visited the Samsø Bryghus, a small local organic brewery.