Martin on the moto: Here comes the sun

The noise of Danish rock music was eventually drowned out by some rain, after which I slept well. The journey south on Saturday saw the temperature rise from the low 20s to over 30 by the middle of the afternoon. With vents in jackets duly opened I compared this with last summer's trip to Turkey where the warm weather didn't begin until the south of Romania. And despite some overnight rain this summer, none of the riding has been in the wet, and waterproofs (and fleece) have remained in the panniers throughout.

The first stop was in Aarhus, parking outside the cathedral and entering to find the organist practising the choir organ, a beautiful sounding (but not looking) 1970 instrument on the south side of the chancel. The music sounded French in its harmonic language (post-Duruflé) but I couldn't place it - whatever it was, it was good, and being well played. The magnificent looking west end instrument dates from 1730 and has been added to over the years, most recently in 1993 when an electric combination system was fitted - sadly I didn't have a chance to hear this. The cathedral is stunning, with many 15th century frescoes and one from 1300.

Next stop was Odense. A town fair was in full swing and a lot of rough looking motorbikers on noisy machines were parading around, some with police escorts. One chap was riding in a skull mask. The cathedral was worth seeing, but there was no information (in English at least) on the organ or its music. I know there is (or was) an international organ competition here, but that probably takes place in the concert hall.

I continued east to Copenhagen, passing across a 10-mile-long bridge over the sea between Nyborg and Korsor. Copenhagen also seemed to be in festive mood, with loud live music thudding throughout the centre. After finding somewhere reasonably safe for the moto I had a quick look around, visiting a couple of churches: St Peter's and the Cathedral (Vor Frue Kirche) in the university area. The latter dates from 1829 and has daily offerings of music, mostly of a light variety it would seem, and when greeted by a tacky neon sign just inside the main door, saying "I Felt you And I know You loved me" I became convinced it was a Catholic church - but no, it is in fact the national Lutheran cathedral.

I continued east through a long tunnel and across another incredible bridge and arrived in Malmo, Sweden, where I decided to "DAR" and booked another night in a hotel. This city, too, was holding some kind of festival and I passed an enjoyable evening wandering around in huge crowds, stopping occasionally at a stall to grab something to eat, including a rather good, freshly-made Turkish kebab in memoriam last summer's holiday.

It wasn't a day entirely devoted to looking at churches. An interesting insight into Danish culture came while browsing a motorway services shop. Next to the motoring products and just across from a shelf of children's toys was a large display of porn DVDs. The jackets were placed face up, and with explicit photos and titles such as "Fuck Fighter" and "Sex Under Visning school girls vol. 4*", little was left to the imagination! (*I'm guessing there's some Danish in that.)

Tomorrow I will head south-west and pass through Lübeck, where I hope to see Buxtehude's church (reconstructed after being destroyed in WW2) and then on towards Thuringia. In fact Buxtehude was born just north of here (we think) in Helsingborg, so I'll be riding in his steps, then in Bach's.