Kronborg Slot

As much as I liked everything we saw or did in Denmark - today I want to show you the - in my opinion - best part of our visit: Kronborg Slot. It is one of the most important Northern Renaissance castles and is situated in Helsingor, guarding the Oresund Sound, built in a time when Denmark was a grand nation, a powerful force of the seas, with the King demanding all the ships travelling through the Oresund Sound to pay dues to be allowed to pass. (Some of the dues were used to fight the pirates that were a real pest at that time to guarantee save travels in the waters of Denmark. This is the official version, and it seems that it is actually true!)

Kronborg Slot is also known as the "Hamlet castle", the castle that inspired Shakespeare to write his Hamlet, and if you read it carefully all of the numbers and descriptions about the castle that Hamlet, prince of Denmark, resides in, are mirrowing Kronborg Castle. It is not sure if Shakespeare has actually been to the castle himself, but at least two of his closest friends have been, so they easily can have informed him about the dimensions, looks and the importance of Kronborg. We were told that Copenhagen was a "pitiful, dirty shack" at that time (the guide there told us), and the castle in fact was the favourite place of residence for many of the kings. I so loved it!!!!!!!

You can travel to Helsingor by ferry or by train, coming from Copenhagen, getting off at Helsingor Station. It takes you about an hour from Copenhagen.

Walking up to the castle will take you another 15-20 minutes, they have fireplaces on the way up so you can warm your hands and enjoy the view of the castle while you walk there. Another time that we were happy to have come in Winter! In Summer it is the No.1 tourist spot in Denmark, with more than 200.000 visitors per year, but when we were there it was almost just us, the mercury sea, the quietness of a Winter´s day, the snow and the castle.... It was so quiet that one seemed to be experiencing this very special "Denish" atmosphere, everything seemed so unreal, and we did not even hear the sound of the waves as the sound seemed to be completely still.

It is so huge that it is hard to take a photo of it in one piece, but here you see a model of it that you will find approaching the main gate.

This day I was in a constant high, and it was one of the best trips we ever made. Everything was perfect, the journey there, the eery atmosphere.... And when we bought tickets to enter the castle one of the tourguides was hanging out there, being obviously bored, who took a liking in us and asked us if we wanted to go on a private tour with her. We did not have to pay anything extra, but obviously she liked our "aahs" and "oohs" so that instead of a 20 minute tour (that was scheduled hours later, they don´t do many in Winter time) she showed us around the castle for more than two hours!

(Later I found out that she had studied Philology, and after my surprised "Me too!" she seemed to like us even more. How are the odds meeting a fellow philologist in a castle in Denmark???)

First Natalia showed us the famous casemates - a word that means "home in the darkness". In these areas thousands of soldiers stayed for weeks in wars and sieges, and it must have been extremely demanding to live, sleep, cook aso there in these dark, damp place. They also kept the weapons and horses there, they even had something like a huge kitchen, and as people were afraid of diseases the soldiers were not allowed to drink water, only BEER was allowed, 8 litres a day. I cannot imagine to go into a battle with just 1 litre. But maybe it makes you die happy? Well, I doubt it.

We also met Holger Danske (Holger the Dane), who is residing at the entry to the casemates. I love the legend that surrounds this friendly giant. After fighting for Denmark in foreign places he came back to his home country, felt awfully tired, sat down and turned into stone. But when the Kingdom will be threatened by a foreign enemy Holger Danske will turn into flesh and blood again and he will rise and defend his country. So far he is still sleeping, so everything must be good for Denmark. I would feel extremely comfortable with such a strong ally watching over me...

The King´s and Queen´s appartement were something completely different. Besides: The inside of the castle burned almost completely down in 16something, and then the King decided to decorate everything completely new to the modern fashion. This is the King´s appartement with a rather Baroque looking ceiling. They tore down the wonderful wooden ceiling - even were it was not burnt - and put this up. I would have preferred the wooden works.

The ballroom. (We were told that the Christmas tree usually is not there - we said, "Yes, yes, we thought so".)

A view out into the Oresund sound. Don´t you just love the little flags??

The Castle Courtyard. At weekends there is a Christmas market there before Christmas, but during the week the yard is left to itself. Much better....

The sound of silence. Coming out of the main gate you can walk a view steps to the beach, there was nobody there except us and this one person, and I guess he also wanted to be kept alone, because he quickly walked away when we came down. Thanks, man...

What a brilliant day! Do go when you are in the area, you will love it! And I envy you that your first time at Kronborg Slot is still ahead.....

Copenhagen - Canal Tour and Tivoli

We are back in Copenhagen, and this time I want to tell you more about the place itself.

If you want to do your decent share of sightseeing you need to go into Copenhagen downtown. The metro station you want to get off is "Kongens Nytorv", being one of only two metro stations in the actual city. As much as I loved everything else, the public transport system is not very good, they do not have a lot of stations, and the maior tourist sights are not well or not at all connected. Like a Finnish friend of mine said, "Well, guess why they all ride their bikes??" So if you travel to Copenhagen just reckon with a lot of walking (and a lot of looking for directions and signs that are not there). The good news: They build a metro station at the Townhall at the moment, to connect this area to the public transport system.

When we got off one of the first things we saw was a flower market. We had minus degrees and it was a lovely sight! Nowhere in the more Southern countries I have seen anything like that in the Winter months....

On Gammel Strand (yes, this is its real name) you find one of two Cannel Tour stations (the other one is at Nyhavn, check www.canaltours.dk, you can easily book online, which is what we did). I always find roundtrips very useful to give you a first orientation in a city and also a first look at it. In Copenhagen of course you get the hop-on-hop-off-busses as well, but if there are waterways I always prefer those.

From Gammel Strand station you have a view on the island of Slotsholmen, most prominently on this picture you find the Stock exchange which is most famous for its Dragon Steeple, representing four dragons, their tails intwining and forming it. It is actually just next to Christiansborg Slot, where you can find the Houses of Parliament. In Summer time the boats go almost nonstop from this station, in Winter there are about 5 tours a day, and you will find a marker here telling you when the next boat is going, which is about each 1.15 hrs. But with such a fine view waiting is easy - and we only had to wait for half an hour or so. (You do not find the times in the internet, so don´t bother.)

The boats are fabulous! They are extremely flat because they have to be able to pass underneath
the sometimes extremely low and narrow bridges. The guide on board will tell you like a zillion times to be extremely cautious and watch your head - in Summer time, when the boats are open, I am sure this is absolutely necessary! Even now I saw people hopping up and down outside and almost missing the low bridges coming up. But it is not the guide´s fault, she really tries to keep you alive!

The boat takes you on a tour of the most important parts of Copenhagen. Like for example Nyhavn - "Newhaun" as it is actually pronounced - a dead end with historical boats anchoring, in Winter time they have a Christmas market there and in Summer many restaurants attract lots of customers.

They also take you out into the Harbour area, where part of it is military area and therefore closed to public. (The Cormoran did not seem to bother though.) The Denish people claim that their Navy is the oldest in the world.

This is the Danish Opera House. It is located opposite Amalienborg Slot (which is where Queen Margarethe is residing, but  I will show Amalienborg to you some other time) on the island of Holmen. Building it was extremely expensive, but, I don´t know.... for me an opera house as to be old-fashioned, not stylish..... But this is just personal taste!

On this tour you also get to see the Little Mermaid looking out into the harbour, but you see her only from the back, so I will also tell you more about here some other time. Instead I want to show you how narrow and low the bridges are when they take you back into the city, this time into the Christianshavn area.

And as you can see the weather had improved dramatically! So when we got off at Gammel Strand again we could explore the Christmas market there.

Here you are extremely close to the Stroget, the main shopping street of Copenhagen, it is a pedestrian zone, so walking is very comfortable, and the shops (e.g. the Illum) you find there are really nice. The Stroget takes you down to the Townhall and the Tivoli, which is exactly why we followed it.

Don´t ask me what these poor people did here, just clad in colours instead of a warm coat. They did some movie shooting there and I dare say that the Denish film is just as akward as the Austrian one....

Behind the Townhall you will find the H.C. Andersen Boulevard (yip! yip! yip!), and after crossing it you are at the Tivoli! It is Copenhagen´s amusement park with the same rustic flair as for example Coney Island, and each year before Christmas they set up their famous Christas market there. For us a new experience, because the roller coasters and caroussels are still working, but you also find litte booths for Christmas shopping, Christmas gloegg.... We paid 200 crowns just to get in (just to get in, mind!), so food and if you want to go on any of the rides is extra) but believe me it is worth it. Just remember to go there by night, and you will be overwhelmed. It is just sparkles and lights and wonders.....

I leave you here now with a few images of the Christmas market at Tivoli by night, it is phantastic. See you really soon and enjoy!