Day 2 in Copenhagen - Kronborg Castle

Our first full day in Copenhagen saw us leaving the city for most of the day and traveling north, about 45 minutes by train, to the seaside city of Helsingor, Denmark. Visible across the strait was the Swedish town of Helsingborg. Many ferries between the two, and the ferries left from just outside of the train station.  

  The Kronborg Slot ("castle") is located about a ten minute walk from the station, along the waterfront. Now a little side story about the train trip to reach Helsingor: Helsingor has an alternate name in English: Elsinore. Well, using the English setting on the ticket machine wouldn't pull up the Elsinore stop; you had to use the Danish spelling. Also, the train schedules posted are damnably hard to decipher, unlike the clear-as-day ones I encountered in Germany a few years ago. For instance, some trains give you the ultimate destination of the train, but it's a city name that's not even listed on the departure board - you are expected to know Danish geography in order to determine which direction you need to go in!    

  The only bad thing about the walk was the cobblestones. I've mentioned before (my loyal readers will say many, many times!) cobblestones in Europe can kill your feet and legs. It's like off-roading in the middle of a city.   The weather was pretty nice, in the 60s and partly cloudy.         We finally arrived at the castle - the castle which was the setting for Shakespeare's (fictional) tragedy of Hamlet. Pretty cool-looking castle, and right on the strait separating Denmark from Sweden (the strait connects the North Sea with the Baltic.)  

    The castle has undergone several renovations since it's beginnings as the medieval castle "Krogen" prior to 1574, most notably by King Frederik II from 1574-85, in 1629 after a large fire and in 1658 after the Swedish captured and looted the castle. Today the castle is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.       

Views of Kronborg Slot

  We really enjoyed ourselves at the Kronborg castle, and the property was sure to play up its link to Shakespeare. There were pithy t-shirts you could buy, and even fake (obviously!) Yorick skulls available for purchase.   A train ride back saw us safely to our hostel, just in time for the early happy hour (4-5 PM). We each enjoyed big one-liter mugs of Carlsberg lager. Later we wandered to the hot dog stand because Dad couldn't "stand" waiting to have his first Scandinavian hot dog! He claims that it was the best hot dog he has ever eaten, and that's going well back into the early twentieth century!   I know you won't be able to wait for the next installment, all about Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen, and our big boat adventure!!!