Okay, sorry for the delay. I’ve been awfully busy.
On Friday I went up to Helsingor which is north up the coast from Copenhagen, and is right across a narrow channel from Sweden. I went to see Kronborg, a castle from the 16th century which controlled the sound, and was supposedly the setting/inspiration for the location of Hamlet. It was really beautiful, the highlight being an absolutely cavernous ballroom. I really felt tiny in it, and I was the only one in the room for a bit until two German children decided to race down its length. Lots and lots of tapestries, I kept guessing which one was Polonius’ fatal hiding place. It’s right on the water as well, so that was nice.
Upon my return, I walked around the city a bit, and then made my way back to the hostel. There I was befriended by an English girl who works in Germany and was in Copenhagen for a job interview. We went out to a pub that was supposed to be 1916 decor, no music to promote conversation, and Carlsbergs that they pour over 12 minutes to get them just right. It was very cool, and we also made our way to a nearby rowdy Czech bar. It was raining, and really, really cold.
The next morning we managed to make it over to the Little Mermaid, which was underwhelming, but also right next to a very cool pentagon-like-groundworks fort. It had an old windmill and a good view. There was also an enormous and magnificent church, I believe called Malmokirken, but sadly I didn’t have my camera with me. It had a golden dome, and columns in the front, and the inside was a perfect circle. We also saw the Danish Museum of WW2, which really had some spectacular stuff, and was very moving. The stories of Danish resistance fighters who were killed, mostly under the age of 25, and last letters home before executions…Hard to describe.
The entire aforementioned area really reminded me a lot of Paris, in terms of building style and beauty.
Posted in Being A Tourist, History | Tags: Malmokirken, Carlsberg, Kronborg, Hamlet
