Helsingør

Helsingør (better known as Elsinor, or Elseneur, perhaps), is the home of the Krondor castle, immortalized by Shakespeare in Hamlet.

(Getting used again to an AZERTY keyboard is a pain. Yes, I'm writing this while being back home.)

I learned that Hamlet's story is inspired by Denmark history, although the castle didn't exist when the original prince lived. However, Krondor castle had gained a vast reputation by the time Shakespeare wrote his tragedy, which might explain its setting.

But I go too fast.

Having woken up at 6AM, I decided it was the ideal time to get to the shower before any of the 9 or so other people sharing it. I was then at the train station shortly before 7AM, which allowed me to buy an advance ticket for the airport for the next day, realise the ticket is only usable the same day in the next 2 hours, wait for the opening of the counters at 7AM sharp, queue, get a refund, buy a breakfast to go and board the train for Helsingor which leaves at 7:12AM.

Which allowed me to arrive at my destination at 8AM, 2 hours before the castle opens to visitors. Well, that gave me the time to find out where the castle was (in front of the train station, with just some sea to get around to get to the place), to go the short way, discover it is blocked because of construction work, go the long way, arrive at the fortifications, and go around the same fortification before the tourists start arriving. I had the blue sea and the blue sky for me, sharing the paths with fishers on the beach, a few joggers and people walking their dogs.

The merman?

Krondor Castle

The castle is a beauty. Built in the Renaissance style, it includes a chapel with beautiful wooden pews, and worthy works of the 17th-19th centuries exposed in an exhibition of the castle's history in what used to be the king's chambers. Also within the castle lies the Maritime Museum, during which visit one can climb a tower and take advantage of the view, and finally, a visit of the casemates, which deserved to be told apart.

 

The morning walk and lunch in the sun have given me some nice sunburns that I hope will turn into suntan quickly... and having finished seeing everything there was to see, I went back to Copenhagen early enough to finish the afternoon in the gardens of the Rosenborg Palace, where it seems that half the city lays on the grass. So, having bought a diner picnic, I joined them.