Day 3: Copenhagen Elsinore Castle and the Little Mermaid
We started out this morning, early, to head north to Elsinore (Kronborg Slot) Castle, famous as the fictional home of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. But, on our way out of town, we first schlepped our tandems and extra suitcases to the NH Hotel for safe-keeping while we were in Poland. We had to walk to the ferry dock (which was not easy pulling 150 or so pounds of stuff) over cobbles and up steps, but we did it.
Elsinore Castle is located about 25 miles north of Copenhagen in the town of Helsinger. It was built in the e1400’s by Eric of Pomerania in order to control (ie tax) shipping passing through the Øresund, (the narrow strait separating Denmark and Sweden into or out of the Baltic Sea. Building continued with subsequent rulers, making it larger and grander. Due to its strategic position for merchants and trading, it became an internationally known landmark. Shakespeare had a troupe of actors who had played at the castle and brought back tales of its grandeur. He then used it for the setting for Hamlet (completely fictional.)
On the way over to the castle from the train, we passed the set up for an Ironman qualifying triathlon that was going to be held on Sunday.
There were several young docents in the castle courtyard who were very entertaining.as we arrived.
While waiting for a tour of the castle, we checked out some of it on our own including the subterranean areas, the "casemates",
Holger Danske, mythical Danish giant of folklore
the battlements,
and the chapel.
The tour allowed us to see the rest of the castle and the guide was very informative.
On the way back to the train, we tried out the Holsinger ice cream, and took the necessary photo of Molly licking the giant cone.
After the 45-minute ride back to Copenhagen, we walked to the statue of the Little Mermaid, made famous by Hans Christian Andersen (and even more famous by Disney). The route took us along part of the route of the Tour.
The statue is right in the water in a beautiful park. Although it was crowded, it was pretty accessible without too much pushing and shoving.
The nearby Gefion Fountain is topped by a statue of the Norse goddess Gefjun, who is said to have separated the island of Zealand from Sweden.
It was starting to get a bit late (had to check out by 4 and get to the airport) so we decided to ferry back to the hotel and enjoy the beautiful weather aboard the boat.
After grabbing a bite to eat at the hotel, we walked to the Central station for the train to the airport. Unfortunately, when we got there, we found out that all the trains to the airport were cancelled. We are still not sure why, but we decided a cab was a good idea. We made it to the flight in plenty of time, and arrived in Krakow, Poland that evening. Our driver, Robert, was waiting to whisk us off to our hotel and some sleep.
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